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20VC: Eugene Wei on "Status as a Service", Why Networks Grow and Stop Growing, The Worst Design Choices Social Media Incumbents Have Made & The Next 10 Years of Media and the Metaverse

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Nov 22, 2021

Eugene Wei, a former strategist at Amazon, Hulu, and Oculus, shares his deep insights into tech and social media design. He discusses the importance of decision-making processes, drawing lessons from industry giants like Jeff Bezos. Wei highlights the 'social graph problem' that plagues many apps today and critiques design choices made by social media incumbents. He also unpacks the concept of 'status as a service', exploring how it shapes user behavior and interactions in the evolving media landscape.

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ANECDOTE

Unconventional Entry to Tech

Eugene Wei, unsure about law school, wrote a compelling cover letter to Amazon.
Though unqualified for the role, his passion for the internet landed him a job.

INSIGHT

Decision-Making Mediums

Decision-making processes heavily influence outcomes, so choose them wisely.
Different mediums like writing, debate, or prototypes suit different decision types.

ANECDOTE

Crafting Memorable Messages

Jeff Bezos refined his communication style at Amazon, prioritizing message memorability.
Steve Jobs used keynotes and multi-medium presentations to embed products in culture.

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Eugene Wei is one of my favorite thinkers, writers, and strategists in tech today. Having spent the majority of his professional career at consumer internet companies, Eugene started his career with a 7-year stint at Amazon with a focus on product. He then joined Hulu leading the product, design, editorial, and marketing teams. Post Hulu, Eugene co-founded Erly, later acquired by Airtime, and then joined Flipboard as Head of Product. Finally, Eugene's last position was with Oculus as Head of Video. You have to check out Eugene's blog and can find his writing here.

In Today’s Episode with Eugene Wei You Will Learn:

1.) How Eugene made his way into the world of tech and startups with his first position at Amazon? What did Eugene do differently that made him stand out to the recruiters at Amazon?

2.) Decision-Making: Why does the process and medium by which decisions are made matter so much? How has Euegene's decision-making process changed over time? Where do many people go wrong in constructing and optimising their decision-making process? What are Eugene's biggest takeaways and lessons from Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs on messaging?

3.) The World of Social: What does Eugene believe is the graph design problem for so many social apps today? What does Eugene believe are the best and the worst design choices social media incumbents have made? How does Eugene encourage the next generation of consumer social founders to think through design decisions?

4.) Status as a Service: What does the concept of "Status as a Service" mean to Eugene? What is the biggest misunderstanding people have with the concept? What has fundamentally changed this concept in the last 2-3 years? How does the rise of crypto and NFT's impact the notion of "status as a service"? How does Eugene believe this will look in 10 years?

5.) The World of Media: How does Eugene think through the attention economy today? Why is media and content harder than ever today? Why does Eugene believe media has now become zero-sum? What does Eugene believe will be the future business model for media?

Item’s Mentioned In Today’s Episode with Euegene Wei

Eugene's Favourite Book: The Sound and the Fury, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information