👋 Welcome to Hance Zhang’s Blog
I write about learnings in leadership, AI, product building, and investment. I’m currently based in Tokyo, DM me via X!
Why Growth Hacking and A/B testing is Bullshit Before PMF
Forget growth hacks before PMF; your first, unscalable mission is to craft a ‘10-star’ user experience that people truly love and rave about
From 'I Think' to 'I Tried': Building an Experiment-Centric Team Culture with AI
We’ve all been in those meetings: discussing a new idea, an innovative project, and then getting bogged down in endless debate. Everyone speaks with conviction, citing classics (or perhaps just an article they saw yesterday), but the discussion seems to go in circles, often ending inconclusively or with the decision made by the loudest voice, the highest-ranking person, or the most stubborn. Why does this happen? Especially in the realm of innovation?...
The Scorecard Fallacy: How Promotion Decisions Are Really Made
Your stellar performance review isn’t the key to promotion; the real secret lies in understanding the humans making the decision.
Corporates Hire by Abundance, Not by Necessity
Big-tech hiring is driven by excess, not necessity.
Socratic Questioning and the Reality Distortion Field
Simply doing Socratic questioning can be simply annoying.
The Heresy of Simplicity
The best businesses make complexity invisible.
Designing Anti-fragility
How to build systems that grow stronger from randomness.
Brian Chesky and Founder Mode
Great leadership is not absence; presence
Don't Put the Founder on a Pedestal—Or Anyone Else
Resist the urge to place founders or leaders on pedestals; it hinders growth and critical thinking.
Self Management for Effective Leaders
Leadership isn’t about innate traits but cultivated skills, especially self-management.