Blog
How Apple Sells Software At Hardware Prices
I ran this poll the other day on Twitter: Which would you prefer, assuming both cost $700 (and no dual boot) — Flo Crivello (@Altimor) September 12, 2019 The answers highlight a point I often make: that when people buy an iPhone for $1,100, they’re really paying $600 for
The Efficiency-Destroying Magic of Tidying Up
In his seminal book Seeing Like a State, James Scott describes what he calls “high modernists:” lovers of orders who mistake complexity for chaos, and rush to rearrange it from the ground up in a more centralized, orderly fashion. Scott argues that high modernists end up optimizing for a system’
Software, the Tough Tomato Principle, and the Great Weirdening of the World
Marshall McLuhan’s theory that “the medium is the message” famously describes how media are not neutral. Rather, a medium’s nature has a deep impact on the very content of its messages. One misunderstood aspect of the theory is that it applies to all technology, not just media: any
Five Promises of Micromobility
Disclaimer: I’m a product manager at Uber. This piece represents my views only, and not those of people working on behalf of Uber. A wave of electric scooters and bikes has been taking over American cities in the past year. People have been dismissing them as toys (which alone
The best companies to start a career in tech
Every time someone, and especially a new grad, asks me for recommendations of companies they should apply to, I point them to the excellent yearly “Career Launching Companies List” from Wealthfront. It’s become somewhat of a truism in the Bay Area that the best companies aren’t the super
Own the Demand
Disclaimer: I’m a product manager at Uber. This piece represents my views only, and not those of Uber, fellow employees, managers, customers, clients, suppliers, investors or people working on behalf of Uber. In The Internet Economy, Chris Dixon remarks that: When evaluating an internet company’s strategic position (the
Go West, Young Man
If you’re in tech, you need to move to San Francisco. The advice holds especially if you’re a student, not having dug your roots too deeply anywhere yet. There are several reasons why you want to come here: The Opportunities All the coolest companies you’ve heard about
Mind the Moat, a 7 Powers Review
The Lindy Effect has become my top heuristic to decide what to read next. This phenomenon describes how some things tend to live longer, the longer they’ve lived — to speak plainly, if something has stood the test of time it must be important. When you’re tempted to read
Nobody Cares
A friend was commenting on how active I was on Twitter, telling me how he held back from posting anything online, out of shyness. I answered that that was my default mode as well, and, I suspect, that of most people. I get shy and afraid of what people could
A Long Week-End in Mexico
I took a trip to Mexico City over the long weekend — it was my first time there, and I absolutely loved it. The city surprised me in many ways, and didn’t match at all the picture in my mind. I was expecting dry landscapes scattered with cacti, and instead
