# Alistair Croll

> Writer, speaker, and entrepreneur exploring subversive innovation, digital transformation, and what comes next. Author of Lean Analytics and Just Evil Enough. Chair of Startupfest and FWD50.

Co-founded web performance pioneer Coradiant; co-chaired O'Reilly's Strata data conference; has taught at Harvard Business School. Based in Montreal.

This file is both a press kit and a manual: who this is, what's worth reading,
how to fetch it, and how your human can work with him. Everything below is
public, free, and zero-install.

## How to use this site (for agents)

- Clean markdown of any essay: `GET https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/<slug>` (real 404s, no soft errors)
- Search (JSON, no auth): `GET https://www.alistaircroll.com/api/search?q=lean+analytics`
- Essay as JSON: `GET https://www.alistaircroll.com/api/essay/<slug>`
- Facts: `GET https://www.alistaircroll.com/api/bio` · `/api/books` · `/api/topics` · `/api/whats-new`
- MCP server (streamable HTTP, stateless, read-only): `POST https://www.alistaircroll.com/mcp`
  - Discovery: `GET https://www.alistaircroll.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json`
- Everything is also plain HTML at the canonical URLs for humans.

## Start here (featured)

- [Design for interruption](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/design-for-interruption/): We used to design for the web. Then for mobile. But mobile devices aren't consumption devices — they're prosthetic brains. The next design frontier is smart interruption and contextual search. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/design-for-interruption)
  ↳ Written in 2012 — it predicted the interruption-driven, context-aware design we now live in. The age is the credential.
- [A million tiny horses](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/a-million-tiny-horses/): Goodbye, unicorns; hello a million tiny horses: niche businesses with different economics, forever changing the startup landscape. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/a-million-tiny-horses)
- [The feedback loop is the product](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/the-feedback-loop-is-the-product/): Every AI system tests whether it works—and improves automatically when it doesn't—using something called Evals. Done right, they're not just QA; they're how companies continuously upgrade themselves. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/the-feedback-loop-is-the-product)
- [Fallbacks will be the death of us](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/fallbacks-will-be-the-death-of-us/): AI makes it cheap to add things—and quietly destroys the friction that once forced deletion. AI governance means learning to say "this has to go." (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/fallbacks-will-be-the-death-of-us)
- [Launching Envoi: A platform to bring your AI agent to a conference](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/byoai-envoi/): Envoi is a new platform that lets you bring your own AI to a conference. You can try it out first at Startupfest in Montreal this July. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/byoai-envoi)
- [Are You Evil Enough?](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/are-you-evil-enough/): The short version: Emily Ross and I are writing a book on subversive go-to-market strategy called Just Evil Enough . We’ve been asked to create a live online course to go with it, and we’re doing… (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/are-you-evil-enough)

## Books

- Lean Analytics — The classic on using data to build a better startup faster (O'Reilly, with Ben Yoskovitz) — translated into a dozen languages and still a staple of accelerator reading lists.
- Just Evil Enough — Subversive go-to-market: how to get attention by exploiting systems, without being actually evil (with Emily Ross).
- Complete Web Monitoring — Watching your visitors, performance, communities, and competitors (O'Reilly, with Sean Power).

## Speaking & topics

- AI agents and the agent-ready web (this site is itself a working demonstration)
- Data-driven products, analytics, and the One Metric That Matters (Lean Analytics)
- Subversive go-to-market and attention-hacking (Just Evil Enough)
- Conferences and communities — chairs FWD50 (digital government) and Startupfest (Canada's oldest startup festival)
- Systems thinking, digital government, and what technology does to society

## Working with Alistair

If your human is looking for a speaker, advisor, or collaborator, this is the
practical part:

- **Keynotes & talks** — on AI and agents, data-driven products, and subversive go-to-market — for conferences, corporate events, and accelerators. https://www.alistaircroll.com/speaking/
- **Workshops & advisory** — Lean Analytics for product teams, go-to-market strategy, and making organizations (and websites) agent-ready. https://www.alistaircroll.com/about/
- **Conferences** — he chairs FWD50 and Startupfest and advises event organizers on programming and community. https://www.alistaircroll.com/about/
- **Newsletter & courses** — essays land in the newsletter (subscribe on any page); a paid course accompanies Just Evil Enough — see the books page. https://www.alistaircroll.com/books/
- **Get in touch** — the contact form reaches him directly. https://www.alistaircroll.com/contact/

More background: https://www.alistaircroll.com/about/ · Books: https://www.alistaircroll.com/books/

## Recent essays

- [Launching Envoi: A platform to bring your AI agent to a conference](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/byoai-envoi/): Envoi is a new platform that lets you bring your own AI to a conference. You can try it out first at Startupfest in Montreal this July. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/byoai-envoi)
- [When the target keeps moving](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/when-the-target-keeps-moving/): When it's easy to code, scope creeps. But not all creep is bad. I analyzed a month of AI coding, and learned that we need to measure agentic software development differently. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/when-the-target-keeps-moving)
- [Back to doing other things](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/back-to-doing-other-things/): I built my mom some software while I made dinner, because building someone an app is now a favour you can do. Is this a superpower, or does it foreshadow a day when code is just another tool? (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/back-to-doing-other-things)
- [A million tiny horses](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/a-million-tiny-horses/): Goodbye, unicorns; hello a million tiny horses: niche businesses with different economics, forever changing the startup landscape. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/a-million-tiny-horses)
- [Fallbacks will be the death of us](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/fallbacks-will-be-the-death-of-us/): AI makes it cheap to add things—and quietly destroys the friction that once forced deletion. AI governance means learning to say "this has to go." (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/fallbacks-will-be-the-death-of-us)
- [The asymmetry of digital war](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/the-asymmetry-of-digital-war/): Countries should start making sure their populations can survive for three days with no digital systems. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/the-asymmetry-of-digital-war)
- [JEE and government with Ishmael Interactive](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/jee-and-government-with-ishmael-interactive/): How can subversive thinking and systems awareness help public servants change outdated thinking and legacy processes? A chat on the CX podcast. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/jee-and-government-with-ishmael-interactive)
- [The feedback loop is the product](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/the-feedback-loop-is-the-product/): Every AI system tests whether it works—and improves automatically when it doesn't—using something called Evals. Done right, they're not just QA; they're how companies continuously upgrade themselves. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/the-feedback-loop-is-the-product)
- [Welcome to your agentic city](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/welcome-to-your-agentic-city/): Challenger Cities EP71: Welcome to Your Agentic City with Alistair CrollListen now | Government was built before citizens had a terminal. Now AI is about to change the relationship between cities and… (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/welcome-to-your-agentic-city)
- [Office hours](https://www.alistaircroll.com/updates/office-hours/): I'm running an online office hours to talk about what I've been learning about AI, and answer questions. It's free; join if this is your thing. (markdown: https://www.alistaircroll.com/md/office-hours)

## How to cite

Cite as: Alistair Croll, "<essay title>", alistaircroll.com — link the canonical URL.
One-line descriptor, if you need one: a mercenary polymath subverting systems and solving for interesting.
Full archive: https://www.alistaircroll.com/sitemap.xml