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A Smart Bear

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Articles from A Smart Bear

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A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

What is the value of one hour of a startup founder's time?

What is the value of one hour of a startup founder's time?
What is the value of one hour of a startup founder's time?

Startup founders undervalue their time. Here's why you should act like it's $1000/hr, and how it changes the decisions you make.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Lost confidence

Lost confidence
Lost confidence

RICE and other confidence-based frameworks are mostly noise. Here's how to make decisions without pretending to know the unknowable.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Worrying is self-fulfilling; what to do instead

Worrying is self-fulfilling; what to do instead
Worrying is self-fulfilling; what to do instead

Worrying makes things worse. Replace worry with preparation and strategic planning.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

How to hire people who are better than you

How to hire people who are better than you
How to hire people who are better than you

If you don't hire people better than you, the organization gets bigger, not better. But how do you hire for something you don't understand?

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Maybe not so much with the "optimization"

Maybe not so much with the "optimization"
Maybe not so much with the "optimization"

In the quest for optimization, A/B tests, metrics, and funnels, we're in danger of losing the fun and value of creative work.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Strategic choices: When both options are good

Strategic choices: When both options are good
Strategic choices: When both options are good

Real strategy means choosing between two good options and accepting all the consequences--even the painful ones you don't like.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

A compass is not a map

A compass is not a map
A compass is not a map

A compass tells you which way is north, not whether you should be heading north. So what is the map to startup success?

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Creating space

Creating space
Creating space

Do less, to create the space to be great.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Scaling by "delegation" isn't good enough

Scaling by "delegation" isn't good enough
Scaling by "delegation" isn't good enough

Delegation doesn't scale your business. What does: Creating a team that is better than the current team. Including you.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Mission, Vision, poTAYto, poTAHto

Mission, Vision, poTAYto, poTAHto
Mission, Vision, poTAYto, poTAHto

Mission, vision, purpose, BHAG. Are they useful north stars, or academic nonsense?

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

When being an "expert" is harmful

When being an "expert" is harmful
When being an "expert" is harmful

Expertise hinders learning. Learn from these examples, so that you leverage your expertise, but aren't blinded by it. Insights come from curiosity, not certainty.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Your target market isn't demographic

Your target market isn't demographic
Your target market isn't demographic

How to define your actual target market, which probably isn't traditional demographics and firmographics.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Yes, but who said they'd actually BUY the damn thing?

Yes, but who said they'd actually BUY the damn thing?
Yes, but who said they'd actually BUY the damn thing?

Have a great idea? Prove it by finding ten customers ready to hand over cash. Everything else is avoiding the truth.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Max MRR: Your growth ceiling

Max MRR: Your growth ceiling
Max MRR: Your growth ceiling

Your company will stop growing sooner than you think. The "Max MRR" metric predicts revenue plateaus based on churn and new revenue.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Specificity: A weapon of mass effectiveness

Specificity: A weapon of mass effectiveness
Specificity: A weapon of mass effectiveness

Want to write better? Swap generic words for specifics to make your text clear, powerful, engaging, and even funny.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Ruthless prioritization while the dog pees on the floor

Ruthless prioritization while the dog pees on the floor
Ruthless prioritization while the dog pees on the floor

Because time is zero-sum, prioritization is mandatory. This is an index of purpose-built prioritization frameworks, and an overarching one to optimize your life.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: ARPU/25

Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: ARPU/25
Bootstrapped CPC rule of thumb: ARPU/25

Bootstrapped and unsure about CPC? Use the rule of ARPU/25.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

More or less

More or less
More or less

You must select between three pricing strategies, and fully commit to their implications.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Rude Q&A: The constructive devil's advocate

Rude Q&A: The constructive devil's advocate
Rude Q&A: The constructive devil's advocate

Nothing clarifies things quite like a hyperactive, all-knowing, all-seeing, real asshole of a devil's advocate beating the living crap out of you.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

When customers buy your competitor's product… and then buy yours

When customers buy your competitor's product… and then buy yours
When customers buy your competitor's product… and then buy yours

Little, unknown companies with silly names can sell to enterprises who have already spent millions.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Invention is Drudgery

Invention is Drudgery
Invention is Drudgery

Having skipped to the last page of other people's books, we forget the rest of the journey. And, that we have to take that journey, too.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Product Purgatory: When they love it but still don't buy

Product Purgatory: When they love it but still don't buy
Product Purgatory: When they love it but still don't buy

When even "free" is too expensive.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

How to get customers who love you even when you screw up

How to get customers who love you even when you screw up
How to get customers who love you even when you screw up

Customers love you when you're honest, even about your foibles. We forgive honest mistakes from earnest people, not stolid, cold, inhuman corporations.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

SSEBITDA⁠--A steady-state profit metric for SaaS companies

SSEBITDA⁠--A steady-state profit metric for SaaS companies
SSEBITDA⁠--A steady-state profit metric for SaaS companies

How can a business that is "spending to grow" determine whether it's truly profitable underneath all that "revenue acceleration?" Here's a way.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Startup Exercise: What can't be solved with money?

Startup Exercise: What can't be solved with money?
Startup Exercise: What can't be solved with money?

What can't be solved with money, are the most valuable things.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Sometimes never compete on price

Sometimes never compete on price
Sometimes never compete on price

The difference between "low prices" as a race to the bottom or as a success story (like Amazon, Costco, IKEA, Vanguard) is in leveraging intentional weaknesses.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts

How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts
How to simplify complex decisions by cleaving the facts

Simplify complex decisions by separating upsides from downsides, investing in upsides, vetoing with downsides, and using an appropriate decision framework.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

All pretty models are wrong, but some ugly models are useful

All pretty models are wrong, but some ugly models are useful
All pretty models are wrong, but some ugly models are useful

Identifying useful frameworks for companies, strategy, markets, and organizations, instead of those that just look pretty in PowerPoint.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Reframing "Freemium" by charging the marketing department

Reframing "Freemium" by charging the marketing department
Reframing "Freemium" by charging the marketing department

Freemium means high costs, low conversion, and customer feedback dominated by the non-ideal customer. Treat it as a marketing expense to ensure ROI.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

The wrongness of relativism

The wrongness of relativism
The wrongness of relativism

Comparing yourself to other startups? Focus on yourself instead.