There is a lot of noise around a product. Customers generate noise. The product team itself makes noise. Others in the company can inject noise. Competitors can cause noise. Investors and alike can also be noise generators.
Noise is created around a product because it is easy for people to…
Internet of Things (IoT) products may be the hardest products to create.
Amazon Echos, Nest thermostats, Peloton bikes, and other widely familiar IoT products provide seamless user experiences from unboxing to use. Turn them on, connect them to a Wi-Fi network, setup a profile, and you are up and running…
There are countless methodologies, processes, and tools for product management. Seemingly, new ones appear every day. The product management toolbox continues to grow, which is a recognition of the importance of the craft and work, but nothing in product management is more important than great relationships.
Product Managers are relationship managers more than they are managers of a product. A product receives the value of a product manager’s relationships, which makes the product better. A product doesn’t facilitate great product management relationships the same way in return. This is a one-way street and value proposition. The…
I was recently on a call with founder who reached out about me potentially investing in the company. As we started to dig into the product it became apparent to me that the product was not truly a SaaS product and I said as much to the founder. …
Founders should be optimistic or what’s the point, right? But founders also should assume their current plan is wrong. They just don’t know why — yet.
Being a founder is one big dichotomy — having a plan and at the same time believing it is wrong is an incredibly hard…
I was reading a post the other day from a well-regarded company leader. As I was reading, something struck me. This leader kept referring to the people they work with as “my team.” …
Founders do not have an obligation to help build their local startup ecosystem. In fact, I would argue that the founders and startups that have the most impact on their local startup ecosystem spend very little time thinking about it. …
Most products chase customers.
This is one of the reasons I don’t like Product Market Fit and prefer Customer Product Fit. I write about Customer Product Fit in my book The Founder’s Manual. Markets don’t buy products, customers do. …
For many founders, having something to prove is a rallying cry. Fuel to start and to keep going, even on the darkest days.
Founders can often feel misunderstood by family and friends. This misunderstanding gets converted into a feeling of having to prove people wrong. The naysayers, the doubters and…
Founders of startups who are raising funding for their companies can feel like they are the only ones who are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to balancing shipping their product and shopping it for backing. But this isn’t true. Startup founders are just one sector of creators who…
