Product Habits - Product-market fit is a silly term

What I Worked On

Paul Graham wrote a long essay about the things he's learned and worked on over the years, starting from a young age. He did it to figure out what other things he could work on next, reflecting on how he'd chosen what to work on in the past. In his words, "I was surprised by how long and messy the answer turned out to be. If this surprised me, who'd lived it, then I thought perhaps it would be interesting to other people, and encouraging to those with similarly messy lives." Reading this was a good reminder that career paths are often long, winding, and unexpected roads. It's okay—and normal—for it to look and feel messy along the way. 

Focus on Your First Systems, Not Just Your First Hires

The Chief of Staff role is becoming increasingly common at startups. The main job of a CoS is typically to help make the CEO more effective, prioritize time, and optimize workflows. From his vantage point as Chief of Staff at Hashi Corp, Kevin Fishner shares why he believes startups should focus as much on early systems and they do on early hires. One of the most valuable takeaways from this read for me was creating rituals around "sources of truth," like planning summits and OKRs. Check out his playbook for building effective startup systems. 

When Executives Break

When your company is scaling rapidly post-product-market fit, one of the biggest determinants of growth is the composition and quality of your executive team. These are three telling signs an executive isn't scaling well with the organization, as well as some viable options for addressing each situation. Have you noticed any of these challenges pop up on your executive team? 

Why "Product-Market Fit" Is a Silly Term

You'd think with so many people talking about product-market fit, there would be a clear definition. But if you ask 10 people what it really means, you're likely to get close to 10 different answers. What phrase would be better? Using simpler words that can be understood quickly, like "extreme growth." Do you agree?

Practical Advice for Product Managers at Early-Stage Startups

Founders at early-stage companies have three important roles: visionary, executor, and people manager. It's not uncommon for a founder to over-index on one of the three. If you're a startup product manager, this is helpful advice for working with each of the three types. In a nutshell:

• With a visionary leader, become the executor
• With an executor leader, create co-creator situations
• With a people leader, bring conflict resolution techniques to the table

How to Actually Use Clubhouse

Everyone is talking about Clubhouse right now, which is a fairly straightforward audio-only social media app—at least on its surface. As the app grows in awareness, though, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to best utilize the platform (and if you should at all). This is a helpful guide if you're just getting your bearings. It covers all of the basics—from setting up a compelling profile and using the explore page, to starting a club and scheduling a room. 

We've Been Defining Product Marketing Wrong

Most tech startups will say their first marketing hire needs to be a product marketer. But, what does that even mean? I found this to be a helpful guide to audience-focused product marketing. It will help you gain a better understanding of what product marketing actually should be, what responsibilities a product marketer should assume, and how to emphasize audience marketing and analysis in the process. Check it out here. 

Why SaaS Companies Are Giving Away Their Products

In the past, the most important customer target for SaaS companies was end buyers. Now, it's shifting to end users. This change only accelerated due to COVID-19. This has led to a significant shift in how companies sell their products, with more emphasis placed on offering free product tiers. The value of free plans and trials has never been more evident than it is today. If your company doesn't have a free option, it's worth considering adding one soon.