In thinking about software product development

http://businessofsoftware.org/2013/02/kathy-sierra-building-the-minimum-badass-user-business-of-software-a-masterclass-in-thinking-about-software-product-development/

- don't build an awesome product, build a product that makes its user awesome

superset game
People want to be badass at what you re app is enabling, not at your app.
How would you build your product if your success depended on the user's success.
The key things is the output of the experience, not the experience itself
 Don t design so users are impressed with you, but so others are impressed with them

How to make people experts
badass: reliably superior experience
Expert are not what they know, they are what they do
- Models (examples)
- Edge practice
- Forward Flow: they keep going, no matter what

(see: http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html)


How to get people to be an expert ?
- expose them repeatly to "expert" outcomes (model)
=> we can learn a lot simply by watching experts practicing
- edge practice: designed to teach a skill in 3 or less practice session
=> the skill taught in each step must be of the right granularity
- add a clear progress map from novice to expert

Willpower and focus are related: lot of focus means lower willpower later
Make only the core stuff hard, which takes the user a lot of (brain) resources; make sure all the rest is super easy

Tim Ferris and Noah Kagan: how risk averse entrepreneurs succeeds

http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2013/08/08/low-risk-entrepreneurship/

Noah: work on what you're passionate about
Don't start a business until you know it's working
How to do it:
- spend as little time and money as possible to check if the business work
- business = hypothesis
- e.g.: can I get 200 people to buy a digital product
(engineer: like to build  cool shit.
right approach: start with customers. check where people complain)

- build a very very minimal product

Tim: for the 4-hour chef
- get the prefered books from people, and see what they complain about on these books

- reduce the time, that's how you get creative.
Validate in a day, or a week.
setup accountability

daily commitment

Tim: register to good (popular) product to see how they upsell, cross sell, follow up

innoculate yourself against fear

Case studies
- Target a small and specific market

- scary prank app
to check if it works:
- check for existing similar products and whether they work

- set KPI, and track them. Be specific on goals
- use a google form to validate
- create relationships with prospects as early as possible. Build the audience.
- don't hesitate to start with your friends, facebook pages, blogs and so on to build and audience
- get referals from your prospects
- talk to people to get feedback
- don't "play business" - don't waste time in scale, techmology, etc. Start with: what is your business
- focus on one metric, make it realistic, check progress very regularly.