Developer Advocates for your domain

Today, I was reminded of the incredible power of developer advocates.

These superstars are former engineers who are excellent at communicating with other engineers.

They often have a mix of superpowers. Some are great at writing, others are running webinars, and yet others might be most effective at running hackathons or developing sample code.

They do this with the credibility engineers demand but with the finesse that marketing requires.

I wonder how many deep technical businesses/products require this kind of advocate for their domain.

PMs vs Everyone else

In relation to "identifying problems," the difference between PMs and general employees (those who have to use the software systems and live with the products) at a company is...

1. Good product judgment, taste, and perspective

2. Principled prioritization

3. Detailed requirements analysis

4. Methodical execution until solved

If you want to switch to PM, you need to get past the general sense of "there are problems everywhere" and get to specificity and clarity until problems are solved - one by one.

Dangerous Domain Experts

One of the most dangerous combinations of founders is the Domain Expert + The Engineering Wiz.

Why?

Because the Domain Expert tends to have a deep understanding of the breadth and depth of the problem and tends to believe it ALL needs to be solved on day one. The Engineering Wiz tends to embrace the complexity and dutifully and diligently build ALL the things.

What do they need to derisk their journey?

A product leader with taste and judgment.

The product leader can push back on requirements, find embarrassingly thin slices to build and ship, and ensure that technology becomes a product before moving into adjacent areas of the domain.

Magic + Bravery

Consider...

1. Startups are magical, and they defy gravity.

2. Being a founder is an act of bravery in the face of great uncertainty.

So, Startups are magic performed by brave people.

A tip for more effective OKRs

Ensure your team's OKRs align with a measurable business outcome—particularly the Key Results.

Even if your team is not directly responsible for the delivery of some given value to a customer or partner, it might be beneficial to measure the final delivery rather than just the underlying supporting work.

For Example:

If you're a science team delivering a new piece of supporting scientific literature to the go-to-market team. A mediocre OKR would be...

"Deliver 3 pieces of research."

However, a better approach would be to share the following OKR between both teams...

"Deliver 5 webinars on new research to 200+ doctors"

Now BOTH the science team AND the GTM team are responsible for creating AND delivering the content to market.

This helps in many ways...

1. It forces your team to be accountable for final and commercial outcome

2. It encourages you only to admit work into your team that will deliver real value

3. It facilitates pressure from your team to the client team

4. It gives execs visibility into work that's being completed but not delivered to market.

No more buck-passing, no more busy work, no more research developed but not delivered, and no more hidden wasted work that does not deliver value to customers.

You're probably wrong about that

Remember: All new and counterintuitive data at first appears wrong.

If...

1. You've been stuck at a given level or problem for some time, and you ask someone for help

2. That person has a genuinely insightful answer borne of experience and judgment

Then, their answer will likely be incongruent with your prior way of thinking.

Your first instinct will be to reject it as WRONG.

The fact is that YOU (your judgment or mental model) about that given issue are likely WRONG.

Allow for this possibility.

Attempt to have a learner's mindset.

Reminders about speed and value delivery:

1. Focus on your Goals/OKRs - unless if OKRs no longer reflect what’s best for the company

2. Remember that time slicing slows everything down - Delay work that isn’t the #1 priority and focus on getting value delivered to market (not just getting busy work done).

3. Don’t put off to next week what you can do THIS week. Meetings, decisions, deliverables. Do it fast and well.

4. Avoid leaning into research, bureaucracy, or dogma that doesn’t matter to immediate commercial goals. Except when it comes to sensitive topics like health/scientific evidence, making progress in roughly in the right direction is better than days, weeks or months of “research” or “debate”.

5. If it’s not a) shipped to the public b) discoverable by everyone that needs it c) evergreen, repeatable, scalable - then it basically does. not. exist.

6. Do NOT trade money for time. If you can spend a little more money to save a lot of time (hiring someone better, buying a better piece of software, buying a report etc) then DO it.

#startups #scaleups #startupsnippets #consultingconvos #scale #speed #hustle #culture

Keep grinding

Very few product iterations unlock massive new value and growth "all of a sudden". No matter what sales, marketing, and research might suggest.

Product is about small incremental improvements that ladder up to massive value over time.

Have a plan, keep grinding, and consistently add incremental value over time.

#startups #scaleups #sales #marketing #startupsnippets #consultingconvos

Complex problems require sophisticated models

Most tough problems (of all categories) are the result of complex interplays of multiple parts/causes + a complex misunderstanding, conflation or ignorance of those parts... all combined together.

This, however, does not make it impossible to create a narrative/model that helps drive alignment and direction for all the key stakeholders to use when making decisions about the next (many) steps. In fact it makes it essential.

Often, there might even be multiple tracks of work to address the multiple root causes in parallel.

No model is perfect, but some models can be (very) useful.

For example: I often do this for medium to large companies who are struggling with dysfunction and inefficiency in their R&D teams.

The problem is often rooted in EVERYTHING from implicit assumptions, business strategy, capital availability, org design, product strategy, roadmaps, quality of people, incentives etc etc.

Once the problem is well defined, a comprehensive, multi-track, multi-step plan (executed in iterations with adjustments along the way) is possible.

#startups #scaleups #strategy #problemsolving #startupsnippets #consultingconvos

Clarity is a superpower

One of the most powerful things you can do as a product leader is to remove ambiguity, indecision and confusion.

Sometimes this is through data, through consensus building, through stakeholder interviews etc

Sometimes it's about using your taste, intuition and judgement to declare something true.

Clarity is a rare and powerful superpower to have, and to bestow.

Are you aiming high enough?

A big part of what I seem to do on teams is help them to lift their gaze up to the horizon and think bigger.

Why hire that candidate who's "good enough" just because they're local and happened to apply? Hire 10x people who can change the quality and cadence of your whole company.

If they aren't applying for your startup, find them on LinkedIn and get them on the phone - one way or another.

Go big, or go home.

Wedge in the world

It’s sometimes useful to think about your early stage startup as a wedge.

The sharp part of the wedge is the reason people will initially take a moment from their busy lives to sign up and engage with you. It’s what you insert into the world as a kind foothold. To succeed here, the wedge needs to address a real, immediate and fairly obvious pain. The more obvious and urgent the problem, and the lower the barrier entry, the sharper the edge and more likely it is to successfully cut through the noise.

The fat part of the wedge is where you eventually lead your users and how your business evolves into adjacencies. To succeed here, you need a plan to build moats, move into adjacencies, monetize and win. There’s almost always more you can do to increase value and retention here. The richer and larger you can make this part of the wedge the better - and the more likely you are to be on track for a unicorn.

#consultingconvos #startups #scaleups #startupsnippets #wedgeintheworld

Euphemisms and platitudes have their limits

Some people speak in euphemisms and platitudes.

I speak directly and bluntly - particularly as an advisor.

I always want my meaning and the implications of what I'm saying to be crystal clear so that founders and operators understand what to do and how to do it.

My belief is that there's already too much confusion and noise in the world. Having people around who can help cut through the nonsense and help you see the world clearly is invaluable.

In an upcoming episode of The Startup Podcast, I talk bluntly about how to scale ops. It involves putting people into more well-defined roles and making them more interchangeable and replaceable.

Hard subject - but essential to know.

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Are you the kind of PM I'm looking for?

I was just asked what kind of PM I'm looking for in a candidate interview.

I've previously listed a lot of the great traits a PM needs in various forums. Even recorded a whole episode about it on The Startup Podcast.

But really, it boils down to this answer I gave on the fly:

• Optimism/Conviction: To lean in and focus on the user above all else.

• Cognitive Horsepower/Intuition: To recalculate quickly and work around roadblocks that get in the way.

• Craft/Consensus building: Rally the team to have the first two.

The AI Game has changed

The AI Game has changed.

It was about the power of the models.

Now, it's about the elegance and distribution of the products built on top.

OpenAI and Google latest announcements make it clear that they are not competing at the UX/Use-case/Surface area level.

Apps that DON'T require large-scale multiplayer (E.g. social networks) or real-world interaction (E.g Uber or AirBnB) are likely to be generated on the fly by the core LLMs.

As a result - and unlike previous revolutions - it's unclear how AI presents new long-term opportunities for a large ecosystem of players. A LOT of the new value will be captured by the top players with existing users, distribution, data, devices, and trust.

A lot of startups and more established companies will be disrupted.

What if you could guarantee that the quarter is going to finish strong?

I've been helping a lot of companies to avoid wasted time and money while achieving killer results.

I figured it was time to give a little status update on recent wins that might inspire some of you to think bigger and win the quarter.

Here are some case studies from the last 6 months…

Company 1
Problem: Independent founder who had tried to build his product 3 times - each time missing the mark and getting derailed by market forces. He was wasting a lot of money and a LOT of opportunity cost.

How I helped: Together, we built an incredible Product and GTM story that finally resonated with users and disrupted the status quo. I helped eliminate the indecisions and confusion and imposed the discipline, focus, and attention to detail needed to build something great.

Company 2
Problem: A publicly listed company was experiencing Product + Engineering challenges. Low productivity, interpersonal conflicts, and nothing meaningful getting done. The company was burning millions of dollars and risking tens of millions in market cap.

How I helped: I got to the source of their product and engineering challenges by going upstream and fixing their business strategy and org chart. Facilitated a deep dive into their core areas of focus, product, and company principles and re-designed the entire org chart. Turned them into a truly product-led company and eliminated the real root cause of the issues. They now have an exciting product strategy based on market disruption and high-quality execution.

Company 3
Problem: The company had a range of disconnected point products that were a) not retaining users b) not driving cross-product sales. The company was quickly running out of runway and risking its chance of raising the next round.

How I helped: I supercharged cross-selling and transitioned them to subscription revenue. I did this by creating a unified organizing principle between the products and a delightful self-serve user experience that rationalized all the products into a single product suite. The suite can now deliver ongoing use-value that drives retention and unlocks a subscription pricing model.

Company 4
Problem: A consumer hygiene company was crushing it with viral campaigns on social media but couldn’t figure out how to become a sustainable business with a great brand. Metrics were going sideways, and the runway was running out.

How I helped: Designed and implemented a growth engine with an incredible onboarding journey. I helped them reimagine their brand as a more sophisticated and high-end player with something meaningful to say. They're now moving to the US with a confident and effective story about who they are and how they've changed the hygiene game.

Regulations. What are they?

Ideally: They are industry guardrails based on the best thinking of government agencies.

Typically: They are the calcification of the outdated thinking of bureaucrats and commercial lobbyists. A form of legal dogma.

Ideally: They are designed to guide industry action and outcomes to ensure customers and countries are protected from risk.

Typically: They are great for stopping bad actors from hurting people but bad for well-meaning innovators trying to ethically solve problems based on first principles.

As a founder of a Silicon Valley-style startup aiming to disrupt the status quo, they are rarely your friend.

Engage skeptically and vigorously to avoid derailing your vision.

I discuss this a lot in a recent episode of The Startup Podcast.

What is innovation?

1. Some people tend to believe that innovation is mostly about breaking new research ground and IP Generation.

2. Some people tend to believe that innovation is mostly about delivering products and services to market that positively disrupt the status quo, making things better, cheaper, and/or faster.

Make sure you're talking about the same innovation with your team, stakeholders, and investors.

They are NOT the same, and they require VERY different mindsets, motions and outcomes.

Silicon Valley-style startups tend to be biased toward the second category.

Language matters. Alignment matters.

What does it mean to talk to customers and validate your ideas?

What does it mean to talk to customers and validate your ideas?

You talk to customers and other stakeholders to...

a) Collect ideas/feedback about new features or in response to early prototypes

b) Interpret and digest the feedback into the strategy, architecture, and design of the ideal product vision

However, be careful.

Digesting feedback does not mean accepting all feedback.

Instead, it's really about...

a) Listening to the underlying truth/pain/problem of what's being said

b) Deciding if what you hear is 1. a real problem, 2. meaningfully affects PMF, 3. something that's on-strategy/within scope to solve

If the above is true... then it's essential that the feedback is translated into a minimal set of concepts/features/ideas across the various phases and features of the product strategy and roadmap.

In other words, you don't collect feedback and execute. Incredible taste, judgment, and craft must be involved.

Also, remember, the ultimate validation is putting things in front of people and seeing if they use it. Everything other than that is subject to a LOT of noise from stakeholders trying to be...

a) Smart

b) Helpful

c) Confused

The problem rabbit hole

The problem you’re working on goes way deeper and has many more exciting agencies that you first realized.

This is likely true of almost every problem and startup opportunity, ever.

The challenge is that a lack of focus blinds you to this fact. You end up being too busy dealing with the obvious and distracted by the superfluous.

When you truly focus, though, the beautiful and maddening complexity starts to reveal itself. Along with the opportunity found within.

That’s when the fun REALLY begins.

That’s when becoming a monopoly in your niche (and massive scale) becomes possible.

#startups #scaleups #productstrategy #productmanagement #focus #scale