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Productivity News
The Beautiful Mess
2M
113
Image Credit: The Beautiful Mess
TBM 348: Shared Understanding At Scale
- The article 'TBM 348: Shared Understanding At Scale' discusses various concepts related to shared understanding and information flow within organizations.
- It covers topics like cascade flattening, volume management, interfaces, the myth of universal dashboards, the seduction of nested loops, model traps, and the quest for a single roadmap view.
- Cascade flattening emphasizes the importance of focusing on actionable layers in goal-setting rather than over-complicating goal trees.
- Volume, Filters, and Interfaces highlight the need for structured communication to ensure relevant information reaches leaders effectively.
- The article challenges the idea of a universal dashboard, suggesting that clarity comes from purpose-built views for specific tasks.
- It warns against the seductive nature of nested loops in work processes, urging readers to recognize and avoid overcomplicating workflows.
- Model traps are discussed, emphasizing that while models can be useful for alignment, using them beyond their intended scope can lead to overlooking important aspects of work.
- The article concludes by highlighting the importance of understanding how models and frameworks compress complexity, often leaving out important nuances.
- Readers are encouraged to critically assess the models and frameworks used in their organizations to ensure they serve the intended purpose without oversimplifying or distorting reality.
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The Growth Catalyst
2M
235
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Using AI to Grow Products
- AI is influencing the role of product managers by enhancing various product management functions like Growth, Product Sense, and Strategy.
- For Growth Product Managers (PMs), AI plays a significant role in acquiring users, improving activation, retention, and monetization.
- AI facilitates rapid prototyping for achieving product-market fit and quick iteration cycles for testing ideas and hypotheses.
- In product-led acquisition, AI enables companies to offer advanced features as an acquisition strategy and supports AI-led content strategies.
- AI can enhance user activation by providing real-time guidance through adaptive onboarding and identifying and resolving friction points.
- For retention, AI can increase user engagement by accelerating feature updates and analyzing user research data to address churn.
- In terms of monetization, AI can aid in brainstorming novel pricing models and understanding industry trends for cross-transfer learnings.
- AI helps in hypothesis generation, experiment prioritization, and faster data exploration for informed decision-making by Growth PMs.
- Growth roadmap and strategy can benefit from AI through competitive insights synthesis, market trend analysis, and sophisticated forecasting.
- A live session will delve deeper into the impact of AI on product growth skills and aims to assist product managers in leveraging AI effectively.
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Leah’s ProducTea
2M
114
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The most common mistakes with Pricing Pages
- B2B SaaS companies often make mistakes on their pricing pages that can sabotage their efforts.
- Hiding prices behind 'Contact Sales' buttons can lead to drops in pipeline quality as modern buyers value transparency.
- Freemium plans should accurately showcase core differentiators and not misalign with how enterprise evaluators test software.
- Feature tables should be optimized for both human readers and machine parsing to improve searchability and comparison.
- Clear and concise summaries of pricing plans are important to avoid confusion and enhance readability.
- Using stage-appropriate social proof, such as logos and testimonials, can help build trust with targeted audiences.
- Tiered transparency is recommended, including displaying list prices, using 'Starts at' for complex solutions, and providing ROI calculators.
- Avoid false summarization and convoluted feature descriptions in pricing pages to ensure clarity for potential buyers.
- Companies should focus on showcasing their differentiators and table stakes clearly to highlight their product's value.
- Targeting the right audience with appropriate social proof and testimonials can increase credibility and trust.
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Lenny's Newsletter
2M
390
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How to win in the AI era: Ship a feature every week, embrace technical debt, ruthlessly cut scope, and create magic your competitors can't copy | Gaurav Misra (CEO and co-founder of Captions)
- Gaurav Misra, CEO of Captions and former Snap product leader, emphasizes shipping marketable features weekly to maintain product relevance amid AI advancements.
- Balancing rapid feature releases with quality maintenance involves cutting scope without compromising timelines, ensuring useful product iterations.
- Captions' strategy of a 'secret roadmap' alongside a public one facilitates innovative feature development to outmaneuver competitors.
- Taking strategic technical debt is crucial for startup agility to surpass larger corporations in innovation and speed.
- Despite neglecting its success initially, Captions grew to 500K users organically, showcasing the importance of identifying and leveraging product-market fit.
- Snap's unique approach of designers functioning as PMs contributed to their success, enabling them to break through as a major social network.
- Understanding customer complaints as prioritization signals aids in focusing on impactful product improvements that resonate with users.
- Gaurav emphasizes the significance of solving genuine problems in AI product development, transcending the hype to deliver value to users.
- Implementing a companywide ideation process at Captions fosters continuous innovation by involving every team member in generating breakthrough ideas.
- Snap's clear delineation of product scope based on mission allowed them to stay focused and make strategic decisions, even when forgoing potential opportunities like TikTok.
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The FishmanAF Newsletter
2M
396
Image Credit: The FishmanAF Newsletter
Stop Messing Up Your Growth Leader Hiring
- Hiring a Growth leader is crucial in a startup's evolution, but the failure rate for Growth leaders is high due to variables like timing, expertise, and organizational alignment.
- At the Pre-Seed & Seed Stage, founders should lead growth efforts to focus on achieving product/market fit before scaling.
- Founder-led growth is effective in the early stages for feedback, product iteration, and understanding growth potential.
- For Series A companies, making the first dedicated growth hire requires a hands-on leader with competency in execution and customer knowledge.
- Prioritizing product-oriented Growth leaders helps in setting up experimentation processes and building growth loops for retention.
- At Series B stage, companies need to move from a single Growth practitioner to a small team to tackle complex and diversified growth challenges.
- Decisions at Series B involve choosing between bringing in a visionary or optimizing growth levers, depending on the validation of the growth model.
- In Series B and beyond, growth leadership at scale involves building organizational capabilities, decentralized structures, and structured experimentation processes.
- Leadership needs in Series B and beyond depend on centralized vs. decentralized structures, with a focus on unifying strategy, budgeting, and forecasting.
- Having a rubric for hiring Growth leaders at different funding stages can help companies avoid missteps and ensure alignment with product readiness and expertise.
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22 Likes
Lenny's Newsletter
2M
89
Image Credit: Lenny's Newsletter
How to ship like a startup
- Mihika Kapoor shares seven lessons on successfully pitching big ideas, rallying a team, and launching new products like a startup within a growing company.
- Figma Slides, initiated bottom-up, quickly gained traction through prototyping, camaraderie, and optimism, surpassing competitors in usage within a year of launch.
- Tips include replacing PRDs with prototypes, building hype by working openly, fostering a unique team culture, finding believers for the team, and involving every team member as a part-time product owner.
- Encouraging a culture of experimentation, sharing work early and frequently, celebrating wins like the Oscars, and empowering passionate team members are highlighted as key strategies.
- Embracing transparency, involving engineers in design decisions, and blurring the boundaries between disciplines are advocated for fostering collaboration and a sense of collective ownership.
- By engaging every team member with users directly, PMs can drive action and innovation based on firsthand user insights, creating a more user-centric development approach.
- Mihika's insights emphasize the importance of speed, experimentation, and team empowerment in maintaining a startup mindset while navigating the challenges of growth within a company.
- The success of Figma Slides serves as a testament to the effectiveness of these strategies in propelling new product initiatives and fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration.
- Overall, the article provides practical guidance for product managers and teams looking to navigate the transition from startup to a larger organization while retaining the agility and innovation characteristic of startups.
- Lessons from Mihika Kapoor's experiences at Figma offer valuable insights into driving product success, fostering a strong team dynamic, and delivering impactful products within a corporate setting.
- By implementing tactics such as prototyping culture, open sharing of progress, and building a team culture based on shared quirks and celebrations, companies can continue to innovate and grow like startups.
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Leah’s ProducTea
2M
77
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Building a Selection Process to find the right candidate
- Building a selection process is crucial to finding the right candidate and avoiding hiring mistakes.
- The selection process optimizes for hiring the best fit and ensuring the right candidates stay in.
- It is essential to know the problems the new hire will solve before writing a job description.
- Assigning clear roles like Decider, Expert, and Informer helps in making effective hiring decisions.
- Crafting stages that both screen and sell is important to attract and retain top talent.
- Providing specific feedback and respecting candidates in the pipeline for future opportunities is beneficial.
- Conducting retrospectives after each search enhances the learning and improvement of the hiring process.
- The article provides a template and guidelines for building an effective selection process.
- Feedback during interviews, clear accountability, and ethical treatment of candidates are emphasized.
- Maintaining a pipeline of potential candidates and continuously iterating the process are key to successful hiring.
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The Beautiful Mess
2M
32
Image Credit: The Beautiful Mess
TBM 347: "Why Don't Our Leaders Care About How We Work?"
- The predominant belief divides people into two camps: process camp and high accountability, integrity, and agency camp, making it difficult to discuss thoughtful operating system design.
- Designing an operating system is a skill that some highly qualified individuals may lack, despite their other valuable contributions to an organization.
- Leadership meetings rarely involve in-depth discussions on ways of working, behaviors, and system design, unless a founder or executive who cares is present.
- Company founders play a significant role in shaping the operating system, and their level of interest and competence in organizational design can impact the company's success.
- Being a great front-line manager does not guarantee skill in designing operating systems for larger groups, leading to challenges when scaling efforts globally.
- Many executives view processes as beneath them and prefer delegating such tasks to support functions, which can hinder effective operating system design.
- Internal pushes to refine ways of working can face resistance from teams preferring more independent approaches, creating a debate between global vs. local methods.
- Some organizational roles responsible for operating system design may lack the necessary experience in human behavior, organizational design, and long-term change management.
- Advocating for change in operating system design may require starting with relatable stories and focusing on specific behaviors as a unifying discussion point.
- Keeping inertia in mind and demonstrating tangible improvements can help overcome skepticism and encourage individuals to engage in enhancing the company's operating system.
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The FishmanAF Newsletter
2M
390
Image Credit: The FishmanAF Newsletter
The Tension of Early Product Communication
- The article discusses the challenge of communicating about a new product within a larger company.
- It introduces a stage-based communication framework consisting of Discovery, Exploration, Viability, Growth, and Sustain.
- During the Discovery phase, communication is limited to the team and immediate product leadership to establish problem/customer fit.
- In the Exploration phase, communication involves select stakeholders like marketing and finance to test solutions for product/market fit.
- The Viability stage focuses on internal beta testing and engaging cross-functional teams while balancing the risk of not achieving product/market fit.
- The Growth phase is marked by involving the whole company, sharing success metrics, feedback, and scaling challenges.
- The article emphasizes the importance of controlling the narrative, avoiding premature hype, and stage-appropriate communication.
- Communication strategies evolve as the product progresses, with recommendations on timing, stakeholder engagement, and avoiding common temptations.
- It concludes by highlighting the complexity of product communication within a larger company and the need for strategic communication practices.
- Overall, the article provides insights on effectively managing communication at different stages of product development to ensure optimal team alignment and minimize misunderstandings.
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ADPList’s Newsletter
2M
259
Image Credit: ADPList’s Newsletter
Salary negotiation 101
- Many professionals feel undervalued when their paychecks do not reflect their true worth, with surveys showing a high percentage of workers feeling underpaid.
- Negotiating salary involves understanding market value, recognizing being shortchanged, and strategically making a case, including steps like identifying if you're underpaid.
- Signs of being underpaid include comparing salary to industry standards, understanding pay gaps, and spotting red flags like increased workload without a raise or new hires earning more.
- Researching market salaries involves using tools like Glassdoor, LinkedIn Salary, and industry benchmarks to determine what you should be earning.
- Networking can provide real salary insights, with the importance of researching and comparing salaries highlighted to have leverage in negotiations.
- When preparing for a salary review, it's essential to evaluate personal accomplishments, track results, and have evidence to negotiate effectively.
- Understanding one's market value and utilizing data for negotiation can shift conversations towards fair compensation based on skills and industry standards.
- Considering factors like experience, skills, and location can impact earnings, highlighting the importance of knowing one's worth in the job market.
- Recognizing the importance of research, networking, and leveraging data to advocate for fair compensation is key in salary negotiations.
- Arming oneself with facts and approaching negotiations confidently based on researched market salaries can lead to better outcomes in advocating for fair pay.
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Lenny's Newsletter
2M
273
Image Credit: Lenny's Newsletter
Which companies produce the best product managers
- In a subscriber-only newsletter, a deep dive was done into which companies produce the best product managers, looking at successful alumni founders and career acceleration.
- The analysis focused on the past 10 years of data and identified top companies like Airbnb, DoorDash, Salesforce, and Dropbox.
- A key factor considered was the number of successful alumni founders, with Palantir leading and Intercom, Dropbox, Plaid among the top.
- Chime stood out for producing a high percentage of alumni who not only start companies but also raise a Series A funding round.
- Companies like Scale, Palantir, Stripe, and Coinbase were highlighted for alumni founding successful venture-scale startups.
- Intercom was found to accelerate PM careers the most, excelling in internal promotions, external promotions, time to promotion, and reaching leadership positions.
- Revolut and Nubank followed closely in career acceleration rankings, while companies like Palantir, Deel, and HubSpot also performed well in various categories.
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14 Likes
Lenny's Newsletter
2M
44
Image Credit: Lenny's Newsletter
A field guide for introverts: How to thrive at work without changing who you are | Susan Cain (author of "Quiet")
- Susan Cain, author of 'Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking,' provides a guide for introverts to excel at work authentically.
- Cain emphasizes that success doesn't require introverts to become more extroverted but to embrace their true selves.
- Key takeaways include understanding introversion, strategies for success in business without sacrificing temperament, and managing energy-draining situations.
- Tips encompass creating environments where introverted team members thrive, learning to say no, and leveraging strengths instead of focusing on becoming extroverted.
- To support introverted children, gradually expose them to new situations with patience.
- Successful introverts focus on aligning their career with their natural temperament and finding role models for inspiration.
- Techniques for effective meeting participation, developing deep work time, and showcasing expertise through written content are highlighted.
- Public speaking fear can be overcome through incremental desensitization strategies.
- Introversion is a temperament to leverage, not a trait to overcome, with many successful individuals being introverts.
- The episode covers introversion, public speaking anxiety, career strategies for introverts, effective meeting participation, and creating supportive work environments.
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The Beautiful Mess
2M
383
Image Credit: The Beautiful Mess
TBM 345: Back On Track
- After a longer gap between posts due to family reasons, new updates are now on track.
- The article focuses on three thoughts on change and leadership, highlighting the challenges of transformation.
- Leaders experienced in product management may struggle with the patience required for organizational change.
- Adapting to rapid disruptions and shifts in business dynamics can be a daunting task for leaders.
- Navigating transformation requires a unique set of skills distinct from product leadership.
- Understanding the context and expiration date can enhance willingness for change among individuals.
- Providing strategic context can improve decision-making and speed of execution within teams.
- Leaders are encouraged to prompt their teams for insights on decisions that could benefit from more strategic context.
- Reviewing responses and providing the necessary context can lead to actionable insights for better decision-making.
- It is essential for leaders to understand the implications of different decision-making scenarios within their organizations.
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ADPList’s Newsletter
2M
447
Image Credit: ADPList’s Newsletter
Only 30 seconds to reject your portfolio?
- Hiring managers typically spend only about 30 seconds reviewing design portfolios, leading to swift rejections.
- Matej Latin suggests that portfolios often fail due to what's missing rather than flashy visuals.
- Common mistakes include quality issues like small images and grammatical errors, generic titles, and failing to capture the reader's attention.
- It's crucial to establish context clearly, avoid overly long case studies, and steer clear of generic language that lacks clarity.
- Articulating one's contributions clearly, as opposed to using 'we' excessively, and telling a compelling story in the portfolio are recommended.
- The importance of avoiding cookie-cutter templates and focusing on storytelling to showcase problem-solving skills is emphasized.
- Underlying issues like communication skills, linear design processes, and lack of attention to detail are highlighted as potentially affecting portfolio quality.
- Clear communication and storytelling, along with addressing underlying issues, are crucial for creating an impactful design portfolio.
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Lenny's Newsletter
2M
388
Image Credit: Lenny's Newsletter
Why you’re so angry at work (and what to do about it)
- Executive coach Natalie Rothfels has noticed a trend of anger among co-founder clients, leading to a guide for transforming anger into wisdom at work.
- Anger arises when expertise, autonomy, values, or identity is challenged, but it should be skillfully engaged with, not suppressed.
- Anger is a valuable emotion signaling unmet needs; exploding or withdrawing responses can harm relationships and productivity.
- Recognizing the physical and emotional signs of anger helps in the transformation process.
- Pivoting inward to understand the root cause of anger and the unmet emotional needs is crucial.
- Identifying the unmet need behind anger helps in turning anger into actionable insights for future responses.
- Daily practices such as journaling and mindful breathing can aid in recognizing and transforming anger patterns.
- Exploring the emotions that underlie anger and linking them to core needs can facilitate constructive responses.
- The process of recognizing, understanding, and transforming anger can lead to more effective communication and decision-making at work.
- By addressing unmet needs and transforming anger into wisdom, professionals can navigate workplace conflicts with greater resilience and emotional intelligence.
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