Building product

Simplicity

• The best products are incredibly simple to use. Minimize clicks and friction to help users reach their "aha" moment as fast as possible.

• Time to value (TTV) is crucial—self-serve products need to deliver value immediately.

• It’s better to have 100 passionate customers than a million who feel indifferent.

• Stop feature maxxing. The best products are feature minimalists—focus on making sure the core product always works.

• Adding another feature won’t make the difference—going deeper on what people already love will. (See the Next Feature Fallacy.)

• Finding product-market fit can be as simple as identifying the most compelling part of your product and making it the sole focus.

• Simplicity is sticky. Keeping a product simple over time is harder than making it simple at the start A common product lifecycle looks something like this:

  • Customers flock to a simple product.

  • More features are added to drive growth.

  • The product becomes bloated and complex.

  • Customers move to another simple product.

Keeping it simple over time

• One in, one out. For every new feature, remove one. This prevents bloat and keeps the core experience clean.

• A simpler product makes it easier to see what’s working and sharpen your intuition.

• Make your product feel like magic. The best products solve problems so effectively that users don’t even think about how they work.

• Depth > surface area. Instead of expanding feature sets, refine what’s already there.

• When making product decisions, think in terms of questions and answers rather than features and benefits. People use products to solve problems, not to collect features.

MVPs

• Your product needs a hook. A repeatable, core behavior that keeps users engaged—e.g., tweeting (Twitter), summoning a car (Uber).

• If you think you need a user tour, stop. Your app should be self-explanatory. Confused users = bad UX, not bad onboarding.

• Assume users have the intelligence of a lizard. Navigation, layout, copy, and empty states should make the product abundantly obvious to use.

• Product sense is the ability to recognize and execute quality across:

  • Design aesthetics & brand

  • User experience (UX) & usability

  • Performance & responsiveness

  • Feature set & functionality

  • How everything integrates (systems thinking)

  • How it fits into GTM & business strategy

Differentiation

• If you’re building in a competitive market, you must stand out. Some ways to differentiate:

  • Be the cheapest (Walmart, Booking.com, Robinhood).

  • Be the highest quality (Apple, Tesla, Superhuman).

  • Be the most convenient (Uber, Figma, Dropbox).

  • Be the safest (Signal, Volvo, Apple).

  • Sell something proprietary (Airbnb, Netflix, Etsy).

  • Make people feel great (Nike, Patagonia).

  • Focus on a niche (OnlyFans, Chime, GOAT).

The first mile

• The first 30 seconds determine retention. If users don’t instantly understand what your product does and how it helps them, they’ll leave.

• A great first mile answers three questions instantly:

  • Why am I here?

  • What can I accomplish?

  • What should I do next?

• More than 30% of product effort should be focused on the first mile—even for mature products.

• Users are lazy, vain, and selfish in their first interaction. They won’t read instructions or explore—your product must pull them in immediately.

• Hooks matter. Every successful product has a hook—think of "Sign up in seconds and organize your life" or Instagram’s instant filters.

Do > Show > Explain

• Empower users to take action immediately.

• Instagram: Smart filters let users edit photos instantly—no learning curve.

• Paperless Post: Pre-made templates let users start without confusion.

• Great onboarding happens without users realizing they’re being onboarded.

Product prioritization and strategy

• Not all product improvements are equal. Focus on:

  • Features that drive retention (core value).

  • Features that remove friction (first mile experience).

  • Features that reinforce differentiation (why you win).

• Clarify your product’s “magic.” What’s the single, defining moment that makes users say “Whoa, this is amazing”?

  • Mixpanel: "Can we do arbitrary, retroactive analysis in under 3 seconds?"

  • Mighty: "Does it make users feel mind-blowingly fast?"

  • Uber: "Can we push a button and a car turns up in minutes?"

• Every screen should have three states. Many teams only focus on the regular state—don’t make this mistake:

  • Regular (default state)

  • Blank (first-time use, no data)

  • Error (something went wrong)

• Your product has a personality. Define it:

  • Polite or strict?

  • Playful or serious?

  • Trusting or paranoid?

  • A know-it-all or approachable?
    This should shape your copy, UI, and overall user experience.

• Signup & cancellation should be painless. Trust is built when users know they can leave easily.

• Maturity ≠ complexity. As your product grows, resist bloat—keep things simple.

• Work from large to small. Don’t get stuck tweaking button colors early—get the core product working first.

• Keep product teams small. Jeff Bezos’ “two-pizza rule” applies: If a team can’t be fed by two pizzas, it’s too big.

Talking to users

• Don’t just talk to your power users. Some of the most valuable insights come from users who tried your product and left.

• The best feedback comes from those who rejected your product—they’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong with it.

Final takeaways

• Simplicity wins, but maintaining it is hard.

• MVP = small in scope, focused, and exceptional.

• The first 30 seconds of user experience define retention.

• Users don’t read—let them take action immediately.

• Your product must always evolve, or you will lose.

• Talk to churned users—they’ll reveal your biggest problems.

• Word-of-mouth > ads. Make something worth talking about.