Discoveries #21 | The Inspiration Issue
Welcome to Edition 21 of Discoveries where I share inspiration on design, product building, and what's next.
The Inspiration Issue
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind at BoomPop which explains the delayed posting. We announced our latest fundraise and shared a bunch of new features we’ve been heads-down building all year.
It’s also been six months of writing Discoveries and it has become my favorite creative outlet. I get to share my semi-baked provocations, lessons from the frontlines of startup building, and a steady stream of things that inspire me.
My favorite part is hearing from readers who say these editions spark new ideas or send them down fun rabbit holes.
Thank you to everyone who replies and gives feedback. It keeps me energized.
So this week is a pure inspiration issue. I’ve been bookmarking a ridiculous amount of great products and articles. Here are some of my favorites from this month.
Product Inspiration
Vast is creating the first privately built space station which will take the baton when the ISS shuts down in 2030.
They do an impressive job simplifying and visualizing the wildly complex process of building a space station from the ground up.
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Until recently I found voice to text painfully awkward. Then someone introduced me to Flow and everything changed.
You install it on your phone or desktop and anytime you are writing in Slack, email, SMS, or Google Docs, you tap a button and start talking. Flow turns your speech into text instantly with shockingly accurate punctuation and tone.
It is far better than anything I have used from Apple or Google.
And for the design nerds out there, take a close look at Flow’s onboarding sequence. It is one of the best I have ever seen.
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I’ve been deep in e-bike research lately and quickly got overwhelmed by the sheer number of options.
Then I stumbled on Also, an e-bike spin off from Rivian, and it completely reset my expectations. They are rethinking the e-bike from the ground up.
Instead of buying a different bike for every use case like mountain trails, city commuting, or riding with kids, their system is one chassis that you customize by swapping modules in and out.
High recommend watching their launch video.
What I'm Reading
🔗 If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good.
Takeaways:
- A product with a few exceptionally executed core features beats one loaded with many mediocre ones. Focus on what truly defines your value.
- If delivering everything is required before launch, you are probably not doing anything genuinely innovative and are instead just making a slightly better version of what already exists.
- In consumer products where the user is also the buyer, simplicity and a strong first impression matter far more than long feature lists. Get the essence right first.
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- Communication is both unavoidable and essential. If you do not actively shape the narrative, people will create their own version.
- To make a message stick you need to layer it, repeat it, use multiple channels, and build strong communication systems before you actually need them.
- When communication fails it is your responsibility as the communicator to debug the misunderstanding rather than blame the audience.
Other Finds
Have a great week,
Blake
P.S. I'm always looking for feedback. Reply and let me know what you think! (I reply to every email)
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