Insights and advice from the deeper layers of product leadership
Here is the bottom line: eventually, yes. And if you can find an amazing product leader who happens to be also a domain expert, of course you should hire them. But if you need to make a compromise, where should it be? On the product side or the domain expertise side? And which compromise to make? Here is my take on this common dilemma.
Product management is such a busy job. The hectic day-to-day in itself contains more work than one can do, but we all know that real product work requires much more than that. How can you make time to get to the important things? Here is a quick guide.
Coming up with the next big thing is hard. Or is it? Where do big creative ideas come from, and how important is this skill for product leaders? Some takeaways for you from a product interview I had at Google many years ago.
There are times when you just know that your decisions are right. The data says so, the experts say so, but your colleagues or stakeholders disagree. Sometimes, the best way to get them to accept your decision is to give it up altogether. Here’s how it works.
Onboarding new product managers is not a trivial task. They need to learn many different things, but more importantly – they typically take ownership of an area that was owned by someone else before. Here is a three-phase method to make it a smooth transition.
Everyone knows startups need to move fast. It is often part of their advantage against larger and more traditional companies. But what does moving fast really mean, and why is it that important anyway? To answer this question we need to break speed down to its various meanings and treat each differently, as well as holistically where they all converge. Here is the detailed breakdown as well as tips to increase each type of speed.
Can product-market fit be measured? And if so, how? What are the most important things to keep an eye on during your journey towards the holy grail of startups? Here are the answers that I gave Mixpanel to their questions about this super-important topic.
There is an inherent conflict between the product leader and the CEO, which can often be summarized into one question: who has the final say. To start resolving it, remember that it is not a zero-sum game. Here are two leadership styles that define the spectrum, and a guide that will help you find your sweet spot between them.
Product requirements are there to help the team understand what you want to build. Whether you write them in detailed documents or share them briefly and verbally with the team, it’s easy to go directly to the bottom line and give clear instructions. However, there are many more important things to include if you want the team to succeed. Here are three things that if you include in your product requirements would make your life easier and help your developers deliver on what you really intended, not on what you told them to build.
Managing smart people is a privilege, but can also be confusing at times. When is it time for you to step in, and where should you let them lead without interference? When it comes to decision making, especially with important decisions, there is a lot you can do to help this balance feel natural and beneficial for everyone involved. That’s true even if your people are more experienced than you are.
Product management requires so many diverse skills that most likely your people are more experienced than you at least in some of them. When these skills are core to what your team needs to achieve, it can become confusing. If the people reporting to you know better how to do their job, what is your role as a manager? Don’t worry, you are still needed. Here’s why and how.
The leaky bucket is a known metaphor in sales. If your funnel isn’t converting well, there is no point in adding more leads into it, since they will not convert and there is no gain here. But the truth is, that not only will it not result in a positive impact, it can also actually cause you harm. To understand why, we need to switch to another water-related metaphor: the clogged pipe.
