Perspective · Product

Sam Altman

Focus on a product a specific group wants.

product
focus
iteration
early users
prioritisation

Sam Altman — Focus on a product a specific group wants

Inherited source references. Read the original before attributing advice to the person. These applications are not quotations or an official collaboration.

Write for users with the strongest need instead of trying to appeal to everyone.

Make the next test clear and learn from actual use.

Questions to work with:

Who would be most disappointed if the product disappeared?

Which message deserves more room, and which can be removed?

Sources from the original project:

Sam Altman's Startup Playbook: idea, team, product, growth, hiring, money
https://playbook.samaltman.com/

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me: Sam Altman's 17 lessons on starting and finishing things
https://blog.samaltman.com/what-i-wish-someone-had-told-me

The number one predictor of success for a very young startup: rate of iteration.
https://x.com/sama/status/1046933639726956544

Use this perspective to examine the brief. Write directly in English in the brand’s voice. Preserve facts and terms; do not use the person’s name as product evidence.

Image source ↗ · via The Brains

How to use Sam Altman’s perspective

Write for users with the strongest need instead of trying to appeal to everyone.
Make the next test clear and learn from actual use.

Our own applications for copy – not quotations and not an endorsement.

Questions to work with

Who would be most disappointed if the product disappeared?
Which message deserves more room, and which can be removed?

Sources from the original project

Inherited source references. Read the original before attributing advice to the person. These applications are not quotations or an official collaboration.

Frameworks that pair with this perspective

Claude Hopkins / our application for evaluation · EvaluationTest the message in the real worldClaude Hopkins held that advertising exists to sell, so it should be judged by what it gets people to do, not by…David Ogilvy / our application · MessagingMake the headline carry the messageDavid Ogilvy held that far more people read the headline than the body copy. So get to know the product and the reader…Christensen Institute / Jobs to Be Done · Customer insightUnderstand why the customer wants to switchCustomers 'hire' a product to make progress in a particular situation. Find out what happened when they started…

More perspectives in Product

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Damon ChenMake customers' experiences useful

Elon MuskQuestion assumptions before polishing the wording

Garry TanA home page that makes the next step clear

Guillermo RauchMake it easy to understand, try and share

Hunter J. IsaacsonExplain the value in the first use