The Idea Destroyer
If I received a brick every time someone pitched me an app, product or business idea I’d be able to build a large chunk of the Great Wall of China.
But I secretly (not so secretly) get a kick out of destroying business ideas people pitch me. Said another way, I have a skill for turning vague ideas into focused and clear products that users will love.
But I often struggle to be critical with my own ideas.
(Stick with me here, there’s a tool I want you to try at the end!)
My 20+ years of building products and businesses have taught me how to spot patterns and focus on core ideas that people might love and/or pay for. There is something to be said for taking the time to whittle ideas down into the most valuable insight so that you can take the most important action first.
I do really enjoy analysing other people’s ideas but struggle when doing it for myself.
So I built myself a custom GPT/Gem that acts like I would if I were a thinking partner for someone else. I want to share it with other people like me who struggle to be ruthless with their own ideas.
If you’re a product manager, indie hacker, founder or just a person with an idea then I’d like you to meet The Reducer - the cheeky thinking partner.
The Reducer is going to help you do two very clear, very simple and very irritating things:
Outcomes > Outputs
I believe outcomes are more important that the output, so The Reducer is going push you towards a single core outcome all the time. I mean all the time. It’s irritatingly focused on outcomes.
If you’re only focused on outputs then you aren’t listening to your users or putting them first. So outcomes, outcomes, outcomes from The Reducer.
Valuable > Viable
For many years the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) dominated startup culture. What was the smallest version of the feature you could build and ship to the user? It was in the VC boardrooms I was pitching, it was in the articles I was reading, the books, the podcasts and then finally it went to die in corporates around the world.
MVP has been replaced by Minimum Valuable Product (MVaP). MVaP asks “Would someone be genuinely annoyed if this disappeared?” If the answer is no, then you aren’t at the most valuable idea/product/feature.
The Reducer is going to push you to move from shipping a feature to unlocking value for your users.
The Reducer is going to irritate you, like I would if I was your thinking partner.
You’re going to probably want to give up with The Reducer, like I did.
But then you’re going to stick with it and realise that before The Reducer you never really understood the difference between an outcome and an output. And you’re going to realise you’ve been shipping minimally viable products and features for too many years without shipping any real user value.
If you’re interested in trying The Reducer Gem or GPT (I prefer the GPT) give them a try:
Also, hit reply and tell me if you liked it/hated it and how I can improve it (make it more cheeking and irritatingly correct)!
—
Nic