Things I've learned or believe.
Some time ago, I decided to write down things I learned, realized, or believed as they occurred to me. I figured that a handful of these may resonate with some people in this community. These are ordered, somewhat arbitrarily, by number of characters, descending.

-------------------------------------

A failure of certain information to get elicited from one source and delivered to another constitutes an information distribution problem. Information distribution problems, when solved, have been the basis for the many of the largest technology businesses.

There are things I own that I won't sell but I would rent. Similarly there are things I wouldn't buy but would rent temporarily. Temporary ownership can be made possible by a better rental market for goods.

The day an organization starts to de-value the intellectual superiority of one idea over another is the day the operational focus of the company tilts towards internal, not external, needs.

The best online advertising models don't feel like advertising to the consumer. They feel like well-intentioned purchasing assistants. That's where the ad models on the web need to go.

Good companies often have a lot of extremely smart people with vast knowledge in domains outside of the company's line of business. That knowledge should be used.

When someone says something won't work, ask them what, very specifically, about the idea won't work, determine if that is indeed a problem, then fix it if so.

When a class of entities exhibit little differentiation from one another, the class itself is devalued in the eyes of those not within the class.

When web people talk about conversion rates, I have to wonder if their denominator is the same denominator that those "converting" behave on.

Individual preferences do not exist. All preferences are determined at least in part, if not in full, by mimicking what others seem to want.

Decision making is not about viscerally concluding what's right. It's about understanding what changes when you pick one option vs another.

I've seen homeless people ask homeless people for money or food and get it. People are generous to those whose hardship they understand.

Think about all the occasions someone could want your product. Figure out how to get your message to them at those specific occasions.

Making earth better is fundamentally more important than money. The latter shouldn't be understated as a means to the former though.

The end product of creative work is usually consumed from start to finish. Producing the work in that order rarely makes sense.

Doing anything simply and effectively is extremely hard. So give people who succeed at being simple some serious credit.

When you're pitching a startup or idea, talk about how you're going to change the cultural landscape of the world.

Having things to talk about can not be overstated enough as the basis for friendship developing among strangers.

Language is right up there with functionality and design in terms of criticality of getting right in a product.

Don't do things you don't have a shot at being the absolute best at. Pursue furiously those things you can be.

You must convince other people to do things you want them to do in order to get anything of magnitude done.

Simplifying is hard is because it involves acknowledging that an aspect of your idea isn't worth including.

We all share the same time, but not the same place. No matter where you are, we both observe this second.

The way to feel comfortable taking risks is to simply avoid the risks whose nature you don't understand.

Becoming famous involves fundamentally treating yourself as a brand that you work tirelessly to promote.

The way to make money is to charge people for stuff that you can prevent them from obtaining for free.

Creative thinking should be done alone. Problem solving should be done in groups. I'm not sure why.

Solve the "get people to care" problem, and you'll succeed at anything you set out to do.

The best way of decreasing your likelihood of failure is to not speak or do much.

Developers think in terms of functionality. Everyone else thinks in terms of fun.

Creative work only succeeds when only the creator could have thought of it.

Whatever you're making, make people believe you love nothing more than it.

You should invest in things you believe in until you break down to tears.

Change is hard because it takes you away from that which is familiar.

People are impressed by clarity, not complexity.

The only useful feedback is criticism.

Everyone's goal in life is to matter.

twitter.com/niknir