{"id":9165,"date":"2016-12-14T16:36:02","date_gmt":"2016-12-14T20:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/?p=9165"},"modified":"2016-12-14T17:12:26","modified_gmt":"2016-12-14T21:12:26","slug":"josh-elman-how-to-build-products","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/josh-elman-how-to-build-products\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Elman: how to build products"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">By Larry Chiang<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">how to build products.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width: 48px; height: 48px; padding-right: 8px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<td><b style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766663584159903745?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><font color=\"#000000\">8\/19\/16, 8:50 AM<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Spoke to two great product teams yesterday about how to build products and my transition to VC. Had a couple big realizations:<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width: 48px; height: 48px; padding-right: 8px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<td><b style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766663910946516992?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><font color=\"#000000\">8\/19\/16, 8:51 AM<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Building something that users understand and enjoy is all that matters. If they don&#8217;t get it, you aren&#8217;t making it easy enough to learn<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width: 48px; height: 48px; padding-right: 8px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<td><b style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766664088294264833?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><font color=\"#000000\">8\/19\/16, 8:52 AM<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Products don&#8217;t have to be &#8220;easy to use&#8221; just &#8220;easy to learn&#8221; and create strong motivation to learn and want to use.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width: 48px; height: 48px; padding-right: 8px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<td><b style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766664356360617985?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><font color=\"#000000\">8\/19\/16, 8:53 AM<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Nothing better than talking to users who don&#8217;t get your product, aren&#8217;t excited to try it, tried it but didn&#8217;t stick, or came back and did<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width: 48px; height: 48px; padding-right: 8px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<td><b style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766664558249336832?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><font color=\"#000000\">8\/19\/16, 8:54 AM<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Listening to users won&#8217;t tell you what to build. But it will tell you where all the gaps are, and then the team&#8217;s creativity can go to work<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border: 1px solid black; padding: 8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width: 48px; height: 48px; padding-right: 8px;\"><\/span><\/td>\n<td><b style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766664737723592705?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\" style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><font color=\"#000000\">8\/19\/16, 8:54 AM<\/font><\/a><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\">The other thing I realized when asked for career advice was how immature I often was in my career.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<table style=\"border:1px solid black;padding:8px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr valign=\"bottom\">\n<td width=\"48\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/pbs.twimg.com\/profile_images\/642325773454434304\/StRyH6B6_normal.jpg\" style=\"width:48px;height:48px;padding-right:8px;\"><\/td>\n<td><b>Josh Elman (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">@joshelman<\/a>)<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td colspan=\"2\">\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/joshelman\/status\/766664845328396288?refsrc=email&amp;s=11\">8\/19\/16, 8:55 AM<\/a><\/div>\n<div>I spent way too much time earlier worrying about what my job was instead of just focusing on what problems I was challenged with solving<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eudADPfTWiE&amp;sns=em\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eudADPfTWiE&amp;sns=em<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WVKHwYJzVVc&amp;sns=em\">https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=WVKHwYJzVVc&amp;sns=em<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);\"><br \/>\n<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Larry Chiang how to build products.&nbsp; Josh Elman (@joshelman) 8\/19\/16, 8:50 AM Spoke to two great product teams yesterday about how to build products and my transition to VC. Had a couple big realizations: Josh Elman (@joshelman) 8\/19\/16, 8:51 AM Building something that users understand and enjoy is all that matters. If they don&#8217;t [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-networking-with-venture-capitalists"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9165\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.duck9.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}