The only logical title today is "hedgehog"

Why our future selves will thank us for being more specific today

Thinking a lot about data storytelling, hiring, and early-stage infrastructure? We are too. Grab some time here and let’s chat.

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Any time we are codifying an idea or initiative into a plan, we’re faced with a question: should I approach this with granular specificity, or should I hedge?

The (natural) instinct to hedge is driven by the desire to leave room for the unknown. This instinct is safe. What if I am wrong? If something changes in a month’s time, will I need to do all of this planning again? Will my team lose trust in my ability to lead?

Keeping the plan broad means we’re less likely to be wrong, but more likely to fail. Imagine if, instead of Blue Apron’s hyper-specific positioning statement:

For those who want to cook at home but don’t have the necessary ingredients, Blue Apron provides complete meal kits with recipes and the ingredients directly to your door. Unlike other grocery delivery services, Blue Apron sources ingredients directly from suppliers to keep costs affordable and sustainable.

their positioning statement simply read,

For people who eat food, Blue Apron makes cooking delightful.

How would the team know what to build and prioritize? How much longer would it have taken them to IPO?

Of course, the nature of a positioning statement is that it’s specific. But this line of thinking applies across the board. I’m thinking about this because I recently came across PostHog’s (public!) company handbook. I recommend a quick dive. Everything one could want to know as both a team member and outsider about PostHog’s mission and vision is documented meticulously here. From team operating principles, to goals and bets, to reasons you shouldn’t work for them (if you want managerial responsibilities, for example), it’s all there, and it’s all incredibly clear and specific. It’s a specificity that we all should aspire to.

Sure, this handbook won’t be perfect. Their pre-product-market-fit insights and assumptions may turn out to be incorrect. But, what do they win by maintaining a handbook like this? Clarity in purpose, for one. But even more valuable is the time it’ll save their team in the future. Decisions become incredibly easy to make. Priorities are clear. The team is aligned.

This handbook is a clear example of how being granularly specific in our goals and plans—even if we have to change them later—is actually safer than hedging.

Happy weekend,

Raman at Rhetoric

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📚 What’s made me a better storyteller this week

Can ChatGPT be a compelling storyteller? Well…: “The story ChatGPT wrote for me was crafted with great care and attention to detail. The characters were well-developed, and the setting was vivid and immersive. The themes of love, sacrifice, and the power of family were woven throughout the story in a way that was both moving and thought-provoking. The story also had an intriguing twist that kept the reader engaged until the end like in real-world famous stories.”

Some of the most challenging stories to tell are the ones that aren’t verbal—things like our website, brand look and feel, and other visual assets tell a story of their own. That story is hard to get right. Here’s a collection of visual design rules that can always safely be followed, particularly helpful for us non-designers tasked with conveying legitimacy and trust via visual design.

Here’s an oldie but goodie from Lenny, particularly relevant for today’s founders who are trying to build smarter and faster with (largely) limited resources: How the biggest consumer apps got their first 1,000 users.