No substitute

There’s no substitute for talking to people.

After working with tech products for so many years, it can be easy to get jaded about the impact of your work. In an existential, “what am I even doing here” kind of way.

Some days, it can feel like The Work boils down to giving people another way to get lost in their glowing rectangles.

Other days, you talk to those people—and the story changes.

You hear about how empowered someone felt to finally be in control of their life. Or the lifeline your app gave them as they recovered from a life-changing injury.

Talking to the people who buy your stuff is the only way to find out the real worth of your work.