What is the best thing a manager has ever done for you?

What To Do If Your Product Isn't Ready for Launch

You've set a product launch date, and you're putting the final touches on things. There's just one problem: You suspect the product isn't ready. What do you do? Julie Zhuo recommends starting by realigning your team around launch goals and framing concerns around that. This is one of the things she said that resonated the most with me: "The saying goes, choose 2/3—quality, speed, or scope. The first two get lots of airtime while cutting scope is frequently overlooked. If Feature X of Product Y is low-quality, cut it from the launch while continuing to improve it. Not everything needs to ship together." I couldn't agree more. Read Julie's full thread here. 

Email Is Where New Software Features Get Invented

This thought-provoking read highlights how so many new software features—from web apps to push notifications—all started with email. Email began as a simple enough concept, but the need for improvement was obvious from the beginning. Decades later, it still hasn't been perfected. It has, however, been the inspiration for many other software features we use today. In other words, email is the medium that promotes both the bundling and unbundling of features. Can you imagine what tech would look like today without it?

How To Hire People Who Compliment Your Founder Type

There are no exact "types" of founders, but they broadly fall into one of three categories: product-, tech-, or customer-centric. Whichever type you lean toward, it's important to hire people who can balance out your competencies and biases. Mark Suster raises a great point: Most tech companies are product-centric and truly believe they know the customer but often don't. Here's what you can do to avoid that thinking trap. 

The Product Strategy Stack

Just about every company struggles with product prioritization decisions. Often, this is the result of a strategy issue, not an execution issue. Gaps in strategy make it harder for teams to execute. To diagnose and fix strategy issues, it helps to have a product strategy stack that connects your company's objectives to product delivery. This is a useful step-by-step process for bridging the gap. 

What No One Explains About the Design Process

I appreciate the main point of this article: Design is not a process, it's a practice. Jordan Bowman advocates for thinking about it less like a procedure and more like a toolbox. This is an interesting alternative to design framework thinking that allows for more freedom and flexibility across different teams and projects. 

The Forgotten Art of Taking the Long Cut

I really enjoyed this interview featuring Dave Gerhardt, CMO of Privy and former VP of Marketing at Drift. He covers a wide range of interesting topics: what to do when you're uninspired, how to spend the first three months of a new job, how books can unlock our subconscious, and more. Listen to the full conversation—I think you'll enjoy it as much as I did. 

Cancellation Emails: Examples and Best Practices

No matter how great your product is, at some point, you'll lose customers. People will churn, and sometimes you won't be able to change their minds. But you can create more opportunities to win them back, and cancellation emails are an important part of that process. At best, you'll retain them (or get them to come back later). If nothing else, you'll help them cancel with grace. Check out this comprehensive guide on how to make cancellation emails work for your company. 

Don't Settle for Less Than 100% Net Revenue Retention From SMBs

Some of the best SaaS companies have a net revenue retention (NRR) rate of at least 100%. That means at any given point, revenue generated through upgrades and cross-sells balances out the revenue lost through downgrades and churn. This isn't always an easy goal to aim for with SMBs due to how many small businesses go under each year. But it's not impossible. This is how companies have managed at least 100% NRR from SMBs.