Essay · 10 to 20 min each

Essays by Benedict Evans

Benedict Evans · ben-evans.com Free Intermediate

Evans is the clearest writer on separating what a technology can actually do from the story being told about it. He repeatedly walks through how a new platform gets overhyped in the short run and misjudged in the long run, and how to reason about adoption instead of headlines. Reading a few of these builds the exact instinct a non-technical founder needs: judging a trend by what it changes for real users, not by demo excitement.

  • A trend matters when it changes user behaviour, not when it trends on social media
  • Ask what the technology reliably does today versus what it might do later
  • Adoption curves and unit economics tell you more than launch demos
Open on ben-evans.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. As a non-technical founder, how do I evaluate a tech-heavy trend like AI without getting fooled by hype?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
  3. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
  4. This is the canonical piece that put jobs to be done on the map, written by the people who coined it. It uses the famous... Harvard Business Review Article · ~20 min read Know Your Customers' Jobs to Be Done Clayton Christensen et al.
  5. Video · ~50 min How to Evaluate Startup Ideas Kevin Hale, Y Combinator
  6. Perez shows that real technological revolutions run on 50 year cycles with a predictable frenzy, a crash, and then a long... Goodreads Book · 224 pages Technological Revolutions and Financial Capital Carlota Perez
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →