Brian Norgard, the former Chief Product Officer at Tinder and a prolific angel investor, is a respected voice in the tech and startup world. Known for his sharp insights on product development, entrepreneurship, and human behavior, his advice is sought after by many.

On Product & Simplicity

Norgard is a staunch advocate for simplicity and focus in product development. He believes that the best products are those that do one thing exceptionally well and are easy to use.

  1. "A product shouldn't do everything but it must do one thing.” [1]
  2. "People don't want good products. They want simple solutions that improve their lives." [2] This could mean saving them time or money, providing an escape, or making their job easier. [2]
  3. "The first question to ask before developing a new feature should be, 'Is the additional complexity worth it?'" [3]
  4. "My true north when it comes to building products is they must be simple, fun and useful. That is my trinity." [4]
  5. "Reduce, reduce, reduce. The greatest product people...were really reductionist thinkers." [4] They take the core promise to the customer and simplify it. [4]
  6. "If your aim is to make all your users happy, you will fail." [5]
  7. "A great product is one where the perceived value when it is not in use is greater than when it is." [3]
  8. "Data beats emotions." [1]
  9. "Good feedback tells you what's there. Great feedback tells you what's not there." [1]
  10. "Never seek product advice from people who are not consistently using your product." [6]
  11. "Never build a product that You yourself are not consistently using." [6]
  12. "One of the biggest mistakes you can make in product is evaluating your experience through the lens of liquidity...directing your customer to the absolute core action is the art." [3]
  13. "For me, product is a very personal experience; it's more art than science." [5]

On Startups & Entrepreneurship

His experience as a serial entrepreneur and investor has given him a pragmatic and often blunt perspective on what it takes to succeed.

  1. "Being an entrepreneur is dealing with maximal reality on a daily basis." [1]
  2. "Own a business or be owned by a business." [1]
  3. "Startups are hard, try to avoid: -living with your team -conferences -delaying equity convos -raising $ from non seasoned investors -schwag -business advice from lawyers -endless coffee meetings -decompressing w/ social media -not sleeping -equity grants to trophy advisors." [2][7]
  4. "A good investor's advice is worth more than their money." [1]
  5. "The most expensive way to pay for anything is with time." [2]
  6. "In an up market bad ideas often look good, in a down market good ideas often look bad." [1]
  7. "The top angel investors are the least fearful of losing their money." [3]
  8. "Competency will make you a living. Creativity will make you rich." [2]
  9. "We've constructed a team around the idea that we are going to move obscenely fast every single day Monday through Sunday." [8][9]
  10. "Once you start making gargantuan sums of money, there are only two goals: preserve the Golden Goose and grow the Golden Goose." [10]
  11. "I fundamentally do not believe in 'new behaviors'. Humans have been around for 200k years and are wired a certain way – there are no 'new behaviors'. That being said, you can unlock certain behaviors with technology." [5]
  12. "It's much better to find existing behaviors and extend and amplify them." [5]

On Users & Customers

Norgard emphasizes a deep, almost obsessive focus on the user and understanding their true needs and motivations.

  1. "No one cares about your product. Who built it, its features, the origin story — it's all superfluous. People only find value in what your product can do for them right now." [2]
  2. "The selfish hand will always govern." [2]
  3. "Worship your early adopters." [5]
  4. "It all starts with this promise. What are you giving them? It could be hope, it could be...time savings or efficiency, it could bring them money. But what is that one thing that you're doing...that is making their life better?" [4]
  5. "When I sit down to think about a product, the center of it is the user. The center of the experience is the promise to the customer." [5]
  6. "The people who are the closest to you are often times the people that will lie to you the most." This is due to a concept called preference falsification, where people say one thing but mean another to avoid hurting your feelings. [6]
  7. "You have to start looking for patterns. You have to start understanding what people are saying but decode what they're saying. Often times what they say is not what they mean." [6]
  8. "I'm voracious about scanning everything from Twitter to Facebook search to Reddit...to comments around the web just trying to piece together the tapestry of the customer." [4]
  9. "There are 7.8 billion versions of reality." [2]

On Team & Leadership

Building and leading a team is a recurring theme in Norgard's advice, stressing the importance of speed, talent, and a shared vision.

  1. "You don't hire talented people to tell them what to do." [2]
  2. "We're building for ourselves here. And we're unapologetic about this." [8][9]
  3. "There is a tremendous amount of ego involved with building product, but ego has to be applied at the right times." [4]
  4. "A lot of times I look for a tad bit of eccentricity in my people because that is how you create some of the magic." [4]
  5. "You need to learn who to listen to." [4]

On Life & Wisdom

Norgard's observations extend beyond the world of tech, offering concise and thought-provoking perspectives on life.

  1. "A single lie can render all truths irrelevant." [1]
  2. "Avoid people who have answers for everything." [1]
  3. "Be brave now to feast later." [1]
  4. "Because you are smart does not mean you are right." [1]
  5. "Before money life was about time." [1]
  6. "Being too early is the sad prize for intelligence." [1]
  7. "Curiosity early in life pays out later as wisdom." [1]
  8. "Life is dull to dull people, life is interesting to interesting people." [1]
  9. "Once you realize thoughts are just thoughts, you have real power." [1]
  10. "People don't hate success, people hate other people's success." [1]
  11. "Nature is a solution machine." [1]

Learn more:

  1. 30 Best BRIAN NORGARD Quotes of 44 - The Cite Site
  2. Brian Norgard Best 383 Quotes & Tweets - Mailbrew
  3. Brian Norgard best quotes & tweets - Mailbrew
  4. S5E10-Brian Norgard: Simple, Fun and Useful - YouTube
  5. Former Tinder CPO Brian Norgard: Why Products Fail on The Twenty Minute VC
  6. Prioritizing Startup Product Features with Brian Norgard, Chief Product Tinder - YouTube
  7. 10 things every startup should avoid - per: Brian Norgard of Tinder fame - YouTube
  8. Building a Winning Product Team - Brian Norgard's lessons as Tinder's Chief Product Officer
  9. Build a Product Startup Team: Lessons from Brian Norgard, Tinder's Chief Product Officer
  10. Secrets of Product-Market Fit with Brian Norgard, Chief Product Tinder - Best of Airchat