Product & Startup Builder

Multi-Product Adventure

Added on by Chris Saad.

Realizing just now that I've rarely worked on just 1 product at a time in my career. That would seem like such a nice luxury. 

While running my Web Strategy company in the early 2000s, I would develop websites and strategies for multiple clients at once (of course).

While at Echo, I not only worked on our products - but I also worked very closely with multiple major media companies and brands to design and develop their product strategies using our platform.

While at Uber, I wasn't just responsible for the developer platform products - I also ended up working very closely with some 20+ major partners (week-in and week-out) on their product strategy and implementation of our (as yet unreleased) APIs.

Of course, now with my advisory work, the multi-product adventure continues.

It's always fun and thrilling to have so many plates spinning in the air.

It's interesting, though: I can't remember where I parked my car or what I had for breakfast, but I can always seem to remember the strategy and the details of some 20+ products at the same time.

It's exhausting. But it's also a superpower I'm very proud of and grateful for.

Originally posted on Facebook

Find A Greater Sense of Justice

Added on by Chris Saad.

Often times people take the decisions the people in their lives are making too personally.

When trying to determine how to feel about what someone in your life is doing or choosing - keep in mind a greater sense of justice.

Ask yourself some simple questions like...

  1. Is this even about me?

  2. Is it really up to me to judge this choice or feel any particular way about it?

  3. What reaction or actions would serve the greater long term good for the people it affects the most?

  4. How can I be magnanimous, generous, empathetic, mature and forgiving in this situation?

A good example is when an older child of divorced parents is faced with a parent who finds new love for the first time.

How should that (young) adult feel and act?

They would ideally recognize that, for the most part, it really has absolutely nothing to do with them and they should feel nothing but gratitude and happiness that their mother or father has found someone to give them tenderness and love in their life.

Originally posted on Facebook

Modern Political Extremism

Added on by Chris Saad.

What modern political extremism and double standards look like:

1. She had a consensual relationship and some nude photos!? “She MUST go!”

2. He has multiple credible allegations of sexual assault, he’s on tape boasting about sexual assault, .... blah blah blah. “He hasn’t done anything. Impeachable!”

And both groups saying it with a straight, deeply analytical face.

The world has truly lost its marbles.

Originally posted on Facebook

True Happiness

Added on by Chris Saad.

Regular reminder:

There’s a saying that goes something like “we are never happier than when imagining some future happiness”

That isn’t true happiness, though. That’s a constant need to fill some endless hole in our soul with “stuff” (including experiences) that we think will finally satiate us.

True happiness comes from being in the moment with deep gratitude for the things and people you already have in our lives.

Originally posted on Facebook

Some Counter-Intuitive Thinking About Today's World

Added on by Chris Saad.

A couple of counter-intuitive things I’ve been saying for a while that seem to be finally breaking through into the mainstream (judging from my feed today):

1) Blaming Facebook for the ills of democracy is like blaming the frosting on the cake for making you fat

2) Being “triggered” and “cancel culture” is a form of extremism and extremism (not whatever you’re outraged about this week) is the enemy.

Still waiting for...

3) Spontaneous and individual acts of kindness and charity by police officers, celebrities and wealthy people are not to be admired, they are symptoms of a broken government and taxation system that should be scaling collective compassion and kindness to all (not a random, lucky few)

Originally posted on Facebook

Speech Is Hard. Thank God Zuckerberg Isn't being Reactionary

Added on by Chris Saad.

This quote from Zuckerberg (attached below) is clever.

Screen Shot 2020-01-28 at 11.13.39 am.png

(Link to Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Post)

I’m also particularly amused how everyone is celebrating Twitter’s completely lazy abdication and PR stunt while scorning FB’s attempts to engage with the hard problem through speeches and a principled stand.

Reminder (if you didn’t listen or understand his speech)

  1. Zuck doesn’t need the money or headache

  2. Facebook doesn’t need the money or headache

  3. He believes that shutting down political ads advantages incumbent power (see: trump)

  4. Speech is hard. It’s also core to America’s promise

Why am I defending Facebook and Zuckerberg so much? A number of reasons:

  1. This reminds me of the furor against Uber because of tipping. We knew that tipping was anti-labor because it pushed the burden of risk onto the driver and the cognitive load onto the customer. There’s a reason why only the US does tipping. But outrage culture persisted, so we added it anyway. Mobs don’t understand nuance and unintended consequences. Related: I’ve been close to senior people getting this kind of pressure and have a lot of empathy for them and their position.

  2. It feels very hypocritical to me for Congress and the media to be dragging Zuckerberg over the coals for not dealing with an unintended consequence of his platform when they are the people intentionally doing a number of things I consider to be much, much worse for democracy (gerrymandering, corruption, misleading headlines, 24/7 propaganda, underfunding for education etc). It feels like a red herring distraction trying to scapegoat 1 guy instead of 20+ years of failed policymaking.

  3. Let’s not forget who’s trying to post the misleading ads. The very Politicians who are acting outraged. How about they hold each other to account as well?

  4. I think limiting speech you don’t like is easy to say but dangerous to do. I appreciate Zuckerberg trying to take a principled approach (even if we might disagree with where he’s drawing the line right now)

  5. I do think the problem is much more complicated than it appears. It’s not easy to properly classify lies from exaggerations to spin etc.

  6. I agree with Zuckerberg that outright banning political ads would disadvantage new voices

  7. I don’t want to give Facebook more power. I don’t want a tech company to determine what is appropriate speech.

Originally posted on Facebook

Your Opinion Doesn't Count

Added on by Chris Saad.

People who say “well that’s just my opinion” to win a debate frustrate me.

They act as if their opinion is somehow a sovereign right that exists as a force of nature.

Opinions should be derived from facts and rigorous logical debate.

When presented with new facts, “well that’s just my opinion” is not a relevant or effective response. You either engage with the facts with your own set of facts (and relevant logical perspectives/conclusions) or you concede the point and change your opinion.

That’s how consensus is reached and minds are changed.

Holding onto your opinion despite new facts and being unable to defend your point is not strength of character, it’s weakness of argument.

Originally posted on Facebook

Zuckerberg and Free Speech

Added on by Chris Saad.

“I don’t think we want to live in a world where you can only post things that tech companies judge to be 100% true” - brilliant

“I don’t think it’s right for a private company to censor politicians or the news in a democracy” - amen

Not seeing people talk about this in my feed much. Odd. In an era where Russia is trying to weaponize our values against us, this is an important speech educating people (who should know better) about the value of free speech. Smart of Mark to do this. Maybe even overdue.

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Added on by Chris Saad.

Do you still have any doubt that we’re living in a simulation? If this is where we’re at in 2019, imagine the results of another decade or 2 of technology innovation. Now imagine there are millions or billions of people somewhere in reality running these simulations on their computing devices. Just based on sheer probabilities, it’s highly unlikely we’re in base reality.

TED Talk: Causes of Anxiety and Depression

Added on by Chris Saad.

The attached video is an incredibly important TED talk. In it, the speaker explains how anxiety and depression are often not just the result of a chemical imbalance, but actually pain that signals real problems in one’s life. And given that these symptoms are on the rise across Western society, they are actually signals about an underlying problem with our values. Imagine having a broken leg and the doctor just gives you some pain meds to dull the pain rather than a cast to set your bone.

What’s most interesting to me, however, is how this is part of a broader trend of society and the media paying too much attention to the symptoms and not the causes. Trump and Facebook come to mind as an example.

In the case of Trump we pay too much attention to him and his psychotic personality rather than the people who voted for him and the culture that makes his candidacy and his presidency possible.

In the case of Facebook we are calling on them to censor speech and take the blame for trolling and misinformation. In fact a lot of this stuff comes from major media sources, Clickbait headlines and fundamental fault lines in our culture. Facebook, and the interactions that happen on it, are mostly just the symptoms of the real problem.

We need more people paying attention to root causes.