Tweets

@coreyhainesco Interesting to do a side-by-side analysis of what competitive products are doing.

I like putting common search term(s) in the H1 on the homepage.

It makes it really easy for someone looking for a tool to say: "Ah! Ok. I know what this is; this is what I'm looking for."

RT @mijustin: The biggest marketing mistake you can make happens *before* you've built the product:

🙅‍♂️ Choosing a category/problem where…

@CasJam @jdgraffam Congrats! 🎉

And exhale...

Before and after

(swipe down for after pic) https://twitter.com/wynnandrewj/status/1440316680391958533

@firstadopter I think “good ideas” are hard to come by.

The idea of paying to “unlock tweets” seems DOA to me.

Folks are just in a different mind-space here than they are on Patreon.

There’s not a strong “pull” for someone to want to see what’s behind the curtain of an exclusive tweet.

@seanwes (checks receipts)

Writing tweets
Recording podcasts
Making videos
Writing posts
Interacting in communities

Thinking, brainstorming, playing

@lovevalgeisler I’m not *great* at this, but for me, walking home from my office (30 mins) helps a lot.

@ianlandsman @m1guelpf @jhscott @clem_bdy @TylerMKing @tylertringas @nbashaw @TheVisitorsNFT @FWBtweets @tech0ptimist @megamaker @TransistorFM Um. Stocks are also heavily regulated.

I've been around a lot of MLM schemes before. I'm just telling you guys, this feels the same.

(Was also in some very cult-like religious groups; and honestly, the stuff I'm seeing in these chats follows the same hysteria)

@m1guelpf @jhscott @clem_bdy @TylerMKing @ianlandsman @tylertringas @nbashaw @TheVisitorsNFT @FWBtweets @tech0ptimist @megamaker @TransistorFM This is more than that. This is inflating a financial asset through hype and social triggers.

If you owned Transistor stock, and you "pumped and dumped" it, that would be illegal.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pumpanddump.asp

@m1guelpf @jhscott @clem_bdy @TylerMKing @ianlandsman @tylertringas @nbashaw @TheVisitorsNFT @FWBtweets @tech0ptimist @megamaker I'm seeing stuff like this in some NFT communities; it concerns me.

Feels very MLM.

@HighFiveRPG @AlbanBrooke Yeah! They turned out great. 👍

Looks like @NathanG and @jasonlbeggs had the solution! (Inside the @megamaker slack)

Thanks!

Hey, any @Netlify people who can help a dummy like me?

I'm using this plugin to generate a sitemap for @TransistorFM: https://github.com/netlify-labs/netlify-plugin-sitemap

But I need it to generate URLs with a trailing slash.

(Instructions say to edit the .toml file - I have no idea how to do that. 🙈)

Yikes. After the launch of Twitter’s Super Follows, users only spent $6,000 on the feature? 🙈

“Twitter doesn’t seem to know what its users need or want.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-09-22/twitter-ceo-jack-dorsey-s-new-product-strategy-is-off-to-a-rough-start

@BrendanOfEarth This is pretty close to how I think about it.

You can acquire them, and even get them to activate; but what keeps them coming back?

https://www.websitemagazine.com/blog/pirate-metrics-acquisition-activation-retention-referral-and-revenue-(aarrr)

@BrendanOfEarth Yes enterprise is different.

However, I’m making a distinction here between “activation” and “long-term, continuous use.”

But you’re right; in the enterprise a company can force their employees to use the product!

@jonathanstark Yup

@martinpilka I agree that this happens!

However, *using* a product is different than *payment*.

I’m specifically highlighting that we can’t provide the underlying motivation for someone to use our product.

It's hard (impossible?) to generate user motivation (a long-lasting desire to use a product consistently).

@PierreDeWulf 🥰

@brhea Yes! Reducing friction can help improve activation.

I’m not sure it can drive ongoing usage though?

I’m sure it helps, but the underlying push/pull seems to be mostly outside a product’s control.

@jonathanstark Investing effort in trying to motivate unmotivated customers to use your product is probably not worth it (inside the product or outside the product).

At least, I’ve never seen it work in self-serve SaaS.

I can probably nudge people; but I can’t provide the underlying pull.

@jozacks Not so much with Transistor; but with other SaaS companies I’ve worked with, yes.

Love the stuff @joshuaanderton is building for @meepsapp.

This new feature (collaborative lists / portfolios) solves a problem a lot of membership sites have.

(No more sharing Google Sheets!)

https://youtu.be/Sg41VXS6_-4

@hnshah @tylertringas @m1guelpf @TylerMKing @jhscott @nbashaw @TheVisitorsNFT @sirmitchell @FWBtweets @tech0ptimist @megamaker Wow. That's reductive.

FORGET NFTS! THIS IS WHAT I WANT.

https://infotel.ca/newsitem/west-kelowna-man-looking-for-new-conductor-to-take-over-10000-model-railroad-set/it85881

@tylertringas @m1guelpf @TylerMKing @jhscott @hnshah @nbashaw @TheVisitorsNFT @sirmitchell @FWBtweets @tech0ptimist 😮😮😮

(And some people think @megamaker is expensive! 🙈)

The challenge (for SaaS) is that the underlying desire has to be strong enough to consistently overcome inertia (month after month).

Some interesting nuance:

With web hosting, you generally only need to convince them once. Once the site is up, they'll pay for a long time.

@k_kristian @tylertringas The challenge is that the underlying desire has to be pretty strong to consistently overcome inertia.

You might convince people to come to the gym once with the promise of beer afterwards... but it has to work over and over again.

🎯

https://twitter.com/mjwhansen/status/1440396956681977859

@marcin_knows My guess is you're right. 😉

@RickieTicklez Just felt like: "I need it for these two things. It's already going to save me way more than $119.40 in time saved. I might need it for a few other things? Might as well just pay for premium."

(Mostly, $119.40 felt like a no-brainer)

I imagine, for Canva, that's a pretty regular cycle:

People need it for a project; subscribe.
Project ends; they let their subscription expire.
Need it for another project; re-subscribe.

They can create more templates that match more use-cases, but they can't create motivation.

Example:

I signed up for Canva in 2015, and used it a ton.

But in the last few years, I've let my usage slip. They sent lots of prompts to reengage me, but none "moved me" to use it.

Last week, I had a project that needed it. Instant motivation! I paid $119.40 to reactivate.

@mydigitalself @SliteHQ But what about retention?

In my experience, getting folks to "activate" (sign up for a trial) isn't super hard. But motivating them to actually record a podcast episode, edit it, and upload it? That's hard. 😄

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1440391601868578822

@tylertringas Yes! That's pretty good.

The only problem is that there's a sliding scale of what "want" means.

I might want to get fit, but not have the motivation to go to the gym.

I might want a good DSLR (and buy it!) but I just end up using my iPhone because it's more practical.

This is the larger (meta) point I'm making:

Better onboarding, UX, activation is not going to solve anything if there's an underlying motivation problem.

The driving factor for activation + retention is almost always: "how badly do people want this?"

https://twitter.com/DanielZarick/status/1440371090774126602

@PierreDeWulf Yes. I agree with you there. 💯

That's different than what I'm talking about: at a core level, it's hard (impossible?) to generate user motivation (a long-lasting desire to use a product consistently).

@DanielZarick @louisnicholls_ Agree with both of these points. Making a larger (meta) point: https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1440369651117006861

I agree with this. Good points. 👍 https://twitter.com/destraynor/status/1440366977806045188

Motivated people will learn incredibly complicated/unfriendly software (VIM, Photoshop, Pro Tools).

I’m not saying we shouldn’t be trying to make user-friendly software!

I’m just saying that it’s incredibly difficult for us, as software makers, to provide/create motivation.

@AndyBeard What’s interesting is that motivated people will learn incredibly complicated/unfriendly software (VIM, Photoshop, Pro Tools).

There’s probably not much you can do inside your product to motivate people to use it more.

People have to feel that pull themselves; they’re being motivated by a consistent problem or desire in their lives.

I’m not convinced that startups can solve for the “customers signing up and not using the product” problem.

The motivation to use a product seems completely based on the forces in someone’s life.

That “pull” has to be consistent/strong enough to translate into regular usage.

RT @annehelen: There's a tendency to view whatever those fully distributed companies are doing as weird or "not for us" but you know what e…

@thisisbrians @nickwritesit @hnshah Yes!

@trevortombe PPC took a lot of votes?

@typeoneerror Good to know!

@asmartbear Yup!

You haven’t lived until you’ve had your 12 year-old put you in a headlock and make you beg for mercy.

@EshanMathur This is helpful! Thank you! 🙏

@iChris It’s the only way I can DM him and get his attention, lol.

He ignores SMS? 🤷‍♂️

Here’s him explaining on video.

(Yes, my son’s voice is way lower than mine 😂)

Any Unity devs out there?

My 16 year-old has some questions. 😅

@ianlandsman Whoa! Was that your sale?

That’s big $$$

@GeoffTRoberts @hnshah It's probably @kevinrose?

@thisisbrians @nickwritesit @hnshah You said "learning HTML also used to be confusing."

That's just not true.

Also: I remember teaching friends to write HTML without a computer, on paper. Incredibly simple to teach/learn.

@thisisbrians @nickwritesit @hnshah You're comparing learning HTML to crypto?!?

Learning HTML was easy! That was the whole attraction/point!

<html>
<body>
<p>Hello! My name is <blink>Justin</blink></p>
</body>
</html>

@NoCodeJac @hnshah Lots of folks look at the avatar, or have "avatar recognition."

This is a long-recognized phenomena: @rrhoover/why-i-never-change-my-profile-pic-72de0daa2785" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://medium.com/@rrhoover/why-i-never-change-my-profile-pic-72de0daa2785

@hnshah @TylerMKing @tylertringas @nbashaw @m1guelpf Again, I *was* early:

- to usenet
- to ANSI art, and the demoscene
- to BBSes
- to fidonet
- to trading GIFs and binaries
- to the shareware scene
- to the web and HTML
- to web 2.0

I know how it feels to be early.

But this NFT stuff doesn't feel the same to me.

@earthlingworks I'll take that bet. 💰

It's like: "Who are you, again? Do we know each other? Have we met?"

Imagine that Twitter is a house party.

Just a regular party: everyone’s dressed normally, having drinks, talking about stuff.

Inexplicably, a bunch of dudes show up dressed as mascots.

“Hey everyone! We’re here!”

Not saying we can’t adjust for that, but it feels super weird.

@hnshah @nbashaw I think it's still possible to be curious, and engage in transformative criticism.

I've dipped my toe in here and there (I have an old crypto wallet from 4-5 years ago), and I just got my first @m1guelpf tokens in my Rainbow wallet.

Curious; but can't fully embrace yet.

@hnshah I like @nbashaw's take:
https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1437857391136051202

Just voted in 🇨🇦 #Elxn44

🟩 I voted for Andrea Gunner, @okshuswapgreens

I was impressed with her openness to new ideas, and thoughtfulness throughout her campaign.

After watching the debates, it was clear she would be an incredible representative for #vernonbc in Ottawa.

@hnshah @TonyDancaster @rrhoover/why-i-never-change-my-profile-pic-72de0daa2785" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://medium.com/@rrhoover/why-i-never-change-my-profile-pic-72de0daa2785

@hnshah Well, except y'all are here at the Twitter party and I can't tell who any of you are! 🤣

@noahwbragg As far as “profile recognition technology” goes, it feels like a regression.

This new NFT-avatar trend is like someone saying “yo, meet me at the costume party, I’ll be dressed as a lion,” and when you arrive EVERYONE IS DRESSED LIKE A LION.

@pradeephenry @staydecent The question is, who do want doing that scrutiny:

Armchair experts on the internet?

or

Experts who have dedicated their lives (going to university, doing research, working in the field) to that discipline?

Just answered these questions:

"What kinds of podcasts are doing well right now?"
"What are good podcast categories/topics to pick?"

https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting/comments/prwjlx/im_the_cofounder_of_transistorfm_podcast_hosting/hdlylh1/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

The mods of /r/podcasting said I could do an AMA today!

https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting/comments/prwjlx/im_the_cofounder_of_transistorfm_podcast_hosting/

Head over and ask me your podcasting questions. 🙏

RT @mijustin: When people get deathly ill, they don’t get treatment from their pastor, politician, Nicki Minaj, Joe Rogan, or Bret Weinstei…

@JamesCridland @Podnews Was the audio still up, in an existing feed!? 😮

That’s impressive!

@valsopi As far as “profile recognition technology” goes, these Apes and Lions feel like a regression. 🤪

@magdalenakala @hnshah It’s also reasonable to challenge a claim (or burgeoning movement).

Shifting away from the status-quo has real world effects, which can be positive, benign, or negative.

It’s worth exploring the underlying assumptions, and possible outcomes.

Transformative criticism FTW.

@rskopecek I agree. I think having a proper conception of science is key. https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1432068592246444035

@rskopecek The hand washing scenario doesn’t seem to exemplify a system plagued by ego, power, and profit, but rather, a system that progressively updated its beliefs based on a proven hypothesis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK144018/

@OmayraIssa 😔

@emd Tell stories.

Here’s one from me:

I personally know a vaccine-hesitant father from my area who is now intubated and fighting for his life in a Vancouver ICU bed.

He has young daughters, and his prognosis is grim.

It’s heartbreaking. 💔

@rskopecek What’s a reasonable example of a systemic breakdown of the process due to ego, power, and profit seeking?

@staydecent Ultimately, any research needs to be evaluated (on several levels: statistical accuracy, methodological, etc) by a groups of experts, and related institutions.

So far, even the most pedestrian review of ivermectin research reveals that more is needed.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/jul/16/huge-study-supporting-ivermectin-as-covid-treatment-withdrawn-over-ethical-concerns

@staydecent Unfortunate that Mark Humpfries doesn’t offer an alternative to peer review in that article? 🤷‍♂️

What’s the alternative? “Be like Einstein?”

@staydecent Yup.

But so far the FLCC hasn’t proven that they’re doing good science.

It’s not just government approval they’re lacking, they haven’t been published in Frontier (or any other journal from what I can see).

https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/frontiers-removes-controversial-ivermectin-paper-pre-publication-68505

@staydecent The peer-review for FLCC (both from government and scientific journals) is not looking good. 😬

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Front_Line_COVID-19_Critical_Care_Alliance

@staydecent That’s the beauty of the peer-review process: it exposes bad ideas, bias, political influence, and mistakes.

It’s not perfect, but it’s the best system we’ve found.

Any scientist can do “discourse;” but they’re not all doing real research.

https://time.com/5709691/why-trust-science/

You know that saying: “eventually your heroes will do something that disappoints you?”

The *same* is true with individuals in science and medicine.

Individuals are fallible; they make errors!

That’s the beauty of the peer-review process: it exposes bad ideas and mistakes.

@ProfeLuke @secos Fauci is the messenger.

He’s communicating the best available knowledge that’s come out of the scientific process. https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1432068592246444035

What’s great about science is that every claim has to be evaluated and independently replicated, multiple times.

Science doesn’t care about the “cult of the individual.” It doesn’t matter how well-known/popular an expert is.

You can’t make a claim based on reputation alone.

@staydecent Science doesn’t care about the “cult of the individual.” It doesn’t matter how well-known a doctor is.

What’s great about science is that every claim has to be evaluated and independently replicated, multiple times.

You can’t make a claim based on reputation alone.

@ProfeLuke @secos Science doesn’t care about the “cult of the individual.” It doesn’t matter how well-known a doctor is.

What’s great about science is that every claim has to be evaluated and independently replicated, multiple times.

You can’t make a claim based on reputation alone.

@msurguy For some, the cognitive dissonance is so strong.

It is possible for people to change their minds, but it typically happens slowly.

@ProfeLuke @secos Put your stats hat on.

Those doctors, and those treatments, are outliers.

Statistically, and scientifically, they are insignificant (at least until they go through the process of rigorous review)

When you go to the emergency room, they’re not treating you with fringe theories.

When people get deathly ill, they don’t get treatment from their pastor, politician, Nicki Minaj, Joe Rogan, or Bret Weinstein.

They go to the hospital.

They seek out doctors because, deep down, they know that medical expertise (based on science) is their best chance at life.

@gilesvangruisen I don’t think Josh (nor I) is staying that conclusion.

Props for recognizing that "building a team with part-time contractors" wasn't working, and talking about it publicly. 👍

Founders often take cues from each other ("dang, should I be building my company like that?").

It's nice to see the results from real-world experiments. https://twitter.com/Shpigford/status/1437553757651415043

RT @mijustin: Ways to grow professionally:

- Podcast
- Give a talk
- Write a blog
- Take a course
- Ask for a raise
- Go to meetups
- Get…