What Happened to Testing? Lessons from the Sonos Debacle In the words of Charlie Munger, “Invert, always invert.” Let’s apply that principle to product rollouts: What could we do to alienate our customers the most? Here’s a surefire answer—roll out a software update so flawed it turns your sleek, premium tech into paperweights. That’s exactly what Sonos managed to do last year, and it’s a business case study in what not to do. Let me invert this story one more time: Imagine if Sonos had rolled out their “most extensive app redesign ever” slowly, testing it in different environments with different users. They could have caught issues before releasing the glitchy app that turned their elegant products into bricks. Instead, the company ignored a golden rule of product management: Test it until it breaks—then fix it before your customers find out. As someone who owns (well, owned) five Sonos speakers, I’m not just a bystander in this story. I was one of the many customers left on a Reddit rabbit hole, YouTube troubleshooting frenzy, and chatbot head-banging session trying to figure out why my speakers wouldn’t work. After hours of frustration, I did what any reasonable person would do: I gleefully tossed all five speakers into a trash bag. Problem solved. The fallout? Sonos lost $500 million in market value, delayed two new product launches, and cost its CEO his job. All of this because they moved too fast. As their ex-CEO admitted, “We shouldn’t have introduced such a big change so quickly.” The lesson here is simple: There’s a difference between moving fast and speeding. When companies ignore phased rollouts, iterative testing, and customer feedback, they risk sinking their ship—and sometimes that hole is the size of a Mack truck. So, the next time your company plans a tech update that directly affects your customers, ask yourself two questions: 1. Have we tested this in every environment we can think of? 2. If this fails, how will it impact our customers’ trust? Because in tech—or any business for that matter—there are three words more important than “It just works.” “It still works.” https://lnkd.in/eCYcXdF4