Domain Experience: A Must-Have for Product Managers?
Where is domain experience important and how does one gain the knowledge As a product manager, one of the most frequently asked questions I get from aspiring PMs in my coaching sessions is, “Do I need domain experience to be successful?” The answer, like many things in product management, is nuanced. While domain expertise can certainly be advantageous, it’s not always […]
Don’t do customer interviews, unless..
The right way to do customer discovery and interviews By now you have read 100s of articles and books and blogs about the power of customer discovery and talking to customers. If you are a startup, you are advised to do early discovery and even solicit early customers before you actually have a product. If […]
How to truly think about designing value proposition in B2B
Value proposition design for your B2B product At a superficial level, value proposition means building something that creates value for your customers. It’s a good starting point but not sufficient to explain it, and more importantly, not sufficient to design a product you can sell. Many startups and product managers use superficial terms to explain […]
Avoid the RICE prioritization
RICE can be easily manipulated I dislike RICE. (Not the edible one which I enjoy in almost all cuisines.) I am sure you have heard about this prioritization method and even applied it. Today, I will make the case why you should not use it and what is the alternative. What is RICE? RICE is […]
Lessons Building Products with Limited Resources
How to ensure success in a resource constrained environments I’ve always felt like a bit of an underdog as a product manager. Based in the Bay Area, I’m surrounded by folks working at tech giants like Google, Amazon, Meta, and the like. For a long time, I thought that to truly experience product management, […]
Early Stage B2B Sales for Tech Founders
Why is sales so hard for tech founders and how to overcome If you are a founder selling to B2B, then this is for you. In the early stages of your startup, the founders are responsible finding and closing customers. But sales is hard especially if you are a techie founder. I meet many startup […]
Handling the DIY objection for B2B startups
Your biggest competition is a customer building the solution in house For B2B Saas products, frequently the alternative is not a competitor of yours but Engineering or IT teams building in house. The DIY alternative. Many applications that are not core to the company will of course be outsourced e.g. CRM, ERP, calendar scheduling, eSignature. […]
How to incorporate AI in your product roadmap
Incorporate AI in your product, but not for the sake of it. It’s a legit question and every company in the world is scrambling to get AI into their product. If your product is AI first e.g. video generators or image classifications, then you are looking out for the market/segment who will find the […]
15 learnings from 15 years of product management
15 years ago my life changed. I joined a startup as Employee #2 in August 2009. Fresh off an MBA and a course from the great Steve Blank, I was super eager to try my hand at a startup. I signed up for 3 months and ended up staying for 6 years. This startup experience […]
Why Emotional and Social Jobs are the Secret Weapons of Product Success
Are emotional and social jobs important to consider? Are you familiar with the Jobs-to-be-Done (JTBD) framework? It’s a powerful tool that goes beyond simply understanding what features users want, but rather why they need them. The JTBD framework breaks down user needs into three distinct categories: functional, emotional, and social. While the functional job might […]
