About

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Welcome! I’m genuinely thrilled that you’re here. In a world drowning in social apps and content algorithms, you made it to my corner of the digital world, where the rent is low and the entertainment is eclectic. Unless, of course, you took a wrong turn and have no idea who “Travis Marr” is, then I’ll let my friend Mark clear up some confusion about traffic, ads, cookies, etc.

For the rest of you, it’s an opportune time to talk tech and product strategy. 2020 set a new record for the amount of VC funding invested in US companies, $130B according to PWC to be more precise. We also faced a terrible pandemic that forced companies to adapt and, for many, that meant the acceleration of or creation of digital strategies. New products and markets have emerged as a result of the last 12 months. Several companies even gamified virtual offices in order to foster remote connectivity.

The point? Products and companies are changing at an unprecedented rate.

For the last several years I’ve studied the art and science of how tech products and experiences rise above the competitive noise and evoke impactful, lasting change for the customers they serve. Through this time I’ve also worked at some of the fastest-growing startups in Phoenix <> Silicon Valley and one massive, subtle trend is evidently clear: consumers are craving transformation and they generously reward the companies that help them transform into who they want to ultimately be.

To clarify, the transformation described here encompasses much more than static results. Of course, product results in the traditional sense, getting from point A to point B, are an essential value proposition of any good product but they are 2D, transactional, and focused only on what was offered vs what was gained. Transformation, on the other hand, defines how the consumer changes from A to B, who they became along the way. “Transformation” implies that after B, the customer is an entirely different kind of customer versus the first interaction, not just informed – elevated, evolved.

What’s insightful about this? You don’t need me to pull out Webster’s and define “transformation”. And surely you can think of at least a few tech products that have transformed their respective space, Dropbox, Uber, Slack, Airtable and countless others.

The power of this concept is in the timing. It’s easy to spot these businesses now. But what if you could identify this kind of impact early on, or if you could implement this with the products your team creates?

I think this approach to product development is at the heart of every “homerun” product, and it’s an approach I’ve come to call transformation first.

Value is derived from the solution to a problem, so most hypothesis behind products look something like this:

“we believe the customer has [a problem] because [a reason for the problem] and by creating [this new product] this [positive business result] will happen”

That works fine for a transactional relationship with a customer. But what if we expand this to become transformation first, considering how the customer will evolve as a result of the actions taken:

“we believe the customer wants [to achieve/experience a new state/new normal] but has [a problem] because [a reason for the problem] and by creating [this new product] this [positive business result] will happen”

Of course, this is a seemingly small change, and the rigor of testing and execution remain, but as I’ve witness first hand, leveraging this as a grounding theme throughout development can massively improve the the trajectory of your go to market, time to product market fit, and most importantly transform your customers into the better customers, your ideal customers.

For those individuals and businesses that can crack the code in their space, there is a blue ocean of opportunity out there and a massive impact to be made on your customers and bottom line.

I’ll leave it there for now but thank you again for spending any amount of time here. For some less dense material and to learn a little more about me check out the entertainment below.

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Background

Originally from Gilbert, AZ, I moved to Tucson, AZ for school and then out to Los Angeles, CA. I love(d) LA (not as much as Randy Newman), but after a few years, the traffic, rent, density can wear on even the best of extroverts, so I planted myself back in Phoenix, AZ. Apparently, I’m not the only one either; CA continues to be the #1/#2 inbound state for AZ. Between business the business growth, constant real estate growth, and meltingpot of transplants I plan to be here for the long haul.

In my personal life, I’ve always had a bit of a compulsion towards creating unique, memorable experiences, from proposing to my wife in a hot air balloon with a 100ft “Will you marry me?” sign below, to a journey all along the CA-pacific coast in search of the single best coffee shop (and if I told you the winner you’d never search it out yourself), to opting for a back-alley French patisserie tour in Paris versus a traditional vacation.

We all love unforgettable experiences, but I believe the more we can focus on creating impact within our lives and with those around us, the greater joy and higher quality of life we will experience. There is an increasing amount of research around how these experiences and specific moments have the power to transform us into a better version of ourselves and even improve our memory retention so that we can recall these events often. For a practical guide on creating memorable personal experiences, I recommend ‘The Art of Making Memories‘.

Education

I graduated from The University of Arizona (BA) and Grand Canyon University (MA). In the last decade Arizona’s colleges have really stepped up to the demand for local STEM jobs, and probably the most remarkable thing to me when thinking about the time since my formal education is how much the majors have evolved. Product Management and Data Science were seemingly fringe buzz titles at the time and are now minors and major areas of study. To be fair, technical skills were secondary anyway to my social education of how to deal with 4 guys on 4 different schedules living in one room.

Work & Writings

I spend most of my time at a hyper-growth, real estate tech company in Scottsdale, AZ; we’re currently building powerful tools for our clients that entirely transform the way real estate is transacted, at HomeLight.

I recently created the successful Ballroom Course for my wife, who pioneered a new movement of ballroom in the jazz/studio world, nationwide, so she can impact even more dancers at scale.

Also in the works is the undercover restaurant app, Members List, combining my love of food, unforgettable experiences, and elevating the relationship with customers.

In-between all of the above, I write and read away about….

• Product strategy / Transformation first
• Research and ideation about emerging opportunities
• Other musings that make life better with tech

Contact

I’d love to connect. Email me here, or connect with me on LinkedIn.

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