24 // Small Giants

24 // Small Giants

Author: Adam Wiggins, Mark McGranaghan February 18, 2021 Duration: 58:36

A “small giant” is a company that chooses to optimize for mojo instead of growth. Mark and Adam describe how Muse was inspired to follow this path, designing the business model, team makeup, and funding source accordingly. Plus: a digression into tender offers and the fine points of US tax law.

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Show notes


Adam Wiggins and Mark McGranaghan host Metamuse, a conversation rooted in their deep experience building tools for creative work. This podcast lives in the space where abstract thinking meets practical craft, regularly exploring how we shape our tools and how those tools, in turn, shape our thoughts and output. You’ll hear detailed discussions on product design philosophy, the evolving landscape of software for thought, and the often messy process of cultivating good ideas. The tone is reflective and nuanced, favoring depth over headlines, as they examine the principles behind the interfaces and the systems that influence how we create. It’s for anyone who has ever been curious about the why behind the tools they use daily, from note-taking apps to complex design platforms. Each episode of this podcast feels like a thoughtful dialogue between two practitioners who are actively engaged in the problems they discuss, making the insights feel earned rather than theoretical. Tune in for a consistently substantive look at the intersection of technology, design, and cognition.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Metamuse
Podcast Episodes
44 // Media empires with Dan Shipper [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:14
Journalism is changing, as newspapers and magazines adapt to being online and internet-native media empires like Vox and Vice upend the status quo. Dan Shipper is part of this as a founder of Every, a writer collective f…
43 // Storytelling [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:33
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42 // Self-made tools with Linus Lee [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:25
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41 // Local-first software with Martin Kleppmann [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:21
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40 // Filmmaking with Maximilian Becht [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:15
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39 // Expressive tools with Weiwei Xu [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:52
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38 // Calm companies with Tyler Tringas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:13
As the world’s economy is remade via software, some founders are finding the one-way ratchet of venture capital too restrictive. Tyler Tringas is working to expand funding options available to entrepreneurs via the Calm…
37 // Visual programming with Maggie Appleton [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:47
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36 // Text [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:25
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35 // The future of iPad [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:49
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