Bob Moesta: evaluation

Transcript context

…You brought up this point that people often say they really hate something and it comes across that they're ready to switch and will use something that you've built that's better, but they don't because of that friction you mentioned. What do you look for that might tell you that they're really actually going to use it for real and it's that serious? The very first thing I would say is I never trust anybody telling me things they're going to do because they can't assure it, and it usually never happens. It's my experience that says that. And so the thing is, I need to talk to people who did something and tried and though they might've failed, what made them try? So the phrase I have 'Bitchin' ain't switchin'. " Just because people bitch about something doesn't mean they're going to do anything about it. This is where at Basecamp, we learned the fact that everybody said, "Oh, if you had Gantt charts, I'm going to leave you if you don't put Gantt charts in or resource allocation," and as much as they all say they want it, they're not leaving because of it. And this is the other part, if you follow your best users, they'll take you up to this world that then actually destroys the lower end of the world of why people are there. And so if Basecamp would've added all those things, one of the reasons why people join Basecamp is because it's so dang simple. And if I start to add all these things that make it more complicated, it doesn't work. And so in those conversations, is there something you find that just this is a sign they're actually really serious, or do you just like, "I'm not going to listen to anything they're saying in this case until we actually build it and they're using it"?…

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