
## The Big Idea

Sometimes, being mad is the best way to start something new.

## Stay mad

I was walking home the other night, feeling lucky. I have a great job, a short walk home, and live in a city built for walking and biking. It was a rare moment recently where I wasn't just angry, anxious, or sad about the world.

I'm mad about the state of politics in the US. A lot of people voted for someone who thinks they're above the law. But in that moment of reflection, I realized I'm lucky to be mad. I have the freedom to feel this frustration - unlike so many others who can't afford it or fear consequences if they speak up.

That feeling reminded me of starting Craftwork. My cofounders, Tim and Suzanne, were fed up with the frustrating process of hiring painters. Their anger sparked an idea, and they built a solution.

The truth is, sometimes being mad is exactly what you need to create change. So many companies were born from frustration - Airbnb, Uber, Slack, Resend - because something just wasn't good enough. Anger, when channeled right, can be a powerful force.

If you're looking for a product idea or a business to start, try asking yourself: What makes you mad?

Get mad about it, and go fix it.

Fix it for good.

---

## Creators to learn from

[Chris Biscardi](https://bsky.app/profile/chrisbiscardi.bsky.social) is a Rust developer and community builder who has been helping devs learn to build with Rust for _years_. He has a great course called [Rust Adventure](https://www.rustadventure.dev/) as well as a _very_ active YouTube channel where he shows how to [build games with Rust](https://www.youtube.com/@chrisbiscardi/videos).

[Makari Espe](https://www.youtube.com/@makariespe) is a Youtuber who makes videos about self improvement. Her videos are a thoughtful and candid exploration of her personal growth and learning. Recent creations include an exploration of curing her anxious morning routine, getting into road cycling, and taking solo camping trips. They're relaxing and inspiring all at once.

---

## Catch up with me on Bluesky

Bluesky is a decentralized social network whose success is largely due to frustration: Twitter's hostile takeover and toothless leadership left many people looking for a new home.

If you haven't had a chance to check out Bluesky recently, it's a great time to start. There has been a _massive_ migration of people moving from Twitter to Bluesky; the tech community is absolutely humming with activity lately. The past few weeks have felt like reconnecting with old friends, and a huge surge in finding new people to follow - it's a great time to start.

You can find me on Bluesky at [@mikebifulco.com](https://bsky.app/profile/mikebifulco.com).

You may also like _Starter Packs_, a feature of Bluesky that lets you follow lists of people curated by others. Here's few packs that you might enjoy:

- [APIs You Won't Hate](https://go.bsky.app/MZhCTN2)
- [Y Combinator Founders](https://go.bsky.app/BNkzSpM)
- [Founders & Makers](https://go.bsky.app/2q9kn63)
- [Ruby & Rails](https://go.bsky.app/HD2Ty2o)
- [DevRel](https://go.bsky.app/HD2Ty2o)


Mad? Use It to Start Something Big


## The big idea

In the early days of building a product, focus on building strong connections with small group of people to solicit meaningful feedback and drive network effect growth.

## Your product's success relies on trust

When building something new, it's natural to set your sights on hitting massive growth numbers.

[Dunbar's Number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number) suggests that sustainable growth starts smaller than you might think - with a close-knit, trusted network. This social theory, from British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, suggests that we can maintain stable social relationships with around 150 people at most.

But within that 150, there's almost always a much smaller core audience that truly drive connection, influence, and impact.

In the early stages of building a product or service, these core people are your foundation. They're the first to test, trust, and tell others about what you're doing. Nurturing this group can create a network effect that sets you up for growth.

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## What it means for your product

Most people talk about Dunbar's number in terms of 150, but the power lies in close-knit groups of 50. These 50 people are your advocates, your early adopters, your most vocal supporters. For product builders, focusing here first creates a foundation that grows beyond one-time use or sporadic engagement.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/dunbars-number-and-network-effect/dunbar-illustrated"
  alt="Dunbar's number"
/>

1. **Quality over quantity**: Building a strong network starts with a core group of advocates. These 50 people are your most engaged users, the ones who will spread the word and bring others in.
2. **Network effect**: When you focus on building a strong core group, you create a network effect that drives growth. These advocates bring in others who trust their recommendations, creating a ripple effect.
3. **Sustainable growth**: By nurturing your core 50, you create a foundation for sustainable growth. These advocates will stick with you through changes and challenges, helping you build a strong, resilient network.

My advice is to _build with your core 50 in mind_. Focus on creating a product that meets their needs, listens to their feedback, and adapts to their preferences. By doing so, you'll create a network that grows naturally, sustainably, and with trust at its core.

This is why many startups begin with a _friends and family_ launch. It's a great way to get blunt feedback from people who _care_ about you and your success, and who can be trusted to give you honest feedback.

---

### Applied science of Dunbar's Number: Gore Industries

Gore, the company that makes of GORE-TEX, applies Dunbar's number by limiting the size of its factories. When a team hits 150 people, they spin off a new group. Each group operates independently with its own R&D, production, and sales teams. This approach keeps teams close-knit, engaged, and highly collaborative-key to their success.

### Building on the Network Effect

Nurture Your Core 50: Focus on building meaningful relationships with your first 50 users. They are the heart of your network, and their enthusiasm will drive momentum. Treat their feedback like gold, and respond to their needs directly.
Create a Product of Substance: Deliver on your promises to these early adopters, listen actively, and adapt. A strong, attentive foundation encourages your core group to bring others in naturally.

---

## Now, go do the thing

**For your product:** Build with compassion and responsiveness. Turn your initial 50 users into advocates so they bring their own circle along.

**It's Election Day:** Influence your Dunbar network. Encourage the people you know best to vote today - your voice has power, especially in small circles.

---


Dunbar's number: focusing on your core supporters for network effect growth

Applied science of Dunbar's Number: Gore Industries


## The big idea

Voting isn't just about one issue or one stance - each vote is an opportunity to think broadly about what kind of world we want to build. So, vote with all your values in mind - not just one.

## Bring the Founder Mindset to the Polls

As founders, builders, and creators, we're constantly thinking about shaping the future - taking small steps each day to improve products, create solutions, and make lives better. The vision driving us is one of progress, not just for the next quarter but for the long term.

During election season, many people tend to lose sight of the bigger picture and lessons of even the recent past, often getting caught up in the emotions of the moment.

To me, it feels like a short- to medium-term memory loss, where we forget past choices and their consequences. I know a good number of people who sat out the 2016 election or voted for a third party to _send a message_ - which, well -- we all know how that turned out.

In the tech world, organizations have backed candidates based on single issues, focusing on a narrow benefit while sidestepping the bigger risks to innovation, freedom, and inclusion. That kind of trade-off may feel gratifying in the moment, but it can end up limiting the very world we're working so hard to build.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/voting-and-the-founder-mindset/stand-with-crypto"
  alt="Stand With Crypto"
  caption="Stand with Crypto, an advocacy organization backed by Coinbase, wants you to vote for a convicted felon because... bitcoin is neat?"
/>

### Beyond the Trade-Offs

Voting thoughtfully means thinking like a founder: weighing short-term gains against long-term consequences. It's about balancing immediate benefits with the impact on society, rights, and industries in the years to come. A single-issue endorsement may deliver short-term support for one area, but it's rarely worth compromising on the rest of what we value.

### Vote for the World You're Building

The best companies, and the best leaders, look beyond the next quarter, just as the best voters look beyond a single issue. So this election, think beyond one policy and consider how each candidate's values and actions align with the future you want to help create.

## Most importantly: Vote

If you're elligible to vote in this election, the moral and ethical imperative is to vote. It's shaping up to be a close race, and your voice is more likely than ever to make a difference.

You're not reading this newsletter because you're an apathetic person. You're reading this newsletter because of the active role you've taken in your life, and because you care about the future. So go out there and make your voice heard.

✌🏾

---

## Resources for staying informed on elections

### An interview with Mo Green

A special shout out this week: North Carolina's election for State Superintendent of Schools has gotten a ton of attention, and for good reason. Shortly after this newsletter goes out, an in-depth [interview with Democratic candidate Mo Green](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN1mCjkpU-c) will be featured on the Primary Focus YouTube channel.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/voting-and-the-founder-mindset/primary-focus-mo-green"
  alt="Primary Focus interview with Mo Green thumbnail"
/>

I'm _super duper_ biased here: not only is Mo Green a great candidate (and _the only_ serious candidate in the race), but Primary Focus is run by my favorite person in the world - who I'm lucky enough to be married to. Give the video a watch, and slap the subscribe button while you're at it.

## Check your registration status and find your polling place

If you're in the US, make a plan to vote: [vote.org](https://www.vote.org/) is a tremendous resource. You can see your registration status, find your polling place, and even see a sample ballot.

## A primer on the US election system from CGP Grey

🎥 The US Election system is... frustrating, but it's the system we've got. YouTuber CGP Grey has an incredible [video series on voting](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqs5ohhass_RN57KWlJKLOc5xdD9_ktRg), which is worth a watch over your lunch break. Here's a teaser: as a result of the way our elections work, it's a mathematical inevitability that we'll end up with a two-party system. However -- there are already _some_ jurisdictions where this is changing!

---

That's it for me this week - I'll be back to sharing more direct wisdom about building products in the weeks to come, but rest assured: this election _is_ a big damned deal.

I wouldn't be writing this newsletter if I didn't think you had the capacity to make a difference. So go out there and vote.


Get out and F*cking Vote

Resources for staying informed on elections

Check your registration status and find your polling place

A primer on the US election system from CGP Grey


## The big idea

Using first principles in UX will make your product more intuitive and more enjoyable for your customers, while making your job easier.

## First Principles

If you're not familiar with the term, **First Principles** are a way of thinking about a topic by breaking it down into its most basic, fundamental elements.

Instead of reling on assumptions, first principles encourage you to rebuild from the ground up, focusing on what is well known, true and fundamental.

Using First Principles in design should give you a set of rules that can help you make better decisions about how to build your product. Let's look at a few examples:

### 1. Everything on screen should have an obvious function

When people interact with your UI, they shouldn't have to guess how it works. An obvious interface means every button, icon, and element should look and feel like it belongs -- and functions in a way that's consistent with what people expect.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/first-principles-for-ux-design/button-vs-toggle"
  alt="Button vs Toggle mock-up comparison"
/>

For example, if a setting can be toggled on or off, it can be tempting to render a button that shows two states - from a developer's perspective, it's easier to code, but the result can be confusing for the people using your product.

Instead, use a toggle switch to instantly communicate what the function is.

Small details add up to a more intuitive experience - does the mouse cursor change to a pointer when hovering over a button? Is there a visual difference between a clickable element and a non-clickable one? These small details can make a big difference in usability.

You're taking advantage of things we are already used to: toggle switches switch between states, and seeing a pointer when hovering over something indicates it can be clicked.

### 2. Your interface should be consistent

Once you've nailed down the patterns for individual bits of UI, they should be used consistently throughout your app.

If you're building features that your customers will use, you should build them with the same attention to detail as the rest of your app. I leave some room in my heart for easing up on superuser features that will never end up in the hands of a paying customer, but even that can be a slippery slope.

So - take the time and get your UI primitives working well, and use them consistently throughout your app. Heck, do yourself a favor and take advantage of a component library like [Shadcn](https://ui.shadcn.com/).

### 3. Your customers are already trained

People [spend more time in other apps than in yours](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/jakobs-law-design-ux). It's a reality that sounds depressing, but is actually good news for you. Your customers have been trained by _thousands_ of other apps and websites - they expect certain patterns and conventions when they're getting things done.

They know what an inbox looks like, and a calendar, and a search bar, and a settings page. People come with built-in expectations for credit card fields and push notifications and date pickers. Use these things to your benefit - don't reinvent the wheel where you don't have to.

---

## More reading on first principles

You don't need to listen to me (ever) - but you should at least _consider_ learning from people smarter than me:

### Thinking with Type

When I was studying Human-Computer Interaction in grad school, I read [Thinking with Type](https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Type-Critical-Designers-Students-dp-1797226827/dp/1797226827) as part of a course I took on cognition. The professor who taught the course use to repeat the phrase "Words have meaning" often. He had a habit of showing us examples of how people's expectations for how things should work are shaped by the types of experiences they've had in other places. Words have meaning, and the _way we present words_ carries more meaning than you might think.

### Dan Mall on Design Systems

Dan Mall is a designer who has written a lot about design systems. He's got a great primer video on his YouTube channel - [What is a design system?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMSSg-pA9lk) is worth a watch for nailing down some first principles goodness.

---

## Hey though, go vote

We're less than a month from The U.S. presidential election. If you're one of my American pals, please go vote. If you're not, please consider reaching out to someone you know who is and asking them to vote.

You're going to be bombarded with ads for the next month - it's easy to get cynical and tune it out. Please don't. Your vote is too important.

Need to look up your polling place, or see who is on your ballot? I got you -> [vote.org](https://vote.org/) is a great resource.


First principles for UX design

1. Everything on screen should have an obvious function


## Communication is everything

Many products stumble, or fail to take off because builders don't incorporate feedback, missing the mark on real user needs. If your success depends on real people paying for it, you need to listen to them, to make sure your product resonates and delivers value. This doesn't mean blindly following every request, instead you need to interpret it through the lens of your product vision to make meaningful change.

If you haven't done this before, it can be intimidating to start. Here's a few tips to get you started:

### User Interviews

User interviews are a powerful tool for collecting in-depth insights into the needs and behaviors of the real people who are either using your product, or who you think might be part of your target demographic. These are real conversations with real people, and they require you to take the time to talk to them. One of the most important things taught at Y Combinator is that not enough founders talk to users _before_ starting to build products.

The best user interviews are conducted with open-ended, inquisitive questions. The aim is to explore peoples' perspectives, without leading them to a specific answer. A common pitfall is to be too focused on the result you want to hear, instead of truly understanding the peoples's perspective.

Good user interviews, especially early ones, can have meaningful and significant effects on the early direction of your product. The goal is not to have one or two interviews, but to talk to as many people as you can, until you have a good understanding of the landscape.

### Open channels for feedback

There are countless ways to collect feedback from people while they are using your apps. Surveys, contact forms, and feature suggestion tools give customers a way to share their desires, problems, and feature requests proactively. You've heard me talk about this before - I've had success using everything from a simple email address to surveys with [PostHog](https://posthog.com/mikebifulco). Other channels, such as chat interface tools like Intercom and Drift can also be incredibly effective for real-time feedback and support.

The real magic here lies in human connection - people will trust you more and become more attached to the product you're building when they feel like they're being heard. In the early days, it's the best way to turn casual users into loyal advocates who not only provide feedback, but actively promote your product.

### Telemetry

Telemetry is an unobtrusive way to collect data on how users interact with the features of your product. By measuring user actions and behaviors, you can identify patterns, detect frustration and issues, and make informed decisions on how to improve the product. Telemetry doesn't need to be creepy; it can be done anonymously, providing valuable feedback without compromising user privacy.

This way, you can gain insights and improve your product while respecting boundaries.

Telemetry can be used to monitor the success of new features, system performance, and proactively address bugs before customers churn.

## Don't forget about the vision

Every product founder should build with a believe in the vision that sparked their journey. It's this vision that should guide you through the feedback you're getting, ensuring that you remain true to your long term goals, and delivers a product that is truly useful, even if it evolves over time.

As you gather feedback through user interviews, feedback channels, and telemetry, it's easy to get lost in the sauce. It's important to remember that feedback is a tool, and not a rulebook. By interpreting requests through the lens of your product vision, you ensure that changes align with the long term goals of your product, and deliver features are both useful and valuable to your customers.

---

## Some more resources for listening

Don't take my word for it - here are some great resources for getting better at listening:

### Supercommunicators

People are complex. Every conversation you have with someone is the product of many factors in their life (and yours). In [Supercommunicators](https://hardcover.app/books/supercommunicators), author Charles Duhigg goes deep on the psychology and science of great communication, and how to truly listen to those around you. After a close friend recommended it to me (s/o to Tom!),I've found myself going deep on this one.

_Side note: I keep a list of books I've read on a service called Hardcover - if you dig this one, you'll appreciate my [Product Design reading list](https://hardcover.app/@irreverentmike/lists/product-design-community-building-and-go-to-market_).

### UX Design courses from Gymnasium

My pals over at Gymnasium are always hard at work curating great learning materials for designers. Their [UX Design curriculum](https://thegymnasium.com/ux-design) is _free,_ and has helped thousands of designers sharpen their skills. If you're building a product, you're a designer - you won't regret giving this a look.

--

## Go vote

For my 🇺🇸 American pals, _please_ double check your voter registration, and make a plan to vote this November. This may be the most important election of your lifetime - and the privilege of voting is one that shouldn't be taken for granted.

My favorite voter resource is [Vote.org](https://vote.org/). You can check your registration status, register to vote, see what's on your ballot, and make a plan to vote, all in one place. If you're already on top of it, do me a favor and check in with your friends to make sure they're getting out there and voting too.


Don't just listen. Interpret feedback wisely.


Tech nerds can't resist the _big reveal_. Blame it on mega-corporations like Apple that glamorize product launch events. But for most of us, the big reveal is a dangerous myth.

Sure, who doesn't dream of a Steve Jobs moment? Unveiling a game-changing product to the world is a seductive fantasy, but for 99% of us, it's a losing bet. When we work in secret, we miss out on the most valuable part of the process: feedback.

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### Flex your product muscle

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## Why the Big Reveal Falls Flat

The grand unveiling can often backfire. The truth is, a successful launch depends on much more than secrecy. It requires real-world feedback, adaptation, and a deep understanding of your audience's needs.

In my years building products, I've seen too many projects miss the mark because they held back until it was "perfect." Here's why that doesn't work:

1. **Audience of One**: Designing without input means building a product that only fits your vision - not your customers' needs.
2. **Perfection Paralysis**: Chasing perfection often leads to endless revisions and a product that's never finished.
3. **Out of Touch**: Without feedback, your product becomes a solution searching for a problem.
4. **Crickets at Launch**: When no one knows about your work, no one's waiting for the reveal.
5. **Echo Chamber Effect**: Without external voices, you risk becoming too invested in your own ideas and losing touch with reality.

## Why the Big Reveal Hurts Your Team

The big reveal doesn't just create problems for the product - it also disrupts your team. When people work in isolation and wait until something is "done" before sharing, they end up dumping a massive document or feature on their teammates with little context. This approach blindsides the team, creating confusion and misalignment.

Crowdsourcing feedback from peers along the way is a much better strategy. By sharing progress early, you keep everyone in the loop, build a sense of ownership across the team, and avoid surprises. Plus, it opens up the opportunity for valuable input that can course-correct mistakes before they become deeply ingrained in the project.

### Why this matters

- **Prevent Silos**: Sharing early keeps everyone informed and helps avoid working in isolation.
- Get **Stronger Team Buy-in**: When teammates are involved throughout the process, they're more invested and engaged.
- **Better Outcomes**: Crowdsourcing ideas and feedback from teammates improves the final product, as you benefit from a diverse set of perspectives.

## Embrace Transparency

The better strategy is openness. By sharing your progress, process, and even mistakes, you invite feedback and foster connections. This transparency helps keep your work grounded, adaptive, and aligned with market needs.

In fact, incremental transparency is not just better - it's essential. Here's why:

- **Feedback Loop**: Regular updates mean you can adapt and pivot when necessary.
- **Audience Investment**: Involving people early builds community and anticipation.
- **Faster Iterations**: You can make smaller, faster improvements rather than obsessing over a grand reveal.

## The Power of Public Failures

Being wrong in public is uncomfortable - but it's also incredibly powerful. Admitting mistakes invites feedback and accelerates learning. It fosters a culture of humility and adaptability, and helps you build better products, faster.

## The Bottom Line

The big reveal is a relic. Successful products today are built through transparency, iteration, and collaboration. By opening up your process, you not only avoid the pitfalls of secrecy but build better relationships with your users.

## Do this instead

Don't keep your work a secret. Share your progress early and often. Your users will thank you - and so will your product.

---

## Here's some links I've been keeping from you:

Or rather, I _could_ have kept these to myself, but where's the fun in that? Here's some cool stuff I've been enjoying lately:

### Product Analytics with PostHog: my A/B test results are in!

<YouTube youTubeId="GLcmKT55Z0Q" />

The latest video in my series on [Product Analytics with PostHog](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLcmKT55Z0Q) is live! The journey started with a broken subscription form, and has come full circle in this video where I share the results of my A/B test - and what I learned from it. I hope you enjoy it!

### Working in Public

Author Nagia Eghbal's book [Working in Public](https://press.stripe.com/working-in-public) is all about working with transparency - and although it focuses on open-source software, the principles apply to all product development.

### Label _Everything_

I _love_ learning from people who have turned the dial up to 11 on a passion. YouTuber David Malawey produced a [24 minute video on his system of labeling _everything_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1QqAZeEfes) in his life. It's an extreme take, based on the Japanese concept of _5S_, but it's fascinating to see how far you can take a simple idea.

He makes a strong case for real ROI from labeling _everything_ - and although I don't think you need to go _quite_ as far as he does, I think we call can benefit from applying some of his principles.


Nobody Wants a Big Reveal: Why Keeping Secrets Hurts Your Work

Here's some links I've been keeping from you:

Product Analytics with PostHog: my A/B test results are in!


# Contrast Elevates Perception

We often think the quality of our work speaks for itself, but in reality, _perception_ often plays an even bigger role.

The <dfn>contrast effect</dfn> shows how **presenting options in a particular way can dramatically change how they're viewed** - even more than the options themselves.

Here's why this matters for designers, developers, and product builders:

## Brand Perception is Reality

At [Craftwork](https://craftwork.com?utm_source=mikebifulco-com), we work hard to provide a seamless, well-branded experience for getting your home painted - in an industry where the bar for customer service is pretty low.

Cynically speaking, the _end result_ for our customers is essentially the same as what all of our competitors offer: a freshly painted home.

However, we have spent _countless_ hours refining the experience our customers have. From the moment they get in touch with us to the final brush stroke, we've designed every touchpoint to be as thoughtful, modern, and smooth as possible.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/contrast-effect-cognitive-psychology/craftwork"
  alt="Craftwork"
/>

Because we've built our service with customer journey in mind, our customers _feel_ the difference when comparing our offering to other companies in their neighborhood. If you've ever tried to get a quote from a home services company, you know how frustrating the process can be.

We've worked hard to make it feel _just like it should_ - easy, transparent, and professional.

The end result? Pure magic. Our customer reviews talk about how easy it is to work with us, how professional our team was, and how much they love the final product.

The contrast between our service and _the usual experience_ is stark, and it's all because of the experience we've built.

## Job-seekers need to stand out

The Contrast Effect is also an invaluable tool for people who are struggling to stand out in the job market.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/contrast-effect-cognitive-psychology/job-hunt"
  alt="Threads post about a developer who applied to 961 jobs without landing a gig"
  caption="The job market is extremely challenging for developers, even those with impressive resumes."
/>

I've seen developers with resumes boasting experience at top companies like Google or Facebook, yet they struggle to get hired.

So, what ultimately helps people with their job hunt?

Adding **personality** to their resume, to stand out from the rest of the stack - everything from thoughtful design elements to memorable facts about themselves to a mission-driven portfolio of personal projects.

You'd be _shocked_ how many incredible resumes sound _identical_ to one another. By adding a little contrast, these developers were able to stand out in a sea of sameness.

This contrast from the usual templates makes their applications pop, even though their qualifications were already impressive. It's a perfect example of how [a little design can make all the difference](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/your-resume-sucks).

## Pricing and Product Design

Another powerful use of the contrast effect is something you see all the time for SaaS products: pricing tables.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/contrast-effect-cognitive-psychology/pricing-table"
  alt="Pricing table for a SaaS product"
/>

This design effectively compares three pricing options - causing the middle one to be seen as a _reasonable_ choice. This happens because it's strategically positioned between a high-end, feature-rich plan and a low-cost, bare-bones option.

Going a step further, [Comparing monthly and yearly plans](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/use-annual-pricing-build-loyalty) can enhance this effect. Highlighting clear savings on the yearly option encourages users to choose the plan you're aiming for. The psychology of pricing is an art in itself.

---

## More on cognitive psychology

- For more on how subtle design choices can shape perception, check out my article on ["Wabi-Sabi - Embracing Imperfection for Tech Teams"](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/tech-product-growth-wabi-sabi), where I talk about the power of accepting imperfections in tech.

- ["Why Liquid Death's Branding Is Murderously Effective"](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/naming-your-product-kiki-bouba) for a some thoughts on branding and design

- If you're interested in how design decisions affect interaction, my piece on ["The Math Behind Why Cafes Should Have Round Tables"](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/design-decisions-cafe-tables) explores how physical design can change experiences.

Ultimately, the way something is presented often matters as much as the thing itself. Whether you're building a product, presenting yourself to employers, or structuring pricing for customers, _contrast_ can turn a good experience into a great one.

## What are you working on?

I'd love to hear about your projects and how you're using design to elevate your work. Hit reply and let me know what you're building! I read and reply to every response - and I can't wait to hear from you.


How Contrast Elevates Perception


Burnout is your team's worst enemy.

Great products are built by teams. In my experience, the best early stage employees will feel the pressure of building fast, focused products all on their own... often at the expense of their mental health. For this reason, I've always been a big proponent of founders being the first to advocate for the mental health of their team.

It's not just the right thing to do, it's also the smart thing to do.

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Managing mental health will be different for every founder and every team, and it's up to you to figure out what works best for your unique situation.

I have found these strategies to be effective:

### Be the teammate you want to have

The golden rule goes a long way. Remember that you're working with real, complex people who have real, complex lives. Their joy, anxiety, and stress come from more than just work, and it can be easy to forget that.

Look after your teammates. Check in on them, ask them how they're doing, and encourage them to take time off when they need it.

**tl;dr:** Ask your teammates how they're doing, not just what they're doing.

### Use routines as an anchor for stability

I've written about [my morning routine](/newsletter/continuous-self-improvement) before, and how it has been critical for me in managing stress, staying organized, and generally just feeling like I'm in control of my life.

I highly recommend starting with just 5 minutes of journaling and 5 minutes of meditation. It will sound _too_ simple, but it's amazing how quickly you start to feel like you have a handle on your day.

If you're reading this and rolling your eyes, prove me wrong: try it for a month and tell me how it goes. My inbox is always open: [hello@mikebifulco.com](mailto:hello@mikebifulco.com).

**tl;dr:** Pairing 5 minutes of journaling and 5 minutes of meditation together make an incredible tool for managing stress.

### Go outside more

The day-to-day of building a startup can be so consuming that it's easy to forget to take care of yourself. Moving your body is one of the most important things you can do.

When I managed a remote team at Google, I would regularly schedule walk-and-talk calls with people on my team. These conversations often felt different -- there's something that makes it more natural to open up when you're not sitting in a conference room or at your desk.

The great news is that this works in person, too. Take your next 1:1 meeting outside -- even in hot or cold weather. You can do it!

Outside of work, find ways to spend time outside each day. The more the merrier, really, but I've found that just 10-15 minutes can make a big difference.

**tl;dr:** Touch grass. That's the tip.

---

## My work this week

### I messed up my A/B test

The latest in my ongoing video series on [Product Analytics for developers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDCFlPzNXh4) is out. This time, I'm talking about how how I detected and fixed a problem with an A/B test I was running.

### State of the APIs Survey 2024

Check out the most recent APIs You Won't Hate newsletter for a primer on the [State of the APIs Survey 2024](https://apisyouwonthate.com/newsletter/2024-state-of-the-api-survey/), and to learn a bit about my cofounder Phil's reforestation and climate protection charity.


Stay Sane: Mental Health Strategies for Startups


## The big idea

Fonts are way more than just a stylistic choice - they're a critical element that influences readability, usability, and the overall effectiveness of your design.

## Font vs. Typeface - what's the difference?

Let's get the designer-snark out of the way first: we often think of _fonts_ as the different styles of alphabets available on in apps like Word and Figma. There will no-doubt be someone reading this who wants me to explain that _fonts_ are the files on your computer, and _typefaces_ are the designs that those files represent. Neat.

For the sake of this article, I'm going to use the terms interchangeably.

### Why Fonts Matter

It's easy to think of a font as just a branding tool, but they're much more than that. Fonts influence readability, usability, and how users interact with your content. For example, certain fonts are easier to read at different sizes, or if they're printed vs on a screen.

Choosing the right font isn't just about aesthetics; it's about making your content accessible and engaging.

### Serif vs. Sans Serif

Serifs are the tiny lines on the edges of certain characters in some fonts (like Times New Roman). Serif fonts date back hundreds of years, and may have originally been used to make printed fonts easier to read. Sans-serif fonts, which lack these lines, are popular for their clean, modern look, serifs still have their place in designs that require a touch of tradition and readability in dense text.

### Font Pairings

Like picking the right wine with a meal, or dark chocolate and coffee, pairing fonts effectively can be surprisingly impactful.

A strong body font paired with a complementary header font can create a harmonious and impactful visual hierarchy. You may even see serif and sans-serif fonts used together in the same design to create contrast and visual interest.

Tools like [Monotype's font pairing tool](https://www.monotype.com/font-pairing#/playground?fontPair1=NimbusRomNo9T-Reg&fontPair2=Devoid) can help you experiment with different combinations to find the perfect match.

### The Versatility of Inter

Inter is more than just a popular typeface; it's a versatile tool that showcases the potential of modern typography. As a [variable font](https://fonts.google.com/knowledge/introducing_type/introducing_variable_fonts), Inter offers infinite adjustability, allowing designers to tweak weight, width, and other characteristics to fit their needs precisely. The Inter typeface even [has its own website](https://rsms.me/inter/) to showcase its comprehensive feature set.

### Variable Fonts

Variable fonts like Inter are offer more flexibility and customization than just **bold** and _italics_. They allow you to adjust the weight, width, slant, and other characteristics of a font dynamically, giving you more control over how your text looks.

Tools like [v-fonts.com](https://v-fonts.com/) help explore the full range of what variable fonts can do.

While [Tailwind doesn't yet offer full support](https://github.com/tailwindlabs/tailwindcss/discussions/3225) for variable fonts, with raw CSS, you can harness their power to create truly unique and dynamic designs.

```css
@font-face {
  font-family: 'SlantFont';
  font-style: oblique -15 15;
  src: url('https://mdn.github.io/shared-assets/fonts/font_with_slant_axis.woff2')
    format('woff2');
}
```

For more on using variable fonts with CSS, check out [this guide](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/CSS_fonts/Variable_fonts_guide) on MDN.

The control this gives you over the way your interfaces looks is _really_ impactful - designing for different screen sizes and resolutions has a whole new dimension when you can adjust the font to fit the space perfectly.

## The bottom line

Modern font families have many loads of features that you may not know about. It goes far beyond style x- fonts are designed for function, usability, and aesthetics, and there's hundreds of years of history behind the fonts we see today. Spending a little time giving your font choices some thought can make a big difference in the impact of your work.

---

## More resources for the fontheads out there

- [Inter's website](https://rsms.me/inter/) is beautiful, thoughtful, and a great example of how to showcase a typeface. The source code for the typeface is also [available on GitHub](https://github.com/rsms/inter) if you're really interested in how it all works.

- [Thinking with Type](https://amzn.to/4dGghUk) by Ellen Lupton is the textbook on typography that opened my eyes to how much goes into designing a typeface, and how much it can influence the way we read and interact with content.

- The YouTube channel [Pimp my Type](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WBGIbRwYd8&) from typographer Oliver Schöndorfer has monthly videos on modern fonts that are digestible and informative. Highly recommend a binge-watch.

## My work this week

I've been putting out YouTube videos on my [YouTube Channel @mikebifulco](https://youtube.com/@mikebifulco?sub_confirmation=1) - if you're a visual learner, I'd love it if you considered [subscribing](https://youtube.com/@mikebifulco?sub_confirmation=1).

- [Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: 3 Simple Steps to Push Through Doubt](https://youtu.be/cFtmaF3i3jQ) is a video-edition of a recent newsletter, where I talk about how to push through self-doubt and keep creating. This one resonated with a lot of people, and I felt like it was worth sharing in a new format.

- [Product Analytics: A/B testing my next.js site for max growth](https://youtu.be/2hVHjSwYoU8) is the latest in a series of videos I've produced on taking an analytical look at site performance and growth. Thinking about marketing as a measurable science has been a game-changer for me, and I hope it can be for you too.


Inter and the Power of Fonts: Why Typefaces Matter More Than You Think

Font vs. Typeface - what's the difference?

More resources for the fontheads out there


You've heard all the startup tropes: Launch fast, iterate faster. Move quickly and break things. Fail fast, fail often.

In the rush to get things done, it's easy to forget about quality. After all, who has time to sweat the small stuff when there's a product to ship?

But here's the thing: Quality matters. And finding the right balance between speed and quality is nearly paradoxical. Build too fast and you'll end up with buggy code and unhappy customers. Focus too much on quality, and you'll never ship anything at all.

## Sometimes it's about the details

I recently switched from using ConvertKit's to Resend for emails on my site. Resend is a more developer-friendly service which gives me all the bells and whistles I could ever dream of for integration. Once I got everything working, I spent some time developing a simple, branded template for transactional emails. It's essentially the frame that goes around the confirmation email people get when they sign up for Tiny Improvements.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/how-you-do-one-thing-is-how-you-do-everything/email-template-base"
  alt="A screenshot of a confirmation email from Resend"
  caption="A screenshot of a confirmation email from Resend"
/>

Right now, the template is used exclusively for that one email - but I wanted to make sure it looked and felt right. I spent some time [looking for inspiration](https://reallygoodemails.com/search/emails/confirmation), set up a quick [Figma prototype](https://www.figma.com/design/On4yRGLcYLORVBIhBejboA/mikebifulco.com?node-id=301-6&t=tQ2Y9fUL1T7EHk7Y-1), and then got to work building it using [React Email](https://react.email/).

## The Bigger Picture

It's a small detail that probably matters most to me, but once it was done, it felt like my integration with Resend was complete.

The thing is, nobody will ever notice that I spent time on this. It's likely that this email will get banished to my readers' email archives within seconds of being opened, but that's kind of the point. If I did it right, this message should be _consistent_ with everything someone experiences when they come across my work. Ideally, it goes almost entirely unnoticed, because it feels like it's connected to everything else I do.

The quick way out here would be to use a fairly basic, blank template, or to fall back completely to `An old-timey text email`. I feel fairly confident in saying that either of those would feel out of place. Part of my whole schtick is that devs should care about design; failing to put in the effort here would be a pretty big contradiction.

## If you're doing things right, nobody will notice

...and sometimes that's just the way it is. This is a quip from a [great little scene in Futurama](https://youtu.be/EL7e05pClKM?si=UHoj8_lORe2YH6Qe) -- and I think it's a great centering thought for design work in general. As unsatisfying as it sounds, this is a sign of a successful design.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/how-you-do-one-thing-is-how-you-do-everything/futurama-god-scene"
  alt="The bender-is-god scene from Futurama"
  caption="You know, I was god once..."
/>

Using a light touch is a _delicate_ but attainable balance. You don't need to be Dieter Rams to meet that standard. You just need to be consistent. For a lot of us, that's a great place to start.

## How you do one thing is how you do everything

I've just finished re-listening to Unreasonable Hospitality, a book that I've [written about in the past](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/unreasonable-hospitality-and-design). It's written by Will Guidara, co-owner and operator of one of the top restaurants in the world, Eleven Madison Park.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/how-you-do-one-thing-is-how-you-do-everything/unreasonable-hospitality"
  alt="Unreasonable Hospitality book cover"
  caption="Unreasonable Hospitality, by Will Guidara"
/>

There's a great chapter in the book discussing the great lengths they went to in order to create a world-class dining experience. At the restaurant, they spend time making sure that plates are laid on the table so that the makers' mark _on their underside_ are facing guests perfectly.

What a wild thing to do - most guests will never flip their plate over to see who made it. For those that do take a look, will it even occur to them that the plate was placed that way intentionally?

Probably not. But that's not the point.

The point is that the staff at Eleven Madison Park _know_ that the plates are placed that way. They know that they're doing everything they can to make the experience perfect.

## Still, there is no bar

Remember, [there is no bar](https://chriscoyier.net/2022/06/27/there-is-no-bar/) for publishing online. You can publish whatever you want, however you want, and nobody can stop you.

I've talked to loads of people who _never get started_ sharing their work online because it's "not ready" -- and I get it. It's a scary thing to put yourself out there.

To be perfectly honest, if you're not ready to share your work yet, this advice is _probably_ not for you (yet). Fundamentally, it's most valuable to build, ship, collect feedback, and iterate -- and if you're not shipping, you're not iterating.

Once you do start putting your product or your writing or your podcast or your sculpture out there, though, you're setting a bar for yourself, and there's always room to improve.

## Start small

If it feels overwhelming, start small. Pick one thing that you can do _today_ to make your [thing] better. Go update that misaligned header, or fix a broken link, or finish that prototype that's been waiting for you.

It doesn't have to be perfect -- just better than it was yesterday.

---

## Some more of my work this week

### 📼 Part 3 of my product analytics is live

If you've been following along on YouTube, you may have seen the first couple videos I shared about debugging a conversion problem on my site. In the first 2 videos, I found and fixed a technical problem that was causing signups to fail. Now I've moved on to a more strategic problem: How do I get more people to sign up in the first place? See how I'm tackling that challenge [using A/B testing](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hVHjSwYoU8&) in the latest video.

### 🎙️ Avoid an API billing nightmare

Supergood solves a problem we all fear: by monitoring your API usage, they help detect and prevent massive bills from SaaS Providers. If you have recurring nightmares about your AWS bill spinning out of control, you'll love my podcast interview with founder Alex Klarfeld - [No more API usage nightmares](https://apisyouwonthate.com/podcast/supergood-ai-for-tracking-api-spend-in-real-time/).

---

## Raise the bar for yourself

- [Really Good Emails](https://reallygoodemails.com/search/emails/confirmation) is exactly what it sounds like: a curated repository of well-designed emails. Such a helpful tool.
- Did you know that fonts have versions? _Inter,_ everyone's favorite typeface, recently launched [version 4.0](https://rsms.me/inter/), which you can poke around with on the incredibly beautiful showcase website for the font.


How you do one thing is how you do everything

If you're doing things right, nobody will notice

📼 Part 3 of my product analytics is live


At the beginning of my career, I worked in Microsoft's consulting organization. Every week, I would travel to a customer's office somewhere in North America to help them solve their technical problems. Apart from _knowing a little javascript and css,_ I had no real business being there.

I was fresh out of college, and facing the challenge of being _Microsoft's Expert on [whatever]_ in front of the CIO of a Fortune 500 company.

No joke: my first project was rebuilding Dell dotcom from scratch, and I was the _lead_ frontend developer because I was the only one in the room who had heard of jQuery.

So -- I was the expert, and they were paying for my expertise. Which was a problem, really, because I didn't have any.

Nonetheless, any time I had a problem I couldn't solve on my own, I had the _entirety_ of Microsoft's 100k+ employees at my disposal, and I definitely used them. I would send out emails to internal mailing lists, getting advice from brilliant devs in charge of building windows. The responses I got were always helpful, and I learned a ton.

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Fast forward 7 years, and I was leaving Microsoft to work as technical director at a code [Gymnasium](https://thegymnasium.com), the best damn online code school for creatives looking to dip their toes in the cool waters of web development.

I would be using completely new tools - going from .net and C# to Django and Python - and from a _massive_ network of people to a crack squad of just 5, where I was the only developer.

Suddenly I was an astronaut in a space station, cut off from the world. I had no one to ask for help, no one to bounce ideas off of, no one to tell me when I was doing something stupid.

I was on my own.

It didn't take long for me to realize that **developers have a unique advantage:** most of our peers are _chronically online_. The most knowledgeable people **in the world** are at your fingertips, as long as you know where to look.

From forums and blog posts to open-source projects, there is no shortage of places to find answers and learn. For me, the key to truly benefiting from this wealth of information came from active participation and engagement with the developer community.

It can do the same for you -- but you're gonna need to put yourself out there.

Here's 3 things you can do _right now_ to get started:

### Join a community

Whether it's a local meetup, a Slack channel, or a forum, find a community of people that you can engage with. This is a great way to meet like-minded people, share knowledge, and get advice.

### Give helpful feedback

When you're starting out, it can be intimidating to contribute to open-source projects or forums. But remember, you don't have to be an expert to provide valuable feedback. By giving constructive criticism and suggestions, you can help others improve their work and learn in the process.

### Keep an eye on trends

The tech industry moves fast, and it's important to stay up-to-date with the latest trends and technologies. This doesn't mean you have to _use_ every new tool or framework that comes out, but having a general understanding of what's happening in the industry can help you make informed decisions about your own work.

## The Pavlovian Power of constructive engagement

Someo of the best career advice I ever received is from pal Thomas: give and receive feedback in good faith, and you'll find yourself surrounded by people who are willing to help you grow.

This means being honest, respectful, and open to new ideas. It means being willing to admit when you're wrong, and to learn from your mistakes. It means being generous with your time and knowledge, and being willing to help others when they need it.

The inverse of this is all too common online - I'd wager to say that the vast majority of reddit, twitter, and youtube comments are people who are _not_ engaging in good faith. They're there to tear down, to belittle, to make themselves feel better by making others feel worse.

I'm sure you've seen and felt that, and it _sucks_ -- but it also means that when you come correct, you will really stand out.

It's a simple concept, but it's incredibly powerful. By engaging with your community with constructive, meaningful, and thoughtful feedback, you'll build a powerful reputation for yourself. You'll find yourself learning along the way, too.

Before long, you'll be the one people come to for advice.

---

## Helpful links from around the web

- I published the second in a series of videos on [Using Posthog to solve my conversion rate problem](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaX8NeEhowU&t=1s) - and I'm stoked to say that after seeing the first video, Posthog is sponsoring Tiny Improvements and the next few videos I'm putting together. Give it a watch and let me know what you think!

- Over at APIs You Won't Hate, we published a great little tutorial on [pagination basics for APIs](https://apisyouwonthate.com/blog/api-design-basics-pagination/). It's a great primer on how to structure your API responses to make them easier to work with.

- My pal Andrew Peacock has been doing a great job of building his product for woodworkers in public. You can follow along on his journey on YouTube. his latest video talks about an important milestone: he [finally launched his MVP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0ryiXiSvVg)


How to source and use expert knowledge for your work

The Pavlovian Power of constructive engagement


## The worst time to learn how to deal with a crisis is during a crisis

How's that for self-evident? But -- it's true.

You should have a plan for when things go wrong. This is especially true in software development.

The first time you're dealing with a production issue is _not_ the time to learn how to deal with one. You need to have a plan in place for when things go wrong, and you should be ready to roll when the time comes.

### Tooling is gives you sensory feedback

Lucky for you, there's loads of tools that can make life easier when everything comes crashing down. You'll want to be able to reliably see what's going on in your system, and to be able to quickly identify what's going wrong.

At [Craftwork](https://craftwork.com), our current debug stack uses [PostHog](https://posthog.com) for session replay and product analytics, [Sentry](https://sentry.io) for error tracking, and Slack webhooks for alerting the team.

### Testing your code is a baseline

If you're not testing your code, you're going to have a bad time. Having tests written for your software is a baseline requirement - great tests prevent you from shipping flawed features, and help you understand when new features break old expectations. At a minimum, write tests for the features and scenarios in your software that are critical to your business, and build the habit of adding more over time.

I have been _really_ impressed with the devX of writing tests for Ruby on Rails - and there is literally no-one better to learn from than my pal and colleague CJ Avilla - he's done a whole series on [testing rails with RSpec](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS6F722u-R6Ik3fbeLXbSclWkT6Qsp9ng) that I highly recommend, _even if you're not a Ruby developer_.

It's that good.

### Don't be afraid to ask for help

If you're stuck, ask for help. There's no shame in asking for help; you should view it as a _strength_ to know when a second set of eyes are what you need.

If you're working on a larger team, you'll get a feel for how long you should work on a problem before asking for help (the more severe the problem, the shorter this time should be).

If you're a solo founder or an indiehacker, this is one of the best things about finding community online. There's always smart people willing to help you out.

But -- and I can't emphasize this enough -- **the worst time to start building a community is when you need help.**

[The best time to start is now](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/today-is-your-day-to-start).

### Close the loop with affected users

Here's the secret sauce: Once you've found and fixed a problem in production, get in touch with affected users and let them know what happened, and how you fixed it. They'll love you for it, and you'll build trust with them. This is a great way to turn a negative experience into a positive one, and to build a relationship with your users.

Especially if you're a solo founder or indiehacker, vulnerability and transparency are what will make people believe in you. It's a superpower that is waiting for you to use it. Don't squander the chance!

## Get the ball rolling now

The great thing about these problem solving techniques is that each one adds value to the others, and they can be added incrementally. You don't need to have a perfect system in place to start - you just need to start.

---

## More of my work on this topic

As it works out, I've got a few more resources on this topic that you might find interesting:

### Product Analytics for engineers

I've been experiencing a downturn in newsletter subscribers through the form on my website recently. Ironically, if you're reading this, you're probably already subscribed. Rather than just throwing up my hands and saying "oh well", I decided to dig into the data and see what was going on, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to showcase the process I use for debugging web app problems that aren't as simple as "this page is crashing".

Check out [Product Analytics for engineers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nWcB1a8M1s) on YouTube for the first part of the adventure.

### Automate your SaaS product's crisis response

As it works out, this topic is something I've got some experience with. Back in 2020, just after my previous startup smpl was acquired, I was applying to devrel jobs at Google. As part of the interview process, I put together a talk about how to automate your SaaS product's crisis process, based on my experience at smpl.

While the information might be a bit dated, the principles are sound, and these slides landed me a job running Developer Advocacy for Google Assistant. Check out the slides here: [Automate your SaaS product's crisis response](https://github.com/mbifulco/talks/tree/main/01-automate-your-saas-products-crisis-response-process).

---

## Don't take my word for it

There's loads of great resources out there for debugging, problem solving, and customer support for product builders. Here's a few that I've found helpful recently:

- Kent C. Dodds has a great series of blog posts on testing javascript apps. A great place to start is [Write tests. Not too many. Mostly integration.](https://kentcdodds.com/blog/write-tests)

- PastMaps founder Craig Campbell has shared some incredible stories about proactive and reactive user research in his journey to to growing a sustainable business. I highly recommend following him on Threads for [gems like this one](https://www.threads.net/@that.map.guy.craig/post/C8u9Fn1yIzq).


Debug tips from a lifetime newbie

The worst time to learn how to deal with a crisis is during a crisis

Automate your SaaS product's crisis response

💌 Tiny Improvements

Read past dispatches