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Periodic PSA:
If you are young, healthy, and work in tech, your primary asset is likely your future earning potential. A few dozen people who follow me will, actuarially speaking, not be able to work the expected length of their careers due to illness/etc.
This is insurable.
If you are young, healthy, and work in tech, your primary asset is likely your future earning potential. A few dozen people who follow me will, actuarially speaking, not be able to work the expected length of their careers due to illness/etc.
This is insurable.
The type of insurance you want is “private long-term disability insurance.” You can speak to an insurance agent about it.
(If you have a complicated international life like me, take a look Petersen International Underwriters, which is available through Insubuy.)
(If you have a complicated international life like me, take a look Petersen International Underwriters, which is available through Insubuy.)
You may receive this as a benefit through work. It’s relatively standard in tech. I’d suggest you have a policy in your own name as well; a lot of the things that can result in you not being able to work can result in you losing your job prior to qualifying for benefits.
Every time I talk to physical product people I want to shudder and withdraw myself into the comforting embrace of a software business, which has plenty of problems without the eldritch horrors that they have to deal with.
Here let me fictionalize some stories for you.
"So we made a very expensive high tech thing. It took two years. We're going to slip schedule by 6 weeks."
"Oh hardware problems?"
"The packaging doesn't fit."
"The what."
"The thing didn't fit in the plastic for its box."
"What."
"So we made a very expensive high tech thing. It took two years. We're going to slip schedule by 6 weeks."
"Oh hardware problems?"
"The packaging doesn't fit."
"The what."
"The thing didn't fit in the plastic for its box."
"What."
"There was an error at the custom plastic packaging factory. Somebody measured wrong."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. So we have to retool."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. Customers are at their wits end and I can't tell them 'Sorry it's the 5 cent thing your $200 device sits in.'"
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. So we have to retool."
"Oh no."
"Oh yes. Customers are at their wits end and I can't tell them 'Sorry it's the 5 cent thing your $200 device sits in.'"
This is an enjoyable thread on Japan-with-beginner-eyes; I wouldn't have noticed most of it. h/t @Pinboard
Might contribute a few notes in replies to this tweet, which is clearly not going to be a happy Twitter experience but we work with the software we have...
Might contribute a few notes in replies to this tweet, which is clearly not going to be a happy Twitter experience but we work with the software we have...
I would not recommend pushing ムーブ / Oscillate on a toilet from a distance away. It is to cause the thing spraying water at your backside to move. If you are not blocking the toilet bowl you will make a mess, unless a newer model that detects you.
You will see tickets at ramen shops specifically. Most restaurants will expect you to pay after service, except fast food, which is pay before.
The ticket system improves cleanliness in a wet, steamy environment. (More quietly: inventory control.)
The ticket system improves cleanliness in a wet, steamy environment. (More quietly: inventory control.)
This is pretty much exactly how I did prospecting back in the day, although I'd probably position that last-stage-before-contract as either a "scoping session" or "proposal" rather than "complimentary consultation." You want the client to be sufficiently onboard with paying.
Note that the flowchart does not proceed automatically!
Learn of the existence of a lead (via prospecting / cold inbound / an introduction / etc)
-> you qualify them and, if appropriate
Establish willingness to take a getting-to-know-you meeting (coffee or Skype)
Learn of the existence of a lead (via prospecting / cold inbound / an introduction / etc)
-> you qualify them and, if appropriate
Establish willingness to take a getting-to-know-you meeting (coffee or Skype)
-> you have the meeting
-> you qualify them further, checking for existence of a problem, budget, fit with regards to working style, and perceived likelihood to close
Then, if and only if qualified, you say "Would you like a formal proposal on what I'd do for you?"
-> you qualify them further, checking for existence of a problem, budget, fit with regards to working style, and perceived likelihood to close
Then, if and only if qualified, you say "Would you like a formal proposal on what I'd do for you?"
Since @JoshDoody mentioned it, a brief digression on lessons from poker (which I play a small bit of recreationally, having caught the bug at MicroConf a few years ago) and how it functions as a rich metaphor for life outside of the particular game:
It's been said that you're only at one poker game your entire life; players come and players go, and the dealer doesn't really matter. You're the only constant at your table and the only thing you can directly effect.
I think that rounds to true, except poker *also* rewards smart table selection. In poker this, bluntly, means that you want to find a momentary peer group of people who are less skilled, on average, than you are. Thankfully, in careers / business, that's opposite of optimal.
I feel like I’m closer to the businessman end of the spectrum then the creative end of the spectrum, but since I talk to a lot of folks who are in business but have a self-conception of being artists:
My consultancy was really good, and closed one pitch out of four.
My consultancy was really good, and closed one pitch out of four.
I sympathize with the deep seated desire to avoid having one’s ego on the line with every deal. The way to avoid this is not closing 100% of deals. That will not happen; you would not want it to happen anyway.
When you’re in business — and if your job includes pitching people then you’re in business — you’re running a portfolio strategy. Some conversations, some pitches, some signed contracts will not turn into work that is delivered and paid.
Price this in, literally and figuratively
Price this in, literally and figuratively
The startup media glamorizes Crushing It and a hard-charging limitless-source-of-morale hustle.
The single biggest off-the-record topic when I talked to founder friends? Our struggles with depression.
Dr. Sherry Walling wrote about stress management: stripe.com/atlas/guides/f…
The single biggest off-the-record topic when I talked to founder friends? Our struggles with depression.
Dr. Sherry Walling wrote about stress management: stripe.com/atlas/guides/f…
I appreciate Sherry's perspective on founder stress because she's both lived it and also experienced it at one degree (her husband is also an entrepreneur), and I think the social impact of it is underappreciated.
Life has its ups and downs. The most challenging downs, by far, for me were the ones where I felt like I was missing my mark as a husband and father.
Inspired by @sehurlburt I have some brief thoughts on free as a price point:
Price is a signal of quality, and free is actively harmful to marketing to the best customers, because they consume virtually no meaningful services for free and because it suggests that there is a hidden cost like “You disappear down the road” they’ll pay later.
Businesses are not adverse to paying money for things. They’re set up to do this. They often prefer concrete, bounded, forecastable prices to unknown, unbounded risks like e.g. “We will need to hire someone to support that thing.”
I often ask myself "If I got a do-over on my entrepreneurial career, what would I have hoped to have known when starting and so not had to learn the hard way?" Today's installment, on the business model behind SaaS companies. stripe.com/atlas/guides/b… Some thoughts:
One of the reasons why it is hard to advise SaaS companies is that they are all similar enough to each other to be a cognizable group but there are some within-SaaS cleavages that make the advice very, very different.
When I was starting, I thought the big one was B2B vs B2C.
When I was starting, I thought the big one was B2B vs B2C.
This turns out to be very, very wrong. The single biggest difference isn't B2B vs B2C, it isn't the market, and it isn't whether a company is funded or bootstrapped.
Every other fact about a SaaS company gets bent by gravational waves emanating from the sales model.
Every other fact about a SaaS company gets bent by gravational waves emanating from the sales model.
"Do you know of any small companies doing high-touch SaaS sales?"
Yes.
"Can you point to examples?"
This is more difficult than in low-touch SaaS, not because of lack of examples but because differential desire for visibility based on business model.
Yes.
"Can you point to examples?"
This is more difficult than in low-touch SaaS, not because of lack of examples but because differential desire for visibility based on business model.
In low-touch SaaS, since the product and public marketing is one's revenue engine, one tends to be pretty open about it.
In high-touch SaaS, as a small shop, you probably have a very small number of relatively high dollar amount accounts.
In high-touch SaaS, as a small shop, you probably have a very small number of relatively high dollar amount accounts.
One shop I know sells software which helps banks price a thing. Their entire addressable market in the United States is "count how many banks sell a particular product line." The average sale for them is $GADZOOKS.
They do not particularly benefit from you knowing they exist.
They do not particularly benefit from you knowing they exist.
This is an incredibly important lesson, and one which is counterintuitive for a lot of people in SaaS, because you *almost never* hear from your best users.
If you e.g. figure out product priorities by listening to what your last 100 support tickets, they will be disproportionately from low-value plans with users who are fundamentally dissatisfied with offering and will not, with an incremental improvement in the product, be happy.
"Aren't your most valuable users the hardest ones to support?"
The exact opposite of the case. Normalized by account it's (often) the little users, by lots. Normalized by dollar value it isn't even funny.
The exact opposite of the case. Normalized by account it's (often) the little users, by lots. Normalized by dollar value it isn't even funny.
A long time ago, I worked for a Japanese company which had a Alert Lots Of People function available to it. We drilled on its use.
Since it's instructive (this thread may be longish):
Since it's instructive (this thread may be longish):
A: "I am declaring [an emergency / a drill] for [area]. Get the book."
B: "I am secondary on [an emergency / a drill] for [area]. Here is the book."
A flips to Page 1 and reads down a checklist in order.
A: "I am attempting to log into [production / test] environment."
B: "I am secondary on [an emergency / a drill] for [area]. Here is the book."
A flips to Page 1 and reads down a checklist in order.
A: "I am attempting to log into [production / test] environment."
B: "Confirming you are attempting to log into [production / test environment]."
A: "Login complete."
B: "I verify you are logged into production. Proceed."
A: "I am queueing up an alert, entitled $TEXT."
B: "Confirm to me that your expected text is [reads screen]."
A: "Confirm"
A: "Login complete."
B: "I verify you are logged into production. Proceed."
A: "I am queueing up an alert, entitled $TEXT."
B: "Confirm to me that your expected text is [reads screen]."
A: "Confirm"
Two rounds of web forms, two phone calls, a paper letter, and another phone call later, a Japanese financial institution has come to see things my way regarding the appropriateness of spelling my name the way my other bank does.
Getting them to this point was classic:
Getting them to this point was classic:
"Mr. McKenzie, we have to have your legal name in our system for compliance reasons."
"Yes, I agree, you have to have my correct name in your system for compliance reasons. The name the Ministry of Justice picked for my paperwork is not accurate."
"That's... highly irregular."
"Yes, I agree, you have to have my correct name in your system for compliance reasons. The name the Ministry of Justice picked for my paperwork is not accurate."
"That's... highly irregular."
"I agree it is lamentable, but it is nonetheless the truth."
"We'd prefer to match your government-issued ID."
"I understand why you want that, but that will make impossible to debit my account at the bank which can spell my name properly."
"We'd prefer to match your government-issued ID."
"I understand why you want that, but that will make impossible to debit my account at the bank which can spell my name properly."
A lot of complexity in the tax code comes it using a mishmash of type systems.
Why is it hard calculating what someone's income tax is? Well, when you dig into it, income isn't an integer. It's an arbitrary object which can support a stupidly high number of interfaces.
Why is it hard calculating what someone's income tax is? Well, when you dig into it, income isn't an integer. It's an arbitrary object which can support a stupidly high number of interfaces.
The tax code, your tax return, and your accountant's tax preparation practices all have to impose a type system upon your income objects, at run-time. And this is where a huge amount of the complexity comes in.
This is true of many, many objects which are relevant in tax.
This is true of many, many objects which are relevant in tax.
You'd think that at least corporations have a good type system. C corps, S corps, LLCs. Three types! We have at most three branches to the if statement, right?
Oh boy.
Oh boy.
Atlas just released my favorite feature yet: tools to help companies incorporated with us navigate tax season. stripe.com/blog/atlas-tax…
Unsurprisingly for someone who filed five tax returns last year in two countries, I was very enthusiastic about getting this done. Thoughts:
Unsurprisingly for someone who filed five tax returns last year in two countries, I was very enthusiastic about getting this done. Thoughts:
I'll never forget my two thoughts when I sold my first copy of software over the Internet: "This is amazing. I hope I don't go to jail."
That's the power that taxes holds over budding entrepreneurs.
That's the power that taxes holds over budding entrepreneurs.
Taxes are treated as something like the affairs of obscure and malevolent wizards. There exists a tome of rules. You're forbidden from knowing it. Mispeaking the magic words may turn you into a newt.
This is nonsense.
This is nonsense.
Every year at around this time I do a quick sweep of family finances, which often involves working with a new Japanese financial firm, which means I get a quick object lesson in kalzumeus.com/2010/06/17/fal…
Today's example is a Kafkaesque nightmare.
Today's example is a Kafkaesque nightmare.
System A: "Please enter your first and last name in a total of less than 8 characters. If you need more, we'll abbreviate for you."
System B: "Please enter your first and last name in a total of less than 8 characters. If you need more, abbreviate your first name."
System B: "Please enter your first and last name in a total of less than 8 characters. If you need more, abbreviate your first name."
Me: "McKenzie is, in fact, 8 characters."
System B: "Your first name can't be blank."
"McKenzie P."
"You foreigners suck at math."
"McKenzi P"
"One more time."
"McKenz P"
"OK now give me that in roman characters."
"McKenz P"
"You included insufficient vowels. Try again."
System B: "Your first name can't be blank."
"McKenzie P."
"You foreigners suck at math."
"McKenzi P"
"One more time."
"McKenz P"
"OK now give me that in roman characters."
"McKenz P"
"You included insufficient vowels. Try again."
Challenge accepted! Some things that I think are underbelieved among my peers and are generally optimistic:
Technology, both defined broadly and the specific instantiations AppAmaGooBookSoft and the ecosystem the birthed them, is overwhelmingly a force for good in the world.
The Internet allows people a tremendous amount of leverage, and skill at exploiting that is not equal. That said, it is a great leveler with regards to baseline experiences in society. (Instant communication. Google. Wikipedia. I could go on, for years.)
The single biggest piece of advice I have for you: if you have someone's email address (+ permission) you have an earned relationship. If you have to beg a platform to contact them, the platform owns the relationship. Get the email.
(This generalizes much farther than artists.)
(This generalizes much farther than artists.)
Youtube subscribers, Twitter followers, Facebook fans, and all analogous relationships are not defensible assets in the way that someone expecting mail from you is. They're dependent on the week-to-week policies and quarter-to-quarter strategic imperatives of the platform.
The platforms offer incredible reach! Incredible! Reach! And the bargain they offer is Faustian. Platforms need their creators to bake the cake; they then propose allocating 60~80%+ to them as an opening bid, do not contractualize that (for smaller creators), and smile.
Some people really benefit from hearing advice that everyone knows, for the same reason we keep schools open despite every subject in them having been taught before.
In that spirit, here's some quick Things Many People Find Too Obvious To Have Told You Already.
In that spirit, here's some quick Things Many People Find Too Obvious To Have Told You Already.
Your idea is not valuable, at all. All value is in the execution. You think you are an exception; you are not. You should not insist on an NDA to talk about it; nobody serious will engage in contract review over an idea, and this will mark you as clueless.
Technologists tend to severely underestimate the difficulty and expense of creating software, especially at companies which do not have fully staffed industry leading engineering teams ("because software is so easy there, amirite guys?")
Charge more. Charge more still. Go on.
Charge more. Charge more still. Go on.
A good thread about consulting. I might have some additional thoughts:
Clients buy a variety of things from consultants, and butt-in-seat-time is the least salient of those things. You can increase your rates (or even add line items to an invoice) in compensation with others.
Scheduling predictability: Your “rack rate” (the standard number you quote) is generally for “X amount of time scheduled *after we’ve signed contract* at a mutually convenient time during standard business hours N months out from now.”
Bitcoin as the world's biggest game of hot potato: prestonbyrne.com/2017/11/26/the… @prestonjbyrne
Liquidity crunch catalyzed by any disruption in the price would cause a bank run.
Liquidity crunch catalyzed by any disruption in the price would cause a bank run.
Bitcoiners think that they're structurally immune to bank runs because they repeat "we are not fractional reserves" as an article of faith. That is almost certainly false.
Most distressing bit in that article, which I cannot verify but which I do not find implausible:
Most distressing bit in that article, which I cannot verify but which I do not find implausible:
Why is that distressing? Because it suggests that, when the Bitcoin music stops, 1+ real financial institutions will take eight or nine figure credit losses.
I was literally the best qualified person in the prefecture to do my tax returns and it was still a poor decision. Find an accountant.
"Wow that's bold." No, it's not. Here's my Fermi estimate:
2 million people in Gifu
0.1% of population is an accountant-equivalent
5% of accountant-equivalents in Gifu are bilingual
10% of those are comfortable with international taxation
None of other 9 people speak software.
2 million people in Gifu
0.1% of population is an accountant-equivalent
5% of accountant-equivalents in Gifu are bilingual
10% of those are comfortable with international taxation
None of other 9 people speak software.
Notice how quickly playing the Venn diagram game puts you in a job market of 1? This is very useful for differentiating your offering and charging more (TM). There's ~3 million software developers in the US and that number falls of scary fast when you start adding things.
Quick little tweetstorm on why, if you desire to have a small software business, you should prefer doing Boring Business Productivity SaaS to writing a video game, even if you really like videogames:
Videogames are a hit-driven business. Discovery is largely up to aggregators of demand, principally Steam, Youtube, App Store, and (to a far lesser extent) the media and other marketplaces. You have to pray to the gods that you hit those at launch and you get *one shot*.
The budget for most videogames is invested in "assets", like art/etc. Market expectation for asset quality is a) judged against AAA games and b) constantly increasing, which means assets depreciate right off a cliff.
Three primitives you want to have in your admin app, for accounts: arbitrary text notes, arbitrary tags, and an activity stream. Just build them. Your CS, marketing, and sales departments will thank you later.
If you want to go the extra mile, a programmatic way to tag accounts and a non-programmer-friendly way to mass tag accounts (via e.g. uploading a CSV and matching against their email address) will make people very happy with you.
Also a way to trivially (i.e. without bugging anyone in engineering) download a CSV of as much data as you can reasonably summarize with regards to anyone having a particular user-defined tag.
The primary product of the news media was historically a daily habit, hegemonic across the middle class, to consume a thing wrapped in ads.
That’s slightly different than other media because the “hegemonic” bit is really important and the town newspaper / networks monopolized it.
It never mattered what the underlying artifact in the habit was. That was simply a historical accident.
"Why would a software company not just build that? It's a ~1 engineer job?" Software companies find it difficult to reliably staff one-offs.
Companies are not built to hire *one* engineer with lots of autonomy. They're built to hire 8 engineers and a team lead w/ a reporting line.
It *breaks all sorts of things* to have one engineer as the dangling node on the org chart. Who manages them? CTO? Hah, hah, doesn't work.
Things which I did not know existed in the world until my thirties and was then scandalized and terrified by.
“Failing up” means you join some well-respected organization and are rubbish at your actual job. Because large orgs are slow, no one notices
for a few months. Because they’re extremely risk averse and your salary is low relative to legal action, they “manage you out” over firing.
“Values are facts not descriptions.” (@matt_levine) is a succinct and fairly powerful observation about cultures: bloomberg.com/view/articles/…
The context is about corporate cultures and documents with the word Values literally written on them, but thought generalized more broadly.
The Constitution doesn’t define America; it’s written evidence as to what a group of Americans thought was Really Important to capture.
The Equifax ex-CEO throwing an unnamed technician under the bus for the Equifax breach is positively maddening. Some thoughts:
There is never a single person at fault for a poor engineering decision. That isn't me as an engineer talking; that is Management 101.
We would laugh out of the room a CEO who said "The reason that we didn't file our taxes last year was an employee forgot to buy a stamp."
It occurs to me that my hobby in writing letters about the Fair Credit Reporting Act is suddenly topical! So some quick opinionated advice:
Do not pay for credit monitoring. You're statutorily guaranteed three free credit reports a year. That's sufficient.
Free options also exist through many banks these days; they use them as aquisition/retention channels. Amex and Capitol One both offer.