Good timing makes great products (Interview)

The Changelog: Software Development, Open Source

Paul Orlando is back to talk about his book titled “Why Now?” You may remember Paul from his last appearance (a fan favorite) talking with Jerod about complex systems & second-order effects. Paul’s book, “Why Now?” explores the concept of timing and the importance of understanding the ‘why now’ in business and product development. We discuss timing examples from the book that were either too early or too late (such as the first video phone and car phones), the need to consider both technological advancements and user demand when assessing timing, the significance of timing in the success of companies like Apple and the launch of the iPhone, Uber and Heroku, and more. Also, join our Slack community for a chance to get a signed copy of Paul’s book.

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Featuring:

• Paul Orlando – Twitter, LinkedIn, Website
• Adam Stacoviak – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn, Website
• Jerod Santo – Mastodon, Twitter, GitHub, LinkedIn

Show Notes:

• Why Now: How Good Timing Makes Great Products (by Paul Orlando)
• StartupsUnplugged.com
• Unintended Consequences (Systems, complexity, second-order effects)
• Changelog #474: Complex systems & second-order effects
• Catching up with Yahoo’s Fire Eagle geolocation service
• The Web 2.0 Show #46 - Fire Eagle
• The Conjoined Triangles of Success
• The confidential YouTube Investment Memo by Sequoia you were never meant to see

Something missing or broken? PRs welcome!

Chapters

1. This week on The Changelog (00:00:00)

2. Sponsor: Sentry (00:01:52)

https://sentry.io/

3. Start the show! (00:05:06)

4. Why now? Seriously. (00:08:36)

5. The Lean Startup (00:11:53)

6. Famous "Too early" examples (00:13:58)

7. It's not "if", it's "when" (00:19:52)

8. Sponsor: Cloudflare (00:23:50)

https://www.cloudflare.com/developerweek

9. The rate of progress (00:26:11)

10. Timing in the present (00:29:19)

11. The timing of Heroku (00:36:05)

12. First mover advantage (00:44:05)

13. Switching costs are almost zero (00:46:44)

14. Sponsor: Factor (00:50:29)

https://factormeals.com/changelog50

15. Twelve timing drivers (00:52:23)

16. The renewed relic (00:58:50)

17. Bad patterns are bad (01:03:03)

18. The year of the Linux desktop (01:06:32)

19. What is your hope for this book (01:07:23)

20. SWOT analysis (01:10:00)

21. Will you teach this? (01:13:08)

22. Hire Paul for "Why now?" (01:15:10)

https://startupsunplugged.com

23. Get a signed copy of the book (01:16:32)

https://changelog.com/community