Thomas Otter

Software Designer at @SpokeDelivery, previously at @molliepayments, @picnic & @vanmoof

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@sekachov Increase your protein intake man!!

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@RemLiquidity @alireza_hadjar https://t.co/q8gzN66Pio

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@hiddevdploeg oh wait it's on iOS hahaha, cursor caught me off guard 👀

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@daveyheuser @iconists @jeffreydgroot Moved @MolliePayments to it some months ago, slowly getting it adopted, such a breeze vs. free-for-all icon creations. Love it!

[Karri Saarinen @karrisaarinen]

Too many understand quality as polish. It's not the same thing.

If build something good, even if it’s a bit rough. That’s great. But don’t fall into the mindset of “just ship it.”

When “just ship it” is the default, you stop asking if this is actually good for users. You move on too fast and create mess for the users. The potential good experience gets lost in all that mess.

Quality is a muscle. You try to make things good at every step. You keep asking if this is better for the user and you keep improving it. That works a lot better for retention than just shipping something and moving on. Quality is a goal, and it's a way to show you care about the users.

"Just ship it" is you pushing your priorities over the customers priorities. Like in Jony's words, you not giving a shit about the users or their experience, you're giving shit about your needs of making progress. It's another version of shipping your org chart.

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@OnnoEricBlom @s8mb I stopped reading after the first sentence

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@adriaanmol mijn brein kan dit niet verwerken dat dit echt is

[Eoghan McCabe @eoghan]

1-1s, performance reviews, exec meetings, internal comms, HR, comp policies, titles, Sales, Marketing, and on and on and on. Question it all. The greatest companies reject the shitty status quo and have so much more success and fun along the way.

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@bryan_johnson @adriaanmol @jaapniks Volgens mij hebben wij dit nodig

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

What a clever piece of UI, nice.

[Elicit @elicitorg]

Introducing Elicit Systematic Reviews!

Elicit now supports automated search, title & abstract screening, and data extraction, all in one step-by-step flow.

We built this to accelerate power researchers without asking them to sacrifice control. You can do the whole thing manually, or run an automated review in 9 clicks.

How it works:

1/ Your review starts with a research question. Elicit suggests ways to clarify your question and additional angles to analyze.

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@dennismuellr @peterepetepeter What do you use to determine your VO2Max? Is Apple Health reliable enough for this?

[Lenny Rachitsky @lennysan]

Some key takeaways:

1. Speed and quality aren’t actually at odds—they’re often positively correlated. The best practitioners in any field, from chefs to programmers, work quickly because they’re experts. The speed doesn’t come from rushing or cutting corners but from competence. Skilled teams that have mastered their craft move faster because they know what works and can quickly iterate, making decisions and improving the product in real time.

2. To prevent software bloat, Linear has a strict policy against customization features requested by middle managers that would make IC workflows worse. Instead:
a. Focus on solving core problems extremely well
b. Only build native features that deliver high-quality experiences
c. Push back on customization requests that add complexity
d. Help customers understand why limiting customization benefits them

3. One of the best ways to break out of a product or feature rut is to ask yourself, “What’s the most extreme version of this idea?” For example, instead of trying to figure out a perfect draft-saving feature, ask, “What’s the fastest version we could do? What’s the safest?” This approach helps you explore different extremes and forces you to break out of the usual boundaries. Build both extremes, test them internally, and then converge toward a balanced solution that works.

4. When implementing software, you’re not just solving a problem—you’re buying into a new way of working. Whether it’s an ERP system or a product tool, you’re adopting a set of best practices and ways of thinking. When choosing tools for your team, make sure they align with the practices you want to cultivate, and be ready to adjust how your team works to fit those processes.

5. When interviewing for PM roles:
a. Treat it like a product discovery exercise
b. Understand the hiring manager’s key problems and OKRs
c. Ask specific questions as if you already work there
d. Make yourself the clear solution to their problem
e. Connect with other stakeholders to gather context

6. Take deadlines extremely seriously, but use them sparingly:
a. When you commit to a deadline, make it the absolute priority
b. Cut scope aggressively to ensure you can ship something
c. Start fast and iterate early to give optionality
d. Recognize that marketing moments are limited and precious
e. Don’t waste time on detailed estimates—focus on shipping

[Robert Gaal @robertgaal]

Sign the Dutch petition for improving stock option law:

Nederlandse startups lopen achter door gebrekkige regelgeving voor aandelenopties. We hebben het talent, maar missen het vliegwiel. Teken de petitie!​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

https://t.co/80aGuneeHl

[Kaz Nejatian @nejatian]

Many product managers don't bind their ambitions with humility.

They don't work on small things at all. So, small things get worse and they don't learn how to fix problems.

They, therefore, fail at fixing big problems and big things also get worse.

This is why it is such a bad idea to tell PMs to avoid fixing broken windows.

If you are a junior PM. Just fix bugs. Start there. Fix things that are obviously broken. Do not allow yourself to even think about "strategy". Just wake up every day and fix small things, every day.

This gives you at bats learnings how to do things and it will ready you for the moment when you need to fix bigger things.

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@frainpan @mbdgerritsen @SimoneZuurveld @MolliePayments is bradd himself also coming?

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@Willem__Evers Ga 48 uur next. Je hebt nog nooit zo lekker gegeten

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@ppkorevaar I’m annoyed by employers that don’t allow me to set my own risk profile, it’s always fixed on neutral. Keeping in mind that they’re already conservative by nature, means that I’m missing on the gains at the beginning of my career.

[Nikita Bier @nikitabier]

More and more, I have lost conviction that “minimum viable products” make sense for product development.

It makes no sense to release a product with the core flow and then dismiss its viability after the aggregate data says people aren’t using it.

Instead, founders should have a fundamental belief about what people want—and they should keep iterating until that value is correctly surfaced.

In practice, this means you should keep a steady flow of new users as you add components to the product, seeing if it solves a core part of the activation and signup loop.

The only part that could possibly be “half-baked” is those individual components. But even those need sufficient quality so there are no confounding factors that distort the signal.

[Thomas Otter @Thomas0tter]

@FonsMans 👀