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Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career
Brian Balfour: 10 lessons on career, growth, and life
Oct 5, 2023
01:42:00
Brian Balfour, Founder and CEO of Reforge, shares 10 lessons on career, growth, and life including inspecting the work, not the person, solving for everyone is solving for no one, and finding sparring partners. They discuss the power of a notion doc, adjusting strategies for better user outcomes, and using use cases instead of personas for product development and growth.
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Quick takeaways
- Evaluate a person's capabilities based on their work output, not just conversations or interviews.
- Progress made in the first six months heavily influences the success of yearly goals and targets.
- Embrace the continuous growth process and accept that solving one problem leads to new challenges.
- Recognize the interconnectedness of acquisition, retention, and monetization within a growth system.
- Differentiate by doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing in a crowded market.
Deep dives
Inspect the work, not the person
In order to accurately assess a person's capabilities, it is more effective to evaluate their actual work output rather than relying solely on conversations or interviews. This approach reduces biases and provides meaningful insights into their skills and approaches.
The year is made in the first six months
Achieving yearly goals and targets is heavily influenced by the progress made in the first six months. The constraints and limitations of a product or market often require early action and impact to set the foundation for success throughout the entire year.
Problems never end, and that's okay
Embracing the reality that problems will always arise and that solving one problem often leads to new, more complex challenges can help reduce stress and frustration. Shifting the mindset from hoping for easier times to embracing the continuous growth and learning process can lead to better problem-solving and resilience.
Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization
Understanding the interconnectedness of acquisition, retention, and monetization within a growth system is vital. Changing one aspect of the system impacts the others. Identifying problems within the system and their potential solutions often requires looking beyond the immediate area of concern.
Do the opposite
When trying to gain traction or stand out in a crowded market, looking at what everyone else is doing and then doing the opposite can lead to unique opportunities. Embracing counterintuitive approaches often opens up new possibilities and differentiation.
Use cases, not personas
Focusing on understanding and defining specific use cases of a product or service can provide more actionable insights and guide product development and growth strategies. Use cases capture the practical applications and needs of customers in a more tangible and actionable way than general personas.
Prioritize use cases before personas
Instead of solely focusing on understanding the characteristics and demographics of potential customers, it is more effective to prioritize understanding the specific use cases and practical needs of the target audience. This approach provides more actionable insights for product development and growth strategies.
Importance of defining use cases
Defining use cases is crucial in product development and marketing. Understanding the problem and value proposition, considering alternatives, and knowing why users would choose your solution over others are key components in identifying and addressing use cases. By defining use cases, you can effectively shape retention and activation metrics, and identify the natural frequency of encountering the problem and adopting the solution.
Solving for a specific audience
Solving for a specific audience is more effective than trying to please everyone. When you focus on a specific target customer and use case, you can tailor your product or service to meet their specific needs and challenges. Trying to solve for multiple use cases or pleasing everyone often leads to diluted efforts and less focus on addressing specific problems. By clearly defining who you are not solving for, and aligning your resources and messaging accordingly, you can create a more impactful and successful product or service.
Providing activation energy for change
When introducing new initiatives or making changes, it is important to provide sufficient activation energy to drive meaningful impact. Simply dipping your toes in and taking incremental steps may not be enough. For significant change to occur, the new initiative should grow at a multiple of the existing baseline rate. By injecting enough activation energy and avoiding incremental approaches, you can ensure that new initiatives have the necessary momentum to make a real difference and achieve your goals.
Brought to you by Jira Product Discovery—Atlassian’s new prioritization and roadmapping tool built for product teams | Coda—Meet the evolution of docs | Wix Studio—The web creation platform built for agencies
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Brian Balfour is the founder and CEO of Reforge. Prior to Reforge, he was the VP of Growth at HubSpot and co-founded three other startups. In today’s episode, Brian shares 10 lessons from his career, growth, and life:
• Lesson 1: Inspect the work, not the person.
• Lesson 2: Tell me what it takes to win; then tell me the cost.
• Lesson 3: Problems never end (and that’s okay).
• Lesson 4: The year is made in the first six months.
• Lesson 5: Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization. Change one and you affect them all.
• Lesson 6: Do the opposite.
• Lesson 7: Use cases, not personas.
• Lesson 8: Solving for everyone is solving for no one.
• Lesson 9: Find sparring partners, not mentors or coaches.
• Lesson 10: 2x+ the activation energy for things that need to change.
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Find the full transcript at: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/brian-balfour-10-lessons-on-career-growth-and-life/
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Where to find Brian Balfour:
• X: https://twitter.com/bbalfour
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bbalfour/
• Website: https://brianbalfour.com/
—
Where to find Lenny:
• Newsletter: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com
• X: https://twitter.com/lennysan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennyrachitsky/
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In this episode, we cover:
(00:00) Brian’s background
(04:29) His Notion doc of lessons
(07:35) Lesson 1: Inspect the work, not the person
(12:39) Implementing lesson 1 and a recap of Reforge Artifacts
(16:01) Lesson 2: Tell me what it takes to win; then tell me the cost
(18:17) Why you should revisit your ideal end state often
(20:25) How planning works at Reforge
(23:50) Lesson 3: Problems never end (and that’s okay)
(26:31) The “players, coaches, captains” framework
(30:24) How AI will allow for smaller teams
(34:13) Small teams do bigger things
(34:37) Lesson 4: The year is made in the first six months
(38:20) Lesson 5: Growth is a system between acquisition, retention, and monetization
(40:44) Examples of engagement and retention problems from HubSpot and Reforge
(46:21) Lesson 6: Do the opposite
(55:25) Brian’s thoughts on category creation
(57:39) Lesson 7: Use cases, not personas
(1:01:18) The use case map
(1:03:38) Lesson 8: Solving for everyone is solving for no one
(1:11:14) There are many ways to do product
(1:16:52) Lesson 9: Find sparring partners, not mentors or coaches
(1:23:49) Advice on setting the tone for group sharing
(1:25:07) Lesson 10: You need to give 2x the activation energy for things that need to change
(1:32:02) Lightning round
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Referenced:
• Reforge: https://www.reforge.com/
• Frank Slootman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frankslootman/
• Artifacts: https://artifacts.reforge.com/artifacts
• Ray Dalio’s 5 Step Process: https://commoncog.com/dalios-5-step-process-to-getting-what-you-want/
• Building effective teams: https://www.reforge.com/blog/building-effective-teams
• Scott Belsky’s website: https://www.scottbelsky.com/
• MOOCs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course
• The Creative Act: A Way of Being: https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Act-Way-Being/dp/0593652886/
• A Breakdown of LinkedIn’s AI Assisted Growth Loop: https://brianbalfour.com/essays/a-breakdown-of-linkedins-ai-assisted-growth-loop
• Lex Fridman Podcast: https://lexfridman.com/podcast/
• Acquired podcast: https://www.acquired.fm/
• Unsolicited Feedback podcast: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback
• Elena Verna Analyzes Airtable’s Shift to Enterprise and Slack’s Product Roadmap: https://www.reforge.com/podcast/unsolicited-feedback/episode-5
• The ultimate guide to product-led sales | Elena Verna: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-product-led-sales-elena-verna/
• How to become a category pirate | Christopher Lochhead (author of Play Bigger, Niche Down, Category Pirates, more): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-become-a-category-pirate-christopher-lochhead-author-of-play-bigger-niche-down-category/
• Dharmesh Shah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dharmesh/
• The ultimate guide to JTBD | Bob Moesta (co-creator of the framework): https://www.lennyspodcast.com/the-ultimate-guide-to-jtbd-bob-moesta-co-creator-of-the-framework/
• How to sell your ideas and rise within your company | Casey Winters, Eventbrite: https://www.lennyspodcast.com/how-to-sell-your-ideas-and-rise-within-your-company-casey-winters-eventbrite/
• Target the Right Market: https://hbr.org/2012/10/target-the-right-market-2
• Douglas Atkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doatkin
• How Linear builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-linear-builds-product
• How Notion builds product: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-notion-builds-product
• Aaron White on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronmwhite/
• Ariel Diaz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieldiaz/
• Ray Dalio’s website: https://www.principles.com/
• Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future: https://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804139296
• The Wolf of Wall Street on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/70266676
• Margin Call on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Margin-Call-Kevin-Spacey/dp/B005UT29Z0
• The Big Short on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/title/80075560
• The Bear on Hulu: https://www.hulu.com/series/the-bear-05eb6a8e-90ed-4947-8c0b-e6536cbddd5f
• Halt and Catch Fire on Prime Video: https://www.amazon.com/Halt-Catch-Fire-Season-1/dp/B00KCXIHJG
• Vuori: https://vuoriclothing.com/
• The man in the arena: https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Learn-About-TR/TR-Encyclopedia/Culture-and-Society/Man-in-the-Arena.aspx
• Startup Dads podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/startup-dad/id1693312339
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Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.
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Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.
Get full access to Lenny's Newsletter at www.lennysnewsletter.com/subscribe
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