Blogs
24+ essays on product, AI, and marketplaces.
Builder-to-builder. No corporate filler. Five categories below. Case studies at the bottom.
Product thinking
7 essays
- Apr 20255 min readThe Non-Goals ARE the PRDGoals tell the team what everyone already agreed on. Non-goals record the decisions that will otherwise vanish.
- Apr 20255 min readYour Roadmap Is a Calendar in DisguiseIf you can read your roadmap from left to right and predict every meeting before it happens, you don't have a roadmap. You have a calendar.
- Apr 20256 min readWrite the PRD as a Decision, Not a SpecificationA spec describes what to build. A decision describes what you considered, what you rejected, and why. One ages well. The other doesn't.
- Mar 20254 min readCut the Spec Until Removing One More Thing Breaks the JobMVPs aren't defined by what's in them. They're defined by what removing one more thing would break.
- Mar 20254 min readValidate the Problem in Five MessagesIf you cannot describe the user problem in five messages a real user would write back to you about, you don't have a problem statement. You have a hypothesis dressed up as one.
- Feb 20254 min readThe Kill Criteria Nobody WritesEvery product team writes success metrics. Almost none writes the metric that would tell them to stop. That asymmetry is why dead products keep getting funded.
- Feb 20255 min readPrioritization Without FrameworksRICE is a calculator that produces fake precision. Most real prioritization is two-by-two and a quiet, honest conversation.
AI in product
8 essays
- Apr 20255 min readThe Fallback IS the FeatureWhat the user sees when the AI is wrong is more important than what they see when it's right. Spec the fallback first.
- Apr 20254 min readWhy Your AI Accuracy Benchmark Is DishonestCurated test sets always perform better than production data. If you're not testing on production-shaped inputs, your benchmark is a press release.
- Mar 20254 min readThree Questions Before You Greenlight an AI FeatureMost AI features fail in production not because the model was wrong — but because nobody asked the right questions at scoping.
- Mar 20255 min readProduction AI Demands a Degradation StrategyModels drift, providers throttle, prompts break. If your feature has no plan for what to do when the AI is unavailable, you don't have a production feature.
- Mar 20255 min readWhen AI Is a Liability, Not a FeatureThe cases where adding AI actively makes the product worse. Recognize them before you spec.
- Mar 20253 min readThe Remove-a-Step RuleEvery AI feature should be tested against one question: does this remove a step the user is already taking? If no, kill it.
- Feb 20254 min readEvals Matter When You Have StakesBuild evals when wrong outputs cost money, customers, or trust. Skip them when you can fix a bad output in five minutes.
- Jan 20254 min readThe Case Against Vector DatabasesMost teams that 'need' a vector database actually need keyword search and a small JSON file.
0→1
3 essays
- Apr 20255 min readWhat 0→1 Actually Means After You've Done ItThe phrase is overused. The actual work has three distinct phases, each with different skills, and PMs who confuse them fail.
- Mar 20254 min readStop Building MVPs. Build M-V-Ps.Minimum, viable, product. All three words mean something. Most teams ship versions that miss one of them.
- Feb 20254 min readPMF Feels Like a Phone Call, Not a ChartProduct-market fit is real. It doesn't look like a metric improving. It looks like users acting different.
Marketplace
5 essays
- Apr 20255 min readTrust Mechanics Before Transaction MechanicsMarketplaces obsess over checkout. They lose to competitors that figured out the trust layer first.
- Mar 20255 min readThe Cold Start You Can't Solve With MarketingThrowing marketing dollars at an empty marketplace is the most common mistake in two-sided platforms. The early problem is supply quality, not demand volume.
- Mar 20254 min readLiquidity Precedes Growth (Growth Doesn't Create Liquidity)A marketplace with thin liquidity that scales gets thinner liquidity, not thicker. Fix liquidity first.
- Feb 20255 min readThe Marketplace TrapYour supply is not your customer. But it's the one that leaves first.
- Feb 20254 min readWhy Your Marketplace's Chicken Came FirstEvery successful marketplace started by manufacturing one side. The 'organic' supply story is rewritten after the fact.
Case studies
- 2024Product Hunt × SlackAn integration concept for tighter creator communities
- 2024Dynamic Pricing for Real EstatePredictive pricing for residential listings
- 2023RecessA handloom marketplace, founded and bootstrapped
- 2023AthleteXAn app for endurance athletes — Ironman, Ultraman, Triathlon
- 2023LetzhireRecruitment platform rethink for tech roles
- 2023ZeptoQuick-commerce case study — speed, bias, and personalization
- 2023Sister In SweatBrand and community case for a women's wellness collective
- 2023JioHow aggressive pricing reshaped Indian telecom
- 2023BhoomirathAn agri-machinery rental marketplace for Indian farmers
- 2023MeeshoHow brand awareness and local seller communities drove growth