Guiding principles

and non-negotiables

  1. Fall in love with the problem, not the feature.

    A feature is one guess at a solution. The problem is what the customer actually has. Stay with it long enough and the right solution gets obvious.

  2. Talk to customers every week.

    Not once per quarter in a research sprint. A steady habit of short conversations beats any dashboard at telling you what is really going on.

  3. Price is part of the product.

    What people pay, and how, shapes what they expect and how they use it. Pricing gets the same discovery and care as anything we ship.

  4. Data informs. People decide.

    Numbers tell you what happened. Judgment decides what to do next, and someone has to own that call out loud.

  5. Communication is a form of respect.

    How fast you reply, and how good the reply is, matters a lot. Both are how people know you take them seriously.

  6. Clarity is kindness.

    Write it down, keep it short, say what you mean. A clear one-pager saves a week of meetings.

  7. Ownership means taking risks.

    The worst that can happen is you get fired. Don't let that stop you from challenging assumptions, backing your convictions, or pursuing a product vision you believe in.

Non-negotiables.

  1. No such thing as an ordinary customer.

  2. No price the value does not justify.

  3. No launch without a way to measure it.

  4. No day without using your own product.

  5. No AI should make a decision. Accountable people do.