Brian Lam, Jacqui Cheng & Ganda Suthivarakom
Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Executive Editor of The Wirecutter and The Sweethome
Discussion
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
Hi. I'm Jacqui Cheng, Editor-in-Chief of the Wirecutter and the Sweethome, buyer's guides to the best technology and things for your home. I run the editorial on both sites as part of a power team with Wirecutter/Sweethome founder and CEO Brian Lam and Sweethome Executive Editor Ganda Suthivarakom. Through the work we publish on both sites, we hope to reduce the stress and wasted time involved in shopping by employing a team of researchers, scientists, reporters, and testers to find the answers for you. We even have a crack team of deal savants who sort through tens of thousands of "deals" every holiday season in order to find the best 1% (or less) to post on our sites. If you have questions about the Wirecutter process, our recommendations, or deals, let's do this Product Hunt Q&A!
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Ryan Hoover
@rrhoover · Founder, Product Hunt
Brian, Jacqui, and Ganda! Welcome. Love the Wirecutter -- you've filled a gap in the product review/recommendation space.
Other than your phone or computer, what's device could you not live without and why?
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@rrhoover Surprisingly, for me, it's my Bose Quiet Comfort earbuds. I can't conduct my many, many daily video calls without them. I once put them through the wash and they still work! TBH, I bought them before I started working here, so they may not be WC picks, but everything else I own is.
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@rrhoover Nest thermostat. You have no idea how great it is to turn up the heat from your smartphone while lying in bed on another floor of the house.
daniellevine
@daniellevine · Docket.report
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@daniellevine Best thing for me: Charlotte Tilbury Red Carpet Red matte lipstick. A gorgeous, classic blue-red, matte but not bone dry, and the "bullet" has a square shaped tip which makes it easy for drawing. But it's all about the texture, which is not tacky or waxy but smooth. Must have silicone in it. I love it. Trying to wear lipstick more often because Jacqui Cheng has the best lipstick game. Brian's lipstick game leaves much to be desired, though.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
@ganda @daniellevine wow - I am sold! Adding to my Christmas wish list immediately!
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@daniellevine For me personally, I just installed the new Kevo smart lock (version 2) -- this is our upcoming smart lock pick for a new guide we're getting ready to publish, so I just went for it and I'm already crazy about it. (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CPTD... ) Anyone who has fumbled with keys in front of their house or apartment will know instantly why something like this is super useful, especially if you're always carrying a million things like I am.
daniellevine
@daniellevine · Docket.report
@ejacqui Fantastic! I'm hoping to get one too!
@daniellevine I spent many years both building up to and avoiding getting a bigger wave surfboard but I just got one by Chris Christenson. It's a 9'6" and it's either going to give me some of the best and worst rides of my life, depending on how it goes.
https://instagram.com/p/-c84Omi4...
daniellevine
@daniellevine · Docket.report
@blam great photo and beautiful boards! I've only gone surfing once and found it incredibly challenging! Thanks for the response, I've also added your photo to my new //surf list on likelist.it!
Tyler Hayes
@thetylerhayes · Bebo
How are the economics of Wirecutter and your similar properties working out vs. your previous ventures which were focused more on "the latest" than "the greatest"?
It may be a wrong assumption, but from the outside it feels like it's harder to make substantial money in Amazon Affiliate revenue (which IIRC is how Wirecutter, etc. make $) vs. advertising? Direct response vs. scale?
@thetylerhayes Let me answer it this way--We have had so many copy cats try to come here and do what we do and they all realize this is not how you make money and quit. We make enough to do great work, but we also could take that same money and make a ton more doing clickhole type stuff with the same effort on ads. But its an easy decision to not do that because that's not the point of why we exist and what we love doing. We maybe make reviewing things like garbage cans seem epic and glamorous but what drives us is being useful and providing help to our readers. I also don't believe that ad driven businesses very often reward deep content, so I choose not to make that our primary model. The models will always follow the content here, though.
Jacqueline von Tesmar
@jacqvon · Community, Product Hunt ✌️😻
Where is one place you want to visit that you haven't been before?
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@jacqvon I have had a lifelong obsession with living out a grand Mama Mia fantasy in Greece. (great name btw)
©Chris Ramirez®
@iamcpramirez · Product @ Jet.com
Hi Brian, Jacqui, and Ganda! Welcome, and thanks for sharing your insights with us today. ... I'm sure the team has explored the options of video reviews, similar to youtube or cnet. Will you ever incorporate these types of reviews, or others, into the wirecutter or is sticking with editorial content the most effective medium right now?
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@iamcpramirez We're really interested in getting into video, but we want to do it the right way and for the right reasons. There are a lot of really crazy, fun, and interesting discoveries that we make in the process of producing our guides and it would be cool to show some of that stuff in video form. The key is making sure we're serving the reader and not just being goofy on video—we want to make sure we're sharing useful information while also perhaps telling you interesting or weird things, but our main goal is to make sure we are offering useful content, so we're trying to take it slowly and make sure we're approaching it smartly.
@iamcpramirez To be honest, we're working on our video strategy but we need to figure out how to best do this, and I know we also just have to start. We plan, to, though.
©Chris Ramirez®
@iamcpramirez · Product @ Jet.com
After thoroughly expanding to various categories through your drip system, what is your long term vision for the portfolio .. (create sustainable and separate domain properties across categories, become a better api plugin than Bazaarvoice, become the go-to rating & reviews portal over Amazon, etc)?
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What is one of the biggest challenges (in work and/or life) you have overcome in the last 2 years?
@bentossell Communicating with others deeply and directly and compassionately so we can improve as individuals and as a team. And have complete trust with each other.
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@bentossell Honestly I think one of the largest challenges that I am currently dealing with is taking care of my aging and disabled parents (and grandparents). I won't go too deep into the details here but this is something that virtually no one talks about in advance (on the adult child side OR the elderly person side), which makes it that much harder to deal with when it happens. It's so much more than just bringing meals a few times a week or helping them with walking their pets. There are endless legal documents, medical documents, financial documents, etc. etc. and it only increases over time as their needs increase.
Actually it's kinda cheesy but if you are interested in preparing yourself and learning more (which I highly recommend for all humans who have parents), I very much recommend reading this book by Jane Gross: http://www.amazon.com/Bitterswee...
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@bentossell To be honest, these last two years have been the most difficult of my life. My father died last year, and my younger brother died suddenly this year, leaving behind a wife and a daughter who had just turned one. There is no way to make life events that major stay within the "personal life" lines. There were times when my grief seemed insurmountable. But work is important to rebuilding life, and having a job with humane expectations has eased my road back to the living. I'm so grateful to work for a company that let me take time off to be with my family. Nobody batted an eye when I said I would be moving to a different city to help take care of my niece. Brian, Jacqui, and all of my coworkers were so supportive, even when the stress of my personal life affected my relationships at work. I've been shown great compassion by my colleagues, and I hope to give the same to anyone I work with.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
@ejacqui totally! I completely understand...
Awesome recommendation - I'll get it up on our book section for sure!
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
@ganda wow thank you for sharing and so sorry for your losses!
Would you say that work has been a big help in you dealing with things recently?
What else has helped you get through it? (if you care to share... you don't have to of course!)
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
@ganda I'm so sorry to hear about your losses. It's unimaginable of how to deal with a loss like that in your life. It is lovely to hear that you've had such great support from your colleagues during this time. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
@ejacqui my family and I are also going through a similar time with my Grandad. Thanks so much for recommending this book - it's such a difficult topic that's not readily discussed, yet one that so many will go through. Thank you for sharing.
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@bentossell Work has been enormously helpful. Having work fills a life with purpose, even one that has been emptied of spirit. Seeing a therapist three times a week made a huge difference (and, of course, having a job that would be okay with that makes a difference). My niece helps - the world to her is new and without reason. A recent trip to Mexico City was the thing that turned me around. Being in a place where it's okay to cry over a bolero trio and laugh at the spectacle of short and lumpy luchadores wrestling was salvation for me. I'm not entirely sure why, but I don't question that city's magic.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
@ganda people deal with things in different ways and I'm all about doing what you gotta do to make it through.
My brother suffered a terrible tragedy a few years ago which really changed him as a person and flipped his life upside down.. it was hard to not directly be able to help him. I was the only one he would talk to about things and my family wanted him to get back to 'him' as soon as he could... but I knew he had to his own thing and that he would come around. I was there for support.
Fortunately he seems there now but it was very difficult.
There is no magic formula for tragedies unfortunately... time and doing what you feel you need to seems to be the best thing.
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@bentossell Sounds like you did the right thing. Everyone will grieve in their own way and in their own time, and no amount of forcing or nudging or encouraging can change that time frame. You intuited that.
Ben Tossell
@bentossell · Community Lead, Product Hunt
What is something you used to believe in but no longer do?
@bentossell Great question! I used to be a lot more conflict oriented, but I see the world as a more cooperative place now.
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@bentossell Food and restaurant worship. At first I said "So boring!" but that's just sour grapes. I have to watch my health because I have extreme cholesterol genes. So my eating habits have become much more boring, and I'm okay with that as long as I get to live a little longer.
AYE BEE
@andyburr_nyc · product design @ dwnld.me
@blam @bentossell ( sounds of waves crashing on the beach and a cool breeze at your feet. )
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@bentossell I used to believe hangovers were something people experienced because of poor planning. Now I know that hangovers just naturally get worse as you get older.
(Seriously though, I used to believe no one could be trusted, which I have since found is not true.)
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
What was the inspiration behind starting the Wirecutter and the Sweethome? How did everything first come together?
@ems_hodge I hated comparison shopping and knew that a lot of people just got advice from people they know and trust. Most sites that recommend stuff are not that whole hearted about the work, too academic, or force you to click through too many pages to do so. It's a small thing, but a thing we're very good at, this being useful and helpful and short cutting a lot of research. The other thing we do is we hire obsessives who love helping people, so no matter what, we just can't help but do our jobs well because it is NOT just a paycheck to anyone here, and I believe that makes all the difference.
I started it out as a simple list with a few friends and it grew from there. Took us over 2 years to become profitable where I could pay myself regularly. I Airbnb'd my house, sold my car, and lived in an old VW van and friend's couches for a lot of the early times. I just didnt want to take a job, even though I had some serious job offers to be like one of those tech columnists for like half a million dollars a year but I didn't feel that medium or kind of work was where the action is. But you know, I just couldn't help it, I wanted to build this thing above all else. And I still do. There's still so much to build and I just can't wait to get there.
The real way it came together was that I tried to do right by readers and writers, and gave more than I should have at lots of moments. And it all kind of just started to add up, you know? We'd be cool to people, and go the extra mile, and those people would be cool in return. People would freak out and we'd try to help them out, and it would just come back around in a good way. I asked for help, and they gave it, and then I gave help and they gave it back. That's really it.
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@ems_hodge I'd just like to add that Brian came to me sometime before launching Wirecutter and asked whether he should take another (unnamed) job that was being offered to him at the time, and I told him to take the job. (Wirecutter was a mere glint in the eye.) He didn't listen to me AND WE'RE ALL SO GLAD THAT HE DIDN'T.
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Ganda Suthivarakom
@ganda · Executive editor, The Sweethome
@ejacqui @ems_hodge Haha, I didn't know that!
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
@ems_hodge Negotiating with Steve Jobs was dramatic but building a business has been harder. Building a business and not being a dick while doing it--just learning that being CEO or any figure of authority entails a lot more gentleness than I ever realized. When someone is a new manager or leader and they get rough, I now read it as them not feeling their power or support from the team. Being chill = feeling secure, so I hope to get more and more chill as time goes on. Edit: Didn't really answer your question directly enough, apologies. Most surprising moment was when we hit 50 employees. Never thought a little site I started with a few friends would get to this size.
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Jacqui Cheng
@ejacqui · Editor-in-Chief @ The Wirecutter
@ems_hodge I think being recognized for my work by other well-respected writers and editors is repeatedly the proudest moment of my life. I have had some famous editors come directly to me to praise my work, not to mention lots of other very talented but maybe less famous editors and writers, and I can't thank them enough for giving me the confidence and advice they have given me in life and this insane business.