Oversimplified: Volume 114
Product growth reads, designing video games, and how to track your time
Hey there 👋
Let’s get to the best links I found on the internet this week. If you’re enjoying the newsletter, share it with a friend. If this was forwarded to you, you can check out some previous issues and subscribe for future updates.
✍️ Product Growth Canon
Conor Dewey | Growth | 2021-08-10
I've collected a bunch of resources over the last few years that have helped solidify my understanding of different product growth concepts. These are the articles, books, and talks that I recommend most.
✍️ Notes on Designing Games
Conor Dewey | Design | 2021-07-30
These are my notes and highlights from Designing Games, a book about the tactics and mental models that go into creating hit video games. I anticipated that these learnings would extend beyond gaming into the world of product design, and I wasn’t disappointed.
📚 How One CEO Spends His Time
Sam Corcos | Management | 2021-08
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I use my calendar and track my time in general. This article from First Round Review on the CEO of Levels’ best practices was a timely one. I’m considering adopting a few techniques described here.
📚 Looks Like a Product But Secretly a Subscription
Cal Paterson | Mental Models | 2021-08
There are two ways to spend money on things. One is to buy something outright and then own it (Accountants call this '“capex”). The other way is to rent (“opex”). Despite what how many of us think, software is usually opex.
📚 The Elements of Product Design
Jamie Mill | Design | 2021-07-10
Staying with the product design theme, I found this framework and visualization to be a useful one for unpacking the complexity that comes with making tough decisions on a stack of knowledge.
📚 The Email Notification Evolution Inside Companies
Casey Winters | Startups | 2018-04-09
This classic post from Casey Winters is worth checking out if your company spends time and effort on email marketing. The evolution here resonated with what I’ve seen before, as many companies get stuck in Phase 0 or Phase 1.
🔗 My Favorite Tools and Software
Brian Lovin | Productivity | NA
I stumbled upon this collection of Brian’s “favorite tools and software” and I found a few gems that I’ve enjoyed adopting. I also noticed a good bit of overlap with my current stack including tools like Alfred, Day One, Things, and Ghost.
Food for Thought
“Your brain gets too comfortable in your everyday surroundings. You need to make it uncomfortable. You need to spend some time in another land, among people that do things differently than you. Travel makes the world look new, and when the world looks new, our brains work harder.” — Austin Kleon
Until next time
As always, if you're enjoying Oversimplified, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend or two. If anything stood out, whether good or bad, I would love to hear about it. Reply to this email or tweet at me and let’s chat.
Until next time,
Conor