If one engineer at a startup tries Slack and says, 'I hate it. I am not going to use this,' that's it for us. We won't get evaluated.
Interpretation
User experience is crucial for product success in startups.
This quote emphasizes the importance of user feedback in the startup environment, particularly how one negative experience can significantly affect the product's reception and evaluation. It highlights that in a fast-paced startup, the opinions of individual users can be decisive for the overall success of a product.
In practice
In a team meeting discussing product improvements, one might say, 'As Stewart Butterfield highlighted, we need to consider every piece of feedback we get.'
Hard numbers tell an important story; user stats and sales numbers will always be key metrics. But every day, your users are sharing a huge amount of qualitative data, too - and a lot of companies either don't know how or forget to act on it.
You can't live if you don't eat, but you don't live to eat. And neither does business exist primarily to make a profit. It exists to fulfill its purpose, whatever that might be.
The business of business should not be about money. It should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed
I think that the direct conversation is exactly what companies need to earn trust of customers. Admit an error. Fix a problem. Commit to doing better. That is only human.
Thinking about starting a small business? Assume everything will cost twice as much and take twice as long as you think it will.
My concern is that we live in an economy in which stabbing someone and waiting for them to complain before we remove the knife has become the normal way of doing business. When did we lose sight of the fact that it's not nice to stab people in the first place?
Values-based business behavior is no longer simply an interesting option - it's crucial to your survival. Once you understand your mission and values, you have a strong basis for evaluating your practices and aligning them accordingly.
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