amplification

Any evidence to support this? If anything it seems like growth is accelerating.

The whole point of the post is that we are different than our users. What we want, or what we think is important, often doesn't match up with what users really need.

We've been using a Kanban-like approach for about 36 months. While it's not perfect, it's advantage is that it's actually fairly flexible: you can modify it to fit your needs.

For example: we look at the immediate backlog at the beginning of every week, and then look at what we accomplished on Fridays.

We also do longer range planning at a monthly Product meeting where Engineering, Sales and the Product Manager all look forward to bigger product milestones. We also try to set general launch dates for these.

We use http://sprint.ly to manage the dev process, which has added features for estimating delivery (based on past performance). Everyone in the company can access Sprint.ly, suggest features, and see what items are currently being worked on.

I think if your main source of income is stickers, that's risky. They will (and already are) become commoditized - with MessageMe, Path, etc... all jumping onboard.

I'm guessing that stickers (siloed in each app) are a fad that will eventually go away.

If the challenge is to "think of successful entrepreneurs or CEOs who blog", I can think of a bunch off the top of my head:

Leo W. at Buffer - http://blog.bufferapp.com/author/leo

Ryan Carson at Treehouse - http://ryancarson.com/

Jason Fried & DHH - http://37signals.com/svn

Matt Mullenweg - http://ma.tt/

Patio11 - http://www.kalzumeus.com/

After doing a lot of listening in forums, on my email list, etc... I launched http://jfdi.bz as a response to a common pain I kept seeing: there's so many people building products by themselves (alone in their basements). They want a social connection with other folks who are doing the same thing (more here: http://jfdi.bz/guide.pdf)

Did a small launch in August. It's now just over $1,000/month in revenue. I use WPEngine to host the site. It's built mostly on the open source BuddyPress platform.

One reason: a PDF feels like a "finished publication". While HTML can be dynamically updated, a PDF is the equivalent of something "going to the press".

Another reason: for whatever reason, if you're selling your content a PDF has more intrinsic value for the end customer. It becomes "a thing" instead of just being "content that should be free". It's very odd. People like the idea of owning digital goods, but only as long as they can download them and store them on their own hard drive.

I can identify with that completely.

The commute just killed me - added so much stress and load. It affected me at work (I'd come into the office feeling burnt out), and it affected me at home (I'd often arrive home deflated).

This probably depends on personality too: I just really hate driving (no matter what). ;)

There is, however, good research that shows the adverse affects of commuting: http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/05/your...

Absolutely. Jason and DHH talk about that quite a bit in the book.

If you read the book, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

My guess is they'll join university & the workforce, and then they'll join the world's most popular social network: email. ;)

I think this article proves that wrong (if these stats are true). Teens are the most fickle demographic out there!

I find Silicon Valley's obsession with teens fascinating. Why is teen usage a benchmark for the health of a startup?

Do teenagers spend money online? Is there any research on that?

Is Salesforce extremely profitable?

http://beta.fool.com/boriskabinov/2012/08/13/will-salesforce...

http://www.informationweek.com/software/enterprise-applicati...

Looks like the answer is... not yet. (maybe never?)

I'm looking for data on whether Nike trimmed down its product line based on this advice. Has anyone else found anything?

I like the point being made here: building a product is hard. But once you've built it, you have a new mountain to climb: building a business.

In our startup culture, "building the business" is usually delegated to a new CEO, brought in from the outside. I don't think it has to be that way. Managing a business is hard, but it's just a new challenge. Founders don't have to give their business to someone else to manage.

I really like the idea of "writing through the product dev process". So often I get stuck and the act of "talking it out" helps - I think writing a blog/journal would be even better.

I think the premise is that consultants often bill by the hour and don't include bathroom breaks, screwing around, etc... as billable hours.

This line really hits home the key failing I've had with email from startups (especially pre-launch confirmation emails):

"The single biggest problem I see in emails that web products send is that they maintain an undying focus on themselves and their product, rather than on their customers."

If I sign up for your beta, I want to know: "How are you going to make my life easier / better?"