One Decision Away from Greatness
Our product was fine. Not great, not terrible. Just... fine. We had decent traction, okay reviews, modest growth. But something was missing.
I fucked up by accepting "fine." For almost a year, I optimized around the edges. Better onboarding. Cleaner UI. Faster performance. All good improvements. But we were still just fine.
The User Interview That Changed Everything
I was doing a user interview - something I'd stopped doing as we grew. The user said something that hit me: "Your product does what I need, but I'd never recommend it to anyone."
Why not?
"Because there's nothing remarkable about it. It's just... there."
The Pivot Point
We spent three months on one single feature. Not three months of scattered work - three months of obsessive focus on making one thing genuinely remarkable.
We ignored everything else. Bug fixes? They waited. New features? On hold. Marketing campaigns? Postponed. We bet everything on making this one experience unforgettable.
When we shipped, something changed. Users started telling their friends. Organic growth exploded. Our NPS went from 32 to 78. We went from "fine" to "must-have."
What I Learned
You're always one decision away from greatness - but only if you're willing to ignore everything else to pursue it.
Most products fail not because they make wrong decisions, but because they never fully commit to any decision. They try to do everything reasonably well instead of doing one thing remarkably well.
Now my product philosophy is simple:
- Identify the one feature that could change everything
- Put your best people on it
- Give them real time (months, not weeks)
- Accept that other things will break or stagnate
- Make it 10x better than anyone expects
Being "pretty good" at everything is a recipe for mediocrity. Being exceptional at one thing is how you break through.
Key Takeaway: Stop trying to improve everything incrementally. Find the one thing that could transform your product, and go all-in. Greatness requires sacrifice.