Product Habits - Facebook's future vision

Meta

This week, Facebook announced that it is renaming itself to Meta. It is tempting to compare this change to Google's 2015 reorganization to Alphabet, but it's different. Alphabet didn't mean anything in particular, but Meta is explicit. Facebook is now a metaverse company, and its vision relates to a future that doesn't exist yet. What do you think about Facebook's new name?

Microsoft's Satya Nadella on Flexible Work and the Metaverse

I enjoyed this interview with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who dives into the new world of work and how the tech giant is adjusting to set itself up for success. I appreciate Satya's emphasis on remaining flexible as many industries adjust to hybrid work. He's also got some interesting thoughts on the metaverse. Check out the full interview here.

When Should You Worry About Competition in SaaS?

Investor Jared Sleeper recently shared his SaaS investing framework, and one of the factors he pays attention to is competition. He makes the point that competitive risks are usually overstated for big SaaS companies, and I agree. But he does say it's scary to be an investor in an incumbent company when these two conditions are present.

When You Should Hire Your First Product Manager

Two things make for a successful product: vision and management. The former usually comes from the founder at early-stage startups, but the latter typically comes from a product hire. It helps to bring a great PM on board early. This is a helpful guide for defining, recruiting, and onboarding your first product person.

Reflecting on a Career in Product Management

Ken Norton has learned some valuable product management lessons in the past 20 years. I appreciate his reflections on product management being more of an "art" than a "science" over the long term. Even if you're not in a PM role, I recommend taking Ken's advice: Write your resume in ten years. Imagine doing the job you want in the future, and take steps toward it now. Here are some more career lessons for PMs—and beyond.

How To Engage an Audience

You can be a person telling a story, or you can be a storyteller. Julian Shapiro says the latter is about "the art of strategically withholding information," which is an interesting distinction. Storytelling isn't just for professional speakers—it's for everyone, especially company leaders. Reading this will make you better at it. 

Building a Sales Team in a High-Growth Environment

It's the quintessential startup challenge: Build your company quickly but intentionally. One of the most critical teams you have to nail early is sales since they will often be the first touchpoint for many of your leads. Intercom is known for the quality of their sales team, so it's worth reading the step-by-step process they used to create theirs. One of the most important steps: Be clear but not rigid with your hiring profile. 

Annual Planning Is Killing Your Growth

As 2021 winds down, companies will start planning for the year ahead. Especially if you're a startup, here's my advice: Don't plan that far in advance. Things change quickly, and having an inflexible plan might do more harm than good. This is a compelling read about why you should avoid annual planning and plan seasonally instead.