Latest Posts (20 found)
A Smart Bear 2 weeks ago

When being an "expert" is harmful

Expertise hinders learning. Learn from these examples, so that you leverage your expertise, but aren't blinded by it. Insights come from curiosity, not certainty.

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A Smart Bear 1 months ago

Your target market isn't demographic

How to define your actual target market, which probably isn't traditional demographics and firmographics.

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A Smart Bear 1 months ago

Yes, but who said they'd actually BUY the damn thing?

Have a great idea? Prove it by finding ten customers ready to hand over cash. Everything else is avoiding the truth.

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A Smart Bear 2 months ago

Max MRR: Your growth ceiling

Your company will stop growing sooner than you think. The "Max MRR" metric predicts revenue plateaus based on churn and new revenue.

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A Smart Bear 3 months ago

Specificity: A weapon of mass effectiveness

Want to write better? Swap generic words for specifics to make your text clear, powerful, engaging, and even funny.

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A Smart Bear 3 months ago

Ruthless prioritization while the dog pees on the floor

Because time is zero-sum, prioritization is mandatory. This is an index of purpose-built prioritization frameworks, and an overarching one to optimize your life.

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A Smart Bear 4 months ago

More or less

You must select between three pricing strategies, and fully commit to their implications.

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A Smart Bear 4 months ago

Rude Q&A: The constructive devil's advocate

Nothing clarifies things quite like a hyperactive, all-knowing, all-seeing, real asshole of a devil's advocate beating the living crap out of you.

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A Smart Bear 5 months ago

When customers buy your competitor's product… and then buy yours

Little, unknown companies with silly names can sell to enterprises who have already spent millions.

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A Smart Bear 5 months ago

Invention is Drudgery

Having skipped to the last page of other people's books, we forget the rest of the journey. And, that we have to take that journey, too.

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A Smart Bear 5 months ago

How to get customers who love you even when you screw up

Customers love you when you're honest, even about your foibles. We forgive honest mistakes from earnest people, not stolid, cold, inhuman corporations.

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A Smart Bear 5 months ago

SSEBITDA⁠--A steady-state profit metric for SaaS companies

How can a business that is "spending to grow" determine whether it's truly profitable underneath all that "revenue acceleration?" Here's a way.

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A Smart Bear 6 months ago

Startup Exercise: What can't be solved with money?

What can't be solved with money, are the most valuable things.

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A Smart Bear 6 months ago

Sometimes never compete on price

The difference between "low prices" as a race to the bottom or as a success story (like Amazon, Costco, IKEA, Vanguard) is in leveraging intentional weaknesses.

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A Smart Bear 6 months ago

How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts

Simplify complex decisions by separating upsides from downsides, investing in upsides, vetoing with downsides, and using an appropriate decision framework.

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A Smart Bear 6 months ago

All pretty models are wrong, but some ugly models are useful

Identifying useful frameworks for companies, strategy, markets, and organizations, instead of those that just look pretty in PowerPoint.

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A Smart Bear 7 months ago

Reframing "Freemium" by charging the marketing department

Freemium means high costs, low conversion, and customer feedback dominated by the non-ideal customer. Treat it as a marketing expense to ensure ROI.

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A Smart Bear 7 months ago

The wrongness of relativism

Comparing yourself to other startups? Focus on yourself instead.

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