korrents
Jason Cohen

Jason Cohen

@jason-cohen · 24 positions · On ppll ↗

Founder of WP Engine and Smart Bear, and the author of the long-running startup blog A Smart Bear.

Jason Cohen did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

4 of Jason Cohen's claims fit 4 mental models. Most often: Bottlenecks, Less, but better, Probabilistic thinking.

Models they name

Their own words name the idea.

Probabilistic thinking

Think in odds, not certainties, and bet heavily only when the odds are clearly yours.

Used by 27 others

Expected value cannot decide the once-only decisions, because you know neither the probabilities nor the shape of their curves.

  1. Jason Cohen Founder of WP Engine and Smart Bear But the truth is we don't know what the probability is. We don't know what the probability curves look like. We actually can't use expected value. The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com · 25 Jan 2026 · 1:28:43 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsBut the truth is we don't know what the probability is. We don't know what the probability curves look like. We actually can't use expected value.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:28:43 plays here

    ↗The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com

    25 Jan 2026 · video · 1h 46m · spoken · machine transcript

S-curves and diminishing returns

Most growth slows as it matures; the question is whether the curve is flattening or something new is restocking it.

Used by 23 others

Marketing channels do not settle onto a plateau; after the S-curve they sag, which is why the shape is an elephant and not an S.

  1. Jason Cohen Founder of WP Engine and Smart Bear But that's not what happens. What happens is it starts with an S-curve and then it starts sagging. Its butt starts sagging down. So, I wrote an article about this called the elephant curve, which is what I named it, right? The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com · 25 Jan 2026 · 1:08:19 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsBut that's not what happens. What happens is it starts with an S-curve and then it starts sagging. Its butt starts sagging down. So, I wrote an article about this called the elephant curve, which is what I named it, right?

    Where this was said

    Watch from 1:08:19 plays here

    ↗The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com

    25 Jan 2026 · video · 1h 46m · spoken · machine transcript

Models we see in what they say

Our reading: their claim applies the idea without naming it. The claim is theirs; filing it here is ours.

Bottlenecks

A system moves only as fast as its narrowest point; speed up anything else and nothing changes.

Used by 89 others

Diagnosing stalled growth has a strict order, because fixing a later problem does nothing while an earlier one is still broken.

  1. Jason Cohen Founder of WP Engine and Smart Bear there's a there's a series of of questions that I ask to to diagnose why is growth slowing in this order because it's one of these things where the first one that's a problem, if you don't fix that, it doesn't matter if you fix one of the ones below. The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com · 25 Jan 2026 · 0:11:00 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsthere's a there's a series of of questions that I ask to to diagnose why is growth slowing in this order because it's one of these things where the first one that's a problem, if you don't fix that, it doesn't matter if you fix one of the ones below.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:11:00 plays here

    ↗The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com

    25 Jan 2026 · video · 1h 46m · spoken · machine transcript

Less, but better

Find the essence and cut the rest; simplicity is hard work, not the absence of effort.

Used by 59 others

Writing on a schedule is worth less than only publishing what is the best you can do, even if that means one post a year.

  1. Jason Cohen Founder of WP Engine and Smart Bear my attitude was was always I will only put out stuff if if it's the best that I can do. It's up to the reader to decide if it's good or useful. Um, and if so, if I don't have that, I'm just not going to publish. The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com · 25 Jan 2026 · 0:06:51 into the videoAll korrents from this video
    Their wordsmy attitude was was always I will only put out stuff if if it's the best that I can do. It's up to the reader to decide if it's good or useful. Um, and if so, if I don't have that, I'm just not going to publish.

    Where this was said

    Watch from 0:06:51 plays here

    ↗The surprising advice from a founder who built 2 unicorns | Jason Cohen (WP Engine)youtube.com

    25 Jan 2026 · video · 1h 46m · spoken · machine transcript