atopiler

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by atopiler 10y ago
Amazing! That is the true essence of customer development. When you walk into a hardware store and ask for a 2-inch drill bit, it's not the tool you really want. What you really want is a 2-inch hole in the wall.
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by atopiler 10y ago
Agree 100%. Great analogy.
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by atopiler 10y ago
"You'll never create amazing products with this mentality..." I think that this kinda misses the point. If you're only building the things they explicitly ask for, then yes, you're right. However, customer developm
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by atopiler 10y ago
That's a fantastic analogy!
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by atopiler 10y ago
I have to whole-heartedly disagree with this. Customer development and feedback don't just apply to short-term marketing and minor-point improvements. That couldn't be further from the truth. The "They'll tell you what
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by atopiler 10y ago
The point is to talk to people to know whether something you want to build is actually going to be great before you go and build it. Most of the time when people go and build what they think is "great" they end up realizing that
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by atopiler 10y ago
Would recommend you check out "The entrepreneurs guide to customer development"! Customer Development is a process that's really meant to be applied to prospective customers. The whole point is to figure out what problems th
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by atopiler 10y ago
Absolutely - huge thanks for reading and for the thoughtful replies!
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by atopiler 10y ago
Very true. The helicopter vs. rush hour example is kind of like finding the holy grail, and that's what you strive for. In practice, the majority the improvements you can extract from these conversations end up being much smaller. But
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by atopiler 10y ago
Boom shakalaka! Perfect quote.
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by atopiler 10y ago
Great points! Being willing to listen is step 1. That's the product culture that needs to exist first and foremost. Completely agree with you: knowing what to do with the feedback you receive, and how to interpret it in order to inn
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by atopiler 10y ago
Couldn't agree more. Very very well said.
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by atopiler 14y ago
Thanks for the comment. I totally hear you - it irked me a bit too at first, but ultimately I thought to myself - the feature was out in their production environment already, and the chances of this really actually having any effect on Pin
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by atopiler 14y ago
You're right about the tone- I didn't mean it to come off that way, but I guess it did. I'm sure Pinterest isn't doing it to spite users.. and I agree they are likely testing the feature.. or more likely preparing to start testing it. I t
15.
Hidden "Block" Feature Discovered on Pinterest(pinleague.com)
5 points by atopiler 14y ago|8 comments
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by atopiler 14y ago
Love it.. nothing replaces or beats amazing personality that resonates with fans and leaves an impression. Kudos to Lyft for putting themselves out there. You might put off one or two people, but you'll gain many more raving fans that wil
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Business Development: How to Avoid and Navigate Prospects Going Cold - Part 2(life-longlearner.com)
1 points by atopiler 14y ago|0 comments
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by atopiler 14y ago
Awesome complementary wisdom to a great post. Thanks Frank.
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9 Lessons You Need to Succeed in a Crowded Market(venturebent.com)
2 points by atopiler 15y ago|0 comments
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Learning from Experience: Technology, Content, and Users(venturebent.com)
2 points by atopiler 15y ago|0 comments
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by atopiler 15y ago
I think you're right that they track this very closely internally. You hit the nail on the head with LTV - with the amount they spent to acquire what they already have, the outlook for clearing that LTV hurdle doesn't look that bad.
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by atopiler 15y ago
Another great point - churn is their biggest concern. They need to continue to keep the product relevant somehow so people who do actually read and buy continue to come back, or figure out a way to convert more inactive subscribers somehow
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by atopiler 15y ago
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Jacob. That's definitely a great way to look at it.. At the very least you'll also see how many Groupon's it takes to cover and then better understand what that % repeat number needs to be. Like you, I w
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Groupon IPO: The Silver Lining(venturebent.com)
13 points by atopiler 15y ago|7 comments
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by atopiler 15y ago
I think you nailed it - and coined a new term in the process!
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The Next Big Thing: Checking-In (Again)(venturebent.com)
6 points by atopiler 15y ago|0 comments
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Bubblenomics: How you will know when we are actually in a bubble(venturebent.com)
1 points by atopiler 15y ago|0 comments