Product managers exist to ensure the right thing gets built in the right way and to be right about the thing — and that means a lot of adversity along the way to make sure both happen. — Dealing with and overcoming adversity is one of the most important ways to learn and grow. Product managers get better at the craft by experiencing adversity more than things going well. The Pittsburgh Steelers coach, Mike Tomlin, says, “Iron sharpens iron.” …

In some ways, almost every product is a peer-to-peer product. Social media, communication, collaboration, and many marketplace apps are. The sharing economy took peer-to-peer apps to a new level. Airbnb, Uber, Venmo, and more got us staying, riding, and paying each other easily and efficiently. I see many new peer-to-peer…

I speak with and run into many innovators who can recite a bunch of innovations happening by others. They can rattle off countless new products and companies doing incredible stuff. I had one of these discussions recently, and it hit me that the other person hadn’t mentioned anything they were…

A trap I have seen many founders fall into is being perfectionists. It is an easy trap for founders to fall into because the product and company are often very personal to them. Their professional and personal identities are wrapped up in the product and company. Founders identify with and…

Those referring to remote work as virtual work are referencing them incorrectly, and there isn’t anything about remote work that is virtual. Remote work is location-based. Being physically apart from your colleagues, leadership, and company office space is remote work. Virtual work is communicating, collaborating, and interacting in a virtual…

In theory, product managers shouldn’t have to be responsible for enforcing work product standards for colleagues, but it is a reality for many product managers. A product manager’s colleagues in design, engineering, production, and more should be performing to standards established by their craft and domain leadership. Engineers should be…

Creating a product in a regulated industry has significant ramifications for product teams. — Move fast and break things, ship an initially embarrassing product, don’t worry about security initially, and more can work for unregulated products but not for regulated products. The rules and terms of engagement for creating regulated products in healthcare, insurance, financial services, defense, and more cannot be taken lightly. …

“If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat.” Sheryl Sandberg Picking a rocket ship isn’t as easy as the quote would make it seem. Sure, if a company raises a boatload of capital, it is at least going to have a good run at becoming…

When I speak with people about new products, the term I consistently use is an undeniable value. The friction of someone adopting and using a new product is high. It is easier for them to do nothing or take a product for a spin but never have any desire or…