Product Habits - Naval Ravikant's first principles

Great Attrition or Great Attraction? The Choice Is Yours.

More than 15 million US workers have quit their jobs since April 2021. Many companies don't understand why it's happening. McKinsey researched what is driving the "Great Attrition," and the findings are illuminating. While this quitting trend is likely to continue, it can also be a great opportunity for companies to ensure their benefits align with employee priorities. 

Naval Ravikant's First Principles Thinking

Naval Ravikant attributes much of his success to first principles thinking. This is a good overview of a concept he talks about all of the time: leverage. Naval says there are three main types of leverage: labor, capital, and technology. If you want to run a successful, scalable business, it's worth reviewing how you can maximally leverage the value your company creates. 

Reopening vs. Remote-First

There are no easy answers for companies choosing to reopen their offices, go remote-first, or find a happy medium. I think it's helpful to learn from other companies. This is a good look at three options: a startup that will keep its team distributed, a hypergrowth company experimenting with hybrid models, and a previously in-person company going remote-first. What work structure is your company leaning toward?

Bias for Action

If there is any piece of advice I could give to first-time founders, it would be to bias toward action. It can be easy to get stuck in the information accumulation process. Most decisions aren't one-way doors. Focus on making quick decisions and taking action as soon as you can. It's better to get started and iterate later than to waste time in idle mode trying to make perfect choices. Here's what having a bias toward action looks like in practice. 

The Case for "Developer Experience"

Developers spend less than a third of their time actually writing code. They spend most of their time on testing, code maintenance, security issues, and addressing incidents. As Jean Yang writes, "Developers work in rainforests, not planned gardens." If we want to help them work more effectively, we have to give them complexity-exploring tools that account for what a developer's job is actually like. 

Crash Course in Marketing Goal Setting

As we approach the final quarter of 2021, it'll soon be time to think about setting goals for the year ahead. If you're a marketer, this is a must-read about the common goal-setting mistakes marketers make—and how to avoid them. Keep this article on hand for reference as you begin to map out your marketing plan for next year. 

20 Technical Skills Every Marketer Needs

Most people associate traditional marketing roles with soft, creative skills like pitching ideas or writing clever copy. But these days, marketers need technical skills, too. A few of them include basic graphic design, project planning, data analysis, and ad management. While you certainly don't need all of the skills on this list, it helps to learn a handful of them. Which of these do you want to focus on next? 

What To Do When Your Growth Stalls

One founder recently shared on Indie Hackers that their company's growth is stalling out and losing market share to a competitor. It's easy to say you should focus on users and not worry too much about competition—until you run into a situation like this. What would you do in this situation?