Product Habits - Don't be fooled by fast-growing AI apps

A Practical Guide to Executive Presence

The further you rise in an organization, the more critical executive presence becomes. How you look and behave influences how others listen and buy into your words. This is a helpful list of things executives with good presence do. One of my favorites: Executives don't ramble. Unless you're presenting, try to wrap up what you're saying in 30 seconds. 

The Anatomy of a Pivot

A startup called Outpace is on a mission to bring the superpower of personalized coaching and development to every professional. Though coaching is a profoundly human endeavor, the company realized it needed an AI strategy—otherwise, it would risk irrelevance. This article explains how the team gathered conviction, built a new strategy, and pivoted the company. 

How To Do Great Work

Paul Graham set out to define what great work looks like in different fields and whether a definitive intersection applies to everyone. He built a recipe for ambitious people looking to do great work. It's a must-read for anyone who wants to build a career they feel proud of. About halfway through, he makes an interesting point: Great work usually entails spending what would seem to most people an unreasonable amount of time on a problem. 

Don't Be Fooled By Fast-Growing AI Apps

Some AI apps that are growing fast may be dying even quicker. Significant churn and retention problems in AI may take a while to smooth out. This thread details the five reasons some apps earn a lot of money quickly before fizzling out fast. The lack of network effects and low usage frequency are part of the problem. How do you think AI app growth will take shape this year?

Spend More Time Talking to Customers

It's easy to say you should talk to customers more often, but more complicated to execute. What do you do if they don't respond to requests for meetings or surveys? You could offer money for their time, but you run the risk of selection bias. Here's a list of other things you can do to gather customer feedback effectively that won't feel too invasive to the customer. 

Why Do Developers Hate Marketing?

Developer marketing seems challenging because developers are more skeptical about marketing than most other audiences. This presents a challenge to anyone building a product for developers. Marketers should understand that when done tastefully, developers will only sometimes find marketing unbearable. But they will respond strongly if they feel like you are spamming them. Here are some thoughts on how you can avoid marketing efforts that feel spammy. 

Why Product-Led SEO Matters in the Age of AI

There's a growing belief that AI will kill search. As it stands, 90% of content doesn't get traffic from Google. As the web becomes more crowded and AI-driven, the odds probably won't improve. Some marketers are wondering if they should pull back on SEO efforts. This article explains why there is good reason to keep working on SEO, but only if you evolve your approach. 

Closing Sales Deals in 2023

We've had six straight quarters of YoY deceleration in public software company growth rates. The declines of the past two quarters, in particular, have been significant. It's never been more important to focus on durable growth. One of the keys is helping your sales team operate more efficiently. Here are some thoughts on how to make that happen.