Brian Kelly

product guy @definednet 🚀 previous startups: @censysio @duosec @nutshell @trustbearer, michigan by mid-atlantic, #madeina2 @a2newtech @annarborspark

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@dissectpodcast All of the nuggets in the Blond season. 🧡 So many good ones in there. Standouts were pyramids sheet music artwork, the (multiple!) half-ings across Blond, and summertime &color references, and the frission discussion & community playlist.

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@_lennart you do realize that is the most hipster auto-drip on the market, yes?

I have the same one. 😂👌

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@dissectpodcast At the second or third Bonnaroo, way back in the early aughts, they gave out a compilation disc of tracks from that year’s performers. This is when I first heard MMJ and ‘Mahgeetah.’

Years later I discovered the album, It Still Moves, and really started loving that band. 🎸

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@paulsingh wrong answers only

[Gaurav Singh @gauravsingh961]

You: What’s the 1️⃣ EdTech story that all should know ?
Me: One Laptop Per Child (OLPC)

You: Why ?
Me: Many have heard of it, few know the details of it’s shocking failure & it is a great example of what I call:
“The iceberg theory of EdTech”

But its start was full of promise…

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@karaswisher @nytimes live yet? no video on page w/ my rsvp'd nyt account

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear …And if you're finding that marketing exercise to be a struggle, it might be time to revisit your product value prop.

Clearly stated benefits (solves pain/gives superpower to this very specific, but "large enough" market) should easily map to every product feature.

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear How about this?

If you're going "feature-first" on your home/landing page, only list features that are *clearly linked* to benefits (that your ideal customers care about).

That's my read on the spirit of "sell benefits, not features."

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear Stripe has always been an impressive standout to me in how they weave value through messaging + jump-into-code examples. Twilio, too.

Maybe a counter, value-driven example is Snowflake. Can you tell that their *buyer* isn't likely a developer? 🙃

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear What are some examples of devtools home/landing pages that you did not find compelling?

It makes sense to me that, as a category, these sites will be more focused on features/functionality since that's more likely to resonate with their target customers (devs).

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear The duo/docs reference I made is backed by data. Mktg crunched GA data and tracked pages visited with signups through sales funnel. That uncovered /docs/* led to more sales than any other pages.

I like specific studies, but I hesitate to make general advice based on them.

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear Here's where I was going with [marketing messaging effectiveness is hard to measure]: The data that you're looking for (sizzle v. steak content ROI) is out there, but determining correlation v. causation be hard.

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear @earthlingworks @hnshah @daverodenbaugh @Patticus @robwalling /docs is the most comprehensive features list on the website (without any of the marketing value fluff—GOOD fluff, mind you).

But, BUT: That didn't mean we could just punt on all those other pages.

Case studies, for example, was time well-spent. https://t.co/ZLoQ9yvPcG

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear @earthlingworks @hnshah @daverodenbaugh @Patticus @robwalling So, does that mean good, technical documentation should be the focus of your product's website?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Spend an outsized amount of time in discovery, place a few bets, rinse & repeat.

(Oh, and don't forget to choose an underserved market and build a great product, too)

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear @earthlingworks @hnshah @daverodenbaugh @Patticus @robwalling We learned that clear, friendly documentation was hugely important to the *user* (administrator) who was also the buyer (or had large influence on the buyer).

Marketing didn't /docs, but they certainly leveraged it once discovering this connection.

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear I'm a fan of the "sell benefits, not features" advice bc it helps correct for the mistake that most (technical) product creators make: Listing all the features—often without context—and then wonder why customers aren't lining up…

Follow the rule, *then* break it.

[Brian Kelly @resetbrian]

@asmartbear The goal: Your ideal potential customer spends 30 seconds reading your site/landing page/ad and says, "Tell me more."

Maybe your ICP immediately *gets it* when they read about features. Maybe that happens when you describe the *exact* problem that they have.