Product Habits - 15 high-impact management principles

Finding Your North Star

When making a big career decision, it's worth thinking about what your north star—your ideal, ultimate professional destination—is first. Getting clear on where you want to be in the future will help you make better decisions in the present. The "traffic light approach" will help you figure out what you should be optimizing for in both the short- and long-term. 

Consider Channel/Offer Fit Instead of Product/Market Fit

I'm convinced that telling founders they need to find product/market fit isn't constructive advice on its own. I like Jakob Greenfeld's suggestion: Think about channel/offer fit instead. Here's what that looks like in practice.

How To Know When To Pivot

Startup traction takes time, and it's often difficult to determine if you're making progress until you hit a significant milestone. So how do you know when to keep pushing forward or pivot? The feedback on this thread is filled with helpful advice if you're asking yourself this question. 

The Highest-Paid Person's Opinion

The HiPPO Effect happens when the highest-paid person's opinion negatively impacts the product team and the customer. If a leader imposes their opinions, it can lead to making uninformed decisions. If you want to avoid falling prey to this effect, here are some things you can do.

The Biggest Misconception About Product Management

One of the biggest misconceptions about product management is that it is a paint-by-numbers, formulaic role. But, in reality, it requires more craft than procedure, and there is no one right way. If you're growing into a PM role, focus on improving these coachable areas and learning from as many seasoned mentors as possible.

The Most Powerful Person in the World

Steve Jobs used to say that the most powerful person in the world is the storyteller. He was an exceptional storyteller with a keen ability to transfer his energy and excitement to an audience. This is an excellent list of seven things he did when he gave Apple keynotes. They'll help you become a more compelling storyteller, too. 

Competitor Analysis for a New Product Category

Pulling together competitor analysis can be tricky if you build a product in a new category. Using the jobs-to-be-done theory will help you understand your product's unique value and find alternates or substitutes to use as benchmarks. The JTBD-based analysis would end up looking something like this.

From 0 to $70B ARR: The Story Behind AWS

Twenty years ago, Amazon quietly launched a cloud infrastructure side business. It now produces over $70B in annual revenue, representing more than half of Amazon's total revenue. But few know the whole story about AWS, which operates in the shadows. I enjoyed reading this recap about the nuanced history and product lessons we can learn from the infrastructure giant.