I don't want to self-promote here, but I do want to mention the episode because Gabriel's knowledge is incredibly relevant to developers today.
I highly recommend taking some time to learn a bit about mental models. Really changed the way I think about everything, including software development.
If the mods allow, I'm happy to share the episode.
Edit: oh wow! I’m so glad this has resounded with you all.
You can find many links to the episode in the comments. Thanks so much for engaging with this - that’s awesome!
Another edit: part two is now out. 👍
So I make documentaries about tech and people in it. This week I made a video about DuckDuckGo. Please check it out and give me your opinion :-)
https://youtu.be/F5goQQK1zvM
Gabriel Weinberg, the founder of DuckDuckGo.com (search engine alternative, previously raised $3mm) will be doing an exclusive AMA for /r/entrepreneur members to pick the brain of someone who's been fairly successful. Please start posting your questions early.
Gabriel has several posts on Quora and has updated them recently. Enjoy:
I've been reading & studying one business book a week. I also maintain a categorized Reading List for entrepreneurs (and anyone seeking business knowledge). Some books make the list, and others get removed.
"Traction" convincingly made the cut. I was just not sure whether to categorize it in the 'Entrepreneurship' or 'Marketing' category. A must-read (Especially for anyone who feels like the lean away from marketing)
Below is the book-summary and the three big takeaways from the book:
Book Summary:
Building a successful business is hard. Entrepreneurs now realize that the key to success doesn’t stem from the“cool idea”, the“superstar team” or the million-dollar funding — but more so from your ability to acquire customers & grow at a sustainable rate. Startups aren’t failing because they can’t build good products. Startups are failing because they don’t find traction. In this book, the authors discuss why it’s of crucial importance to allocate enough time & resources to attain traction and provides us with a list of 19 possible traction channels to explore.
Big Idea #1: 50% Product - 50% Traction
Product development and Traction should each get 50% of your attention. Allocating resources to marketing may slow your product development in the short-run, but you will catch up in the long run. Cultivating traction invariably forces you into deeper problem-exploration—which in turn helps you build a better product for your market.
As entrepreneurs we tend to fall into the ‘Product Trap’. We delay marketing because the product is “not ready yet”. Focussing on traction gives you additional data. This data allows you to pinpoint the message resonating with your customers, which can be used to ‘steer’ product development in the right direction.
Big Idea #2: Use the “Bullseye” framework for Traction Testing & Discovery
‘Bullseye’ is a simple & structured framework to approach your traction goal. First, visualize a bullseye board with three rings. The ‘outer ring’ consists of all the possible traction channels like display-ads, email marketing, SEO etc. Brainstorm and evaluate which of these channels are best suited to attain your traction goal. Move these channels into the ‘middle ring’.
Testing is a crucial component of the middle ring. The channels qualified into the middle ring need to be tested in order to a
... keep reading on reddit ➡OK so I just found this and it's really great. The founder of Duck Duck Go made this list of mental models he uses all the time. If you're not familiar with mental models, Charlie Munger says he relies on them constantly.
Things like important cognitive biases, different ways to persuade people and stuff like that.
I would try to summarize but the post itself is like a list of summaries so you should just take a look. Gabriel Weinberg: Mental Models I Find Repeatedly Useful
