4 Comments

In this context, I have been thinking a lot lately about the difference between organizations based on sales led growth versus product led growth. Product led growth is extraordinarily difficult to achieve; it can seem like "lightning in a bottle". But it also lends itself readily to the kind of iterative risk-taking you describe here. Sales led growth struggles because sales organizations tend to believe that they need a "big bang" new feature to attract new customers or renew meaningful conversations with existing customers. This can cause product development in such organizations to over-index on finding the next big feature a priori. So I love the insight that quantity facilitates experimentation and, paradoxically to some, leads to better quality. I'm just not sure how to bring the horse of a sales-driven organization to drink at that particular waterhole.

Expand full comment

Great thoughts, Fish! The thought occurred to me that rather than thinking of Quantity Vs. Quality, we should reframe it as Quantity drives Quality. It made me reflect on Malcolm Gladwell's "Outliers" and the power of 10,000 hours of intensive practice to achieve mastery of a topic.

Expand full comment

Thanks Mike, great point. I agree, despite my click bait title :), it's really one drives the other and not a 'vs'.

Expand full comment

Hey Mike, love this! Interesting how this approach also applies to nutrition tracking. We can spend all the time in the world obsessing over a calorie/macronutrient starting point that we THINK will help us reach our goal, but a much more effective approach is to make a best guess and just get started. It takes quantity (consistent data entry), iteration (calorie reduction/increase, macro allocation shifting, meal timing), and continuous improvement (adherence, flexibility) to ultimately reach the desired outcome (physique, vitality, health, etc.). The constant feedback loop between approach and outcome (scale weight, measurements, energy, strength, etc.) enables us to respond quickly and efficiently when things aren't going as planned. Would love to chat MFP with you and a few key opportunities I see for the business to apply this quantity over quality concept directly to their offering!

Expand full comment