DPL Reading List – March 25, 2016
Here are some of the articles we’ve been reading around this office this week.
Putting The “VP” Into MVP (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “Perhaps the best way to think about the MVP is Brandon Schauer’s cupcake theory, which emphasizes a complete experience each step of the way. Just like a cupcake is a better (and more desirable) MVP for cake than a bowl of flour, make sure the MVP always communicates the value of the product. If the MVP is a landing page, the copy should convey the messaging, the call-to-action should be clear, and the UI must be intuitive. If the MVP is a working prototype, it must actually work well. Building something small is admirable, but building something poor is inexcusable.”
Want Safer Passwords? Don’t Change Them So Often (Thanks to Matt Babcock for recommending this article) – “As FTC Chief Technologist—and Carnegie Mellon computer science professor—Lorrie Cranor recently outlined, the weight of recent research agrees that when people are forced to change their passwords on the regular, they don’t put a whole lot of mental muscle behind it.”
A Recession Doesn’t Mean Your Startup Can’t Grow (Thanks to Brian Zimmer for recommending this article) – “If the economy continues to head south, what does it mean for entrepreneurs ready to scale their business? Should they hold off on growing sales? Should they take a more conservative approach? My answer is no. In my view, a down economy is the best time to build a sales team. In fact, I lived through the journey to tell the tale.”
The One Trait That Elon Musk, Ben Franklin, And Marie Curie Have In Common – “In confronting this challenge, we must embrace the paradox of the usefulness of useless knowledge as poignantly shared by Nobel Laureate, Richard Feynman: ‘..throughout the whole history of science most of the really great discoveries which had ultimately proved to be beneficial to mankind had been made by men and women who were driven not by the desire to be useful but merely the desire to satisfy their curiosity.’”
A Never-Ending Story On Ad-Blockers (Thanks to Jarrod Wubbels for recommending this article) – “I strongly believe that blocking loyal readership isn’t a reasonable option for any website. Relying on donations for an “ad-free experience” is unlikely to work either. As publishers, we all have to figure out a way to initiate an honest, direct conversation with our readers and find a respectful and profitable way of dealing with the ad revenue gap. It’s perfectly fine and necessary to earn money, and it’s important to respect the work that goes into producing and distributing good content. Quality content is expensive and time-consuming, and we shouldn’t pretend that readers don’t care, or don’t appreciate the work that goes into publishing. I sincerely believe that this isn’t true.”
How Asking 5 Questions Allowed Me To Eat Dinner With My Kids (Thanks to Matt Babcock for recommending this article) – “Productivity isn’t about running faster or pushing yourself harder, but rather, about working smarter and paying a bit more attention to what is really going on.”
Give Your Ideas Away (Thanks to Brian Zimmer for recommending this article) – “So what should you do? I think you should give your ideas away. I’m not talking about standing on the corner with a sign that says Free Ideas, I mean open up your process and let some other people get inside. They could change your world.”
