Product Habits - The end of Excel?

The Psychology of Startup Growth

There are no gimmicks for ongoing, sustainable growth. Instead, it starts with adopting the right mindset and practicing it with your team daily. This article lays out the five hallmarks of high-performance growth. I shared it several years ago when it was first published, and it stands the test of time. 

The End of Excel?

Excel is arguably the most valuable of all the tools in the Microsoft Office suite. But over the past decade, spreadsheet app alternatives have been gaining momentum. This is an interesting read about how the spreadsheet market is evolving and what the future might look like for Excel and its top competitors. 

Going Self-Service

Arcade helps companies create quick, interactive product demos. The company recently announced that it is going self-service, allowing people to sign up for the product online without needing to go through a human. Here's a walkthrough of the thinking and steps Arcade put in place to shift gears to self-service while enhancing the product experience. 

You Can Get Everything Else Wrong But This

I've written a lot in this newsletter over the years about product-market fit. Occasionally, I'll come across an article worth sharing about the topic. This one cuts right to the point: While an early-stage startup founder wears many hats, the most important job at the end of the day is finding product-market fit. Anything that isn't in service of PMF doesn't matter. Do you agree? 

Planning in the Dark

When planning product development before you have product-market fit, it's hard to know what to prioritize. Adopting a process of continual iteration instead of trying to build too much at once is helpful. If you're working on something new, this is a good checklist of things to do—from outlining your hypothesis to running a "Riskiest Assumption Test."

When Customers Don't Get It

How you position your product changes everything. You start by clearly defining how you are the best at something that a defined market cares about. If you need a clear sense of your product positioning, begin by determining the answers to these five questions. 

The Best Monetization Motions for Each Market Segment

What are the best ways to monetize depending on your market segment? For the SMB market (100-200 employees), self-serve is critical. Product-led sales are optimal in the mid-market (200-1000 employees). At the enterprise level (1000+ employees), sales-led sales reign supreme. Here's a good explanation for monetization at each level. 

How Growth Needs To Evolve at Every Startup Stage

Growth is what keeps many founders up at night. One overlooked aspect of sustaining startup growth is knowing how to evolve your strategy over time. What worked at the early stages won't work down the road. At each stage, you should be focused on different targets based on performance and customer needs. This is a helpful list of startup growth principles to keep in mind.