Building @Jotform since 2006 — and tweeting my lessons from growing it to 20 million users.
Bestselling author of Automate Your Busywork
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Jan 6, 2022 • 7 tweets • 1 min read
Lessons learned as I built my startup from 0 to 10 million users
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1 / This quote from the late mathematician, Morris Kline, has echoed in my brain for weeks:
“The most fertile source of insight is hindsight.”
Aug 6, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
True productivity balances the present and the future.
Let me explain ↓
Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard describes the pursuit of productivity as a source of human unhappiness.
When we invest all of our energy in the future, we become absent in our own lives:
Jun 24, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Systems thinking isn't just for business or manufacturing geeks.
It's a powerful principle that you can apply to work, life, or anywhere you want to level up.
Here are the 3 core principles:
1. Everything is a system
2. To improve the system, you have to understand each part, and how the parts connect.
3. If you can't see or experience the full system, you need to build models that bring it all together.
May 31, 2021 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
3 lessons I learned from building just one product for 15 years
(a mini-thread ↓)
I launched JotForm in 2006 to help everyone create simple forms that boost their productivity.
I knew there was a better way to work.
As we gained traction, serious competition began to emerge.
Oct 9, 2018 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
1/ People don’t desire products, they desire feelings that products give them.
A few thoughts 👇
2/ Years ago, I was waiting in line at a paddle sports shop.
People were renting kayaks and canoes and getting fitted for life jackets. It was a brilliant, sunny day and the air buzzed with excitement.
Sep 28, 2018 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
1/ Focus on productivity, not efficiency.
A few thoughts on "doing more with less" vs. "doing more with the same":
2/ 12 hours.
That's how long it took to build a car before 1913.
Over the next several years, Henry Ford reduced the time-consuming process to an impressive 2.5 hours.
The efficiency mindset embraced by Ford dominated the marketplace all the way into the early 2000s.
Sep 23, 2018 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
1/ “Entrepreneurs are willing to work 80 hours a week to avoid working 40 hours a week.” - Lori Greiner.
Startup founders are infamous for busy-bragging.
But how can we stop this 80-hour hustle and take back our freedom?
2/ Sometimes the busy-brag even feels like a competition:
- Who can work the longest?
- Who can sacrifice the most?
- Who will sleep at the office and go a full week without natural light?
Sep 10, 2018 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Team-building exercises won’t make your staff more productive.
A few thoughts 👇
2/ Common sense tells us that happy, collaborative teams are productive teams.
Research backs it up, too.
Jul 24, 2018 • 10 tweets • 3 min read
1️⃣ Stop telling people to follow their dreams.
Let's talk about the realities of building a dream, shall we? ✅
A thread 👇
2️⃣
✅ "I quit my job to follow my dreams,
✅ maxed out my credit card,
✅ slept on my Aunt’s couch,
✅ ate nothing but ramen,
✅ then, one day, I got backed by investors and now I’m worth millions… blah blah blah." 💰
We’ve been sold a rather unhealthy path to success.
Jul 16, 2018 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
1/ Don’t listen to those productivity gurus.
⏰ Waking up at 6am won’t make you successful.
A thread 👇
2/ We’ve been sold the mantra of “early bird gets the worm” but everyone has different peak hours.
As managers, we need to be cognizant of the fact that people work differently.
And, more specifically, that people work differently at different times.
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