Articles

How Costco avoids failure? Focus on what sucks

Apr 5, 2024 | 4 minute read

Costco's retail strategy: 1) Pay staff more and...

Top 5 US retailers

How to profit in a recession? Sell pinball machines

Mar 1, 2024 | 4 minute read

1) Whiffle Board the original pinball. 2) What...

how to profit in a recession

Principal Agent Problem - 4 Real Examples & Solutions

Feb 23, 2024 | 8 minute read

Managing conflicts of interest: 1) Ship captains killing...

principal-agent-problem

How to treat stock compensation when valuing companies?

Jan 19, 2024 | 4 minute read

SBC expense in DCF valuation. 1) What is...

SBC

Share Buybacks vs Dividends: Who wins?

Dec 23, 2023 | 4 minute read

Why dividends are better than share buybacks. Understand...

shareholder impact

How to build products users need

Dec 2, 2023 | 2 minute read

Apply the CSR (Context, Solution, Result) framework to...

how-to-build-products-users-need

How to write good feature requests

Nov 25, 2023 | 3 minute read

Product feature request template with examples. Writing tips...

how-to-write-good-feature-requests

Explain Your Product Without Buzz Words

Oct 6, 2023 | 3 minute read

4 questions with examples. 1) What does your...

explain your product

How to Measure Total Shareholder Returns

Sep 22, 2023 | 2 minute read

TSR calculation and spreadsheet examples. Compare TSR performance...

total-shareholder-returns

Prospect Theory: Examples from Big Tech

Aug 18, 2023 | 4 minute read

How Amazon, Google, OpenAI leverage prospect theory in...

prospect_theory_examples

IRR vs Modified IRR: How to Measure Investment Returns

Jul 28, 2023 | 4 minute read

Example of an investment in a frozen banana...

MIRR formula

How to respond to product feature requests? Ask “When was the last time”

Jul 21, 2023 | 3 minute read

Explore examples of revealing struggles from feature requests:...

ask_when

Chart Formatting: 5 Best Practices

Jun 23, 2023 | 2 minute read

Chart formatting tips: 1) Descriptive titles; 2) Fewer...

good-chart-formatting

4 Key Charts - When and How to Use Them

Jun 17, 2023 | 5 minute read

4 charts everyone should know: 1) Column Chart;...

profit-margin-column-chart

Understanding 6 Key Financial Ratios - Best Buy vs Netflix vs Meta vs Apple

May 20, 2023 | 6 minute read

1. Gross Margin; 2. Operating Margin; 3. FCF...

financial-ratios

Product Strategies to Modify Behavior - Lessons on Self Control

Apr 28, 2023 | 4 minute read

How to use findings from self control research:...

self-control

Password Security 101 - Understanding How Hashing Works

Apr 19, 2023 | 5 minute read

1) How does password hashing work?; 2) Dangers...

password_security

Choose the Right SaaS Metrics - Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

Apr 15, 2023 | 10 minute read

Compare good vs bad SaaS metrics across the...

play_stupid_games_win_stupid_prizes

REST APIs Explained - 4 Components

Mar 24, 2023 | 7 minute read

How web applications talk to servers: 1. Basic...

rest-api

Deprival Super Reaction Bias - Why it makes people go crazy?

Mar 10, 2023 | 3 minute read

Bias caused by loss of something almost possessed....

deprival-super-reaction

3 Alternatives to A/B Testing

Feb 25, 2023 | 5 minute read

What are the alternatives to A/B testing? 1)...

ab_testing_alternatives

Moral hazard in startups - 3 examples

Feb 7, 2023 | 3 minute read

Examples of moral hazards and how to navigate:...

moral-hazard

7 Types of Bias - Examples & How to Navigate

Jan 30, 2023 | 7 minute read

What are the 7 common types of bias:...

survivorship

Kano Model - 3 Types of Product Features with Examples

Jan 13, 2023 | 5 minute read

How to prioritise product roadmap for customer satisfaction:...

kano-model

Employee Training: Who is the Person Responsible?

Jan 4, 2023 | 4 minute read

Training and development is the manager’s job and...

employee-training

Data Table UX: 5 Rules of Thumb

Dec 27, 2022 | 3 minute read

Data tables in web apps should help users...

readable first column

User Interface Design: 5 Rules of Thumb

Dec 22, 2022 | 2 minute read

UI design patterns for web apps: 1) Use...

show progress

Availability Bias - Examples and How to Overcome

Dec 19, 2022 | 4 minute read

Availability heuristic occurs when we overestimate the frequency...

availability-bias

Cognitive Reflection Test - Examples of Reacting vs Checking

Dec 2, 2022 | 4 minute read

Why 50% of Harvard, MIT and Princeton students...

cognitive-reflection-test

Unit Testing in NodeJS - Basics with Examples

Oct 31, 2022 | 13 minute read

Unit testing in Node.js with examples. How teams...

unit testing

Commitment Bias - Examples and Observations

Oct 7, 2022 | 4 minute read

How commitment bias is used to influence people:...

commitment-bias

How to Fail to Find Product Market Fit

Oct 5, 2022 | 2 minute read

3 steps to guarantee your startup will fail...

fail

What is the Time Value of Money with Examples - 4 Elements of TVM

Sep 10, 2022 | 3 minute read

Understanding the TVM with Aesop’s fables. When are...

time-value-of-money

How Much is YouTube Worth? Over US$180bn in 2022

Sep 6, 2022 | 17 minute read

Google acquired YouTube for US$1.6bn in 2006. In...

yt valuation comparison

The IKEA Effect - Why people fall in love with their own ideas

Sep 3, 2022 | 6 minute read

When and why the IKEA effect causes people...

ikea-effect

How to Build a Content Creation Engine - Playbook & Template

Aug 19, 2022 | 9 minute read

5 step playbook to build a marketing content...

content-creation

SEO Keywords for Demand Generation - A Content Marketing Playbook

Aug 6, 2022 | 11 minute read

5 tactics for picking topics that drive demand...

keyword target

How the US Air Force Ditched the "Average" and Saved Lives

Jul 1, 2022 | 3 minute read

The average is a myth. Understand the pitfalls...

beware_average

How to Solve the Right Problem - 4 Simple Questions to ask

Jun 17, 2022 | 6 minute read

Ask: 1) Whose problem is it really? 2)...

whose_problem_is_it

Learn React - Hooks and Context

May 7, 2022 | 16 minute read

Practical tutorial of using React Hooks, Custom Hooks...

1. TodoApp

Why Invest in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?

Apr 6, 2022 | 6 minute read

1) Why Invest in ETFs; 2) How ETFs...

S&P500

How to Run a Growth Experiment - Learn the 4 Steps

Feb 25, 2022 | 5 minute read

4 steps to a successful growth experiment: 1)...

guess_vs_experiment

Financial Model Formatting - 3 Core Best Practices

Dec 3, 2021 | 2 minute read

Investment Banking Excel and Google Sheet formatting best...

COLORCODE

Finite State Machines - A Common Tool for Product Owners, Designers & Developers

Nov 26, 2021 | 5 minute read

How Finite State Machines allow cross-functional teams to...

fininte state machine

5 Questions to Ask to Find Product Market Fit - User Interviews

Sep 18, 2021 | 4 minute read

5 user interview questions to validate product market...

beware_solutions_seeking_problems

Invert, Always Invert - Find out how to kill pilots

Aug 7, 2021 | 4 minute read

How Charlie Munger used the inversion process to...

inversion

How Much is Alibaba Worth? US$900 billion in 2021

Jun 4, 2021 | 8 minute read

Alibaba operates three of the largest digital platforms...

global ecommerce

How to Increase User Engagement - 3 Learnings from Psychology

May 29, 2021 | 5 minute read

How to build habit forming products: 1) Deliver...

hero habit

5 Key UX Design Principles - How to Make Products User Friendly

Jan 17, 2021 | 6 minute read

Learn the 5 Ways to Make Your Products...

fan-sock

Second Order Thinking: Unintended Consequences

May 30, 2020 | 3 minute read

Tips to help you examine the second and...

second order

3 Decision Making Frameworks Startups can use to Navigate Uncertainty

Apr 11, 2020 | 7 minute read

3 useful decision making frameworks startups leaders and...

decision-making

What are the Fiduciary Duties of a Director?

Apr 10, 2020 | 5 minute read

Five basic fiduciary duties of a Board member...

board-role

How to Deploy a Node App to AWS EC2

Jan 12, 2020 | 7 minute read

Walkthrough to deploy an Express.js app to AWS...

ssh

The Role and Functions of Board of Directors

Dec 26, 2019 | 3 minute read

What is the role of the Board? What...

board-role

Learn React - A Visual Explanation

Aug 31, 2019 | 3 minute read

How to structure your next web project using...

2. Components

Clean Architecture Node.js - Build a REST API

Jul 29, 2019 | 15 minute read

Writing Clean Architecture in Node.js. REST API Tutorial...

Clean

Express Validation and Error Handling

Jun 21, 2019 | 10 minute read

Learn how to validate requests and handle errors...

Express

Node.js Authentication Tutorial with Passport

Jun 1, 2019 | 15 minute read

Learn how to handle web authentication and authorization...

passport.js

The Basics of Valuation

May 4, 2019 | 4 minute read

Understand the principles of intrinsic valuation. How to...

what would you pay

How to Rank Without Backlinks [Free Template]

Apr 30, 2019 | 9 minute read

What are backlinks? Do you need SEO backlinks...

unnamed

SQL Basics

Apr 27, 2019 | 13 minute read

SQL basic boilerplate using starcraft relational data model...

sql_joins