CarrotSticks

Dan Siroker traces how lessons from several startups and the Obama campaign led him to co-found Optimizely. He teaches that startups improve when they get feedback from paying customers and use it to refine their products, hiring, and other decisions. He explains why building for a problem you understand can make prioritization easier, and how Optimizely grew by listening to customers and iterating on its product. His broader advice is to keep improving while choosing an operating model that fits the opportunity.