Lexi Lewtan

Have you ever thought about how compliance laws are a lot like design systems? I recently spoke with Joe Toscano, founder of DataGrade, and he made a fascinating comparison. Joe explained how Brad Frost's atomic design methodology took an engineering approach to design: → Creating standardized elements → Templatizing them → Scaling them across a system This led to the rise of human interface guidelines (HIGs) from tech giants like Google, Apple, and IBM. But here's where it gets really interesting: Joe argued that privacy laws and regulations are like the ultimate HIG for product design. Just like how HIGs provide rules and constraints for design systems... Compliance laws set guardrails for what we can and can't do with user data. If we design something that isn't compliant, it doesn't matter how sleek the UI is. Legal requirements become the top-level framework we have to design within. That's what got Joe into studying laws - to understand this new "design system" for building products. So next time you're cursing a lengthy legal doc or trying to make sense of GDPR... Remember, it's all just part of the atomic design of compliance. — Do you agree with the analogy of compliance laws as the ultimate design system? Why or why not? Hear more of Joe's unique perspectives on the intersection of product, privacy, and law on the latest episode of The Minimum Viable Podcast.

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I will be attending this session May 9th. #AIagents #AI

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There is a lot to chew on in this great article by Maggie Appleton (Maggie Appleton), called Barefoot Developers. About how large language models might enable new kinds of software, free of the demands of industrial scale, unicorn-ness, and venture capital. Software that might be made for, say, a dozen people. If you are involved in software, this is worth your time to read. https://lnkd.in/eZA_uVYf

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BIG product update here at Forwrd.ai! 🔥 Improved business logic editor 🔥 Enhanced usability for data modeling. [link in the comments] Our north star product metric is TIME TO VALUE ⏳ Achieving faster time to value often requires re-writing core product modules. These engineering tasks are complex and can be time-consuming. It’s natural to delay these crucial updates, pushing them to “later” until they become unmanageable. My recommendation: Incorporate these vital tasks into your backlog on a monthly basis. Trust me, the payoff is worth it. Regularly addressing core updates not only enhances performance but also ensures a seamless user experience. #Startup #ProductManagement 

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How to pitch: The company has zero traction —> “We’re early” You only have 2 customers —> “We’re working with design partners” You currently have no revenue but hoping some pipeline finally closes —> “we’re on track to exit this year at $3M ARR” You’re in the natural kill zone of a FAANG —> “We view them as partners rather than competitors” There’s no way the tech can actually work —>“We’re manifesting the future” And of course: One of your developers uses Co-Pilot to write some front end code —> “We’re an AI company”

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We're three weeks away from the biggest AI event in Seattle, ever! Book your tickets now! #SeattleAI Week, June 10-14. Included is hosting an executive reception for leaders interested in the use case for AI in People Analytics. Current reception registrations span VP levels and Global Heads of HR Technology, People Analytics, Human Resources, and I'm also seeing Google research leaders in AI --with more pending. Leaders should use this link to secure limited reception tickets, at Black Bottle in Belltown: https://lu.ma/uhlho9gn We're also very much looking forward to: The Stellis AI, Inc. -"AI Panel Discussion" and also -"Demo Day and Networking event" (recommended to book your tickets now) at the Seattle AWS Skill Center -our founding team will be on site to share our AI technology and discuss our strategy for driving adoption of AI technology. Register for the AI Demo Day and Networking event at: https://lnkd.in/gQ93H3Ju. Drinks and appetizers included, no cost! I can't wait to see you there! #seattleaiweek #AI #seattle #executive #events #reception #HR #AI #ML #Analytics #Insights #Delivery #Efficiency #TalentAcquisition #Ops #saas #femalefounder #includedatwork #ecosystem #community

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Early stage fundraising is convincing enough people with credibly + resources to believe that you're onto something big. Remember it is a bi-directional discovery process. And more often than not, a lot of people with not enough credibility or not enough resources will give you their opinion. If everyone was a believer, you wouldn't have a shot at 100x-ing your company. It's a feature not a bug. Remember that. If you're not careful that can drain energy. Incredibly important trap to avoid.

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Do you always feel like you ‘should’ be doing more in product? 🙋🏼‍♀️ Trust me, you’re not the only one. For 4 months I’ve been collecting insights on burnout in product. ‘I feel like I ‘should’ be going for the next promotion’ ‘I feel like I ‘should’ do more to drive results’ ‘I feel like I ‘should’ already be further ahead’ We’re surrounded by success stories from other people’s product careers. We’ve been brought up with one main version of success: climbing the career ladder. & we’re always being shown how everyone else is doing product ‘so well’. & we naturally work in a high pressured, continuously improving environment. So we spend our product careers putting pressure on ourselves to ‘be better’ and ‘achieve more’, often without thinking about what we really want, our own values & what is important to us. The best way to unpick this: 🔥 Identify your values - what is actually important to you? 🔥 Set goals for your whole life, not just your career. How do you want different elements of your life to look and feel? How does that align with your career? 🔥 Understand WHY you feel this pressure: What narratives are you telling yourself? What is coming from others? How can you re-write these narratives. If this sounds like you, I have TWO incredible sessions for you: 💥 NEXT WEEK: I’m joining the incredible Brie Abramowicz for a FREE LinkedIn live on why burnout is so big in tech. You’ll get all of the insights, & be joined by experts to start unpicking these patterns. https://lu.ma/bgeg1cxe 💥 THIS MONTH: I’m running a workshop to work through all of these points, and create your own personal plan that allows you to break the patterns of burnout. Join the waitlist to get all of the deets next week: https://lnkd.in/ekKT9wzN

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How I build micro SaaS apps for the ADHD community 💜 I had a fun conversation with Databutton co-founder and CPO Viral Shah about my interest in AI, living with ADHD, building neuromermaid.ai, meeting the Cohere founders, and my first time with an LLM (complete with innuendo giggles 🤭). - Tips & Tricks for using LLMs for productivity - How I discovered AI can help with ADHD - Inspiration and vision behind neuromermaid.ai - The joy in helping others like you! - Robotics and coding club and the future of coding - Why Cohere is important to me https://lnkd.in/e_fUWwkB #ai #microsaas #saas #adhd #cohere #coding #artificialintelligence

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Had a great 🎙️ podcast session with Evan Bryce from the MegaMinds podcast regarding Coliving Semkovo, ZipChat AI, and my transition from Checkout X/Vanga AI. Learn more about - Why we're building the biggest rural coliving in the world - Why ZipChat is much more than a support tool - How AI changes the way customers shop online - and much more Listen here: https://lnkd.in/dCrv5daP

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Why Zero-Party Data Creates a Better Future - A Tech With Heart Interview with Shaina Shiwarski https://lnkd.in/eSqMNzDy Small business owners and marketers are seeking to personalize their strategies while respecting user privacy: Zero-Party Data. Gain insights and strategies around collecting user data in this episode of the Tech With Heart Show with co-founder of Legends, Shaina Shiwarski. Highlights: 1.    Understand what is currently happening with privacy and data regulations in the US, especially as it relates to the big tech companies 2.    Learn how these changes in data sharing regulations are going to impact small business' ability to target audiences 3.    Gain insights about Zero Party Data collection strategies that will empower small businesses to cater to their customer's needs and desires better. Tags: #ZeroPartyData #DataPrivacy #MarketingTrends #DataDrivenMarketing #CustomerExperience #PrivacyFirst #TargetingDemographics #ShainaShiwarski #Legends #MichelleCalloway #Tech_w_Heart #Revealio #RavenInternational

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The discussion with Jason Fried, Co-Founder and CEO of 37signals, during a recent ProducTea with Leah episode (#42) was great. A particular one-minute segment (~14:20) really stuck with me. When asked about failures, Jason states: 🗣 “I don’t really think about failure. How does evolution work? Evolution is not sitting there using energy thinking about the wing shape that didn’t work. The wings that worked let’s make them even better...What’s working? Let’s do more of that. Let’s evolve.” This aligns perfectly with the concept of “slightly better problems” from The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. It’s a never-ending upward spiral. The key takeaway? Don’t ignore failures, but don’t dwell on them either. Focus on what works, refine it, and evolve. This approach ensures continuous improvement without getting bogged down by setbacks. #ProductManagement #Leadership #ContinuousImprovement

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Kraftful (YC S19) AI-powered User Interviews enable you to talk to all of your users simultaneously. Interact with your users through 1-3 targeted questions, avoiding lengthy, generic surveys — users then receive personalized follow-ups based on their specific concerns (and enhances their engagement!). Kraftful then analyzes and summarizes all of the responses to provide you with clear product insights based on the data.

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⭐ NEW PRODUCT ALERT ⭐ PRODUCT 1: After 2 years, Grantcycle can finally answer the question, "Do you know any grant writers?" We have officially launched our a FREE database of grant writers and pre-award consultants. Their expertise spans various industries, including health and human services, SBIR/STTR, small business development, and economic/rural/community development. Whether you're a grantseeker in the public, private, or nonprofit sector, the database has you covered. And be sure to check it regularly as we'll be continually adding new grant professionals. Link: https://lnkd.in/d5mVN_ZP BUT THAT'S NOT ALL. We're taking a page out of Taylor Swift's playbook and dropping a surprise product. PRODUCT 2: Grantcycle has teamed up with Watkins Public Affairs to bring you FUNDamentals--a weekly newsletter about all things US federal grant funding. Each Wednesday, we'll send you - policy changes and information (and what they actually mean in non-government speak) - open grant opportunities across federal agencies - resources for grant writers and grant seekers, such as webinars, articles, and guides You can read part of each newsletter for free, but for $10/wk you get full access. If you spend more than 15 min/wk searching for federal grant opportunities for yourself or your grant writing clients, I guarantee this will save you time. Link: https://lnkd.in/dVCnv93d

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10 ways building a social network differs to building B2B: 1) you can’t “just launch it” and get feedback 2) good UX and UI are critical to success 3) you get one shot to impress people 4) you can rarely make it work with one user 5) it needs to be cool enough to share with friends 6) you need a massive user base before you can make revenue 7) high volume, low value sales 8) you need a personal, emotion-driven brand promise 9) if there’s a hint of UX complexity, it will probably fail 10) it’s riskier Agree/disagree? #founders #startups

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When we started Zest, the idea was simple. Build a “Send as a gift” button that ecommerce brands could add to product and cart pages. The plan was to make the one-to-one gifting experience easier for gifters while spreading awareness of the brand with each new recipient. It didn’t take long for us to realize that brands were having a tougher time unlocking a bigger opportunity right in front of them — the $306 billion corporate gifting market. Last week, I posted a Modern Retail article featuring Zest (scroll back and check it out if you haven’t had a chance yet), but it also highlighted brands like Bombas, CARIUMA, Caftari, and Homesick . These brands have felt a huge pull from corporate gifters, but they’ve also felt the huge pain points that come from trying to grow this channel. Over the past two years, Zest has evolved from a simple button to a fully comprehensive gifting platform helping ecommerce companies grow their direct corporate gifting business without sacrificing things like margin, time, and the customer experience. And when people ask who our competitors are, the main one is still Excel spreadsheets, contact forms, and old manual habits. We’re in a category of our own. I couldn't be more excited for where we’re going — building this entirely new category reshaping the corporate gifting experience as we know it, and helping brands unlock this large growth opportunity. https://lnkd.in/eGRqee3K

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An MVP (Minimum Valuable Product) is about nailing your UVP (Unique Value Proposition) with the smallest possible solution. Where “valuable” isn’t limited to viability but also addresses desirability, feasibility, and other non-negotiable x-factors critical to your mission, vision, and values.

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Day #4 of observations from attending Home Care 100 this month: There is a cambrian explosion of "AI scribe for OASIS docs in <15 min" startups currently underway in Home Health. A new one of these is launching every few months. I'm certain we'll see 2x AI scribe vendors at the next HC100 in January. And so, I listened for the overall positioning of these products by the vendor and buyer at Home Care 100. It sounded like this: HH CEO: “I need a solution to lower the caregiver burden of clinical documentation” HH Vendor: “I offer AI to reduce the burden of clinical documentation” This may sound like a "checkmate" match between what the CEO is saying, and what the vendor is offering. But it isn't. The CEO actually has a business model problem. They cannot afford to sufficiently pay for the time it takes for caregivers to complete clinical documentation. And so, they are stuck looking for solutions that minimize the cost of personal time on documentation that caregivers have to absorb. Solutions that offer AI and the promise of driving down this cost down for the caregiver are the start, but not the endgame. If I were not building Arya, and wanted to build a standout documentation product, I would build an "AI-powered clinical documentation agency", not an AI scribe. Here's what this AI-powered documentation agency would sound like: 1. We eliminate 90% of all clinical documentation at your company. We do it at 1/10th the cost of a traditional outsourced documentation shop 2. We do this by a human-in-the-loop AI solution, that allows our human documenters to work 10x faster than DIY 3. Under the hood, we integrate with *all* the best AI out there (incl. ChatGPT) in a SOC2+ HIPAA guaranteed environment. We decide the best AI+human workflow to use for each documentation on the fly. Regardless, you always pay a flat rate, and we absorb the risk or AI vs human effort 4. Your caregivers approve each human-in-the-loop documentation. We don't publish anything to the EHR till it's approved 5. We guarantee a <1% error/ change rate on our documentation from caregivers, or we offer some money back I did some back of the napkin math to see what the economics of an such an agency might look like. With the current math, the caregiver is still absorbing upwards of $10 worth of time per OASIS documentation. If an AI-powered agency drove this cost down to the single digits per doc, might HH agencies be able to work this into their financial model and take this off the caregiver's plate entirely? Here's hoping for a "we've got you covered on the documentation " caregiver benefit coming in the future. #homecare #homecareagencies #HC100 #homecare100 #homehealth

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