Deconstructing Social Tech, with Chris Messina

For our guest this week on Means of Creation we are welcoming Chris Messina! 

Chris is best known for inventing the now ubiquitous hashtag, but his work over the last 15 years spans social technology, product design, synthetic media, founder culture and mental fitness. 

Currently, Chris helps founders and creators with their Product Hunt launches. His insight into social technology stems from his experience at big tech companies like Google and Uber, combined with his role in popularizing social innovations like coworking and unconferencing. 

Chris has shared his unique perspective in popular Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, and in books like No Filter by Sarah Frier and Billion Dollar Loser by Reeves Wiedeman.

In this interview, we talked to Chris about:

• How the social technology landscape has changed over the last few years
• Prominent trends that nobody is talking about
• How founders should think about technology vs social innovation
• The commonalities shared by successful Product Hunt launches
• Product trends that have accelerated during the pandemic
• How Chris’ course Nail Your Product Hunt Launch has influenced his perspective on EdTech
• His experience consulting on Superpeer

Watch or Listen

We held this conversation live on Friday, January 8th. You can listen to the podcast here or watch the YouTube video below. Hope you enjoy!

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