Below is an archive of every blog post shared through this site since 2010. For posts by topic, check out articles on marketing, leadership, and building new products.
For new posts, check out my Substack newsletter and subscribe:
I recently had the privilege of giving a talk for Backstage Capital and their amazing early-stage portfolio companies. My talk was called “Storytelling for Technical Founders” and I shared how technical leaders can tell better stories.
Here are a few common mistakes and takeaways:
Real-life is non-linear, but stories are linear. Therefore, stories are always a simplification.
Read MorePeople tend to shoot the messenger but there are ways to avoid the negative halo of bad news. If you have to deliver bad news that wasn't your fault, here are tips to keep in mind:
Read MoreWhether you're a changemaker within an organization, or a startup CEO running your own company, your ability to do great work is directly tied to your team's performance.
You realized this when you transitioned from an individual contributor to a people manager. But it's likely a lesson you're constantly reminded of.
Almost every week, I hear a founder say, "I'm the bottleneck for everything. How do I get my team to be as smart as I am?”
Read MoreMy obsession with messaging is based on my personal experience editing hundreds of pages of copy for myself, my direct reports, and my clients. When your brand is on the line, you're incentivized to make sure copy gets your audience to take action, achieves the outcome you want, and represents you well (so you don't invite a flurry of customer complaints).
In other words, if you're a leader or changemaker who uses words to persuade, this post is for you.
I want to tell you about what I call the robot voice method.
Read MoreAs a changemaker and entrepreneur, your work probably involves writing as a way to inform, persuade or connect with your audience.
Read MoreAs a marketer, salesperson, UX designer, or product leader, part of your job is to reduce the friction involved if someone wants to buy something from you.
For example:
Make the button bigger
Use brighter colors
Write shorter copy
Put everything on the homepage above the fold
Add the call-to-action button everywhere on the website
Send reminder emails about the sale
Use monetary incentives, e.g. discounts, bundles, promotions, and reverse promotions ("The price goes up next month!”)
The underlying assumption is, “If I make this easier (or cheaper) for you, you’ll eventually want it.”
Read MoreIf you mix diluted hydrochloric acid with carefully measured strips of magnesium, you’ll get hydrogen...
You need a certain amount of each chemical though. If you don’t, the reaction won’t happen. You’ll get silence.
Activation energy is a term I learned from my friend Yuki, a biochemist who grows meat from cell cultures in Petri dishes. It’s “the minimum quantity of energy needed in order to undergo a specified reaction.”
Many projects take a level of activation energy before you start to see feedback—negative or positive. Maybe you’re an inch away from seeing a result, maybe you are a mile away...
No one is coming to save you.
[Cue panic and running around in circles.]
I remember the first time I realized no one knew the right answer. It was simultaneously alarming and liberating.
Heck, I sat ten feet away from the most famous marketer in the world.
One day, we were discussing growth strategies. He stopped and said, “Wes, you should decide. I don’t have the answer. If I did, I’d just tell you."
Read MoreWhy do people buy bestselling books?
Why are there laugh tracks in sitcoms?
Why are we suspicious of restaurants that are empty?
All of the above are examples of when we look around to see what people around us are doing…. To help us decide what we should do.
We feel pressure to fit in with our peers, to do the right thing that is expected of people like us. This means taking social cues from others, and using those social cues to give context to what we think is cool (or not).
Read More"Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value." - Vice President Joe Biden's dad
Most people like us agree on a lot of things. For example:
“Climate change is bad. We need to do something.”
“We care about company culture. It's important to help our employees level up so we can stay competitive.”
“Innovation is crucial. We want to be a market leader, and that means taking risks.”
But, interestingly, the minute you present a solution that will save the environment, improve culture, or prompt innovation... Everyone is suddenly nowhere to be found. It’s crickets and tumbleweed.
