Tweets

I’m not sure it’s always healthy to “try to find the joy in every journey.”

Some journeys suck!

But it sure is nice to arrive somewhere better.

It’s amazing that thousands of individuals can have a similar desire, search for a solution, and then all end up using the same product.

There are a myriad of reasons this happens (that go beyond “build a good product”).

If potential customers aren't already in motion (at some scale), then it's probably not a market worth pursuing for bootstrappers.

One of my favorite places to discover new narrative podcasts is @podysseyapp.

When I scroll down, I get some solid recommendations:

- “fans also like”
- “featured in playlists”
- “more from Witness Docs”

Nice. 👍

I just finished @witnessdocs’ excellent “Unfinished: Short Creek” podcast series.

Often, after listening to a great series like this, my question is: “how can I find more shows like this?”

🤔 That’s a good question. Let’s look at the current state of podcast recommendations. 👉

Thanks so much for choosing Transistor. It means a lot to me! ❤️ https://twitter.com/matthewhirschey/status/1337735347724234757

Is this SF exodus really happening?

And many are going to MIAMI?

Folks have been leaving for Portland and Austin for years. But Miami?

Feels sudden. https://twitter.com/maccaw/status/1336056380894015488

The only thing that compares is a one-time sale product (course, book, downloadable software) that does massive revenue when it launches, and then consistent sales in the years that follow.

(Without needing a lot of re-launching, complex sales funnels, or CPC ads)

In modern society, there’s pressure to commit to doing too many things:

- practice days for kids’ activities
- phone calls and meetings
- volunteering obligations
- demanding careers
- home projects
- side projects

When these things crowd out our margin, we lose ourselves.

We need to be very careful what we say “yes” to, because each “yes” creates an obligation (and often, stress).

@petersuhm Is “drill” a euphemism? 😅

Or are people literally doing construction every night?

🎯 @chrislema nails it here:

"At the end of the day, a customer defines the value. And your job is to do the hard work to figure out where that value sits."

@coreyhainesco @BrendanHufford @Julian I think having enough + margin has been the most freeing for me.

"Just enough" is like having "just enough" tread on your tires, pads on your brakes, or gas in your engine.

Having margin has been so freeing.

🎯 100% https://twitter.com/derrickreimer/status/1328734505729814528

@nathanbarry Spotify = YouTube
@TransistorFM = Wistia

Jon just wrote a great thread on this: https://twitter.com/yongfook/status/1328158996168015877

@CasJam For me it’s “Killing in the Name of”

@thewatts @TransistorFM Yes! 🙌

I went full-time in April 2019.
Jon went full-time in August 2019.

Now, we're both making more than we did in our previous tech roles. 🎉

Here's my 2019 year-in-review:
https://justinjackson.ca/2019-review

Keep in mind, it's not just features that pull people to buy.

Sometimes people buy just because they like your brand more (even if your product is only marginally better).

🍅 Heinz Ketchup > No Name Ketchup

Branding can be a big moat.

The customer's "desire + ability to pay" also encapsulates things like LTV, churn, CAC, etc.

If folks have the desire + ability to pay, they'll:

- keep paying for a long time
- pay prices that create margin
- be reasonably affordable to acquire + keep

@JackEllis THRASHER MAGAZINE?!? 😮

@Shpigford I was hoping for something more like “I designed Michael W Smith’s website in 1998.”

@JanelSGM @Mike_Andreuzza @felix12777 This is incredible. I’d pay to have something similar for SaaS. “SaaS Marketing OS”

(Although... I’d have to start using Notion. 🤔)

@yongfook I can’t really comment on this; I’ve never had a successful pivot! 😅

To me ideas (and business) have always felt like choosing the right fork in the river: some streams just move faster.

@yongfook The risk with overemphasizing "execution" is it deludes people into thinking that if they work hard enough, they can make any idea successful.

Your floor, and potential ceiling, are determined by the idea itself.

But, every once in awhile, you'll meet someone who is your creative equal.

They're just as talented (and passionate) as you but they're good at a lot of the stuff you're bad at.

In these cases, you get to experience the multiplier effect.

1 + 1 ≠ 2

1 + 1 = 10000x better

(The whole conversation on @CasJam and @JordanGal's podcast is worth listening to: http://bootstrappedweb.com/talkin-shop-with-ian-landsman/)

@digitaltrouble If you have substantial savings, and no dependents, it can really help accelerate the business to have blocks of focused time.

@Shpigford @TalktoHenryJ (Family of 6 here)

We gave up trying to find a long-range EV that would fit the full family.

We replaced our Honda Fit (that we used for most trips) with a Model 3.

But we kept our mini-van for trips where we need everyone in the same vehicle.

Continuing my @NathanTankus binge.

Super interesting idea: provide a sort of “universal basic income” to businesses.

https://nathantankus.substack.com/p/why-dont-we-just-provide-an-emergency

@jasonlk I’d drive this far

"What do you think about the CRM/PM/Metrics market?"

It doesn't matter what I think. 😉

What matters is:

- how have you seen demand demonstrated in that market?
- what gaps exist that nobody else is serving?
- what strengths, skills, and connections do you bring to the table?

🔭 You should look for demonstrated demand, but that doesn't mean it will be obvious or easy to spot!

👉 Most likely, you'll spot opportunities in spaces you're already spending time in.

👀 Look for folks demonstrating effort (time or money) who haven't found a good solution.

(Hat tip to @alanklement for the concept of "willingness to pay")

https://twitter.com/alanklement/status/1305947004602920962

Talk about depreciating assets!

CNET gets marked down $1.3 billion, and is sold by Viacom for $500 million.

https://variety.com/2020/digital/news/cnet-viacomcbs-sells-red-ventures-1234768810/

A few folks are asking for my camera + settings:

I have a Panasonic Lumix G7 plugged in all the time (HDMI out into a Camlink 4K in my iMac).

I ended up going with these settings:
- 4K, 24 fps
- AFS autofocus
- Photo style: "Natural" (nothing custom for now)

@noahwbragg @mattwensing @arvidkahl @AndyGCook @mubashariqbal @iOvrThoughtThis @louisnicholls_ Lol.

There needs to be an automated trigger on Twitter that detects a debate thread and automatically schedules a podcast chat. 😜

“Category creation is much harder and costlier than it seems.

The hard part is moving the market — the buyers and their purchasing behavior — with you to the new category. Until then, you’re not a king; you’re just the mayor of a one-person town.”

– @grigoriy_kogan

We might not even need customer interviews/surveys:

The actions that people take (ie. how they spend their money) show us their revealed preference. 😉

It's what they *do* that matters (not what they say).

Most of us will have very little influence over what masses of people want.

(Maybe the best hucksters can fool people once, but it's not repeatable)

There many factors that influence demand (and most are out of our control): government policy, culture, economy, pandemics, etc.

@calebporzio Compaq 486DX Turbo

@itsjustamar Your idea (the market you choose + the concept behind your solution) matters more than how you execute it.

Thoughtful comments from @brhea on luck here:

https://overcast.fm/+TYgQkbEAw/03:51

Hot day! 🥵

105 F (41 C) in #vernonbc today.

(Thankfully, humidity here is low)

Now, a question:

Is the needle “the product” or “the distribution channel?” 💉🤔

@jonhainstock @CasJam @TransistorFM @ProductHunt @IndieHackers Based on Nathan’s experience at ConvertKit, we knew we wanted to try affiliates. That’s worked out well.

I also knew (from speaking with @earthlingworks) that SEO would be big for us (“it’s similar to web hosting.”)

@zavzen Yes. Biggest channels seem to be:

1. SEO
2. Content (podcast, blog, video)
2. Personal brands (founder + affiliates)
4. Usage as marketing (other people running into the product during its use-case)

@coreyhainesco @ljin18 @TransistorFM 💯 Don't sleep on Transistor!

@joecampo @ianlandsman Cool cool.

Next time a trillion-dollar company (with enormous power) clamps down on you with a draconian policy, I'll just leave you be.

Trust me: eventually, this will happens to you.

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1274122944667516929

The Community Safety Officer program has been running since 2015, is well trained, and interfaces with the community without weapons or charges.

It is now being expanded throughout the Yukon:

https://www.yukon-news.com/news/community-safety-officer-program-could-be-on-the-brink-of-expansion-in-the-yukon-coordinator-says/

“This is not just something for you to ‘react to’ this month because ‘you’re a good person and what’s happening is so sad.’ If you truly begin to understand how deep and systemic this is, you’ll do the work.” – @akutamatata333

https://link.medium.com/UoTuxyji16

“Protest is never supposed to create peace for perpetrators. It’s confronting the issue: murder with impunity at the hands of publicly funded police forces.” – @AkilahObviously

@msitver @awilkinson 💯

My hunch is that Spotify did pay $100 - 200 million for a multi-year license; the previous guesses about Joe’s annual podcast income were too high.

More likely: he was earning $10 million / year.

In that context, the Spotify deal makes sense.

https://www.reddit.com/r/JoeRogan/comments/6r6gnt/michael_bisping_on_joe_rogans_earnings_from/

It's ironic that analysts are assuming Spotify's vertical integration will somehow be the death knell for Apple Podcasts and RSS when Joe Rogan built his empire purely on those platforms (and 0% on Spotify).

190 million downloads/month. Hosted on Libysn. Distributed on iTunes.

@ianlandsman Having exclusive content on Spotify feels more similar to Netflix/Prime Video/Disney+ etc…

People will maintain multiple services, and go to the platform that has the show they want.

@seanwes I pay for:

Newsletters:
Divinations (@nbashaw)
HotPod (@nwquah)
Podnews (@JamesCridland)

Podcasts:
Making Sense (@SamHarrisOrg)
Sleep with Me (@dearestscooter)
Happy Dev (@jbrooksuk)

Comics
Incredible Doom (@MatthewBogart)

News sites:
NYT
Washington Post

@Shpigford You need to go for a long drive in the country man! It’ll be good for your soul.

Execution comes next.

But the results of your execution hinge on how good your original idea was.

How clear was your initial observation?

How correct was your hunch?

Full interview here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/04/arts/television/jerry-seinfeld-netflix.html?referringSource=articleShare

When an author says: “I have an idea for my next book” the success of that book largely depends on the concept they’ve chosen.

The same is true in business.

We underestimate the power of a good idea.

Most of the future potential for success is contained within the idea itself.

Of course you need to *do the work* to move forward. But the idea determines your direction and momentum.

@awilkinson I still have one:

https://justinjackson.ca

@AlbanBrooke @david_perell Yup, I’ve been banging on this drum for awhile. 😜

It’s unfortunate that @pmarca hasn’t (historically) lead by example, at least not in a way that matches this rhetoric.

Hopefully, @a16z will start investing in the real-world projects that Marc talks about in this piece.

I like that @pmarca is challenging both governments and businesses to build.

We can’t solve our problems solely relying on businesses, or solely relying on government.

We need both to invest massively in R&D and capital projects – no more tax cuts or share buybacks!

@tylertringas Yup. This is now being widely reported: the program is out of money (and many small community banks weren’t even able to get going with it).

https://justinjackson.ca/main-street-fights-back

How will things get back to normal?

Here’s a realistic preview of our options, and how we might move forward from here.

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/04/pandemic-summer-coronavirus-reopening-back-normal/609940/

@jasonfried 🤦‍♂️

(Yes, we used Skype. We're "old.")

@lukaszkups Hahaha. I've been copying and pasting big Ds all week. 😅

Just got off an incredible call with @CorbettBarr.

We talked about how we're handling these challenging times (personally, and with our businesses).

He's going to publish it on the @Fizzle podcast next Tuesday.

Subscribe here:
https://fizzle.co/show

@Mattylantz @stauffermatt @calebporzio @jackmcdade Ok. First, you’ll need this setup so you can walk around your house (and up and down stairs).

And, as expected, the established remote tools are likely doing well:

- Chat: Slack
- Video: Zoom, @whereby
- Projects: Clubhouse, Notion, Basecamp

I forgot to mention other platforms that enable creators like Patreon and @TryGhost.

They’re seeing more signups too.

@taylorotwell @adamwathan 🐣🌊🐤

@wilburpowery Sleep tight!

I hope this message means Canada is going to implement more extreme measures to combat #COVID19.

#COVIDCanada

https://twitter.com/justintrudeau/status/1239264950138351616?s=21 https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau/status/1239264950138351616

#microconf just announced they’ve cancelled their April conference.

A hard decision to make, but the right one. 👍

http://microconf.com/covid19

To celebrate @studiofellow's launch of @mod_dot today, I'm going to be doing a few live landing page teardowns.

(Mod&Dot allows you to do rapidly redesign any page, show copy edits and share ideas all in the browser.)

Have a landing page you want me to look at? Reply here!

Original poll is here if you want to contribute to my midlife crisis:

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1235069654793519104

@aprildunford One of my biggest frustrations!

Canadian business banking is terrible in terms of:
- features
- knowledgeable service
- pricing

(Especially for entrepreneurs who deal in USD currency!)

Anyone have a source for this stat @Kasparov63 provides in this @WIRED piece?

“When you look at the statistics, only 4 percent of jobs in the US require human creativity.”

https://www.wired.com/story/defeated-chess-champ-garry-kasparov-made-peace-ai/

Demand grows on its own, influenced by a variety of factors, until it reaches a tipping point, at which point companies build things that satisfy that demand.

“No pattern is an isolated entity. Each pattern exists in the world only to the extent that is supported by other patterns: larger patterns in which it is embedded, the patterns of the same size that surround it, and the smaller patterns which are embedded in it.” – C. Alexander

No newsletter today, but I’ve been working on something for next Saturday.

http://justinjackson.ca/newsletter

@petersuhm @arvidkahl @TransistorFM I like to think more in terms of:
“Who wants this today?”

https://justinjackson.ca/build

@tylertringas Yes! This includes blindly following advice from founders (including jackasses like me).

“Charge more!”
“Don’t target a niche!”
“Credit card up front!”

Folks should feel more free to do things that go against the “common wisdom.”

Do what works. ✌️

Here, @nbashaw and I explore this idea further:

"Your product has to be in the main flow of what people need." – Nathan

In some product categories (email), the “main thing” is so big (Gmail), that you can build an ancillary add-on (Clearbit) and do well.

But in many categories, the market’s just not big enough to create that level of demand. Everyone orders the entree, but nobody orders dessert.

@Shpigford Love this stuff.

@dotNetkow @dhh @TransistorFM @reworkpodcast @Ionicframework Thanks Matt! ❤️

@Shopify @tobi Likewise, @stripe (under @patrickc's leadership), has committed to "purchase negative CO2 emissions at any price per tCO2, starting immediately."

https://stripe.com/en-ca/blog/negative-emissions-commitment

@m1guelpf Yes!!!

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS CEREAL

@noahkagan Yup.

Holds true in politics, in business, in love, and in life.

Lol. So true! https://twitter.com/soundslikecanoe/status/1209135097129132039

@rrhoover @StuartBlitz @SoftBank if there’s a wave pool I’m in 🌊

Related:

https://twitter.com/mijustin/status/1200127940115062785