Insights and advice from the deeper layers of product leadership
To be successful, your company needs an excellent roadmap, but how can you make sure you have the right one? It all comes down to mindset. Here is why and how to get there.
The first product manager in a startup is a critical role with immense impact on the startup’s success – both in the short and long term. However, understanding what you really need and then finding the right person is quite a challenge. Here are the things that you must keep in mind before – and during – the search process.
The company strategy can make or break a business. While it is the CEO’s job to make sure they have a great strategy, it is extremely challenging to create one. So how can you, as the product leader, help, and what is your role in shaping this strategy? Find all the answers in this quick guide.
Product leadership is about finding the right business opportunities to accomplish with the right product. When looking for the next one, how can you tell if it’s right? And what if there is another, better one, just around the corner? It might be hard to decide, but this quick guide will help you move forward.
Product-market fit in many ways is like the holy grail for startups. It’s hard to find, and the promise is that once you do your (startup’s) life will change forever. One of the key contributors to finding it is focus. You need to keep your eyes on the ball. But how to do that when there are a dozen pairs of eyes? This method will help you make sure everyone is working against the same goal.
Measuring the performance of product managers is a real challenge for a number of reasons. When planning the product managers’ goals, this challenge can translate into taking the wrong direction altogether. Here is a new way to look at product management goals, and make them a useful tool for both you and your team.
Every roadmap is a plan, but a plan is worth nothing if not executed upon. Once the essence of your roadmap is ready, it’s time to put timelines on it. But how can you commit to results that would happen in the future? Honestly, you can’t. But there is still a lot you can do to help everyone understand where you are going and how.
As product leaders we work with so many stakeholders, and we strive to include them in the product definition processes. While generally this is the right thing to do, there is one line that you don’t want to cross: letting them do the product work instead of you, or expecting them to contribute more than they can. Here is a quick guide to finding the right balance.
Setting goals is hard. You always need to balance between what you really (really) want, or even need, and what reality can support. And being super ambitious isn’t always the answer. Here is a fresh approach to setting goals that will keep you rooted both in reality and in vision.
Defining the right product metrics is a common challenge for product leaders. There are many things to consider at the strategic level, but the details also matter a lot. Here is a quick method to make sure what you measure truly answers the important questions.
Trust, as in almost anything in relationships, is built with honest communication. Unfortunately, many times it’s not as easy as it sounds, and it’s hard to be honest even with ourselves. Here are a few simple guidelines to boost your courage and help you make these not always easy conversations.
As product leaders, we are entirely dependent on others to be able to deliver results. We need them to follow our guidance, and that cannot happen without trust. Here are a few guidelines to help you re-establish trust when you feel you are in a constant uphill battle.
