Articles
About startup strategy
Cognitive Reflection Test - Examples of Reacting vs Checking
Why 50% of Harvard, MIT and Princeton students get the bat and ball problem wrong. 1) The Bat and Ball Problem; 2) How to Improve Your CRT...
Dec 2, 2022 | 4 minute read
Unit Testing in NodeJS - Basics with Examples
Unit testing in Node.js with examples. How teams ship product improvements without breaking code. 1) Setup testing framework with Jest; 2) Writing assertion style; 3) Validation...
Oct 31, 2022 | 13 minute read
Commitment Bias - Examples and Observations
How commitment bias is used to influence people: 1) Organised crime loyalty; 2) Selling more toys; 3) Good product reviews...
Oct 7, 2022 | 4 minute read
How to Fail to Find Product Market Fit
3 steps to guarantee your startup will fail to find product-market fit: 1) Ask customers what they want; 2) Build for big markets; 3) Promise big returns...
Oct 5, 2022 | 2 minute read
What is the Time Value of Money with Examples - 4 Elements of TVM
Understanding the TVM with Aesop’s fables. When are two birds in the bush worth more than one bird in the hand? Learn the four elements of TVM:...
Sep 10, 2022 | 3 minute read
How Much is YouTube Worth? Over US$180bn in 2022
Google acquired YouTube for US$1.6bn in 2006. In 2022, YouTube could be worth over US$180bn achieving a +110x return. Analysis of YouTube revenue and usage statistics and...
Sep 6, 2022 | 17 minute read
The IKEA Effect - Why people fall in love with their own ideas
When and why the IKEA effect causes people to overvalue their own ideas. Examples of organisational pitfalls of the IKEA effect. 4 ways you can defend against...
Sep 3, 2022 | 6 minute read
How to Build a Content Creation Engine - Playbook & Template
5 step playbook to build a marketing content creation engine: 1) Set a marketing objective; 2) Plan topics by SEO keywords; 3) Track team productivity; 4) Measure...
Aug 19, 2022 | 9 minute read
SEO Keywords for Demand Generation - A Content Marketing Playbook
5 tactics for picking topics that drive demand generation. 1) How to Brainstorm Use-Cases; 2) SEO Keyword Planner Tool Tips; 3) Competitor Content Assessment Framework; 4) What...
Aug 6, 2022 | 11 minute read
How the US Air Force Ditched the "Average" and Saved Lives
The average is a myth. Understand the pitfalls of the average and how it can conceal useful information. How the US Air Force threw out the average...
Jul 1, 2022 | 3 minute read
How to Solve the Right Problem - 4 Simple Questions to ask
Ask: 1) Whose problem is it really? 2) What is their problem? 3) Where does the problem come from? 4) Do we really need to solve the...
Jun 17, 2022 | 6 minute read
Learn React - Hooks and Context
Practical tutorial of using React Hooks, Custom Hooks and Context API when adding new features to your web app. Adding keyboard shortcut features to the classic Todo...
May 7, 2022 | 16 minute read
Why Invest in Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs)?
1) Why Invest in ETFs; 2) How ETFs work; 3) ETF Share Price vs NAV; 4) ETF vs Actively Managed Funds...
Apr 6, 2022 | 6 minute read
How to Run a Growth Experiment - Learn the 4 Steps
4 steps to a successful growth experiment: 1) Hypothesis; 2) Trigger; 3) Action; 4) Measure. Practical example for how teams can run growth experiments quickly and cheaply....
Feb 25, 2022 | 5 minute read
Financial Model Formatting - 3 Core Best Practices
Investment Banking Excel and Google Sheet formatting best practices for building spreadsheets and financial models: 1) Color Coding Cells; 2) Financial Tables; 3) Key Metrics...
Dec 3, 2021 | 2 minute read
Finite State Machines - A Common Tool for Product Owners, Designers & Developers
How Finite State Machines allow cross-functional teams to visually design complex logic before committing expensive resources to design and code implementation....
Nov 26, 2021 | 5 minute read
5 Questions to Ask to Find Product Market Fit - User Interviews
5 user interview questions to validate product market fit: 1) What progress are you trying to make?; 2) What is the hardest thing about making progress?; 3)...
Sep 18, 2021 | 4 minute read
Invert, Always Invert - Find out how to kill pilots
How Charlie Munger used the inversion process to save the lives of pilots during WWII. How inversion helps frame innovative solutions in productivity, product design, and project...
Aug 7, 2021 | 4 minute read
How Much is Alibaba Worth? US$900 billion in 2021
Alibaba operates three of the largest digital platforms in China: e-commerce, cloud and payments. We estimate Alibaba (BABA:NYSE 9988:HKG) to be valued at up to US$900 billion...
Jun 4, 2021 | 8 minute read
How to Increase User Engagement - 3 Learnings from Psychology
How to build habit forming products: 1) Deliver unexpected rewards; 2) Trigger based on environment; 3) Repeat easy to perform actions...
May 29, 2021 | 5 minute read
5 Key UX Design Principles - How to Make Products User Friendly
Learn the 5 Ways to Make Your Products User Friendly: 1) Affordances, 2) Signifiers, 3) Mapping, 4) Feedback, 5) Conceptual Model. Recognize deliberate design from the hugely...
Jan 17, 2021 | 6 minute read
Second Order Thinking: Unintended Consequences
Tips to help you examine the second and nth order consequences of your actions. Apply the principles of Chesterton’s Fence to be a proactive planner vs reactive...
May 30, 2020 | 3 minute read
3 Decision Making Frameworks Startups can use to Navigate Uncertainty
3 useful decision making frameworks startups leaders and boards can use to tackle uncertainty in startups: 1) Peer Plus One Framework; 2) Incident Response Framework; 3) Risk...
Apr 11, 2020 | 7 minute read
What are the Fiduciary Duties of a Director?
Five basic fiduciary duties of a Board member with breach examples. What are the consequences of a breach of Directors' duties and laws? How can Directors best...
Apr 10, 2020 | 5 minute read
How to Deploy a Node App to AWS EC2
Walkthrough to deploy an Express.js app to AWS EC2 with HTTPS and custom domain using Express, Docker, AWS EC2, AWS Route53, Namecheap, Nnginx and Let's Encrypt. ...
Jan 12, 2020 | 7 minute read
The Role and Functions of Board of Directors
What is the role of the Board? What are their functions and responsibilities? What are the differences between Governance and Management? Understanding the role of the Board...
Dec 26, 2019 | 3 minute read
4 Types of Bias Affecting Your Decision Making
Cognitive biases can negatively impact your ability to think critically and make informed decisions. Here is an explanation of the 4 main types of cognitive bias, some...
Dec 25, 2019 | 4 minute read
Learn React - A Visual Explanation
How to structure your next web project using React and Redux principles. A visual framework template you can use. ...
Aug 31, 2019 | 3 minute read
Clean Architecture Node.js - Build a REST API
Writing Clean Architecture in Node.js. REST API Tutorial using MongoDB, Express and other best practices. How to write software that lasts and can be independent of technology...
Jul 29, 2019 | 15 minute read
Express Validation and Error Handling
Learn how to validate requests and handle errors using Node Express.js with Joi validation library. Validate API requests and display HTML form errors using custom middleware....
Jun 21, 2019 | 10 minute read
Node.js Authentication Tutorial with Passport
Learn how to handle web authentication and authorization in Node using Passport.js. Create signup and login page, different types of users and handle authentication for specific pages....
Jun 1, 2019 | 15 minute read
The Basics of Valuation
Understand the principles of intrinsic valuation. How to explain WACC to anyone. What are the most important factors when valuing a company. ...
May 4, 2019 | 4 minute read
How to Rank Without Backlinks [Free Template]
What are backlinks? Do you need SEO backlinks to rank? The answer is no. Here is a framework to show you how. Without creating backlinks, we built...
Apr 30, 2019 | 9 minute read
SQL Basics
SQL basic boilerplate using starcraft relational data model based on races, planets and heroes...
Apr 27, 2019 | 8 minute read
