Here are mine:
- Build something boring that makes money. Excitement is optional; users are not.
- Use AI less like a chatbot and more like infrastructure, background processes that think while I sleep.
- Go back to fundamentals that compound, graphics, systems, taste.
- Experiment selectively; curiosity without commitment.
- Invest in people, not “networking.” Fewer pings, more real conversations.
- Protect focus like equity.
At the very least one must connect to people who would find it valuable (either inbound or outbound), and the value has to be communicated to the prospective buyers. People make their decisions based on how they perceive the product, not based on your view. And the value big enough to overcome friction involved in purchasing, including soft factors like people trusting you with their money. There might be habits and other pieces of inertia that has to be overcome also, and why would they pick your thing over the alternatives. And of course you must be able to charge enough to cover the costs of providing said value.
If you want users, the requirement is sales skills, not product development skills.