Most business models have focused on self interest instead of user experience. Those are the kinds of problems we solve to solve.

The long-term payoff of putting users first

We're surrounded by products and services designed to extract value from us rather than genuinely serve us. The subscription that's hard to cancel, the app that buries the useful features behind paywalls, the website that prioritizes ads over readability—these aren't accidents. They're built that way because the business model rewards keeping us engaged or spending money, not necessarily making our lives better.

What's interesting is that this tension often goes unnoticed because we've normalized it. We expect a little friction, a little manipulation. But when you encounter a company that actually seems to have organized itself around making something genuinely useful and pleasant to use, it feels almost refreshing. That's not virtue signaling—it's often just a different calculus. Sometimes solving for user experience actually builds loyalty and trust that pays off long-term in ways the extractive model never could.

The real insight isn't that self-interest and good user experience are moral opposites. It's that they're often in conflict only in the short term. The harder part is building a business model that doesn't force you to choose.