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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

Satisficing vs Maximizing

Satisficing vs Maximizing
Satisficing vs Maximizing

Fast, or Best? Choose your decision-making goal wisely, especially if you're a natural perfectionist.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Using the Needs Stack for competitive strategy

Using the Needs Stack for competitive strategy
Using the Needs Stack for competitive strategy

This simple method positions your product to be more valuable, especially against competitors who aim to disrupt you, or you them.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

In its emptiness, there is the function of a startup

In its emptiness, there is the function of a startup
In its emptiness, there is the function of a startup

Everything about a startup changes over time. The few things that don't, are its essence. The voyage is meaningless, unless you decide what those things are.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Willingness-to-pay: Creating permanent competitive advantage for the right reasons

Willingness-to-pay: Creating permanent competitive advantage for the right reasons
Willingness-to-pay: Creating permanent competitive advantage for the right reasons

This fresh take on "Willingness-to-Pay" analyzes three types of customer motivation, leading to superior strategies for growth that also better the world.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

You can have two Big Things, but not three

You can have two Big Things, but not three
You can have two Big Things, but not three

No you can't "have it all." You can have two things, but not three.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

More money if you do, more money if you don't

More money if you do, more money if you don't
More money if you do, more money if you don't

A business always takes more money than you expect, even when you take this fact into account. Here's why.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

What a startup does to you. Or: A celebration of new life

What a startup does to you. Or: A celebration of new life
What a startup does to you. Or: A celebration of new life

A startup is a crucible -- a fiery place that tests your limits, not by probing them but by violently exceeding them, all of the time. It's worth it.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

How repositioning a product allows you to 8x its price

How repositioning a product allows you to 8x its price
How repositioning a product allows you to 8x its price

You can charge much more than you think, if you reposition your value-proposition. Here's how.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

When you want to quit because it's just not worth it

When you want to quit because it's just not worth it
When you want to quit because it's just not worth it

Are you crying in the shower because you can't handle it anymore? Beyond Impostor Syndrome: Complete melt-down? Well, at least you're in good company.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Excuse me, is there a problem?

Excuse me, is there a problem?
Excuse me, is there a problem?

Many startups fail despite identifying a real problem and building a product that solves that problem. This explains why, so you can avoid their fate.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

When should a decision be fast, or slow?

When should a decision be fast, or slow?
When should a decision be fast, or slow?

Decisions should usually be made quickly, to accelerate action and learning. But sometimes it really is smarter to take your time. Here's how to decide.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Pricing determines your business model

Pricing determines your business model
Pricing determines your business model

Pricing is inextricably linked to brand, product, and purchasing decisions. It cannot be "figured out later," because it determines your business model today.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Navigating the unpredictability of everything

Navigating the unpredictability of everything
Navigating the unpredictability of everything

We dramatically, repeatedly fail to predict the future. Does that mean "strategy" is senseless? No, it means you need these techniques to navigate a volatile world.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Finding Fulfillment

Finding Fulfillment
Finding Fulfillment

What creates a fulfilling existence? Exploration leads to a framework I've used for years for myself and the people around me. I hope it helps you too.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

The Iterative-Hypothesis customer development method

The Iterative-Hypothesis customer development method
The Iterative-Hypothesis customer development method

A simple but effective system, used to vet what is now a Unicorn, for generating insights about how your potential customers think, what they need, and what they'll buy.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

JIT selection from independent streams: An alternative to the "big backlog" of work

JIT selection from independent streams: An alternative to the "big backlog" of work
JIT selection from independent streams: An alternative to the "big backlog" of work

The vaunted "single-threaded, ordered list" confuses "prioritization" with "work-planning," and forces comparisons of the un-comparable. Here's the solution.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Rocks, Pebbles, Sand: How to implement in practice

Rocks, Pebbles, Sand: How to implement in practice
Rocks, Pebbles, Sand: How to implement in practice

This complete work-prioritization framework builds on the simplistic "Rocks, Pebbles, Sand" analogy, adding the details you need in the real world.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Binstack: Making a maximal multi-dimensional decision

Binstack: Making a maximal multi-dimensional decision
Binstack: Making a maximal multi-dimensional decision

Binstack is a technique for selecting the "single most impactful" solution when there are multiple, incomparable dimensions to evaluate.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Fermi ROI: Fixing the ROI rubric

Fermi ROI: Fixing the ROI rubric
Fermi ROI: Fixing the ROI rubric

Traditional rubrics fail to reveal the best answers, or how to explain those answers to others. After explaining why, the following system solves both failures.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

The "Talk vs Walk" workshop

The "Talk vs Walk" workshop
The "Talk vs Walk" workshop

We invented this strategic exercise at WP Engine -- engaging both Marketing and Product, generating actions for both sides that make products more desirable and competitive.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Productive meeting activities: Leverage the team, empower the individual

Productive meeting activities: Leverage the team, empower the individual
Productive meeting activities: Leverage the team, empower the individual

Meetings are most productive when we create something that none of us could have created alone. Here are several ways to use meeting time wisely.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Moats: Durable competitive advantage

Moats: Durable competitive advantage
Moats: Durable competitive advantage

Industries commoditize over time, delivering similar products at similar prices resulting in low profit. Moats are the antidote; your strategy must create some.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

The "Great" Product Manager, a.k.a. the Impossible Product Manager

The "Great" Product Manager, a.k.a. the Impossible Product Manager
The "Great" Product Manager, a.k.a. the Impossible Product Manager

According to the internet, being a Product Manager is impossible. Can you ever measure up? No. But don't worry, there's a better answer.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Failure to face the truth

Failure to face the truth
Failure to face the truth

This admonition recurs in myriad books, frameworks, and topics, across decades of time. When something is so consistent, it must be wisdom.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Extreme brainstorming questions to trigger new, better ideas

Extreme brainstorming questions to trigger new, better ideas
Extreme brainstorming questions to trigger new, better ideas

We know, "no idea is a bad idea," but brainstorming is often unsuccessful. These prompts actually work. They could even lead to a unique business model.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth

The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth
The Elephant in the room: The myth of exponential hypergrowth

Even Facebook and Slack did not grow "exponentially," as frequently described. Here is the correct model that you can use to understand and affect growth.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Who's lying?

Who's lying?
Who's lying?

A lesson all pilots know: How you must use multiple dials, employing different sources of energy, to report identical data, because some of it is always lying.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Distributed Logical Time

Distributed Logical Time
Distributed Logical Time

A simple, decentralized, scalable, constant-memory mechanism for independent replicas to record events in time, preserving the "happened-before" relation in almost all cases.

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

What if there isn't another 10x?

What if there isn't another 10x?
What if there isn't another 10x?

What if your tech company has peaked? Is relentless growth the only path, or is it time to redefine your true impact on the world?

A Smart Bear
• Jason Cohen

Refutation: An acquisition is always a failure

Refutation: An acquisition is always a failure
Refutation: An acquisition is always a failure

Independent or acquired, companies always evolve, and not always for the better. Smart exits can create opportunities for everyone involved.