Early in my career, convincing engineers to care about features was hard. Sure, you can push features through. But skeptical engineers kill products faster than users do.
A junior engineer once told me, 'I hate coding features nobody uses.' As a founder, most of what I build never sees daylight. I’m hunting one big win, not perfection.
So I built a framework to help my engineers see features differently.
I called it the BIBO framework: Bets, Improvements, Bugs, Optimizations.
Don’t build safe, boring features everyone else has. Build the weird thing—the twist only you would dream up. Customers never ask for weird. They ask for normal.
Over time, user requests will make your roadmap safe. Weird comes first. Bets are bold, gut-driven features. Sometimes backed by evidence. Often just outrageous.
At EntryLevel (my startup, ~300k users), we did something wild: Finish the course? Get your money back. 100% refund. Most courses reward quitters. (Read less than 30% of the course and get a refund - change of mind) I wanted to reward finishers.
My team wasn’t sold. But they trusted the bet, and we shipped.
Revenue went $0 → $100k/month in 6 months. 75% let us keep the money, in exchange for bonus perks. That bold, weird bet helped us stand out from the noise. Calling it a ‘bet’ helped the engineers relax.
'I’m not sure either, but it’s a bet. We only need one.'
The other 3 parts of BIBO? Less wild. You know them well.
Things I actually use 🚀
Here are a few recommendations or ways I can help you. Follow the links if any of these are interesting. (FYI - Using these links helps support the newsletter through a small kick back!)
🌍 Hiring Global Talent: Fine A+ players at lower costs with Athyna
👨🎨 Get Unlimited Design Work: Want great designs at a low monthly cost? Try ManyPixels
📰 Build a Newsletter: Want to build a newsletter like me? Try Beehiiv
Improvements = Listening to your users. Surveys. Customer support. Friction points.
Example: your conversion rate is dipping.
Maybe the signup form is confusing.
Maybe the button's hiding.
Clear the path. Easy wins.
But improvements alone won’t transform your business. They’re small steps—not leaps.
That’s why bets matter.
Bugs = When reality doesn’t match expectations. Users click ‘Buy’. Nothing happens. Fix it, ship it, move on.
If you're a developer—or you've ever nudged one—you've seen this graph before.
Image from Accesto
Optimizations = Invisible wins.
Users don't see them. But they'll feel them.
Backend upgrades
Clearing tech debt
Faster hosting
They’re not glamorous, but they're essential. Like changing your oil. Boring—but skip it at your peril.
Bet → Wild ideas, experiments, leaps forward
Improvement → User-driven tweaks, friction-reducers
Bug → Quick fixes, broken stuff
Optimization → Invisible upgrades, smoother systems
Use BIBO. You’ll ship faster, argue less, and engineers might even thank you.
Until next time,
Ajay
🧠 Ajay’s Resource Bank
A few tools and collections I’ve built (or obsessively curated) over the years:
100+ Mental Models
Mental shortcuts and thinking tools I’ve refined over the past decade. These have evolved as I’ve gained experience — pruned, updated, and battle-tested.100+ Questions
If you want better answers, ask better questions. These are the ones I keep returning to — for strategy, reflection, and unlocking stuck conversations.Startup OS
A lightweight operating system I built for running startups. I’m currently adapting it for growth teams as I scale Superpower — thinking about publishing it soon.Remote Games & Activities
Fun team-building exercises and games (many made in Canva) that actually work. Good for offsites, Zoom fatigue, or breaking the ice with distributed teams.
✅ Ajay’s “would recommend” List
These are tools and services I use personally and professionally — and recommend without hesitation:
Athyna – Offshore Hiring Done Right
I personally have worked with assistants overseas and built offshore teams. Most people get this wrong by assuming you have to go the lowest cost for automated work. Try hiring high quality, strategic people for a fraction of the cost instead.Superpower – It starts with a 100+ lab tests
I joined Superpower as Head of Growth, but I originally came on to fix my health. In return, I got a full diagnostic panel, a tailored action plan, and ongoing support that finally gave me clarity after years of flying blind.
