Working Backwards

# Working Backwards - All Guest Insights

*12 guests, 15 mentions*

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## Anuj Rathi
*Anuj Rathi*

> "Essentially what you're working backwards from is an entire machinery at a particular day that is working for... For the date of GTM, what do we need to do from here till that particular day so that the GTM is successful, but also, what will be the machinery we would have created so that this product is successful?"

**Insight:** Working backwards is about aligning the entire organizational machinery and GTM strategy toward a specific launch date, not just writing a customer quote.

**Tactical advice:**
- Use the PRFAQ to identify potential internal alliances or stakeholders who might derail the project.
- Write three divergent and fully thought-through press releases to help leadership compare alternative routes.
- Include mandatory FAQs for specific organizational needs like compliance, legal, or marketplace impact.

*Timestamp: 00:25:20*


## Bill Carr
*Bill Carr*

> "Jeff would say, we took it as an article of faith. If we served customers well, if we prioritized customers and delivered for them, things like sales, things like revenue and active customers and things like the share price and free cash flow would follow. So therefore, when we're making a decision thinking about a problem, we're going to start with what's best for the customer and then come backward from there."

**Insight:** Start with the customer's needs and work backward to the solution, trusting that business results will follow customer satisfaction.

**Tactical advice:**
- Start every decision by asking what is best for the customer
- Work backward from the ideal customer solution to determine the necessary engineering and resource requirements

*Timestamp: 00:00:00*

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> "The principle states something along the lines of that great leaders start with the customer's needs and work backwards from there to sort of meet those needs or solve them. Then also because we created a process in this window I was talking about earlier, the 2004 to 2007 window, we created this process for new product innovation called the Working Backwards PR/FAQ process."

**Insight:** Working backwards is both a leadership principle and a specific tactical process for product innovation.

**Tactical advice:**
- Ignore initial financial or resource constraints to first define the ideal customer solution
- Use the PR/FAQ process to codify the working backwards approach

*Timestamp: 00:35:37*


## Christopher Lochhead
*Christopher Lochhead*

> "He calls it backcasting as distinct from forecasting. ... standing in that future, five years out, looking back to the present, what did we do to make this different future happen? That's category design. That's how you unshackle yourself from the past."

**Insight:** Backcasting allows entrepreneurs to envision a radical future without being constrained by current limitations.

**Tactical advice:**
- Envision your company five years in the future and work backward to determine the steps needed to get there.
- Reject the premise of how things are currently done to open up new possibilities.

*Timestamp: 01:01:54*


## Daniel Lereya
*Daniel Lereya*

> "How do I imagine the company and the product is going to be different and better for our customers in a quarter from now? And from that, walk it backwards."

**Insight:** Effective planning starts with a clear vision of the future state and reverse-engineers the steps to get there.

**Tactical advice:**
- Create a single slide describing how the customer's life is different in one year
- Use future-state descriptions to identify which current projects are actually impactful

*Timestamp: 00:28:00*


## Donna Lichaw
*Donna Lichaw*

> "Start with the ending. Come up with how you want things to turn out, and then work your way back. And start as far out as you want... imagine you're there. Engage all your senses... And then if you've got something exciting, go back to the beginning and then im