wisdom
3 Wisdom Stories for When You Feel Stuck
Being stuck and going nowhere are not the same thing. Three old stories about the difference — and what to do when you can't see your own progress.
Spencer Shulem
jobs-to-be-done
Jobs To Be Done: Why Nobody Actually Wants Your Product
A fast-food chain couldn't sell more milkshakes—until they stopped studying the milkshake and started watching who bought it, and when. That's Jobs to Be Done.
product theory
The Decoy Effect: The Option That Exists to Lose
The medium popcorn was never meant to sell. It was meant to sell the large. Meet the decoy effect—and why it lives on your pricing page.
wisdom-stories
3 Stories to Read When You're Tempted
Temptation rarely shows up as a villain. It shows up as a reasonable-sounding voice. Three old stories for the moment you're about to give in.
zen stories
9 Short Zen Stories About Letting Go (and What They Teach)
Direct advice about letting go bounces right off. A story slips past the guard and stays. Here are nine of the best — on control, grudges, outcomes, and certainty.
anchoring
Anchoring: The First Number Always Wins
A real estate agent shows you an $800,000 house you don't love. The next one is $650,000, and suddenly it's a steal. You're not judging the house. You're judging the first number that entered your head.
words
The Cracked Pot: A Story About the Flaws You Carry
Some of the things you carry are cracked. An old Indian folk tale about the leak you keep apologizing for — and the flowers growing on the trail behind you.
product theory
The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Why Your Users Stay (and Why That Should Scare You)
Past investment shouldn't influence future decisions, but it always does. How the sunk cost fallacy retains your users — and why the retention it buys you might be a prison, not a product.
product theory
Product Theory: The Complete Table of Contents
Every chapter in Product Theory — the mental models behind how users price, choose, stay, and churn. Read the free essays or get the book.
words
3 Stories to Read When Everything Goes Wrong
Three old stories for the days the floor drops out from under you — and why the smartest response to disaster might be four small words.
survivorship-bias
Survivorship Bias: Why the Best Startup Advice Comes From the Dead
The military wanted to armor the bullet holes. A statistician told them to armor everywhere else. The same mistake is quietly wrecking your product decisions.
pricing psychology
Pricing Psychology: 7 Rules That Actually Change What People Buy
Price isn't a number. It's a story people tell themselves about what something is worth. Here are seven rules — anchoring, decoys, charm pricing, mental accounting — that quietly decide what people buy.