Sign In

Matias Beeck

Director, Product at Escala

Growth-focused product leader for software startups. I appreciate both the granular details and the bigger picture, always aiming to propel data-driven solutions and bridge gaps between technical and business minded teams. My goal is to create products that solve real-world problems and delight users.

Highlights

Jun 13 · linkedin

Apple's WWDC didn't showcase much jaw-dropping innovation 😮 , but it did highlight these important trends shaping our digital world:

1️⃣ Our online communication looks VERY different from our in-person communication

Apple's new messaging features, including custom emojis and images, underscore how images (emojis, stickers, gifs, etc.) have become crucial in our online communication, allowing us to express things like sarcasm, irony, humor, and even subtle-flirting through “text”. For more on this, check out Chris Cochran's 2017 TED Talk: https://lnkd.in/e_UpX8p8.

2️⃣ More people want more control of their attention and focus

With new features like notification prioritization and the “reduce interruptions” mode, Apple emphasized its commitment to helping users save time and minimize unnecessary and non-urgent distractions. This seems like a direct response to users’ increasing awareness and concern about screen time.

3️⃣ We are shifting away from an app-based world to a new “agent” world

Apple’s focus on AI, the new app-intents API and a more customizable home screen all point to a shift away from entering apps to accomplish tasks and toward chatting with Siri. For example: “What time should I leave for my dinner tonight? Send my wife a reminder and include the time we’ll leave.” Here, Siri will check my calendar to review dinner time, check the traffic forecast in Maps and send a reminder text to my wife. Three app visits reduced to a one-sentence chat with Siri - hopefully helping us reduce our screen time…

4️⃣ We've "stored everything", yet "saved nothing" (Ezra Klein)

Apple's redesigned Photos app addresses our digital file (photos, videos, messages, emails, notes, etc.) mess. With devices at our fingertips and increasing storage limits, we’re creating more files than ever, making it impossible to keep those files organized. Apple’s solution? Help us find stuff faster by organizing our library by dates, trips, topics, and people, and providing a more powerful search. While these features help, I think they miss the core issue - reducing the amount of junk we accumulate in our libraries (blurry/bad photos, duplicates, screenshots, etc.). For more on this, Ezra Klein wrote a great piece: https://lnkd.in/e3djcczx

5️⃣ Startups must differentiate or get squashed

Events like WWDC continue to highlight the increasing risk of startups getting "sherlocked" by the tech giants. Startups must focus on unique differentiation to survive. Here’s a look at the damage from this week’s event: https://lnkd.in/eFbxwegM.

May 16 · linkedin

I use ChatGPT plenty, yet still find myself using Google Search often. I think I know why...

...and judging from Google's Search product announcements at their I/O event this week, it seems like Google knows too!

Since ChatGPT’s initial release, there has been a lot of talk about the future of search and whether it would get completely replaced. I originally thought this would be the case and that it would happen quickly, yet here I am still Googling away...

Why?

I sampled my Chrome search history from the last two months (2360 desktop searches) to understand this better (*note: I had Google’s AI overviews feature enabled that whole time).

Here’s what I found: ➡ ~65% of my searches were “AI answerable” (an AI could likely provide an answer to the query without further back and forth) ➡ ~60% of my searches were "NoClick" searches (I didn't click on resulting links) ➡ In ~25% of my searches I used “Google lingo” (short queries where I knew what Google would return thanks to many years of Googling - see examples below) ➡ ~25% of my searches were navigational searches (to quickly get me to a site)

So what does this all mean?

In predicting the death of search we’ve underestimated the power of a well-crafted user experience and years of user adoption. Most internet users now speak “Google” fluently, knowing exactly how to efficiently phrase their queries (prompts) and, even more importantly, what output they can expect.

Example queries: ▶ 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐲𝐜:

  • Google returns a google flights widget with a date picker, a list of flights and a link to Google Flights if I need to see more options.
  • ChatGPT-4o returns a blob of text explaining which airlines fly from Miami to NYC, the typical costs, and some text links to flight comparison websites. ▶ 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲:
  • Google returns a list of links to buy the "project hail mary" book and a wikipedia link for further details if needed.
  • ChatGPT-4o gives me a detailed plot summary and a list of themes and characters from the book. After this long blurb, a link to Amazon to buy it. ▶ 𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠:
  • Google returns a list of the streaming services offering Iron Claw (movie) with direct links.
  • ChatGPT-4o explains what the movie is about, who it stars and then offers only one suggestion for where to stream it. ▶ 𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬:
  • Google returns a visual of the score of the last Timberwolves vs Nuggets game and a video link to the highlights. Below that, the dates and times of the next games.
  • ChatGPT-4o returns a blob of text summarizing the result of the last game and includes some text links to a recap.

These experiences are so familiar & quick that they make you feel like Google "knows" what you want better. ChatGPT is very powerful for more complex querying, conversational brainstorming & problem solving, but...

📣 nothing beats a quick Google Search (yet)!

Is anybody feeling the same?

Related Questions

What are some of the key projects Matias Beeck has led at escala?
How did Matias Beeck's experience at CKM Analytix influence his work at escala?
What specific skills does Matias Beeck bring to his role at escala?
Can you provide examples of Matias Beeck's work in data science?
How has Matias Beeck's background in engineering impacted his product strategy at escala?
Matias Beeck
Add to my network

Experience

Director, Product at Escala

Education

Ransom Everglades High School
Data Science, General Assembly
Bachelor Of Arts In Mathematics, Economics, Georgetown University