So, I have been on a low-information diet for the past many months. Actually, I kind of broke my fast a few months ago, but still hadn’t turned the corner with writing, and didn’t really feel like it. Mostly because I felt like I didn’t have anything very original to contribute. As usual, I mostly write to solidify my own thoughts, and not to be pedantic, but it was good to take a break from it all.
Until now.
I have been thinking and researching deeply about building and growing a consumer internet business, and the different aspects that it touches. There is a great deal of material on the web written by a lot of people way smarter than me. However, the challenge for new entrepreneurs has always been how to prioritize the material. Even smart people write mostly ‘in the moment’, so all arguments in one post are given to posit a specific point of view. The problem is that the reader keeps getting pulled in different directions, each direction defined by the preset point of view of the post at that given time. After reading a few posts, I feel like someone has taken me for a walk, and then decided to keep turning me in different directions with each step. After a while, it all feels woozy, and it takes a little bit to re-orient myself and walk straight towards my destination or goal.
Some people are way smarter than I am at doing this, and can constantly take in all the information and keep their eyes focussed on their destination at all times. But for people like me, the challenge is to decide which argument makes sense for their particular direction, and incorporate it within their products.
In a small subset of cases, very very smart writers have given their profound theories and frameworks on the workings of the consumer web, and some people have even gone beyond and given us prescriptive guidelines on how to tackle the issues. However, these approaches are mostly strewn across, without a single place to unify the wealth of knowledge.
I am going to try and compile this wealth of ideas here in this blog, mostly for my own sake. I expect to learn more about each technique and analyze each one to understand how it fits in the overall framework. I will also attribute and link to the articles I will take the ideas from so that those responsible get their due credit.
So, come along on this journey with me and together we hope to achieve only one thing:
How to make the process of building a consumer internet business more scientific and reduce the role of luck to the reality. i.e. a playbook for what it means to ‘execute well’.
Onward!
Information Overload 