Patrick McKenzie

Principles are our summary of their public statements.

• Policies are tools not laws

  Management

  Founders have the authority to ignore or rewrite refund policies whenever it serves the business's goals.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source How To Deal With Abusive Customers, 2007  (opens in a new tab)

• Leverage payments for ecosystem retention

  Strategy

  Integrating payment rails into a core business captures revenue outside the ecosystem and uses rewards to drive customers back to internal product lines.

  Supporting quotes

  • “This makes an international mindset a surprisingly durable source of alpha, even in professional fields, even ones which are intensely globalized.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Prepare for payment method heterogeneity

  Strategy

  The future of retail involves a massive explosion of competing payment brands and modalities rather than a single consolidated winner.

  Supporting quotes

  • “This makes an international mindset a surprisingly durable source of alpha, even in professional fields, even ones which are intensely globalized.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Maintain consistent small progress

  Productivity

  Success comes from not stopping, such as committing to a daily writing goal or a weekly experiment regardless of circumstances.

  Supporting quotes

  • “After you're capable of waving the magic wand and getting another one out the door, there's increasingly less and less impetus to go out and grab another client engagement.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Prioritize refund speed over inquiry

  Customers

  When a customer requests a guaranteed refund, process the transaction first to build trust and reduce friction before starting a conversation.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source I Hate Typos + PAD Files Work, 2006  (opens in a new tab)

• Prioritize User Bandwidth Savings

  Product

  Small technical improvements like file minimization can lead to significant bandwidth savings for the end user.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source Automatically Minimizing Javascript and CSS with Rails, 2010  (opens in a new tab)

• Minimize Exposure to Platform Risk

  Risk

  Limit potential losses from account freezes by frequently sweeping balances to a separate bank account.

  Supporting quotes

  • “Trust is currency, because without trust I get no currency . The Paypal name means "Buy here and you're covered" to the astoundingly high seventy percent of my customers who have an account with them.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Optimize visual calls to action

  Product

  Larger, bolder, and more descriptive buttons often perform better than smaller, outdated versions.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source New Paypal Buttons, 2007  (opens in a new tab)

• Use Credits to Retain Customers

  Strategy

  Offering a service credit instead of a simple refund keeps the customer invested in the business relationship.

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

  Source Three Cheers for Tucows, 2006  (opens in a new tab)

• Track Uncollected Revenue as Survival

  Cash

  Uncollected revenue is an asset that represents the difference between business life and death. Founders must have clear visibility into who hasn't paid to ensure the company's 'next three minutes of air' are secured.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source A Game That Intentionally Frustrates The Player, 2022  (opens in a new tab)

• Expect User Error in Manual Inputs

  Product

  Users will frequently ignore instructions, make typos, or enter irrelevant information in unstructured fields. Do not build critical business processes that rely on customers perfectly following manual data entry instructions.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source A Game That Intentionally Frustrates The Player, 2022  (opens in a new tab)

• Understand duration risk

  Risk

  The longer the duration of an asset, the more sensitive its value is to interest rate hikes, regardless of the credit quality of the asset.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Banking In Very Uncertain Times, 2023  (opens in a new tab)

• Question arbitrary work norms

  Strategy

  Standard work hours and corporate structures are arbitrary cultural constructs, not laws of nature, and can be redesigned to fit personal goals.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source How Running A Business Changes The Way You Think, 2011  (opens in a new tab)

• Audit your exit links

  Marketing

  Regularly check where your page's links are sending traffic to ensure you aren't accidentally giving away customers to third parties.

  Supporting quotes

  • “I'm afraid you are not my [client], ma'am, but I am sending you a free copy with my thanks for your continued support of small businesses.”

• Focus on value over history

  Negotiation

  Deflect questions about past compensation by emphasizing the desire for increased responsibility and the value to be added to the new company.

  Supporting quotes

  • “If you perform wishy-washy in the negotiation, they count it as a strike against you.”

  2 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

• Assume hardware will fail

  Risk

  Treat hardware failure as an inevitability rather than a possibility and prepare accordingly.

  Supporting quotes

  • “"I'm going to start a backup any day now" ranks right up there with "Hmm, well, we haven't heard from that freaky serial killer in a while. I think I'll stay in the house."”

    “Most of my critical business data is already off of my laptop - its at a Google server farm, or chilling on a Slicehost server, or over at Paypal”

• Compete Beyond Price

  Strategy

  Proprietary software can beat free open-source alternatives by offering better marketing, usability, and focus on non-technical users.

  Source オープンソース・ソフトウェアとうまく勝負するにはどうするか, 2009  (opens in a new tab)

• Value utility over brand names

  Productivity

  Choose software based on ease of use and specific feature sets that solve immediate problems rather than buying expensive industry standards.

  Supporting quotes

  • “If you get as much use out of them as I have, consider dropping 2-3% or so of the cost of a Photoshop license in their tipjar.”

  1 more supporting quote is in the member records.

• Bridge the gap after signup

  Management

  Organizations often fail because marketing focuses on signups and product focuses on features, leaving no one responsible for the transition to engagement.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Kalzumeus Podcast Episode 9: Customer Onboarding With Samuel Hulick, 2014  (opens in a new tab)

• Aim for washing machine impact

  Product

  Software should aim to revolutionize a business process as much as a washing machine improved quality of life for those who never had one.

  3 more supporting quotes are in the member records.

  Source Kalzumeus Podcast Episode 9: Customer Onboarding With Samuel Hulick, 2014  (opens in a new tab)