No One Has a Vision for Your Product — Now What?
“Why are we building this?” This is a painful question for product managers. Maybe you have mumbled it when sales pushed through a new feature to close a deal. Or when…
Leadership
Set a clear strategy for company and product success so you stay grounded in what you want to achieve. Find practical advice on goal-setting, cross-functional planning, prioritization, and leadership.
Hey Product Manager: Stop Listening to the Sales Team
Being a product manager is a balancing act. You need to be super responsive to the requests of colleagues and customers. But you also need to give them what they actually…
The Founder’s Paradox: How to Create Space for New Ideas in a Company That Is Already Wildly Successful
What does it mean to “create space”? It is interesting because the word “space” is both vague and specific. It can be a blank area or a boundless expanse or even the…
The Founder’s Paradox: How to Say No When Big Customers Say Yes
It is harder to say “no” than it is to say “yes.” This is not just my opinion. There is significant research devoted to this concept. Acquiescence bias, social…
The Founder’s Paradox: How to Reject Work/Life Balance and Still Have a Happy Team
I reject work/life balance. I always have. But some people find this hard to understand at first, which is why I share my perspective on the topic fairly often. So, it…
The Founder’s Paradox: How to Succeed When Most Founders Fail
Every summer I go on a backpacking trip to the Sierras in California. This year it was to the Emigrant Wilderness, just north of Yosemite. Jagged granite peaks, ice-blue…
The Founder’s Paradox: How to Be an Entrepreneur When No One Is Born an Innovator
What do you whisper to yourself when you think no one is listening? <p>“I am not a words person.”<br /> “I am terrified of speaking in public — because I am terribly…
The Founder’s Paradox: How to Promote for Achievement and Not Tenure
The word “promote” is interesting in a subtle way. It can mean different things depending on the context. Advancing in rank or placement. Contributing to growth or…
