The Monday memo is food for thought to fuel your week.
Hi everyone,
At Amazon, if you have a proposal or want money to build something, the first thing you do is write the press release. Before you build the product. Not after it’s done. Before you even start.
Writing a press release is a way of beginning with the end in mind. It’s a trick that forces you to imagine the future by writing about it in the present tense, as if it’s already happened.
Think about it: if you can’t write a compelling press release for your idea, why would anyone care when it’s real? If you struggle to explain why it matters, maybe it doesn’t matter enough yet.
Here’s what this does for you: it forces you to get specific about why you are doing something, what problem it solves, for whom. It makes you articulate the value before you fall in love with the features. It gives you something concrete to test with other people: do they get excited or do their eyes glaze over?
Exercise.
Here’s your exercise for the week: Pick something you’re working on. A project, a product, a service, a creative idea that’s been rattling around in your head.
Now write a press release as if you've already succeeded. Date it six months from now. Make it real.
Include:
A headline that would make someone stop scrolling
Who it’s for
The problem it solves (in human terms, not jargon)
A quote from a delighted customer
What’s different in the world because this exists
Keep it under a page. Write like a journalist. Make it clear, concise, concrete, compelling.
If writing this feels like pulling teeth, that’s useful information. If it flows out of you and gets you excited, you might be onto something.
The press release isn’t just an exercise. It’s a north star. When you’re deep in the messy middle of making something, it will remind you why you started.
Before you do all that hard work, pause and imagine what it would feel like if you got what you wanted. What would that actually look like? What would be different?
Write the press release. See what happens.
An apology.
In last Friday’s campfire I had to leave early and I found out later that I accidentally ended the call for everyone. I’m so sorry! I think I know what happened. Now I know that making people Zoom co-hosts is not enough. I have to hand over the host role before I go. Lesson learned. Thanks Nick for bringing this to my attention.
It was a great call while it lasted! I owe you all 30 minutes.
A talk.
I’ll be giving a talk about my visual frameworks project at the Leadership by Design conference in September. I stumbled on this way of thinking when I started my design consultancy, XPLANE, many years ago. I’m not sure why exactly I find them so fascinating but this talk will give me a chance to explore that. I will be iterating and testing the talk with visual frameworks subscribers, so if you want to follow that project, sign up for notifications here.
Project Kairos.
I’m gearing up for our fall semester. We will be exploring time-boxing, deadlines, routines, how we make the time to get our work done. I’ve already spoken to a few of you and it’s already generated some fun and interesting ideas. If you have time for a 1:1 chat to help me think through the fall semester, please send me a note so I can hear your thoughts, and we can talk about how I can make it work for you.
Vibe club.
Vibe club is a regular meetup focused on “mutual interests around AI + coding + related vibing activities—design, art, marketing, venturing,” so reach out to Dan if you want to be part of that.
Procreate club.
Procreate is an iPad app for digital art. I’ve used it to design t-shirts, posters, and even a card deck. If you have an iPad and want to get better at drawing, or just play around with art on your iPad, I’m hosting some time to play together every Monday at noon Pacific, 3 PM Eastern, 8 PM BST and 9 PM CET. Here’s a link to join.
Summery.
I hope you’re enjoying your summer. There are plenty of ideas floating around on the summertime board, so please check it out and add your thoughts.
And I’ve got some time this summer which means more time for 1:1 calls. So please do send me a note if you’d like to chat.
See you soon!
Wow, this is a good one! It's way easier for me to imagine a project, than actually impliment it. This exercise is kind of liberating, I can make the whole galery with all my "press releases" of imaginary projects. Somebody might like an idea from one of such a press release and actually work on it. Thanks Dave, thanks!
Love the exercise, Dave. Very useful and relevant. Thank you.