Feb 7Home automation and early adoptersI realized this weekend that home automation is still in the early adopter stage. How do I know? Two things. One, there are multiple standards. You must be sure you’re getting something compatible with your system: Apple or Google or Amazon. …Home Automation2 min read
Nov 14, 2021Procurator producto, primo, nihil noce (Product Manager: First do no harm)I have a Toyota Prius from 2016. This weekend, Toyota pushed a mandatory update to the car’s Entune media and navigation system that disabled the Alexa capability offered in the last mandatory update. It was a poor implementation but I got a kick out of it. A search for answers…Product Management2 min read
Nov 12, 2021Quit your company todayIn my 25 years of coaching, I have worked with thousands of product professionals. Many reach out to me for career coaching — which honestly isn’t really my specialty. That said, I do have some strong opinions to share. Quit your company I’m not suggesting you actually quit your job. However, I encourage…Job Hunting4 min read
Nov 7, 2021Tips for Naming Your Product or CompanyI have created many company names including Under10 Consulting and Product Growth Leaders. For Under10 Consulting, my personal website, I argue that people should reduce the number of methods and outputs for their product processes to under ten. But in the end, that company name is too obscure and somewhat…Product Management3 min read
Aug 31, 2021Returning to Work and Hybrid Meeting SpacesIs Hybrid the New Normal? Discussions abound about the value of working from a corporate office versus working from home. Everyone has a personal story to tell. · I don’t miss my 90-minute commute · I like eating lunch with my family · I have a better office setup at home than at work But…Hybrid Work5 min read
Feb 27, 2021I Hate Green Screen (there’s a better way)How to look like a pro in your virtual meetings with OBS. Green screen looks fake. In my experience, virtual backgrounds simply don’t look real. Maybe it’s the angle — like you’re sitting on the floor in the background’s “pretend office.” And really, is anybody’s room so neat and tidy…Obs5 min read
Sep 18, 2020Metrics for Product ProfessionalsWhat should you measure? Focus on Today, Next, and Future. It’s difficult to determine relevant metrics for product managers because the product management role is inconsistent from company to company. There are actually three roles of product management: business strategy, technical planning, and growth tactics. Growth tactics impact the products we have today — finding ways to sell more of…Metrics3 min read
Jan 2, 2020Standardize your team with ProductOpsProductOps is a specialized role that normalizes the product function across all products and services. When a company is small, the product manager (by whatever title) is responsible for activities across the entire product life cycle-from ideation to market delivery and sales support. In these organizations, the product role is that of a generalist. As the product team expands, we see specialized roles emerge. Strategic…Product Management3 min read
Dec 19, 2019Define Roles & ResponsibilitiesWhat are the primary artifacts and activities for each role in your organization? What one organization calls product management, another calls product marketing. For smaller companies, a product manager is often responsible for both product marketing and sales engineering. In larger companies, we start seeing specialized roles centered around business strategy, product release planning, and go-to-market/sales enablement.Product Management2 min read
Dec 19, 2019The Confusion of Roles & Responsibilities in ProductThe industry continues to be confused by the titles, roles, and responsibilities in product management. Product management focuses on problems to be solved for a market full of customers: defining and delivering the right products by empowering teams with clarity on problems-problems to be solved either in the product or…4 min read
