Iterating on the Idea Glenn Kelman, CEO of Redfin

1. Itera&ng
on
the
Idea
Glenn
Kelman
Redfin
June
9,
2010

2. Not
One
of
Them
Believed
Himself
Worthy
of
This!

3. Opinionated
SoHware
is
Good
• Personality
is
what
someone
doesn’t
like
• The
world
is
starved
for
it
• Cri&cs
are
hard
to
ignore
Not
everyone
will
like
“Fantas2c
Mr.
Fox”;
and
if
everyone
it
isdid,
it
would
not
be
nearly
as
interes2ng
as
.
There
are
some
children
—
some
people
—
who
will
embrace
it
with
a
special,
strange
intensity,
as
if
it
had
been
made
for
them
alone.

4. You’re
the
First
Customer
• You
know
what
you
want
• You
have
passion
for
the
product
• Your
know
where
to
find
customers
Untrained
Eye
on
Flickr

5. The
Seven
Deadly
Sins
• Our
project
is
to
please
• The
seven
deadly
sins
• “My
wallet
is
staying
right
where
it
is”

6. Wave
a
Magic
Wand
• Finding
the
problem
is
usually
the
problem
• Look
for
emo&on
• Do
something
hard
Randy
Stewart
on
Flickr

7. What
I
Wish
There
Was
• A
sent-­‐items
for
my
en&re
life
• Micro-­‐commerce
macros
• One-­‐click
poli&cal
advocacy
• Socially-­‐conscious
augmented
reality
• Hunch
for
fun
things
to
do
ItNeverEndsss
on
Flickr

8. Think
Like
a
Gamer
• How
should
people
feel
• Painterly
aen&on
to
detail
• Ability
to
surprise

9. Focus
Group:
Just
Let
People
Talk
• Engineers
should
par&cipate
• Two
or
three
screenshots
are
enough
• People
know
what
they
like,
not
why

10. Usability
Studies
• Use
design
firm
facility
• Ask
people
to
complete
tasks
• Involve
everyone

11. Surveys
• Less
than
10
ques&ons
• Free-­‐form
responses
avoid
skew
• Numbers
drive
confidence
Even
when
the
numbers
agree
with
his
intui&ons,
they
have
an
effect.
“If
you
have
an
intui&on
of
something
but
no
hard
evidence
to
back
it
up,
you
might
kind
of
sort
of
go
about
puang
that
intui&on
into
prac&ce,
because
there’s
s&ll
some
uncertainty
if
it’s
right
or
wrong.”
Knowing
the
odds,
Baaer
can
pursue
an
inherently
uncertain
strategy
with
total
certainty.
He
can
devote
himself
to
a
process
and
disregard
the
outcome
of
any
given
encounter.
HazBoy
on
Flickr

12. A
Retail
Sensibility
• Bend
your
pride
to
love
• Compete
with
your
successor
• Keep
values
constant,
not
product

13. Get
Close
to
the
Transac&on
• Serious
problems,
serious
money
• Ask
customers
to
pay
you
• When
business
models
compete
you
win

14. “If
I
Lose,
I
Will
Have
Lost
Nothing”
Photo credit: Gregeichelberger on Flickr