Podcast Notes Playlist: Business

Automattic editor Mark Armstrong turns the interview table on our host, Matt Mullenweg, to discuss how Automattic became one of the biggest fully distributed companies in the world.

Externalities let you account for the true cost of products by including hidden costs like environmental damage.

What future income is worth today by applying a discount to its future value.

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways

• The top reasons why a product fails:
  • It’s too complicated – simplicity is king
  • It doesn’t spread by word-of-mouth
  • It doesn’t take advantage of the power of iteration
  • The founder is too fearful of creating something novel
  • It’s not launched into a community
• Worship your early adopters
  • “They are everything. They’ll take you to the highest of highs, they’ll show you the way, and they’ll help explain the product to friends. They’ll do your work for you, but you have to go and find those people.” – Brian Norgard
• Your product has to stand for something. If you don’t know what that is, your customer certainly won’t know what that is either.
  • When you put your product into the market and take a stance – hold that line
• “One of the things you learn about developing products is that if your aim is to make all your users happy, you will fail“ – Brian Norgard

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org

Brian Norgard is the Former Chief Product Officer at the top-grossing mobile app in the world, Tinder. In less than 3 years, Tinder created over $11Bn in market value and with Brian's creation of Tinder Gold, Superlike and Boost, the platform has seen over 200m downloads and created millions of matches. Prior to Tinder, Brian founded Tappy, a mobile messaging application backed by Kleiner Perkins and acquired by Tinder. Before that, Brian built one of the fastest-growing Facebook applications in history (Chill) which reached over 30MM people. Fun fact about Brian also, at 25, Brian was the youngest GM/VP in the history of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp after the acquisition of his first company Newroo where he served as the GM of MySpace News. If that was not enough, Brian is also a prolific angel investor with investments in Tesla, SpaceX, AngelList and Coinmine.

In Today’s Episode You Will Learn:

1.) How Brian made his way into the world of startups and came to be the youngest VP at News Corp at the tender age of 25? How did that lead to his becoming CRO then CPO @ Tinder?

2.) What is the No 1 reason that products fail today? What can founders and designers do to retain the simplicity of product over time? How does complexity change the product experience? Why does Brian believe that product experience is an art? Bring in science, to what extent does Brian believe testing and iteration is key to success in product? How does one know how long is enough time to test for vs too short and not enough data?

3.) When thinking about distribution, what does Brian look for in the way that people describe a product to their friend? How does Brian think that the most successful products bake distribution into the core user behaviour? How does Brian think about community building around product? Who has done this best in Brian's mind?

4.) How should the very best founders and product people think about product risk? How can they know when to use risk to their advantage vs be mindful of excessive risk? On the features themselves, how important is it for a product to be 10x cheaper/faster etc? Why does Brian believe that is largely VC jargon?

5.) What were Brian's biggest takeaways from launching Tinder Gold and seeing Tinder become the Top Grossing App in the world? How does that sort of event also impact the team? How does Brian think about whether one should celebrate those moments or push forward to the next goal?

Items Mentioned In Today’s Show:

Brian’s Fave Book: The Old Man and The Sea

As always you can follow Harry, The Twenty Minute VC and Brian on Twitter here!

Likewise, you can follow Harry on Instagram here for mojito madness and all things 20VC.

Smart executives and business owners know that harnessing the power of AI, embracing the cloud, and prioritizing cybersecurity are the cornerstones of growth. Every day, Wrike helps thousands of companies worldwide do this by revolutionizing how they approach work. Our secure, automated,cloud-based work management tool helps businesses future proof their cultures and evolve fast. How? Wrike ‘s award-winning, collaborative, all-company platform keeps everything in one easily-accessible space. Time to embrace next-gen work management at the executive level and encourage lean thinking from the top down. With Wrike, crushing your objectives and mitigating risks at scale is a cinch. Give Wrike a try for free.

A lot of people are willing to pay more than what companies charge.

Charge people for extras based on their propensity to pay.

Life gets a lot easier when you know someone’s got your back.

Improve your leverage in negotiations by turning short-term relationships into long-term ones.

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews Scott Kupor.

Kupor is the managing partner at Andreessen Horowitz where he is responsible for all operational aspects of running the firm. He has been with the firm since its inception in 2009 and has overseen its rapid growth, from three employees to 150+ and from $300 million in assets under management to more than $10 billion. Kupor served as Chairman of the Board of the National Venture Capital Association (2017-2018). He is the author of the national bestselling book Secrets of Sand Hill Road: Venture Capital and How to Get It.

Podcast Notes Key Takeaways

• Being average sucks… except when it comes to investing
  • An average annual return of 8% will get you rich over a long enough time scale
• You should be taking advantage of an employer-sponsored 401k
  • There are tax benefits for one
  • To add – It’s all about compound interest: contributing a few hundred bucks a month at an 8% annual return adds up to HUGE savings by the time you’re 60-70
• If you have a financial advisor you’re paying a 1% fee to, you’re potentially losing up to 28% of your annual return
  • This could add up to millions over the course of your lifetime
• Whether it’s going to college or buying a house, always be skeptical when someone says – “You NEED to do X”
• Ramit’s take on Bitcoin/crypto:
  • “If you have a beautiful portfolio, have your asset allocation dialed in, and you have a little extra money and want to put 5-10% of it in crypto… be my guest
  • “But to go around saying crypto is the best investment and you’re a Luddite if you don’t invest in it… is ridiculous”
  • “I think very few people in America should own Bitcoin unless it’s part of a diversified portfolio or any other speculative asset”

Read the full notes @ podcastnotes.org

Ramit Sethi's is the only person who will tell you exactly how to improve your behavior about money. He's direct. No BS. He's very honest about "the one thing you have to focus on to become a millionaire."

You'll learn that in this episode. You'll also hear our heated debates about when and HOW to stop paying your credit card debt, what makes your 401K a (potential) scam, how to get rid of your financial stress, who should invest in crypto. And more.

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Also check out part 1. You'll learn how to stop having so much fear around money. So you can embrace the possibility and opportunities you have to make and spend money in a way that actually makes you feel like you're living.

 

I write about all my podcasts! Check out the full post and learn what I learned at jamesaltucher.com/podcast.

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