The AI Product Manager
Undoubtedly, 2025 is the breakout year for AI in Product Management. As tech investments shift toward AI and away from traditional Web/App products, everyone seems to be coming to the same realization that this is an “Adapt or Die” moment. You’re either going to rise with the tide of AI products or be crushed underneath […]
Transformative Opportunities in A.I.
Artificial Intelligence is a major transformational shift in technical capability that will bring a major shift into the digital product landscape, by making an entirely new class of products possible. I anticipate this will set a wave of innovation that dominates the digital product landscape for the next generation.
Product Team Charters
The Product Charter is similar to a project charter but assumes a different ownership model and end-goal – and thus a different set of inputs and outputs.
What is a Product?
A product is a solution to a common problem that can be taken to market. It can be tangible or intangible. It can be for something that satisfies a practical need or an emotional desire. At its core, it is a generalized solution to a common problem, that can be produced at scale
The Role of Product Management
Product Management is fundamentally about understanding the needs and desires of the customer segment you’re serving, figuring out the right product to build to optimally address those needs, and working with developers and designers to continually build and refine that product to ensure its maximally successful in the market.
Product Charters
As a Product Leader, how can you setup your Product Management team for success and ensure they’re pointed in the right direction, without stifling them or micro-managing their work? The work of a Product Manager afterall, is to identify opportunities, understand customer needs, define the bounds of a solution, and prioritize those solutions. If you […]
Creating a Product Vision
Similar to developing a product roadmap, the Product Vision is deceptively easy to understand. In its ideal form, it is a one-sentence statement about what your product is going to be in its future state, typically with a 3-5 year horizon, that everyone is working toward. Implicit in that, however, is a lot of research […]
Product vs Project vs Program Management
Too many teams struggle with the nuanced differences between Product Manager, Product Owner, Program Manager, and Project Manager. To that end, I’ve created this chart to capture the key differences between them.
Creating New Value
Why is it that some products take off while others fall flat? There are many tactical reasons we can point to such as timing, competition, or product-market fit. Fundamentally though, there is one consistent truth regardless of the reason we may determine: some products create value for the market they’re serving, and some simply do […]
Why Are Some People Lucky?
You are not imagining it — some people truly do have better, more predictable outcomes than others. Some serial entrepreneurs may have several successful hits in a row, and others may struggle through several businesses and never get traction. The popular thought is that if you work hard, you will succeed. This may be true […]
Startup Heuristics
Heuristics are rules of thumb that are derived from experience or generally accepted truths, where formal empirical methodology may be impractical. Heuristics are derived from the field HCI/Usability where they guide the design of user experience, based on known principles of interface design and usability. A design is then tested and optimized through user […]
Network Effects
Metcalfe’s Law states that the power of a network is proportional to the square of the number of users connected to that network. It was originally calculated in the 1980s by George Glider regarding telecommunications networks and later attributed to Robert Metcalfe. It has been referenced extensively for social networking sites during the web 2.0 […]
Timing is Everything
Timing is everything. You’ve likely heard this said many times before, but a clear explanation of why is rarely forthcoming. And, since timing is so important, how can you identify and take advantage of good timing? New opportunities typically arise because of new innovation that either inspires or enables others to enter a market. With […]
Tech Alone Is Not a Strategy
“As information technology’s power and ubiquity have grown, its strategic importance has diminished. The way you approach IT investment and management will need to change dramatically … It is difficult to imagine a more perfect commodity than a byte of data – endlessly and perfectly reproducible at virtually no cost.” ~ Nicholas Carr I was […]
ProductCamp.LA Was a Success!
Los Angeles hosted its first ProductCamp this month and by all accounts the event was a success! Despite being held on the rainiest weekend in 3 years, we had a full house 200 digital product managers and entrepreneurs join us. The event was jointly hosted by Shopzilla and Fandango who share a floor in West […]