3 Gems from around the (PM) world - Vol 23
Hey PMs
Happy Friday. Here are some things I found of immense value about product management. Hope you find them useful too.
In this post:
Gem #1: How to scale your startup with growth levers by Matt Lerner and Ali Abdaal
Gem #2: What is Product Strategy by Marty Cagan
Gem #3: Building your personal brand with Daniel Elizalde
Gem #1: How to scale your startup with growth levers by Matt Lerner and Ali Abdaal
I have been a fan of Matt Lerner for a while. He has the innate ability to explain things in a simpler manner. I read his book on Growth Levers recently, and found it fascinating. Highly recommend to growth leaders and startup founders.
He recorded a video with the massive YouTuber Ali Abdaal on how to leverage Matt’s framework for his own media empire he is trying to build. Live on the video.
It’s a masterclass.
Here is the episode.
Gem #2: What is Product Strategy by Marty Cagan
Recently I have been reading up on a lot about product strategy. It’s one of those terms where one kind of knows what it is but it is hard to define. There are lots of great articles and you have to pattern match to see what it really means at its core. (Hint: it’s not a plan or a goal or even a roadmap….it’s choices and tradeoffs and approaches)
This spring I was planting my backyard garden. My goal was to have a flourishing garden with flowers and veggies. Should I just go to Home Depot and buy some soil and plants? Don’t you think I am missing a step?
What would I like to grow?
What are good things to grow in my climate ? (Northern Calfornia)
How much space do I have? ( I would love a mango tree but …small house)
What is not suitable to grow? (alfalfa…too much water)
What needs least maintenance? (roses)
What can grow in shade? For areas where I don’t get any sun.
So I started answering these questions and came up with my gardening strategy. It was quite a bit of discovery. I shortlisted what I wanted to grow and where it aligned with Sun/Shade/Space limitations.
Once I had my strategy, I created a plan.
I need a planter box. Should I buy off the shelf or make one? ( I made by own)
I need soil, amends, fertilizers, acidifiers.
I bought some plants at a nursery and some from a local shop. And some seeds too.
And I need to buy some tools (shovel).
Same thing happens with products. We have a goal to say grow NRR by 20% points, but then we jump straight into features. You are missing the gardening strategy in between.
Here is what Marty says.
“Strategy” as a term is ambiguous as it exists at every level on just about everything – business strategy, funding strategy, growth strategy, sales strategy, discovery strategy, delivery strategy, go-to-market strategy…
Whatever the goal is, your strategy is how you’re planning to go about accomplishing that goal. Strategy doesn’t cover the details; those are the tactics we’ll use to achieve the goal. Strategy is the overall approach, and the rationale for that approach.
Link to article
Gem #3: Building your personal brand with Daniel Elizalde
Recently, I was lucky to have a conversation with Daniel, an expert in IOT product management. He shared this video of his interview where he talks about how he built his brand.
Many of us who want to grow as thought leaders need to consider how to build a brand. This is a useful starting point.
Here is the video.
If you missed my Tuesday newsletter this week, here is the link.
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