Product Habits - 40+ timeless startup principles

The Most Underrated Skills of Product Leaders

This past week, Scott Belsky tweeted about four of the most underestimated skills of product leaders. It got me thinking about what I'd add to the list based on some of the best product leaders I know. I think it's vital to have above-average context switching skills. What would you add to this list?

How To Approach Founder-Led Sales

When it comes to early-stage sales, there is so much a founder is trying to figure out. I appreciate what Alex Kracov did during his early sales calls: positioning them as feedback calls intended to figure out how to make the product better, not generate revenue. He asked himself: What are the features we need to build to get the customer excited about the product? This is a great question to center founder-led sales around at the early stages of building a company. 

Most Startup Pivots Aren't Actually Pivots

Hunter Walk makes a good point when he says most startup pivots aren't actual pivots. He notes that early on, a company has just three things: a problem to be solved, a customer segment who has that problem, and a notion of the product to be built. If you're changing one or two of these factors, it's usually not a pivot. It is only a pivot when shifting to a completely different set of problems, customers, and product. Do you agree?

What Product Does Your Customer Buy First?

Here's a shocking statistic: The typical mid-market company purchases 137 SaaS products. Your customers and prospects aren't purchasing only one solution for all of their needs. Figure out what people are buying right before they buy your product. Then partner with those companies and accelerate adoption with technical integrations.

Competitive Analysis for Product Engineers

Most software engineers aren't responsible for competitive analysis—PMs or marketers often do it. But there are a few reasons why it might be helpful for engineers to take on this work directly. By paying closer attention to direct competition, they'll get feasibility and solution signals. It also helps to look at competitors in adjacent markets to understand what best-in-class looks like for specific features. Here are some heuristics you can use to get started.

What Mailchimp's $12B Acquisition Reveals

Last week, Intuit acquired Mailchimp for $12 billion in cash and stock. If this indicates anything, it's that email marketing isn't going anywhere. No matter what kind of business you're growing, it's essential to build your email list. If you haven't done it yet, start now. 

The Best 10-Step Checklist To Improve Email Deliverability

If you're already incorporating email marketing, but your open rates are low, or your bounce rates are high, it's time to work on email deliverability. This 10-step checklist will help you set up the correct technical configurations, work on email personalization, and analyze metrics more effectively. 

How To Drastically Increase Website Conversion

Before you spend money on driving traffic to your website, focus on optimizing your conversion rate. You can do several things—from increasing site speed and introducing more tracking to improving copywriting clarity and strengthening CTAs. Focus on each aspect of website optimization one at a time, and you're sure to see conversion improvements over the next six months.