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 It's wild that even with all the cool tech we've got these days, like AI solving complex equations and doing business across time zones in a flash, so many companies are still struggling with the basics: taking care of their customers.The drama around Coinbase's customer support is a prime example of even tech giants messing up. And it's not just Coinbase — it's a big-picture issue for the whole industry. At some point, the idea of "customer obsession" got replaced with "customer automation," and now we're seeing the problems that came with it. "Cases" What Not to Do Coinbase, as main example, has long been synonymous with making cryptocurrency accessible. Whether you’re a first-time buyer or a seasoned trader, their platform was once the gold standard for user experience. But lately, their customer support practices have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons: Coinbase - Stuck in the Loop:  Users have reported being caugh...

 Up until recently, I was a skeptic about AI’s role in coding. The idea that AI could replace developers? Let’s just say I wasn’t buying it. But after this December, my perspective has shifted. Not only can AI support developers—it can dramatically speed up development. Here’s the story of how XRPayroll, my new app, came to life with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1. From Simple UI to Functional App When I started in December, I had a straightforward goal: build a simple XRP UI. Fast forward a few weeks, and XRPayroll is now an app with user management, admin login, and basic role-based access control (RBAC). What’s incredible is that approximately 70% of this app was AI-generated. Using OpenAI’s ChatGPT o1, I managed to implement: Vue.js Views : From basic layouts to dynamic components, o1 helped me structure and write reusable code efficiently. HTML : Generating clean, functional markup without getting bogged down in the details. SQLite Queries : Writing database calls with accura...

If you’ve ever heard the words superposition or entanglement thrown around in conversations about quantum physics, you may have nodded politely while your brain quietly filed them away in the "too confusing to deal with" folder.  These aren't just theoretical quirks; they're the foundation of mind-bending tech like Google's latest quantum chip, the Willow with its 105 qubits. Superposition challenges our understanding of reality, suggesting that particles don't have definite states until observed. This principle is crucial in quantum technologies, enabling phenomena like quantum computing and quantum cryptography. What's in for us? Short, nothing at the moment. 105 qubits sounds awesome, but it would neither crack encryption nor enhance AI in the next few years. There are some use cases for Willow, like drug (protein) discovery or solving certain mathematical problems when they aren't too complicated. Right now, Google managed to turn physical qubits ...

My upcoming novel,  Catalyst , is set in a world where AI is a major player in shaping the human future. I did some research into how AI is currently being used in software development and found that it has some amazing capabilities, but also some limitations that are a bit concerning. I'd even go so far as to say that those models are a bit of a hoax. They're impressive, but they don't actually solve anything. Yes, AI coding assistants like Devin and Copilot are impressive in demos and demo videos. In reality, they're not as powerful as you'd think, but they're great for simple tasks like crafting email parsing functions or authentication flows. However, I ran into some issues when I tried to use it in more complex situations. When I asked the AI to " write a connector from a database to ingest data into Spark ," it didn't understand and made mistakes. And that is a pure, simple and so well documented task that every non-coder could do that by sim...

When your MySQL database reaches its performance limits, vertical scaling through hardware upgrades provides a temporary solution. Long-term growth, though, requires a more comprehensive approach. This involves optimizing the database strategically and integrating complementary technologies. Caching The implementation of a caching layer, such as Memcached or Redis , can result in a notable reduction in the load and an increase ni performance at MySQL. In-memory stores cache data that is accessed frequently, enabling near-instantaneous responses and freeing the database for other tasks. For applications with heavy read traffic on relatively static data (e.g. product catalogues, user profiles), caching represents a low-effort, high-impact solution. Consider a online shop product catalogue with thousands of items. With each visit to the website, the application queries the database in order to retrieve product details. By using caching, the retrieved details can be stored in Memcached (a...

Amazon often does this thing where they start with the customer instead of just coming up with a product and then trying to figure out how to sell it. They call it " working backwards. " This strategy totally works for any product decisions, but it's especially important when they're making something new. The Press Release Exercise When it comes to launching new stuff, product managers usually start by writing a press release for customers. This press release is all about their pain points, how current solutions fall short, and how the new product is going to crush it. If the benefits don't get customers excited, the product manager needs to keep tweaking the press release until it sounds super awesome. It's way easier and cheaper to make changes to a press release than it is to change the product itself. Here’s a template I use to describe a new service or product: Main heade r: The product name anyone directly understands, like “Ultra-compact power charger” ...

PDFs are everywhere, seemingly indestructible, and present in our daily lives at all thinkable and unthinkable positions. We've all got mountains of them, and even companies shouting about "digital transformation" haven't managed to escape their clutches. Now, I'm a product guy, not a document management guru. But I started thinking: if PDFs are omnipresent in our existence, why not throw some cutting-edge AI at the problem? Maybe Large Language Models (LLMs) and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) could be the answer. Don't get me wrong, PDF search indexes like Solr exist, but they're basically glorified Ctrl+F. They point you to the right file, but don't actually help you understand what's in it. And sure, Microsoft Fabric's got some fancy PDF Q&A stuff, but it's a complex beast with a hefty price tag. That's why I decided to experiment with LLMs and RAG. My idea? An intelligent knowledge base built on top of our existing P...

I'm gonna be real with you: the Cloud and SaaS / PaaS is great... until it isn't. When you're elbow-deep in doing something with the likes of ChatGPT or Gemini or whatever, the last thing you need is your AI assistant starts choking (It seems that upper network connection was reset) because 5G or the local WiFi crapped out or some server halfway across the world is having a meltdown(s). That's why I'm all about running large language models (LLMs) like Llama3 locally. Yep, right on your trusty MacBook. Sure, the cloud's got its perks, but here's why local is the way to go, especially for me: Privacy:  When you're brainstorming the next big thing, you don't want your ideas floating around on some random server. Keeping your data local means it's  yours , and that's a level of control I can get behind. Offline = Uninterrupted Flow:  Whether you're on a plane, at a coffee shop with spotty wifi, or jus...

If you're a product person, you know it's not just about the features. It's about building something people actually want and love. But it's easy to get caught up in the weeds: endless feature lists, chasing shiny tech, and forgetting who you're really building for. A Story From My Corporate Days We were about to launch a brand-new sustainability product. We'd done the research, got customer feedback, even lined up beta users – everything by the book. Then, in the kickoff meeting, a manager pipes up, "We need at least 30 people to fast-track this." I looked at him like he'd sprouted a second head. "Why?" I asked. His response? "Because with that many people, we'll be important." Honestly, it was like my brain short-circuited. What the hell? I told him, "I could snag 100 people from the train station in an hour, but that doesn't mean we'd get anything done."  Side note: the project died. Not because of a lac...

Updated May 17, 2024 to fit M* architecture My favorite development environment on my MacBook includes an improved Zsh shell and an extended .vimrc configuration file with syntax highlighting, error checking, TextMate snippets, and the Solarized color scheme.  Here's a guide for setting up similar features:  The features include directional key navigation for directories and files, developer-friendly colors, command highlighting, improved history search, auto-complete for options and SSH connections (if keys are known), and many more useful enhancements.   Get Xcode:  AppStore => Xcode => Install Xcode From now we use a terminal window. Install Brew /usr/bin/ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)" Install git and wget:   brew install git   brew install wget Install oh-my-zsh:   wget --no-check-certificate https://github.com/robbyrussell/oh-my-zsh/raw/master/tools/install.sh -O - | s...

I like product ideation brainstorming—done right and focused,  it opens my mind to think much more analytically about an idea, its development, and its trajectory. But on the other hand, I often had brainstorming sessions, and they were just a waste of time. And to be honest, can you count how often a session went sideways, got stuck in the same old thought patterns, and the loudest voices in the room dominate the conversation?  I did a test yesterday with GPT-4o, and it blew the lid off my creative potential. I had tried the same exercise with the earlier models, and it was a colossal waste of time and energy. Adding AI To The Product Team, worth? Short, after the test, yes, it's definitely worth. Why? We as startup founders, product managers or developer, our job isn't just about executing on a roadmap, we have to build the roadmap and come up with the  right  product idea at the right time - in the first place. That means s...

First: XOps is not a new Marvell movie, waiting for Wolverine's revival. Period. XOps FTW  I'm a CPO. I'm not an HR expert, and I sure as hell don't want to spend my days mediating squabbles between product, design, sales and data teams. But here's the thing I've learned the hard way: if you want to build products that actually solve user problems and hit your business goals, you better figure out how to make these folks play nice in the sandbox. XOps might sound like something out of a comic book, but it's a mindset shift, a way of structuring your teams and their workflows to truly put the customer at the core of everything. Think of it as the secret sauce that turns a bunch of smart individuals into a cohesive product-building machine. I'm too lazy to write what XOps means, DevOpsSchool did it already:  XOps stands for “Cross-functional Operations,” which refers to the practice of bringing together teams and individuals from differen...

Let's be honest, most product definitions suck. They're either packed with jargon that makes your eyes glaze over, filled with features nobody gives a crap about, or so vague they could be about anything. And most importantly, they totally miss the unfair advantage. Wait, what the hell is an unfair advantage?  Simply, it's the killer feature or a strategic edge that's so good, the others can't even copy it. It can be so simple as a dark mode, or an App Store feature to let competitors hook in. It's like building with Lego: you want that one foundational piece that's the base for everything else. Start with a simple square? Cool. But with the right unfair advantage, you can build it into a freaking skyscraper that everyone wants a piece of. Let me break down how I start to build new products. Step 1: Forget the "What," Focus on the "Why" (and How It Makes Users' Lives Easier)  Simplified: Customer Problem > Fancy Featur...