Rob Schlaff's Website

The Rebirth of Honest Tea as Just Ice Tea

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date August 18, 2024

I used to love Honest Tea. It made me feel so good. The company was the brainchild of Barry Nalebuff and Seth Goldman. It was based on an idea that we could have healthy, great-tasting, and ethically sourced tea. They even wrote up the history of their company, Mission in a Bottle, as an engaging graphic novel.

When they were bought by Coca-Cola in 2008, I thought, “Good for Seth and Barry. They made some money, and Coca-Cola will take the company forward.” I didn’t pay attention to the company for a while, thinking that Coca-Cola was being an attentive steward to the brand. After all, Coca-Cola had the resources to expand Honest Tea’s reach and keep the company alive. That’s why I was so surprised to see the brand Just Ice Tea on the shelves looking exactly like Honest Tea. And when I looked at the back of the bottle, I saw the same message from Seth and Barry I used to see on Honest Tea.

Technology

The One Man Who Does NOT Want His Company to Be a Tech Company

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date August 9, 2024

In every industry, companies want to be tech companies. Citibank loves quoting John Reed, CEO from the 1990s who said, “Citibank is not a bank with technology. It’s a technology company with a banking license.” Even McDonald’s and Chipotle are now saying they’re technology companies. Technology companies are cool. Technology drives efficiency, innovation, and customer engagement. But there’s one person who doesn’t want his company to be a technology company: Howard Schultz, founder of Starbucks. It’s because he knows what it means for technology to take over a company.

Product Management Technology

The Making of the First iPhone: The General Magic Movie

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date August 3, 2024

I tried to build the iPhone twice. Everybody knows about the second time. The time we succeeded. Few people know about the first.
Tony Fadell (Creator of the iPhone)

Many people assume that the precursor to the iPhone was the Apple Newton, but there’s a much more direct predecessor: the General Magic Pocket Crystal. I recently watched a fascinating documentary about it called The General Magic Movie.

ChatGPT

The Art of Prompt Compression from Claude Shannon to LLMs

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date August 3, 2024

For about a year, I’ve been thinking about what compression looks like for an LLM prompt. Compression in computing is pretty well defined. But I was curious about how short a prompt can be while still having enough information to pull the right answer from the model.

Uncategorized

Our Summer Camp Getaway at Mohonk Mountain House

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date July 28, 2024

While the kids were at camp for the summer, Abigail and I decided to set off on our own version of summer camp for a weekend at the Mohonk Mountain House. Built in 1869, Mohonk Mountain House is a grand old lodge in upstate New York. It’s a place full of history and natural beauty, offering a perfect blend of adventure and rest.

Uncategorized

Being a CEO of a product wasn’t what I thought it would be

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date July 12, 2024

I published this in Mind the Product.

I was excited to manage my first product. It was over a decade ago. At the time, we didn’t have all of these product management resources and best practices that spelt out what a product manager did. All I knew was that I was going to be the CEO of a product.

Adventures

My Night in (Netflix’s) Paris

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date July 11, 2024

Visiting a great old movie house is a magical thing. You get to truly experience the grandeur of older times. There are not many of these theaters left, but I got to visit one of them today. I saw Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F at the Netflix owned Paris Theater in New York. The charm of the Paris Theater lies in its vintage ambiance, from the classic marquee to the ornate interior design, offering a nostalgic journey that you simply can’t replicate at home.

Life Lessons

Exploiting Addiction for Profit

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date July 7, 2024

The Times magazine had a great piece on New York’s marijuana problem. The piece centers around the problem of how the industry should be regulated. On the one hand, having too much regulation allows illegal shops to pop up. However, the author points out that regulation is important when talking about addictive and harmful products.

Human Behavior

Looking at Fast and Slow Thinking on Facebook

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date July 6, 2024

I saw the following question on Facebook:

“I’m getting married, and my husband and I are looking at what our married name should be. My last name is Lipsky. It was changed by my ancestors from the original ‘Lipszyc’ when they immigrated to the US in the early 1900s. I’m starting to really connect with my heritage. Should I keep the current name or switch back to the previous name?”

Design Technology

When More is Less: David Pogue on the Pitfalls of Feature Creep

Post author By Robert Schlaff
Post date July 5, 2024

I really love David Pogue. He is a brilliant Renaissance man who talks about technology but from a very cultivated point of view. I don’t just say that because he went to Yale. I always enjoy the way he makes technology accessible and engaging, offering insights that resonate with both tech enthusiasts and everyday users.