Garry Tan argues that all good startups must be able to answer, “Why now?” to their idea. “Why Now?” is the million-dollar question that everyone dreaming of the next big idea needs to answer. There’s nothing new under the sun, so chances are that any idea you have has already been thought of. It has …
Product Management
Are you giving back?
Photo by J W on Unsplash We’ll all encounter challenges in our careers. Times when we feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do. With recession concerns and increasing layoffs, many people are entering a season like that. This a perfect time to consider how we are giving back to others around us. In the …
What is it worth?
Often with the best intentions, we listen to our customers (internal and external). We create feedback forms, surveys, and more to ensure we’re listening. Listening is so important to a great product, because as the product team you don’t have all of the answers. Listening alone though isn’t enough. The input must be validated to …
Principles vs Rules
Certifications are an information-dense method of getting up to speed on the work we do as product managers. But they also can mislead us into thinking that this set of rules or process we learn are a recipe for success. We can forget to think about them as principles to guide, and we fail to …
Are you leaving dirty dishes?
The Man Who Didn’t Wash His Dishes by Phyllis Krasilosky is an old children’s story about a man who decides one day, tired after a big meal, to put off doing the dishes. The next day, the same thing happened, and the next, and the next, until there are no dishes left! You can find …
What are you walling out?
I find myself quick to say no, to shut out an idea that I don’t like at first glance. Sometimes it’s a coping mechanism because I feel too busy. Other times it’s because I prejudged without fully understanding. But Robert Frost in his poem, “Mending Wall” puts it this way: “Before I build a wall …
Distracted by shiny things?
Several years ago a leader in the radio industry reminded me of how easily we get distracted by shiny new things. He pointed out that having great radio shows and lucrative advertising deals was seen as so important for a radio station. The first drove listenership and the second drove profits. As a radio station …
Would you switch phones?
Would you replace your iPhone with an Android phone? What if the Android phone was 50% cheaper? 75% cheaper? I recently asked my undergraduate students this question, and all of the iPhone users (most of the class) gave a resounding answer of “No!” I’ve been primarily an Android user since the iPhone 3G, but I’ve …
Do you want to be the best?
A friend recently shared this video with me that captures the extremes Zappos will go to provide the best customer service. Many of us would like to see our company or team emulate this level of customer service. We put out inspirational goals about becoming known for providing the best customer service. Maybe at your …
What are your competitors doing?
What warning signs from your competitors might you be missing? Just before the start of World War II, pilots from Japan set numerous flight records outlined in a recent Air & Space article: “The flight of the Mitsubishi Ki-15 was the first of an impressive series of Japanese distance and endurance flights during the buildup …