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Essays, conversations, digests.

AllEssaysPodcastDigestsVideo
EssayNov 5, 2023

Product/Market Fit (PMF): Experience & Data

Companies that achieve Product/Market Fit -- both self-funded and VC-funded -- exhibit the same prototypical metrics curves and subjective experiences.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

BEING
EssayNov 3, 2023

Being a minor AI public figure

I was recently involved in moderating a chat with Kanjun Qiu of Imbue at the MIT AI conf:…

swyx

LESSONS
EssayOct 31, 2023

Lessons learned from a startup that didn’t make it

What not to do when building a B2B startup

Lenny's Newsletter · Jake Fuentes

RICH
EssayOct 29, 2023

Rich vs. King in the Real World: Why I sold my company

Reflecting on selling Smart Bear in 2007, offering insights for entrepreneurs facing similar decisions.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

METRICS
EssayOct 22, 2023

Metrics that cannot even be measured in retrospect

Some of the most enticing, important metrics are impossible to measure, even after the fact. Here's how to identify and avoid this trap.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

BUILDING
EssayOct 15, 2023

Building in public forces true competitive advantage

"Building in public" is popular: How fun when strangers cheer you on! But isn't competitive advantage ruined when competitors know your growth rate and steal your source code?

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayOct 8, 2023

Your non-linear problem of 90% utilization

Is everyone working very hard, all the time, and yet accomplishing 1/10th of what it seems they should? Maybe this is why.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayOct 1, 2023

Superlinear Returns

Paul Graham

NEVER
EssayOct 1, 2023

Never say "no," but rarely say "yes."

"Focus" requires saying "no" to most things, but there's a way to do it that allows you to say "yes" exactly when it matters most.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssaySep 24, 2023

The fundamental forces of scale

These forces make larger companies slower and more difficult to execute, but also more effective when harnessed and leveraged.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssaySep 22, 2023

My solopreneur story: zero to $45K/mo in 2 years

Today is exactly 2 years since I quit my job and become a full-time indie hacker.

Tony Dinh · Substack · Tony Dinh

UNICORN
EssaySep 20, 2023

Unicorn Market Cap 2023: Rise of AI

We analyze growth in unicorn market cap by region. We also compare # of Barry's Bootcamps to # of unicorns for key cities.

Elad Gil · Substack · Elad Gil

SOFTWARE
EssaySep 18, 2023

Software 3.0 and the AI Engineer Landscape (talk notes & slides)

I presented an updated version of this talk at CascadiaJS 2024! slides here, video pending.

swyx

EssaySep 18, 2023

AI Regulation

There have been multiple call to regulate AI. It is too early to do so.

Elad Gil · Substack · Elad Gil

ONLY
EssaySep 17, 2023

The only way to guarantee startup success

What is it like to reach the pinnacle of success? Is that where you attain happiness and fulfillment? Or are those found right here, right now.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

500000
EssaySep 11, 2023

500,000

Lenny's Newsletter · Lenny Rachitsky

STOP
EssaySep 10, 2023

Stop saying "fail"

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssaySep 7, 2023

Swyx's Simple Guide to Singapore

swyx

FIND
EssaySep 5, 2023

How to find and win your first 10 B2B customers

Lenny's Newsletter · Lenny Rachitsky

EssaySep 3, 2023

Your customers hate MVPs. Make a SLC instead.

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

GRIND
EssayAug 31, 2023

On Grind - from Investor to Creator to Founder

swyx

WORSE
EssayAug 27, 2023

Worse, but unique

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EARLY
EssayAug 21, 2023

Early days of AI (and AI Hype Cycle)

Elad Gil · Substack · Elad Gil

IMPOSTOR
EssayAug 20, 2023

Impostor Syndrome: Why I felt like a fraud, and how I overcame it

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

250K
EssayAug 17, 2023

250k downloads of Latent Space Pod

swyx

MAKES
EssayAug 13, 2023

What makes a strategy great

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

ALLOW
EssayAug 9, 2023

How to allow popups in dynamically created webviews in Electron.js

swyx

MOST
EssayAug 8, 2023

How the most successful B2B startups came up with their original idea

Lenny's Newsletter · Lenny Rachitsky

JULY
EssayAug 7, 2023

July 2023: $6K MRR – getting back on recurring revenue

Tony Dinh · Substack · Tony Dinh

STARTUP
EssayAug 6, 2023

Startup identity & the sadness of a successful exit

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

BLOW
EssayAug 2, 2023

How to Blow Up a Category - Netlify's New Era and The JAMstack Endgame

swyx

COMMAND
EssayJul 30, 2023

In command

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

DEAL
EssayJul 24, 2023

How to deal with fatal: bad object HEAD in git

swyx

EssayJul 24, 2023

Distinguishing constructive criticism from bad business advice

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayJul 16, 2023

Selecting the right product metrics (KPIs)

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

BUSINESS
EssayJul 9, 2023

Business Advice Plagued by Survivor Bias

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

DEV
EssayJul 7, 2023

AI Dev Tools Panel - Stripe AI day

Elad Gil · Substack · Elad Gil

JUN
EssayJul 6, 2023

Jun 2023: How I work with employees

Tony Dinh · Substack · Tony Dinh

PASS
EssayJul 4, 2023

How to pass any first-round interview (even in a terrible talent market)

Lenny's Newsletter · Coach Erika Gemzer

NEWBIE
EssayJul 3, 2023

[Newbie Tip] What to do when you 403 during pypi twine upload

swyx

EssayJul 2, 2023

For probabilities, use Fermi numbers, not words

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

USING
EssayJul 1, 2023

Using Whisper to Transcribe Podcasts

swyx

GREAT
EssayJul 1, 2023

How to Do Great Work

Paul Graham

TRACTION
EssayJun 29, 2023

The Traction vs Trust Equation of Cofounder Dating

swyx

DISCOUNT
EssayJun 25, 2023

Discount gambit

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

THREE
EssayJun 18, 2023

The three kinds of leverage that anchor effective strategies

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayJun 11, 2023

Searching for The Early Founder Cadence

swyx

EssayJun 11, 2023

Satisficing vs Maximizing

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayJun 6, 2023

How a traumatic brain injury made me a better PM—and person

Lenny's Newsletter · Amol Avasare

MAY
EssayJun 5, 2023

May 2023: I sold my 2 years old business for only $128K

Tony Dinh · Substack · Tony Dinh

USING
EssayJun 4, 2023

Using the Needs Stack for competitive strategy

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

WORKING
EssayJun 2, 2023

What working at Figma taught me about customer obsession

Lenny's Newsletter · Sho Kuwamoto

ITS
EssayMay 28, 2023

In its emptiness, there is the function of a startup

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayMay 26, 2023

Transcript & Video: Claire Hughes Johnson Fireside Chat on Scaling People

Elad Gil · Substack · Elad Gil

2023
EssayMay 25, 2023

My 2023 New Mac Setup

swyx

EssayMay 21, 2023

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

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

MORE
EssayMay 14, 2023

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

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

CAN
EssayMay 14, 2023

You can have two Big Things, but not three

A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen

EssayMay 11, 2023

(incomplete) Getting your O1 Visa as Fast as Possible (2024)

swyx

NEW
EssayMay 11, 2023

My New Startup Checklist

swyx

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