Ambition Shock Absorbers vs Ambition Incubators
Edition #062
Introduction
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Creating a product vision
by Ami Vora
In this interesting article, Amit Vora shares some sound advice for creating a product vision and strategy.
Here are some interesting takeaways:
How to think when creating a vision for a product: ‘I try to think about myself as the *facilitator* of the vision, not the *creator* of the vision. Therefore, the ideas for the vision should come from everywhere.’
Try to get inputs from a diverse range of resources: It’s essential to look at a wide range of resources, starting with trends data around the world and research reports that help you get a better grip on the business problem you are trying to solve, be open to getting valuable inputs from leaders who may have a better perspective and experience and finally have your own opinion and conviction around the proposition.
Try to write a short, provocative product recommendation: This can make you think hard about many reasons why you believe this is a serious and compelling product idea. Putting it on paper will help you read and reflect on the idea.
Write the product vision to appeal to the entire team: This is particularly interesting as different stakeholders will develop, build, and work on the product. This is often missed in a product vision document. Treating each stakeholder like an audience will get the stakeholders excited and involved in the vision to get it done.
Read the full article here.
How Can You Tell If You're Cut Out For Entrepreneurship?
Matt Clifford is the Co-founder and CEO of Entrepreneur First. Since 2011, Entrepreneur First has created over 500 startups worth over $10bn, including Magic Pony Technology, Tractable, and CloudNC, and Spencer Greenberg is in conversation with him.
It always sounds and feels exciting to want to be an entrepreneur, but one question that never gets asked by almost everyone is, ‘Am I cut out to be an Entrepreneur?’.
Here are some of the select ideas and thoughts shared in this conversation:
‘Variance Amplifying institution’ is an institution that selects for tail behaviour — the most unusual behaviour — and then amplifies it. So everything more or less that you read on the internet, you're reading because it's been selected by a large group of people for amplification. Because in the past, extreme behaviour didn't really scale, and it could be dampened locally by if you like, the forces of normality. But what the internet does is it takes that behaviour and gives it a much bigger platform.
Variance-dampening institution - any institution that makes things more predictable for all stakeholders.
One way to think about traditional prestigious careers - going to work in a prestigious investment bank, consulting firm, or even more recently, a big tech company — is that these are pretty hierarchical institutions, and you can think of them as a sort of ambition shock absorbers.
Entrepreneurship is quite different. Entrepreneurship is all about people seeking the most significant, most extreme outcomes.
A lot of entrepreneurship is applied problem-solving. Therefore, incredibly determined and resilient people are good indicators for being entrepreneurs.
People that turn out to be exceptionally promising founders usually have a functional skill at which they are exceptional. Also, comfortable challenging the status quo.
The Fastest Productivity Tool to Reach 1M Users
How do you rethink and reimagine a productivity tool of the future?
Most of us have grown with Powerpoint, and many know it could be more interactive than the tools around. But, more fundamentally, can a productivity tool of the future help us with storytelling - thinking of a compelling story or a concept first and then following it up with how to design the slides for that story using network effects?
Most of the future product ideas will need to begin with questioning the first principles we have grown with and finding ways how humans can collaborate with emerging technologies that can redefine how and embedding things are done.
Watch more of this in this video.
Ambition Shock Absorbers vs Ambition Incubators
A couple of thoughts that caught our attention as we read, listened and watched some of these articles or stories was the point made by Matt Clifford, ‘Traditional prestigious careers being sort of Ambition Shock Absorbers’. On the other hand, we also saw the point being articulated by Keith ‘Instead of sitting in a room thinking can we get a perfect product for the perfect customer, how can we iterate continuously?’
Looking into the future, successful companies will act as catalysts for people’s ambitions rather than shock absorbers. Also, the aspirations of the people working in companies are changing rapidly. People are no more comfortable with hierarchical structures and decision-making in organisations. They want flexibility and freedom to operate and fail, and companies that provide such a platform will attract the best talent. When companies try to act like shock absorbers, they tend to restrict the entrepreneurial ambitions of people due to their red tape and bureaucracy. The best talent will want companies to act like ambition incubators, not ambition shock absorbers.
When companies are ambition incubators, they need to act as follows:
Provide an environment for people to take risks with their ideas.
Companies themselves must be risk-takers to back people’s ideas that are not tried before in their industry, and they will need to be ready for risk-adjusted returns.
This will serve as a platform for their innovation thinking and execution.
The way companies need to compensate and reward employees who would instead not want companies to act as their shock absorbers but act as ambition incubators will be different. The standard ways of compensation will need to undergo a radical shift.
When companies evaluate talent, they need to look at what proportion of their employees have this attitude. This will directly correlate to the company’s future revenues, profits and market leadership.
Employees must be ready to look at differential compensation between those looking for careers that are shock absorbers versus those looking for companies that are ambition incubators. Standard designations, compensation framework, and work experience would no longer matter in such companies.
Some of the lessons we learnt from this week’s mission:
Product vision requires a mix of both inventive thinking and facilitation skills.
Entrepreneurship is an acquired skill that can be built if one builds the right attitude and resilience.
Collaboration between humans and new AI platforms will form the foundation of disruptive product ideas of the future.