Do 10 things that don't scale

A quick breakdown of Paul Graham’s famous essay

This week, we’re breaking down Paul Graham’s famous essay, Do Things that Don't Scale. All product people have read this essay. If you haven’t, you better watch this video now. Graham, a co-founder of Y Combinator, published this essay ten years ago, but it’s still highly relevant today. 

Doing things that don’t scale seems counter-intuitive when building a business, but giving your product the jump start it needs is necessary. Whether you’re a startup founder or a product manager launching a new feature or product, you need to do things that don’t scale to get your first users and feedback so that you can make your product the best it can be. 

Without further ado, here’s our breakdown of the critical lessons in this essay. Enjoy!