How to Fly Business Class to Vietnam for 68,000 Points
I'm lucky. Really lucky. This post is about how you can be lucky, too. For years, we made Tortuga backpacks in China. Twice a year, I flew to Guangzhou, either directly with China Southern or via Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific. Later, we moved production to Huizhou, outside
Packing for an 11-Day Business Trip to Vietnam in a Small Carry On Bag
My most popular post is about how my wife and I traveled through Italy for a month while packing carry-on-only. I carried one (max-sized) carry on bag for that trip. Now, let's talk about traveling for over a week with an even smaller bag. I'm just
Vietnam Trip Report: April 2026
What's the point of flying halfway around the world for a product development trip if you aren't going to be way too ambitious in what you can get done in a short amount of time? Here's the plan: review 10 different products, take notes,
I Traveled for a Month with Just a Carry On (Here's How You Can Too)
I just spent a month traveling around Italy with just a carry on bag, no checked luggage. In this article, I'll tell you how my wife and I both packed light for such a long trip. A month is a long time. But if I can pack for
Strategy Should Hurt
“A strategy should hurt.” The trade-offs—where you invest time and resources and where you don’t—should be painful and disappointing, either internally or to your customers. There’s no such thing as a strong strategy that prioritizes everything at once. —Scaling People: Tactics for Management and Company Building
Focus Over Compromise
[Good strategies] emphasize focus over compromise. They focus on one aspect of the situation, not trying to be all things to all people. —Good Strategy/Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt A good strategy is single-minded. The whole point of a strategy is to focus your time and money so that
Products for Normies, Products for Sickos
Some products are made to have a perfect balance of features. They are "good enough" for "most people." A milquetoast Wirecutter pick. Those are products for "normies." But some products are made for the extremes, the edges. Those are products for sickos. (As a
Opinionated Is Good
In a user interview years ago, a customer said he found his Tortuga backpack to be too "opinionated." I got a little obsessed with that idea. A product should be opinionated. A designer—and by extension, his products—should have a point of view. Opinions are good. You
Simple is Sticky
The product that's the easiest to understand wins.
Making the Bug the Feature
Learn how Third Culture Bakery turned a bug of gluten-free pastries into a feature.
