Patrick McKenzie

Quotes are word for word from the source.

• Manual process errors

  “Unfortunately, this is largely a manual process and I missed the critical "copy the new installer from the build directory to the web directory before sync'ing the local copy of my website and the FTP server".”

  Our notePatrick explains how a manual deployment step led to users downloading an outdated version of his software.

• Sharing business history

  “I'm told the main theme for the interview will be a business biography, so my regular readers are likely going to hear a lot of things you already know”

  Our notePatrick discusses the upcoming interview about his business background.

• Segmenting visitor experiences

  “Answer: he would cookie everyone who came to the blog, so that you could show different views of it to people who had been following for years and people who just arrived fresh off a Google search”

  Our noteHe explains the utility of a plugin that differentiates content for new versus returning visitors.

• Maturity transformation

  “Banks engage in maturity transformation, in "borrowing short and lending long." Deposits are short-term liabilities of the bank; while time-locked deposits exist, broadly users can ask for them back on demand.”

  Our notePatrick explains the core business model and inherent risk of banking.

• Importance of aesthetics

  “One thing folks sometime neglect when making a webapp, and I'm certainly guilty, is making it look gorgeous. Clicky does not have that problem.”

  Our notePatrick reflects on how founders often overlook visual design in software development.

• Generous customer service

  “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.”

  Our notePatrick responded to a woman who mistakenly asked him for a lost license for a competitor's product.

• Data over guessing

  “I hate guessing and love data. Thus I'm hoping Google delivers a useable and useful product here. I'll post impressions when I have them.”

  Our notePatrick explains his preference for hard data over 'gut feelings' when optimizing his website's conversion rates.

• Avoiding indecisiveness

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

  Our notePatrick warns that being indecisive during salary talks can hurt your professional image.

• The danger of procrastination

  “"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."”

  Our notePatrick reflects on the common mistake of delaying data backups despite knowing the risks.

• Decentralized data storage

  “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”

  Our notePatrick explains how he protects his business by keeping essential data on cloud services.

• Fraud as expense

  “You can think of it as a necessary expense, just like rent or salary or advertising is.”

  Our noteHe compares fraud losses to standard business overhead costs.

• Supporting free tools

  “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.”

  Our notePatrick encourages others to support high-quality free software that provides real business value.

• Product impact goal

  “You don't need to have the impact of a religion or their spouse, but you should be at least aiming at "washing machine.”

  Our notePatrick uses the washing machine analogy to describe the level of life improvement software should provide.

• Ignore the competition

  “You can pretty much ignore your competitors. The market in your niche is much, much larger than you can comfortably absorb by yourself (if it isn't, find a new niche, now).”

  Our noteHe advises founders to focus on their own growth rather than obsessing over competitors.

• Low Risk Experiments

  “That being said, if it isn't true the most you are out is about $8 which you were going to pay eventually anyway, right?”

  Our notePatrick discusses the low financial risk of testing a potential SEO tactic.

• Tech industry bureaucracy

  “tech is not exactly a stranger to having bureaucracies. In some cases, it was a matter of "oh indicatively, we want to support that, but we have a process" and that process went on for six weeks.”

  Our notePatrick describes the slow response from tech donors during an urgent global crisis.

• Limited cognitive bandwidth

  “I'm a flawed human who has a limited number of cycles in his day. I was running a very complex operation.”

  Our notePatrick explains why he didn't reach out to every possible funding source during the crisis.

• Prioritizing speed

  “We should always choose acceleration over other things such as minimizing credit risk.”

  Our notePatrick explains why he advanced money to his charity before promised donations actually arrived.

• Banking as government arm

  “It is descriptively accurate that the banking system - and all companies which are necessarily tightly tied to the banking system, which might be all companies - are a policy arm of the government.”

  Our notePatrick explains how financial institutions function as extensions of state policy through compliance.

• PDF user behavior

  “If a non-technical user enters a PDF, they overwhelmingly do not exit. This is especially true if seeing/printing the PDF achieves their immediate goal”

  Our notePatrick warns about how PDFs can end a user's journey on your website prematurely.

• Value of search ads

  “The nice thing about paid search advertising is that it captures user intent like nothing else does.”

  Our notePatrick discusses why AdWords is effective for reaching people with specific needs.

• Scaling outside Silicon Valley

  “Recognize that the same factors which make that tiny tip of the Silicon Valley distribution go infinite can make just about anybody, anywhere scale freakishly well”

  Our notePatrick emphasizes that modern technology allows businesses to scale from anywhere in the world.

• Ignoring the gatekeepers

  “With a single stroke you've just managed to make the opinions of everyone but your customers utterly irrelevant.”

  Our noteHe suggests that avoiding outside funding makes a founder answerable only to their customers.

• IRS recordkeeping neutrality

  “the IRS is so neutral about format that they used to not mention software at all.”

  Our noteDescribing how the IRS allows businesses flexibility in how they keep their records.

• Evergreen content value

  “And the kicker? That post is an evergreen - it never goes bad. It continues to pick up search engine hits, links, emails to friends, yadda yadda, and keeps making me money.”

  Our notePatrick explains why a single blog post can be a long-term asset for a small software business.

• The Overwork Myth

  “the notion that working longer hours is correlated to better business results is a pernicious social pathology”

  Our notePatrick argues against the common belief that working more hours leads to success.

• Endurance Chicken Game

  “Your competitor can adopt it as easily as you can, and then you're playing a game of multiplayer endurance chicken against everyone else in your market.”

  Our noteHe explains why working longer hours is not a sustainable competitive advantage.