In a world where everyone is now a builder, groups of like minded people can form collectives to create magic under the plus exchange.
Those that know me closely know my fond relationship with product studios! Over the last 15 years I've had the opportunity to not only be involved in the zero to one space for dozens of startups but also create and work within collectives, product studios, and foundries.
Funding, mission, equity, and alignment... these things curtail most studios. I have scar tissue to prove it. Here are some thoughts on a potential new way.
While everyone is hacking away on new product, all thanks to the models released in December, I keep returning to this notion, of this ripple in the industry where product studios are back. Why? At it's core, studios will flurish because we have far more builders than ever before. Builders gotta build, and need to surround themselves with other builders. They were trendy a few years back (before covid), and my prediction is there's a new type of studio underway. Not at scale, nor venture backed, and likely something we've seen before, just remixed in a new, different way.
Even with the latest models, the foundational layers of building a digital business hasn't really changed: strategy, plan, code, design, marketing, and so on. There's a bunch of new tools, but those ingredients remain the same. The trick we're all fighting through is how to best leverage or use the model. Once mastered, it's just way faster. Yadda yadda.
The one shift in producing new apps is the expectation that each individual can now do everything on their own. This leads to a flood of new builders deploying products and experiences that are often rushed to market without polish and thoughtful care. A saturated market of mid apps, each one indistinguishable from the last. Same same, but different.
How does one stand out? What makes people download your mousetrap versus someone else's? Your motivation for creating the app may not be financial, which is valid and fair. As we move away from larger teams to indie creators, I'm suggesting a different approach to building experiences and businesses. Adding secret sauce!
Walt Disney is one of my heroes. He was obsessed with plussing everything.
"The park means a lot to me in that it's something that will never be finished. Something that I can keep developing, keep plussing and adding to — it's alive. It will be a live, breathing thing that will need changes."
"Our goal at Disneyland is to always give people more than they expect. As long as we keep surprising them, they'll keep coming back."
When inventing something new, why not plus it?! The 2 other ways that I know of how to bring a product or an experience to life are:
- By bringing other like-minded creatives around the table
- Putting it in the hands of your customer, and letting it rip!
While some of us are very skilled at identifying the plus, we may not share the execution abilities to execute it. Here lies the opportunity.
You bring your product, I bring mine. Each individual has their strengths, where they spike. We collab, building on the plus exchange.
This already happen today, mostly organically and unofficially, I'm predicting small pods or groups will form. Studios, collectives, or perhaps under a newly formed category we haven't discovered yet. Some individuals may own their product and simply exchange time for money, much like the freelance agency market operates.
The Plus Exchange isn't turning to your default model. Using markdown skills to try to plus something, it's much deeper. When observing art, listening to music, or using a thoughtful product, there's something unspoken and those that are in the know see, hear, and feel it. That zone of plussing doesn't really exist from an AI model; it's human-driven.
The bucket I'm most excited about is groups of people who each spike somewhere different, united around a worthwhile mission focused on the same customer and problem space. Knowing there isn't a silver bullet, or a billion dollar unicorn. Think a swarm of builders shipping new products in parallel, self governed, shared values, where each person owns their ships and plusses everyone else's along the way.
That's where I'm heading with Junastar. A collective for builders who want to jam, trade disciplines, delight customers, have some laughs, and make magic. If that sounds like your kind of thing, I'd love to connect.
Sounds very pie in the sky or utopian?
Yes. There's a time and place for every missionary builder. It works best when profit at all costs, or returning investors' capital to produce a 10 or a 50 or a 100x return isn't the main objective. You'll have to use your own imagination to map that out, or you can reach out to me directly and we can banter offline. The studio model could work very well in particular verticals but everything comes back to the mission.
This new adventure may end up just being a side quest collective or who knows what happens next. This is my thinking today; maybe it'll change tomorrow. Thanks for listening.