Make Things That Matter Andrew Skotzko

What do you do when one of your top three KPIs is stagnant, and the product isn't growing? A micro case study in debugging retention and unlocking growth.
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You can read the original article here: https://tinyurl.com/2hdmy2zp
LINK: STARTING CONDITION CHART: https://tinyurl.com/2fnemasz
LINK: DEEPER DIVE PIE CHART: https://tinyurl.com/2lyjalyp


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Petra Wille is a product leadership coach and the author of Strong Product People, my go-to book for the people development side of being a product leader. In this conversation, we dive deep into why and how a community of practice can level up your team and save training budget.
You can also read this episode here.
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Links & resources mentioned:
Petra Wille:
• Website
• Twitter @loomista
• LinkedIn
• Book: Strong Product People
• Conference: Product at Heart
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Related episodes:
• Amy Edmondson: Building teams where people feel safe
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People & orgs:
• Robert Kegan
• Tolingo (translation company)
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Books:
• Strong Product People
• An Everyone Culture
• The Culture Map
• Selling the Dream
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Other resources:
• Product Communities of Practice: Everything You Need to Know
• Dan Pink - Autonomy, mastery, purpose
• The (product) cultural iceberg


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Bob Moesta is one of the pioneers of Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) theory, which has fundamentally changed the way we think about building products and discovering what progress people actually need and want from the products they hire.
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LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED
Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
Bob Moesta: The Rewired Group, LinkedIn, Twitter
Bob’s books and podcast Learning to Build Demand-Side Sales 101 Jobs to be Done Handbook The Circuit Breaker podcast
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RELATED EPISODES:
April Dunford: Find your power in the market through positioning
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PEOPLE & ORGS:
W. Edwards Deming
Clayton Christensen
Genichi Taguchi
Willie Hobbs Moore
Tim Davis
Claire Sullentrope
April Dunford
Ryan Singer
Basecamp
Intercom
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BOOKS:
Learning to Build
Competing Against Luck
Grit
Introduction to Quality Engineering
Orthogonal Arrays and Linear Graphs
Shape Up
How Will You Measure Your Life?
Never Split the Difference
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OTHER RESOURCES:
Orthogonal arrays
Magic squares
L9 prototype


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com

Sahil Lavingia has had an epic journey as an entrepreneur: he dropped out of college to become employee #2 at Pinterest and then went on to found Gumroad, one of the largest platforms for creators to sell their work and earn a living online. After the company failed to meet its VC-driven growth timeline and almost died, Sahil had to lay everyone off and build it back up into the resilient, streamlined, and fully distributed company it is today.
Episode web page.
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Sign up here to get upcoming essays + episodes emailed to you.
Follow the MTTM journey on Twitter or LinkedIn!
If you haven't already would you do me a favor and take ~40 seconds to rate/review the show on Apple Podcasts ? It really helps. (Scroll to bottom of page for rate/review links.)
—
Links & resources mentioned:
• Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
• Sahil Lavingia: Gumroad, Twitter, personal site
• Book: The Minimalist Entrepreneur
• “Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company”: essay + talk
• Sahil’s early stage investment fund
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Related episodes:
• #42 ARM: A mental model for fulfilling work
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People & orgs:
• Gumroad
• USC
• Patreon
• BandCamp
• Substack
• Daniel Vassallo tweet about money he’s made Gumroad
• Paul Graham: “You've found market price when buyers complain but still pay.”
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Books:
• The Minimalist Entrepreneur
• Essentialism
• Only the Paranoid Survive
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Other resources:
• How Gumroad is run: No Meetings, No Deadlines, No Full-Time Employees
• Video: Gumroad Q4 2022 board meeting - where pricing change was announced
• “Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Company”: essay + MicroConf talk
• What is a transformer model (AI)?


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com

Five things I (re)learned from spending a week with SVPG + some of the best product coaches in the world.
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If you haven't already would you do me a favor and  take ~40 seconds to rate/review the show on Apple Podcasts ? It really helps. (Scroll to bottom of page for rate/review links.)
Links & resources mentioned
Send episode feedback on  Twitter @askotzko , or via email 
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Related episodes
• #60 DJ DiDonna: Navigating sabbaticals and career breaks 
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People & orgs
• Marty Cagan & SVPG 
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Books
• The Thin Book of Trust
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Other resources mentioned
• Vision example: SpaceX
• Vision example: Microsoft productivity
• Vision example: Apple’s Knowledge Navigator
• Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
• Original agile manifesto 


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DJ DiDonna helps us approach taking REAL time off and evolving our identity along with our career.
Whether you’re feeling like you need to take time off, or if you’re curious about what sabbaticals are and why they might be good for both you and your organization, have a listen. You’ll learn about how your interests and identity can evolve along with your career, but not be bound by your career.
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Links & resources mentioned
• Send episode feedback on Twitter @askotzko , or via email
• DJ DiDonna: LinkedIn
• The Sabbatical Project
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Related episodes:
• #59 Kenny Borg: Identity transformation and embodying fulfillment
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People & orgs:
• The Sabbatical Project
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Books:
• Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life
• Transitions: Making Sense of Life's Changes
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• How Will You Measure Your Life?
• The Lies of Locke Lamora
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Other resources:
• TED talk: Stefan Sagmeister: The power of time off
• DJ’s TEDx talk: Sabbaticals: Time [off] well spent
• LinkedIn career break feature
• Research: “The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance”
• Exercise: 2022 Reflection + 2023 Goal Setting


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.makethingsthatmatter.com