Welcome to A Smart Bear: Longform

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. —March 2022 | 5,500 words.

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. —March 2022 | 3,700 words.

This complete work-prioritization framework builds on the simplistic "Rocks, Pebbles, Sand" analogy, adding the details you need in the real world. —July 2022 | 4,100 words.

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. —December 2022 | 3,500 words.

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. —March 2023 | 4,800 words.

Traditional rubrics fail to reveal the best answers, or how explain those answers to others. After explaining why, the following system solves both failures. —June 2022 | 4,900 words.

Binstack is a technique for selecting the "single most impactful" solution when there are multiple, incomparable dimensions to evaluate. —July 2022 | 3,500 words.

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. —September 2022 | 3,400 words.

Industries commoditize over time, delivering similar products at similar prices resulting in low profit. Moats are the antedote; your strategy must create some. —May 2022 | 1,800 words.

This admonition recurs in myriad books, frameworks, and topics, across decades of time. When something is so consistent, it must be wisdom. —April 2022 | 2,000 words.

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. —April 2022 | 2,200 words.

The vaunted "single-threaded, ordered list” confuses "prioritization" with "work-planning," and forces comparisons of the un-comparable. Here's the solution. —August 2022 | 2,400 words.

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. —June 2022 | 3,200 words.

I built a few companies, two of which are now unicorns, both bootstrapped and VC-funded, bought and sold a few, invested in dozens, and wrote about everything I know.

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. —May 2022 | 1,200 words.

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. —February 2022 | 800 words.

A simple, decentralized, scalable, constant-memory mechanism for independent replicas to record events in time, preserving the "happened-before" relation in almost all cases. —February 2019 | 3,100 words.

"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? —December 2016 | 700 words.

Pricing is inextricably linked to brand, product, and purchasing decisions. It cannot be "figured out later," because determines your business model today. —November 2014 | 1,200 words.

Is it good to be "first?" It seems so -- what's the point of being a copycat? While "first" sounds impressive, in reality it doesn't predict who will win. —December 2011 | 1,000 words.