20
Jul

Control the narrative – become a product evangelist

Published by adil in Product Management Reply

Through a recent newsletter from the Silicon Valley Product Group, I came across a great article by Marty Cagan about, product evangelism, which I see as essentially helping people to imagine the future and inspiring them to help create that future by “selling the dream.” In that piece, Cagan lists his top 10 pieces of advice for product leaders who want to sell the dream: Build a high-fidelity prototype (see Some thoughts on rapid prototyping) → Read More

13
Jul

Ideas are worthless, execution is everything

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship 1 comment

The thing that always surprises me is that entrepreneurs are so protective of their ideas. They don’t want to talk about them for fear that you’ll steal their idea and claim it as your own. They won’t give you the time of day unless you agree to sign an NDA or otherwise agree to put yourself in jail and throw away the key. When I encounter people like this, I can’t help but to put → Read More

6
Jul

Where should Product Management live on the org chart?

Published by adil in Product Management Reply

I think it’s surprising, given how critically important product management is to most tech companies, how few people really know anything about it. A lot of companies (including tech companies) either don’t have a Product Management person or the Product Management function doesn’t exist at all. So where should the Product Management function live on the org chart? Obviously, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The answer depends on: The type of business. How far along you → Read More

28
Jun

Premature commitment bias

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship 1 comment

I’ve had the pleasure to be part of several startup ventures and advise on several others. The one thing I think nobody really talks about is the bias that entrepreneurs here in the Silicon Valley have to prematurely commit to an idea or company. Something I call ‘premature commitment bias’. The typical startup scenario I’ve seen around the Valley is: You have an idea. You might get some friends excited about that idea and maybe → Read More

24
Jun

Customer service vs. irrational client demands

Published by adil in Product Management Reply

Trying to deliver great customer service without bowing to irrational client demands takes a somewhat tricky balancing act and some courage. The truth is, the customer is NOT always right. At end of the day a lot of companies have adopted this sort of thinking: “The customer isn’t always right, but you want to do what’s best for everybody in the aggregate – for the good of the many.” The reality of the situation is → Read More

22
Jun

The importance of servant leadership

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship Reply

The importance of servant leadership

Sometimes the concept of servant leadership doesn’t get enough attention. When it does, most people understand the buzz wordiness of it but not its actual meaning and somehow like it to the “Are you a maker or a manager?” question. The key to fully understanding servant leadership is captured in its subtlety. A lot of people who don’t appreciate the human side of life may think it’s just another “touchy-feely” concept that doesn’t mean anything. → Read More

16
Jun

Product Management is about Product Discovery

Published by adil in Product Management Reply

Product Discovery Funnel

I’ve always believed product management is all about discovery. As time goes on, I’m seeing that others are also beginning to get on the bandwagon and think it’s a cool thing to believe. But I get confused because there are still so many people – especially entrepreneurs – are so confident their thinking is right that they don’t see the need to verify it or even listen to what other people are saying. Because they → Read More

13
Jun

Prepare for meetings – death by meeting

Published by adil in Productivity Reply

In his essay, Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule Y Combinator’s Paul Graham points out that managers’ schedules and makers’ (i.e. programmers’ or writers’) schedules are quite different: Each day, managers’ schedules are cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you’re doing every hour. On the other hand, makers generally prefer to use time in units of at least → Read More

8
Jun

Not all experience is created equal

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship 1 comment

In my earlier post What would I look for in a co-founder?, I talked about some lessons I’ve learned along the way and the type of person I’d be looking for in terms of experience. That got me to thinking about technical experience in general and how not all experience is created equally and the difference between experience and non-experience. When I’m thinking about the lessons I’ve learned throughout my entrepreneurial journey, one thing I → Read More

7
Jun

Parts of Management suck

Published by adil in Entrepreneurship Reply

Sequential career "silo" approach

Management – or at least the path to management – is a funny thing. Traditionally, the path to career advancement has meant that people start out as individual contributors. There’s only so far they can advance as “doers”, so they strive to move up the ranks by becoming managers. Those who are upwardly mobile work hard to be recognized as among the few smart contributors who get chosen to move into management. So the typical → Read More