MyBea

mybea

If building products is hard, positioning your product is harder. No matter what you build and sell, how you position your product dictates what you do. How you prioritize, marketing campaigns, sales strategy, it all changes based on how your product is positioned. So where do you start? How do you position your product? Step 1: Understand why Your Customers use Your Product to discover if you’ve hit product/market fit is a great way to understand your customers. If you dig deep enough, you’ll notice it isn’t just a framework to see how many people love your product, but also to understand what they’d do if you did not exist, who your competitors are, and what value they derive from you. Sean Ellis’ survey Put simply, you should ask your customers these three questions to understand more about them: If {Your Product Name} did not exist tomorrow, will you be unhappy, somewhat unhappy, or not disappointed? Why? What primary benefit do you receive from {Your Product Name}? What product will you start using as an alternative? The second survey question is my favourite, especially when it enables you to map the benefit directly to a feature. It tells you the value your customers get from your product and which aspect of your product is key to them. It means you can then get your team to fix broken flows around it and double down to ensure more users see its value. Step 2: Identify the Market You’re in and the Persona You’re Going After You probably already had an idea of your market as you built the product. If you are building a CRM tool, you’re playing in the CRM space. Obvious and easy. But it doesn’t end there. You’ll still have to answer questions such as whether the person you sell to is a manager or somebody involved in daily execution. Will you be selling to salespeople at tech companies or to retail businesses? The data you get from your first step should ideally help you determine which market you’re in. You should start to see clusters of users with similar profiles, who all say they’d be disappointed without your product, and describe a benefit around a common theme. Step 3: Determine the Market’s Maturity The maturity of your market plays a huge role in determining your product’s messaging. In a relatively new market, you have to first establish the problem before talking about what you offer. In an established market, simply stating you are in the specific market will be sufficient, but you’ll have to convince people why you exist. Not with features, but with benefits. For companies in a hyper-competitive market, like CRM, product features and benefits usually match those of competitors. Differentiation becomes all the more important when products and services are indistinguishable — this is a process that begins with a story. My favourite example is Unilever personal care subsidiary, . How do you differentiate a soap’s messaging? What feature could it have that other soaps don’t have? Or can’t copy from them? Dove While other soaps in the market say their soap would make people’s skin fresh and clean, Dove has taken a different approach. It runs to reinforce its female empowerment story. #MyBeautyMySay campaigns Step 4: Determine People’s State of Mind A lot goes through someone’s mind when deciding if they should use your product. This can be summarized as four forces: Push Pull Anxiety Habit When people switch from their current tool to yours, they are usually unhappy with their current way of working (push) and/or are attracted by what you have to offer (pull). Before people make the switch, you must address their concerns (anxiety), get them to trust you, and ensure they don’t have to go through a tedious process like learning a new flow to switch (habit). For most products, it is usually a combination of push and pull that makes people consider your product. And once that is established, a combination of their anxiety levels and habits will determine if they will make the switch. Image credit: Jobs-to-be-Done forces diagram by Margaret Wilkins Step 5: Tying it Together Using all the above data points, you should now pick a market frame of reference that makes your value obvious to the segments who care the most about that value. This is harder than you might think. In the context of this step, a “market” needs to be something that already exists in the minds of your customers and triggers a set of expectations: How your competitors can’t do certain things. How the lack of these capabilities bring pain to your users Features you have How these features give your customers the benefit Positioning yourself as something that already exists in your customers’ minds will help you focus on communicating why they should choose you – the differentiator – and not the features. The tone and the angle you use to position your product will depend on the market and the buyer’s state of mind you’ve surmised from steps 3 and 4. A great way to bring it all together in words is to use the Before and After grid below. By using all the data points you’ve already collected, you can put into words how each customer segment thinks and feels before they use your product and after they use your product. To explain the above table: – This should talk about their biggest pain point. For a manager, it could be a disorganized team. What do they have? – It is easy to simply stick to surface-level feelings like frustrated or unhappy. But when you dig deeper, and unearth feelings like being overwhelmed and insecure, you’ll hit a pot of gold that will help your positioning and messaging. How do they feel? – The average day for a manager who has a disorganized team is constantly to coach the team. What is their average day like? – Your product could help a sales rep hit their targets consistently and get promoted to a managerial post. What is their status? When our early prospective customers started to ask how we were different from the others in the market, we knew it wasn’t enough to just tell them we were building a faster, easier project management tool. We took this approach at Zepel , a JIRA alternative we’re building. So we took a step back, looked into our data, and noticed the current tools catered to simple task and issue tracking when in reality, teams were trying to go beyond it. Teams didn’t want to just jot down a list of user stories for their developers to work on, they wanted to be able to plan and conceptualize an entire feature before handing it over. They didn’t want to get different sets of updates from developers, designers, and their QA team on each individual tasks. They wanted to know the progress of an entire feature across every discipline. And when they were on a deadline to not just ship the feature, but a quality one at that, they didn’t want to be overwhelmed with all the task level updates. They wanted to know how far away they were from shipping the feature and see if they needed to course-correct. Once we had boiled this down, it helped us realize we weren’t just building a faster, easier to use agile project management tool. We were building a project management tool to go beyond simple issue tracking, one that could bring members from every discipline together and adapt to the way modern software product teams really work. That way, everyone would get to do what they do best without having to babysit the tool. Of course, like everything in building products, your positioning will go through iterations, change, and evolve. But once you get it right, you can pass every product, marketing, and sales question through a simple filter by asking “by doing this, are we strengthening our positioning or are we watering it down?”. Conclusion Customers seeking new products don’t have a single-minded focus: brands need to stand out clearly and connect with their audience. Doing that requires companies to go beyond just stating features and benefits. Focusing on the market and its maturity will let you weave a story that stands out, focus on the customer, and differentiate yourself. Take Slack vs HipChat, for example. In a popular (and a must-read) , CEO of Slack, he says: “What we are selling is not the software product — the set of all the features, in their specific implementation — because there are just not many buyers for this software product.” He goes on to add: “That’s why what we’re selling is organizational transformation. The software just happens to be the part we’re able to build and ship.” article by Stewart Butterfield Had Slack positioned itself to go after the same enterprise market as HipChat, it would most certainly look and feel very different. And we certainly wouldn’t have the fun, friendly chat tool that many of us love and use today.

Five Steps to Positioning Your Product

Rethinking our commit messages structure. is the most used for projects based mainly on text files, like source code etc. Git Version Control System If you are working in a company, in a team or also alone, probably you are using also an issue/project tracker like JIRA or the ones included in GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket. The advantage of those pieces of software is that we can create “issues” or “tickets”, each of those tracking of a single feature or bug correction in our software. They work by creating and assigning an ID to the newly created ticket — that can be numeric or include a brief project identifier like — in the way you can keep each one easily referenceable in chats, groups, , etc. development ALX-1231 commits Commits, commits, commits If we have used Git at least one time, we would know that the standard commit message structure is: Commit summary description; corrected my horrible bug Long description (sometimes called "body"), with things like:* bulleted list of changes;* other change;* chirp chirp Notice the new line between the summary and the body: Git doesn’t enforce it, but we to insert it if we want to specify a body, else the commit will not be parsed in the correct way. have Many teams have a default way to reference tickets created with tracking software, putting the issue ID inside the commit message itself. The standard I saw more frequently is something like this: ALX-21313 Done that fancy change; now we have cats in the UI Seems good, probably you are using it in your dev workflow. But I want to talk about why I think this structure is not the best one to use. 1. Using the issue ID as first-class citizen into our commit message is not the best thing to do. We have Git, and then we have a separate system that manages issues. One day in the future the latter could stop working, be abandoned, its database could be deleted as a mistake, or everything else. In that moment, we will realise that our Git messages will have a consistent part that has no more meaning. Issue trackers are not part of the Git repo. 2. The issue ID is wasting precious space that instead could be used to explain what we’ve done in that commit. Commit summaries should have less than 50 characters. Appending 6/7 characters for the issue ID means that we’ll have 6/7 — but maybe more — less characters to use for describing what changes were made. Yes: we could write the full text into the description, but probably we could have used those 7 chars for fitting those in the summary write the issue ID in the description (spoiler to my solution at the end of the article). and then Apart from this, in my experience I found that developers that uses IDs before the “real” commit message, tend to be lazy about what to write in the summary, because they are psychologically prone to the fact that who’s going to read the message, will check the ticket itself for more details. This will take time from him; time otherwise used for being productive. This without quoting the possibility that the issue manager itself could be not accessible temporarily or indefinitely. 3. The linked issue’s nature and its state after the commit is not clear. An issue can have different types. It can be a bug, a new feature, etc. If we just put its ID in front of the message, who will check our project’s logs won’t know if that commit will fix, close or just reference that particular ticket. For more info, again, he has to go to the issue manager, breaking its workflow. 4. What about many issues? And no issues at all? Let’s say that our commit fixes three tickets, because those were very similar (sometimes is possible that QAs create different issues, without knowing that they are caused by the same bug in the code). We’ll have something like ALX-12323 ALX-12324 ALX-12325 Something fixed finally Isn’t that ugly? And what about the opposite? When we are making a subtle change like correcting a typo in a comment. We can’t create a ticket just for correcting a word in an insignificant comment (we could but I think it feels quite paranoid). So we’ll have a commit message without an initial commit, resulting quite incoherent respect to the other commit messages. The approach I suggest If I convinced you with the previous points that the most used format is not so useful and perfect, now I’m going to explain my favourite approach to Git messages. The first thing we are going to do is to . Don’t look at the issue/ticket! Just look at your changes and describe briefly what we changed in overall. explain the code changes in a summarily way Renamed MyUglyTweet to MyBeautifulTweet If we have made many changes in this commit, describe the main purpose of those changes, and then we’ll continue to explain it in the (if needed): commit body Added little birbs to the homescreen * Updated BIRDS_NUMBER constant;* created the interface Chirp and implemented in ChirpImpl; “Ok Alex, but when should we put our issue IDs?”Once we have finished to summarize every block of changes we made, let’s decide where to put our ticket identifiers. If our commit contains changes regarding just one ticket, I follow this path: if there’s enough space in the summary, I append the issue preceded by a verb that will describe how that’s related. For example: Added little birbs to the homescreen; closes ALX-1434 We can use closes, closed, close, as soon that verb identifies what we’ve done on that ticket. I use close for feature tickets, but in the case of a bug ticket, I usually use “fixes” or “fixed”. For these verbs, or , we can check here because specifying those in the commit helps some issue trackers (like the GitHub one) to close automatically our tickets when a feature branch is merged with our main development branch. keywords https://help.github.com/articles/closing-issues-using-keywords/, If there’s no space left in the summary, we can put the ticket on the description: Added little birbs to the homescreen, bla bla bla boring Closes ALX-1434. Or, if we have a list of things changed (but our commit closes only one ticket), we can put the issue in a separate list item: Added little birbs to the homescreen, bla bla bla boring * Created new classes;* injected cream in the blender;* closes ALX-1434 In case we have more issues closed by our commit, we’ll try to have one element of the list for each issue closed: Refactored code bla bla bla bla here's no space to write anything * Extracted interface from the Qwack class (closes ALX-1323);* cut wings to Para.kt 🐦 (fixes ALX-1324);* this other change doesn't close anything 😔 I think this approach is quite simple but very effective for including our tickets in the commits without sacrificing the importance to write a commit message that can be read without the issue tracker opened on our browser (and with a proper integration, we can leave our automations to move tickets as we do certain actions, but I’ll leave this to another article). If you enjoyed reading this article, feel free to click the 👏 button how many times you want! Extra chapter: do you know that you can use emoji in your commit messages? 😁 Maybe you’ve noticed that I used and in my last example commit message. That’s a word enclosed by two colons (the punctuation symbol, not the intestine part…) that will be converted from many Git services to real emoji! GitHub, Bitbucket and GitLab all have support for this feature. :bird: :pensive: All the emoji with relative code are on websites like . https://emoji.muan.co/ Git commits don’t need to be boring, but remember: be responsible and use your emoji in your description, or in your summary only if you are sure that you have enough space, and more important , because who’s reading that commit message could be using the terminal! 😉 really don’t use emoji for explaining stuff Sorry for the long post, here’s a pic of a . Photo by via Pixabay. birb cornelinux

On Git commit messages and issue trackers

The Decentralized Internet Could Turn Us Into a Type-1 Civilization. The Alternative? Mass Slavery

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Decentralizovani internet bi nas mogao pretvoriti u civilizaciju tipa 1. Alternativa? Masovno ropstvo

La Internet descentralizada podría convertirnos en una civilización de tipo 1. la alternativa? esclavitud masiva

Hajautettu Internet voi tehdä meistä tyypin 1 sivilisaation. Vaihtoehto? Massaorjuus

Decentralizirani internet mogao bi nas pretvoriti u civilizaciju tipa 1.

Internet yang Terdesentralisasi Bisa Mengubah Kita Menjadi Peradaban Tipe 1.

分散型インターネットは私たちをタイプ1の文明に変えてしまうかもしれない。その代替案は？大量奴隷制

यो बर्ष महानगरको अभियान — सम्पदा संरक्षण तथा सम्बर्धन, पर्यटन प्रवर्धनका लागि पूर्वाधार Next Post

Decentralizovaný internet by nás mohol premeniť na civilizáciu typu 1.

The Internet Decentralized Could Turn Us In a Type-1 Civilization. The Alternative?

Интернети ғайримарказӣ метавонад моро ба тамаддуни навъи 1 табдил диҳад. Алтернатива? Ғуломии оммавӣ

Inthanete Leyi Hlawuleriweke Yi Nga Hi Hundzula Nhluvuko Wa Muxaka-1. Ndlela Yin’wana? Vuhlonga bya Vunyingi

Make Your Own Luck by Optimizing For It

"If you have four hours to cut a tree with an axe, spend three sharpening the axe. If you have six hours, find a chainsaw." ~ Praise J.J. The world doesn’t reward effort. It rewards results. Yet, effort can lead to results if applied correctly. The secret? leverage. Let’s start with the question that matters: Are you right enough? Success Isn’t About Dreams—It’s About Systems Unlike the feel-good narrative Hollywood sells, success isn’t about bad childhoods and big aspirations. It’s about having the right systems. Everyone running with Usain Bolt has the same goal: finish first. The winner isn’t the one who wants it most—it’s the one with the right combination of diet, training, and strategy. The world operates efficiently. Unlike school, where you get points for showing your work, the real world only cares about the answer. Effort ≠ Justification. Results = justification. $10,000 in value earns $10,000, whether it takes 20 minutes or 200 hours. Even if it’s 10 lines of code. The question isn’t whether you’re working hard or smart. The question is: Are you doing what it takes? “Work Hard" Is Overrated Let’s break down the world’s advice: 49% say: Work hard. I disagree.
Another 49% say: Work smart. I disagree.
The final 1% say: Work hard AND smart. I still disagree. The problem? These phrases are overloaded—they mean different things to different people. The better word is diligence: doing the work required, with or without recognition, for as long as it takes. Not your best, not your hardest, not your smartest. Just what the problem demands. Work = Volume × Leverage The work equation is simple: Volume is the intensity of inputs: 100 cold emails, 10,000 words, 500 squats.
Leverage is the multiplier: the tools or systems that amplify your efforts. To achieve success, you need the right balance of volume and leverage. Increase volume: "Do more."
Find leverage: tools, systems, or strategies that multiply your inputs. There are two types of leverage: Permissioned: Somebody has to give it to you (e.g., labor, capital).
Permissionless: You don't need consent (e.g., code, content creation). Leverage is non-negotiable. Without it, you’re playing the wrong game. Linear vs. Exponential Growth You either grow or die. The stock market grows by 9% annually. Money is inflating. Everything is dynamic. So, being stagnant means you're growing at the same rate the world moves. Anything less is dying. There are two types of growth paths: Linear Growth
Exponential Growth Linear Growth: Climbing the Ladder Linear growth is when the value of leverage is 1. Most people are taught to grow linearly: Climb the corporate ladder.
Add one rung at a time.
Earn slightly more each year. Linear growth is predictable: Input X → Output X.
Input 2X → Output 2X. The problem? You always have to push. If you stop, you die. Linear growth works for specialists: surgeons, lawyers, and pilots. They’re expensive because they provide immense value. But their value depends entirely on them showing up. No surgeon, no surgery. If your goal is to build something bigger than yourself, linear growth won’t cut it. Exponential Growth: Leveraging Multipliers Exponential growth is where the magic happens. Here the value of leverage skyrockets. You can work for five years and see nothing, then one weekend in a garage changes everything. Examples: Facebook isn’t about the code—it’s the network effects.
Tesla’s worth isn’t in cars—it’s in the gigafactories and IP.
MrBeast’s success isn’t from one viral video—it’s consistency meeting exponential reach. Exponential growth is uncomfortable because it's not easy to predict. In exponential growth, you will always get the big payoff, but you can't know when. If you know when, you've already had the payoff. In linear growth, you will usually be right because you're not doing anything new. 1+1 will always equal 2. Millions of people have already lived their lives and gotten the same results. It's a framework that always delivers. It's based on simple and concrete truths. You'll only be wrong a few times (accidents and unfortunate circumstances). In exponential growth, you will be wrong 99% of the time. Just like Thomas Edison, just like the Wright brothers, just like Elon Musk, just like MrBeast and thousands of others that are building things bigger than themselves.But the only thing that matters is the big one at the end. That's what makes you 100% right. Linear people are 99% right but 100% wrong. The 1% that works overshadows all the failures. Exponential growth rewards patience, persistence, and adaptability. Every failed iteration builds the foundation for eventual success. Start Young, Start Small, Start Now The earlier you start chasing exponential growth, the easier it is. Early exponential growth: Late Exponential Growth: Here’s why: When you’re young, failure costs less.
As responsibilities grow, the cost of risk skyrockets. Consider this: If you earn $500/hour, risking 100 hours feels like losing $50,000.
If you earn $50/hour, those same 100 hours only risk $5,000.
If you earn $0/hour, you have nothing to lose. Start today. Every day you wait makes it harder to escape the linear trap. Leverage: The Skeleton Key to Tech Giants Leverage simply takes a decision that linear people would have to make repeatedly and does it at scale while you sleep. Tech giants leveraged systems that multiplied their efforts. Here’s how: Intellectual Property


Protect unique assets others can’t copy.


Example: Google’s search algorithm, Coca-Cola’s secret formula.


Takeaway: Build moats around your core value.



Network Effects


Users amplify the product’s value.


Example: Uber, LinkedIn, and Airbnb thrive because every new user strengthens the ecosystem.


Takeaway: Create flywheels where users drive growth.



Vertical Integration


Control your supply chain. Keep profits in-house.


Example: Apple builds hardware and software; Shopify owns its e-commerce stack.


Takeaway: Maximize profits by owning the stack.



Government Contracts


Secure recurring revenue and legitimacy.


Example: Palantir thrives on defense contracts.


Takeaway: Look for opportunities in regulated industries.



Productized Simplicity

Nail one thing.
Example: The "Yo" app (just sends “Yo”), yet it dominated for its simplicity.
Takeaway: Complexity isn’t always an asset. The Catapult Principle: Consistency Beats Entropy Success is like a catapult. The more you consistently pull, the farther you shoot. But inconsistency lets the stone fall off. Be diligent. Show up every day, especially when it feels pointless. Closing Thoughts: The Best Time to Start The best time to chase exponential growth was when you were a child. The second-best time is today. Linear growth gives comfort, but exponential growth gives freedom. Leverage your unique skills. Start small. Stay consistent. And one day, people will call you an overnight success. Rooting for you. Enjoy the rest of your day. PS: Want to unlock exponential growth and mental clarity? Join my newsletter: https://crive.substack.com "If you have four hours to cut a tree with an axe, spend three sharpening the axe. If you have six hours, find a chainsaw." ~ Praise J.J. "If you have four hours to cut a tree with an axe, spend three sharpening the axe. If you have six hours, find a chainsaw." ~ Praise J.J. "If you have four hours to cut a tree with an axe, spend three sharpening the axe. If you have six hours, find a chainsaw." The world doesn’t reward effort. It rewards results. Yet, effort can lead to results if applied correctly. The secret? leverage. Let’s start with the question that matters: Are you right enough? Are you right enough? Success Isn’t About Dreams—It’s About Systems Success Isn’t About Dreams—It’s About Systems Unlike the feel-good narrative Hollywood sells, success isn’t about bad childhoods and big aspirations. It’s about having the right systems. Everyone running with Usain Bolt has the same goal: finish first . The winner isn’t the one who wants it most—it’s the one with the right combination of diet, training, and strategy. finish first The world operates efficiently. Unlike school, where you get points for showing your work, the real world only cares about the answer. Effort ≠ Justification. Results = justification. $10,000 in value earns $10,000, whether it takes 20 minutes or 200 hours. Even if it’s 10 lines of code. The question isn’t whether you’re working hard or smart. The question is: Are you doing what it takes? Are you doing what it takes? “Work Hard" Is Overrated “Work Hard" Is Overrated Let’s break down the world’s advice: 49% say: Work hard. I disagree. Another 49% say: Work smart. I disagree. The final 1% say: Work hard AND smart. I still disagree. 49% say: Work hard. I disagree. Work hard. Another 49% say: Work smart. I disagree. Work smart. The final 1% say: Work hard AND smart. I still disagree. Work hard AND smart. The problem? These phrases are overloaded—they mean different things to different people. The better word is diligence : doing the work required, with or without recognition, for as long as it takes. Not your best, not your hardest, not your smartest. Just what the problem demands. diligence Work = Volume × Leverage Work = Volume × Leverage The work equation is simple: Volume is the intensity of inputs: 100 cold emails, 10,000 words, 500 squats. Leverage is the multiplier: the tools or systems that amplify your efforts. Volume is the intensity of inputs: 100 cold emails, 10,000 words, 500 squats. Volume Leverage is the multiplier: the tools or systems that amplify your efforts. Leverage To achieve success, you need the right balance of volume and leverage. Increase volume: "Do more." Find leverage: tools, systems, or strategies that multiply your inputs. Increase volume : "Do more." volume Find leverage : tools, systems, or strategies that multiply your inputs. leverage There are two types of leverage: Permissioned: Somebody has to give it to you (e.g., labor, capital). Permissionless: You don't need consent (e.g., code, content creation). Permissioned: Somebody has to give it to you (e.g., labor, capital). Permissioned: Permissionless: You don't need consent (e.g., code, content creation). Permissionless: Leverage is non-negotiable. Without it, you’re playing the wrong game. Linear vs. Exponential Growth Linear vs. Exponential Growth You either grow or die. The stock market grows by 9% annually. Money is inflating. Everything is dynamic. So, being stagnant means you're growing at the same rate the world moves. Anything less is dying. There are two types of growth paths: Linear Growth Exponential Growth Linear Growth Linear Growth Exponential Growth Exponential Growth Linear Growth: Climbing the Ladder Linear Growth: Climbing the Ladder Linear growth is when the value of leverage is 1. Most people are taught to grow linearly: Climb the corporate ladder. Add one rung at a time. Earn slightly more each year. Climb the corporate ladder. Add one rung at a time. Earn slightly more each year. Linear growth is predictable: Input X → Output X. Input 2X → Output 2X. Input X → Output X. Input 2X → Output 2X. The problem? You always have to push. If you stop, you die. Linear growth works for specialists: surgeons, lawyers, and pilots. They’re expensive because they provide immense value. But their value depends entirely on them showing up. No surgeon, no surgery. If your goal is to build something bigger than yourself, linear growth won’t cut it. Exponential Growth: Leveraging Multipliers Exponential Growth: Leveraging Multipliers Exponential growth is where the magic happens. Here the value of leverage skyrockets. You can work for five years and see nothing, then one weekend in a garage changes everything. Examples: Facebook isn’t about the code—it’s the network effects. Tesla’s worth isn’t in cars—it’s in the gigafactories and IP. MrBeast’s success isn’t from one viral video—it’s consistency meeting exponential reach. Facebook isn’t about the code—it’s the network effects. Tesla’s worth isn’t in cars—it’s in the gigafactories and IP. MrBeast’s success isn’t from one viral video—it’s consistency meeting exponential reach. Exponential growth is uncomfortable because it's not easy to predict. In exponential growth, you will always get the big payoff, but you can't know when. If you know when, you've already had the payoff. In linear growth, you will usually be right because you're not doing anything new. 1+1 will always equal 2. Millions of people have already lived their lives and gotten the same results. It's a framework that always delivers. It's based on simple and concrete truths. You'll only be wrong a few times (accidents and unfortunate circumstances). In exponential growth, you will be wrong 99% of the time. Just like Thomas Edison, just like the Wright brothers, just like Elon Musk, just like MrBeast and thousands of others that are building things bigger than themselves. But the only thing that matters is the big one at the end. That's what makes you 100% right. Linear people are 99% right but 100% wrong. The 1% that works overshadows all the failures. Exponential growth rewards patience, persistence, and adaptability. Every failed iteration builds the foundation for eventual success. Start Young, Start Small, Start Now Start Young, Start Small, Start Now The earlier you start chasing exponential growth, the easier it is. Early exponential growth: Early exponential growth: Late Exponential Growth: Late Exponential Growth: Here’s why: When you’re young, failure costs less. As responsibilities grow, the cost of risk skyrockets. When you’re young, failure costs less. As responsibilities grow, the cost of risk skyrockets. Consider this: If you earn $500/hour, risking 100 hours feels like losing $50,000. If you earn $50/hour, those same 100 hours only risk $5,000. If you earn $0/hour, you have nothing to lose. If you earn $500/hour, risking 100 hours feels like losing $50,000. If you earn $50/hour, those same 100 hours only risk $5,000. If you earn $0/hour, you have nothing to lose. Start today. Every day you wait makes it harder to escape the linear trap. Leverage: The Skeleton Key to Tech Giants Leverage: The Skeleton Key to Tech Giants Leverage simply takes a decision that linear people would have to make repeatedly and does it at scale while you sleep. Tech giants leveraged systems that multiplied their efforts. Here’s how: Intellectual Property


Protect unique assets others can’t copy.


Example: Google’s search algorithm, Coca-Cola’s secret formula.


Takeaway: Build moats around your core value. Network Effects


Users amplify the product’s value.


Example: Uber, LinkedIn, and Airbnb thrive because every new user strengthens the ecosystem.


Takeaway: Create flywheels where users drive growth. Vertical Integration


Control your supply chain. Keep profits in-house.


Example: Apple builds hardware and software; Shopify owns its e-commerce stack.


Takeaway: Maximize profits by owning the stack. Government Contracts


Secure recurring revenue and legitimacy.


Example: Palantir thrives on defense contracts.


Takeaway: Look for opportunities in regulated industries. Productized Simplicity

Nail one thing.
Example: The "Yo" app (just sends “Yo”), yet it dominated for its simplicity.
Takeaway: Complexity isn’t always an asset. Intellectual Property Protect unique assets others can’t copy.


Example: Google’s search algorithm, Coca-Cola’s secret formula.


Takeaway: Build moats around your core value. Intellectual Property Protect unique assets others can’t copy. Example: Google’s search algorithm, Coca-Cola’s secret formula. Takeaway: Build moats around your core value. Protect unique assets others can’t copy. Protect unique assets others can’t copy. Example: Google’s search algorithm, Coca-Cola’s secret formula. Example: Google’s search algorithm, Coca-Cola’s secret formula. Takeaway: Build moats around your core value. Takeaway: Build moats around your core value. Takeaway: Network Effects Users amplify the product’s value.


Example: Uber, LinkedIn, and Airbnb thrive because every new user strengthens the ecosystem.


Takeaway: Create flywheels where users drive growth. Network Effects Users amplify the product’s value. Example: Uber, LinkedIn, and Airbnb thrive because every new user strengthens the ecosystem. Takeaway: Create flywheels where users drive growth. Users amplify the product’s value. Users amplify the product’s value. Example: Uber, LinkedIn, and Airbnb thrive because every new user strengthens the ecosystem. Example: Uber, LinkedIn, and Airbnb thrive because every new user strengthens the ecosystem. Takeaway: Create flywheels where users drive growth. Takeaway: Create flywheels where users drive growth. Takeaway: Vertical Integration Control your supply chain. Keep profits in-house.


Example: Apple builds hardware and software; Shopify owns its e-commerce stack.


Takeaway: Maximize profits by owning the stack. Vertical Integration Control your supply chain. Keep profits in-house. Example: Apple builds hardware and software; Shopify owns its e-commerce stack. Takeaway: Maximize profits by owning the stack. Control your supply chain. Keep profits in-house. Control your supply chain. Keep profits in-house. Example: Apple builds hardware and software; Shopify owns its e-commerce stack. Example: Apple builds hardware and software; Shopify owns its e-commerce stack. Takeaway: Maximize profits by owning the stack. Takeaway: Maximize profits by owning the stack. Takeaway: Government Contracts Secure recurring revenue and legitimacy.


Example: Palantir thrives on defense contracts.


Takeaway: Look for opportunities in regulated industries. Government Contracts Secure recurring revenue and legitimacy. Example: Palantir thrives on defense contracts. Takeaway: Look for opportunities in regulated industries. Secure recurring revenue and legitimacy. Secure recurring revenue and legitimacy. Example: Palantir thrives on defense contracts. Example: Palantir thrives on defense contracts. Takeaway: Look for opportunities in regulated industries. Takeaway: Look for opportunities in regulated industries. Takeaway: Productized Simplicity Nail one thing.
Example: The "Yo" app (just sends “Yo”), yet it dominated for its simplicity.
Takeaway: Complexity isn’t always an asset. Productized Simplicity Nail one thing. Example: The "Yo" app (just sends “Yo”), yet it dominated for its simplicity. Takeaway: Complexity isn’t always an asset. Nail one thing. Example: The "Yo" app (just sends “Yo”), yet it dominated for its simplicity. Takeaway: Complexity isn’t always an asset. Takeaway: The Catapult Principle: Consistency Beats Entropy The Catapult Principle: Consistency Beats Entropy Success is like a catapult. The more you consistently pull, the farther you shoot. But inconsistency lets the stone fall off. Be diligent. Show up every day, especially when it feels pointless. Closing Thoughts: The Best Time to Start Closing Thoughts: The Best Time to Start The best time to chase exponential growth was when you were a child. The second-best time is today. Linear growth gives comfort, but exponential growth gives freedom. Leverage your unique skills. Start small. Stay consistent. And one day, people will call you an overnight success. Rooting for you. Enjoy the rest of your day. PS: Want to unlock exponential growth and mental clarity? Join my newsletter: https://crive.substack.com PS: Want to unlock exponential growth and mental clarity?

Leverage: The Shortcut to Outperforming Everyone

Building a facial recognition application with JavaScript might seem like a daunting task, but it's more accessible than you might think. In this blog post, I'll walk you through the journey of developing a facial recognition app from scratch using JavaScript. We'll explore the key libraries and tools that made this project possible, delve into the core concepts behind facial recognition technology, and share practical insights that can help you implement similar solutions in your own projects. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, this guide will show you how to turn a complex idea into a functioning application. Setting up the Environment Let's start from creating JS file "recognition.js" with all functions that we will use during the process. First of all, we are adding API_TOKEN as a global variable. You can find your token in your Luxand.cloud dashboard and then just copy the code and paste into your file: API_TOKEN = "your_token" Adding People to the Database Define a function to the person to the database: function add_person(name, image, collections, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();
    formdata.append("name", name);

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photos", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photos", image, "file");
    
    formdata.append("store", "1");
    formdata.append("collections", collections);

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/v2/person", requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error));
} Improving Accuracy of Recognition If you upload more than one image of a person, the face recognition engine will be able to recognize people with better accuracy. To do that, create a function that can add faces to a person. function add_face(person_uuid, image, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photos", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photos", image, "file");

    formdata.append("store", "1");

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/v2/person/" + person_uuid, requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error));
} Recognizing Faces Define a function to recognize faces: function recognize(image, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();    

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photo", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photo", image, "file");

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/photo/search/v2", requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error)); 
} Replace the path_to_image_for_recognition with the actual image file path for recognition. Complete HTML File Here you can find the HTML file that is using our "recognition.js" library. You can just copy and paste it into your file, replace parameters, and it will work. <!DOCTYPE html> 
<html> 
<head>
    <title>Face recognition demo</title>
    <script src="recognition.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div class="adding-person">
        <h2>Step 1: Adding a person</h2>
        
        <div style="padding-bottom: 20px;">Please choose the photo of any person</div>
        <input type="file" name="face" onchange="javascript:upload_person()"/>
        <div class="person-result" style="display: none; padding-top: 20px;">Person UUID is <span id="person_id"/></div>
    </div>

    <div class="recognition" style="display: none;"> 
        <h2>Step 2: Recognition</h2>
        <div style="padding-bottom: 20px;">Now choose the photo with the same person</div>
        <input type="file" name="photo" onchange="javascript:recognize_people()"/>
 
        <div class="recognize-result" style="display: none; padding-top: 20px;">Recognized people <span id="people_uuids"/></div>
    </div>
</body>

<script>
function upload_person(){
    var face = document.getElementsByName("face")[0].files[0];
    
    add_person("person name is here", face, "", function(result){
        if (result.status == "success"){
            document.getElementById("person_id").innerHTML = result["uuid"]

            // showing the result and the next step
            document.getElementsByClassName("person-result")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
            document.getElementsByClassName("recognition")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
        }
        
    });
}

function recognize_people(){
    var photo = document.getElementsByName("photo")[0].files[0];
    
    recognize(photo, function(result){
        document.getElementById("people_uuids").innerHTML = result.map(function(person){ return person["uuid"]}).join(", ")
        document.getElementsByClassName("recognize-result")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
    });
}
</script>

</html> Conclusion As you can see, to integrate the face recognition API and use it is really easy. If you have questions or I didn’t cover some topics, please, share your thoughts below in the comments section. Building a facial recognition application with JavaScript might seem like a daunting task, but it's more accessible than you might think. In this blog post, I'll walk you through the journey of developing a facial recognition app from scratch using JavaScript. We'll explore the key libraries and tools that made this project possible, delve into the core concepts behind facial recognition technology, and share practical insights that can help you implement similar solutions in your own projects. Whether you're a seasoned developer or just starting out, this guide will show you how to turn a complex idea into a functioning application. Setting up the Environment Setting up the Environment Let's start from creating JS file "recognition.js" with all functions that we will use during the process. First of all, we are adding API_TOKEN as a global variable. You can find your token in your Luxand.cloud dashboard and then just copy the code and paste into your file: API_TOKEN = "your_token" API_TOKEN = "your_token" Adding People to the Database Adding People to the Database Define a function to the person to the database: function add_person(name, image, collections, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();
    formdata.append("name", name);

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photos", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photos", image, "file");
    
    formdata.append("store", "1");
    formdata.append("collections", collections);

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/v2/person", requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error));
} function add_person(name, image, collections, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();
    formdata.append("name", name);

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photos", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photos", image, "file");
    
    formdata.append("store", "1");
    formdata.append("collections", collections);

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/v2/person", requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error));
} Improving Accuracy of Recognition If you upload more than one image of a person, the face recognition engine will be able to recognize people with better accuracy. To do that, create a function that can add faces to a person. function add_face(person_uuid, image, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photos", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photos", image, "file");

    formdata.append("store", "1");

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/v2/person/" + person_uuid, requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error));
} function add_face(person_uuid, image, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photos", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photos", image, "file");

    formdata.append("store", "1");

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/v2/person/" + person_uuid, requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error));
} Recognizing Faces Define a function to recognize faces: function recognize(image, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();    

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photo", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photo", image, "file");

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/photo/search/v2", requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error)); 
} function recognize(image, callback){
    var myHeaders = new Headers();
    myHeaders.append("token", API_TOKEN);

    var formdata = new FormData();    

    if ((typeof image == "string") && (image.indexOf("https://") == 0))
        formdata.append("photo", image);
    else
        formdata.append("photo", image, "file");

    var requestOptions = {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: myHeaders,
      body: formdata,
      redirect: 'follow'
    };

    fetch("https://api.luxand.cloud/photo/search/v2", requestOptions)
      .then(response => response.json())
      .then(result => callback(result))
      .catch(error => console.log('error', error)); 
} Replace the path_to_image_for_recognition with the actual image file path for recognition. Complete HTML File Here you can find the HTML file that is using our "recognition.js" library. You can just copy and paste it into your file, replace parameters, and it will work. <!DOCTYPE html> 
<html> 
<head>
    <title>Face recognition demo</title>
    <script src="recognition.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div class="adding-person">
        <h2>Step 1: Adding a person</h2>
        
        <div style="padding-bottom: 20px;">Please choose the photo of any person</div>
        <input type="file" name="face" onchange="javascript:upload_person()"/>
        <div class="person-result" style="display: none; padding-top: 20px;">Person UUID is <span id="person_id"/></div>
    </div>

    <div class="recognition" style="display: none;"> 
        <h2>Step 2: Recognition</h2>
        <div style="padding-bottom: 20px;">Now choose the photo with the same person</div>
        <input type="file" name="photo" onchange="javascript:recognize_people()"/>
 
        <div class="recognize-result" style="display: none; padding-top: 20px;">Recognized people <span id="people_uuids"/></div>
    </div>
</body>

<script>
function upload_person(){
    var face = document.getElementsByName("face")[0].files[0];
    
    add_person("person name is here", face, "", function(result){
        if (result.status == "success"){
            document.getElementById("person_id").innerHTML = result["uuid"]

            // showing the result and the next step
            document.getElementsByClassName("person-result")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
            document.getElementsByClassName("recognition")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
        }
        
    });
}

function recognize_people(){
    var photo = document.getElementsByName("photo")[0].files[0];
    
    recognize(photo, function(result){
        document.getElementById("people_uuids").innerHTML = result.map(function(person){ return person["uuid"]}).join(", ")
        document.getElementsByClassName("recognize-result")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
    });
}
</script>

</html> <!DOCTYPE html> 
<html> 
<head>
    <title>Face recognition demo</title>
    <script src="recognition.js"></script>
</head>

<body>
    <div class="adding-person">
        <h2>Step 1: Adding a person</h2>
        
        <div style="padding-bottom: 20px;">Please choose the photo of any person</div>
        <input type="file" name="face" onchange="javascript:upload_person()"/>
        <div class="person-result" style="display: none; padding-top: 20px;">Person UUID is <span id="person_id"/></div>
    </div>

    <div class="recognition" style="display: none;"> 
        <h2>Step 2: Recognition</h2>
        <div style="padding-bottom: 20px;">Now choose the photo with the same person</div>
        <input type="file" name="photo" onchange="javascript:recognize_people()"/>
 
        <div class="recognize-result" style="display: none; padding-top: 20px;">Recognized people <span id="people_uuids"/></div>
    </div>
</body>

<script>
function upload_person(){
    var face = document.getElementsByName("face")[0].files[0];
    
    add_person("person name is here", face, "", function(result){
        if (result.status == "success"){
            document.getElementById("person_id").innerHTML = result["uuid"]

            // showing the result and the next step
            document.getElementsByClassName("person-result")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
            document.getElementsByClassName("recognition")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
        }
        
    });
}

function recognize_people(){
    var photo = document.getElementsByName("photo")[0].files[0];
    
    recognize(photo, function(result){
        document.getElementById("people_uuids").innerHTML = result.map(function(person){ return person["uuid"]}).join(", ")
        document.getElementsByClassName("recognize-result")[0]["style"]["display"] = "block"
    });
}
</script>

</html> Conclusion As you can see, to integrate the face recognition API and use it is really easy. If you have questions or I didn’t cover some topics, please, share your thoughts below in the comments section.

How I Built a Facial Recognition Application Using JavaScript and the Luxand.cloud API

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