Ten years ago I shipped my first product to eleven users. Today the companies I’ve helped build serve thousands of teams. Here is what survived the trip.

Ship the smallest true thing

A product is a promise. The smallest version that keeps the promise teaches you more than the biggest version that almost does.

Cut scope until it hurts, then ship.

Talk to people every week

Every good decision I’ve made started with a conversation. Put customer calls in the calendar like any other meeting, and protect them like you protect launch days.

Make the boring parts excellent

Onboarding, empty states, error messages and billing pages decide whether people stay. They are rarely in the launch video, and they matter most.