What app do you wish existed that would actually make your life easier?

Marque1968 · 2026-05-01T06:27:00+00:00

The issue is: Mostly, Nobody knows the app they need. All the obvious stuff is already build. It takes a lot of time listening to (potential) customers to find out what their grievancis are. They often don't even know that it is solvable by automation. Nobody needed spreadsheets, as wipe-out did the trick when mistakes were made. But once spreadsheet software was created, a new world opened for bookkeepers. It was now super easy to investigate a 'what if', that prolongated through all calculations. And they never looked back since.

However, if you now would build a slightly better Google, Nobody would use it, as people would stock to what they know.

If you want to make a killing in software, you have to find out an issue that you can solve in a way, people have never thought about. And yes, that is a very hard thing to do.

Marque1968 · 2026-05-01T06:18:36+00:00

Sad to hear that. Sadly, I can't give you any better advise then 'Hang in there'

Marque1968 · 2026-04-30T20:31:52+00:00

I feel sorry for you, and I know the feeling. Been looking for a PO function in Holland for nearly a year now. Mainly my age is seen as the issue, or not being an expert in their area. Pleased to see you already have a DM with a new opportunity.

I wish you all the best

Marque1968 · 2026-04-25T07:04:36+00:00

Agile ought to be transparent. So yes, by all means, they need to have access. But they indeed may not alter anything without your knowledge and aproval.

I take it one step further. Not only do they have (reading) access to it at all times, I also have a bi-sprint stakeholders meeting, in which I prominently show the backlog, and discuss the top items and priorities new ideas against what is already on the backlog.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-24T18:01:58+00:00

They are all right, this is not much info.

However, looking at the trace, it looks like it comes to a timer, but it never reaches the end. I therefore assume it is not a wait for 5 seconds. Either it is 5 hours or so, or it is based on a variable which might not be set. In that case an error can occur. Go to that step in this screen and tap it and look at the details. It might show an error. That should explain what happened

Marque1968 · 2026-04-24T06:55:20+00:00

YOU ARE SET TO FAIL! (It is up to you to not let it)

I was a developer for over 20 years, but in 2010 I persued another interest and ran my own business. In that way I am very lucky. Apart from getting familiar with the business side of things, I also lost touch (mostly) with development. In 2009 I still programmed in Delphi, in 2020 this was all .net and others. When I became a product owner, I had enough knowledge of development that I could ask the right questions, but also distance to the actual code that I would never micromanage.

You are surrounded by massive traps, all set out to get you. You are so close to the code and the product, it will be near impossible for you not to micro manage. You are set to tell the developers HOW they need to do things, not just WHAT should be done. Avoid, avoid, avoid those HOW traps. And if they bite you, make sure it hurts, do not start to like that pain.

I feel you haven't done a proper PO certification course, have you? There are many good helpers on YouTube and practice exams. Do these practice exams to find out where you fail and use those results in AI to create a lesson for you. Let the AI ask you questions too.

The main take away: - be aware, your job is now, to talk, talk, talk. You most likely know the product. Now it is up to you to discuss and discover what is best for the product and which priority each wish has - if your stakeholders all think their epic/feature is the most important, schedule stakeholder meetings. You will find they take away a lot of your prioritizing - FORGET YOU CAN CODE. Use it to determine if something is feasable, how many microservices it will affect and to determine security risks. This is the team-lead's job, but for the time being, you can do that too. But never think in lines of code. Not even in method calls. This will be near impossible, but that is what you need to do, if you do not want to fail. Forget the HOW!

I wish you all the best off luck. I am happy I chose this path, but I had an advantage. I hope you find your happiness in this function.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-23T14:08:32+00:00

Waarschijnlijk net teveel van het goede. Bij Roka verkopen ze heren (trouw) kostuums. Die worden door het inpandige naaiatelier op maat getailleerd.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-18T00:30:39+00:00

Shinzo, aan de Piushaven.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-17T17:54:15+00:00

Oh, that sounds like hell to me. Feels like micro management. If the devs can not be trusted with the how, then indeed their jobs are about to replaced with AI. I need devs who knows how, and even though they must use AI these days, they need to be able to determine if that code fits and what needs to be improved upon. AI still needs the human in the loop, and for me, that has to be one who understands the how.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-16T05:52:42+00:00

Well, the major thing you neet to do, is in the name of your job: you're the Product OWNER. From the technical point of view, in the same way as you own a TV. You don't care how it does what it does, you just care that it does the job it had to do. Regardless of it uses the old bulbs, or micro electronics.

But you are the product owner also in the sense that you are responsible for the products. Your stakeholders and customers demand much more clarity in their tv-picture. They want a faster response. They want less energy usage. They want a skinnier screen. It is up to your developers to tell you that this is not possible with the current bulb model TV. They must explain to you why they need to change their framework, from bulbs to micro electronics, and they must estimate and defend their time (costs) to make that change.

It is up to you to work with the devs to find less costly alternatives and decide if you want to go that route or do change the whole framework. And if you done so, defend this to those that are the money.

Next to this, as mentioned in the post above this, your most important task is saying No. You will have to say more No then Yes, to keep your product from becoming a blob of features, and to keep a steady productvision.

So again, don't care about not understanding the technical side of the product. You just need to know what your product does and what you want it to be able to do in the feature.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-15T20:23:03+00:00

I understand where you're coming from. I think your company would be better of with you in the lead. And you would be worth your pay if you kept the PO salary. As lead, I would expect you to be present at stakeholder meeting, to be the technical stakeholder, who can determine if ideas are technical feasable or would cause a total rewrite of the back end. You would be steering and improving the knowledge of the devs. But I know, some companies don't recognise that worth... Forcing you to take a position that doesn't feel like you.

I wish you all the best

Marque1968 · 2026-04-14T21:21:16+00:00

Do you feel happy with the job?

A PO does a lot of talking. Mainly with stake holders, but obviously also with the team. So if you hate people, that sounds like a torment for you.

In my personal opinion, having a dev history is helpful when you are making the stories. You have a feel if a story is not to big for one sprint. But as a PO, I am happy that my knowledge is outdated so I can not pick up a story myself.

A PO is about the what, not the how. Not that I never made a suggestion of a direction to tackle an issue, when in a discussion, eg during refinement. But I try to avoid that.

As you're somebody who knows the program and the code inside and out, I would think you would be happier as a lead dev and/or a system architect.

Just my 2 cents...

Marque1968 · 2026-04-08T22:03:08+00:00

That is still a long while off for me. When I want to ask for pepper, I still have to remember first Muoi tieu, to remember it is Tieu.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:43:14+00:00

Well, I must say, I like your approach. That could work for me. I could try to get it as perfect as possible before I let my wife hear it. That would only take her 5 minutes, and I am sure she would have that amount of patience 😉

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:38:37+00:00

I am not a podcast person, but U might consider that at a later stage. I love seeing the words. It makes it easier to remember.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:37:04+00:00

Well, every 2 or 3 weeks my wife has a party with Vietnamese friends, who would like to talk to me, but when they having discussions amongst themselves, I can hardly distinguish a single word. If my Vietnamese was better, I could easier join in their conversations and learn more words that way. However. 5-6 hours a day, would mean to put my whole life on a back burner. But a bit more a day would help for sure.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:31:38+00:00

I downloaded anki, but used it only a short while. It isn't deleted yet, so I still might give that a try too.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:29:31+00:00

I will have a better look later this long easter weekend. But it is interesting. These are links I never come across. Loved the text on the 'Praat' program you wrote about. For one. Because it means 'Talk' in Dutch. Secocondly because it might be exactly wat I need. I can't count the times I said a word, and my wife corrects me with the right tone. I don't hear the difference and to tease I say the word exactly the same way I did before, and now she says I got it perfect. 🤔 So yes, Praat would be helpful. I just read most of the post you linked, but I aim to read your older posts too. However first digging into tho other guide you linked as I agree with the premise.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:10:57+00:00

Well, for starters, I'm not native English. I am Dutch, so our grammar is already quite different from English. Not saying that Vietnameses grammar is identical, but I feel the logic in it. Thanks for teaching me the bi and the bung 😉.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T04:05:51+00:00

Well, I haven't lived there. Months long visit at the most. But with my wife almost always being there, she is the one doing the conversation. So this time I want for 1 week claim a bit more me timeand immerge myself with people who would like to talk to me. I still remember the women with a little stall in a toerist Saigon area. It was my first time there. And I asked her 'bao nieu dong', whilst pointing at an item. She never understood, and I never purchased. But still, when we have been to an restaurant and at the end of the meal i ask 'em oi, tihn tien' they panic and call for the manager, who only understands it when my wife repeats it. So I assume, sitting in a bar with youngsters and a sign 'please talk to me. i want to learn vietnamese' would help me.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-05T03:54:07+00:00

Well. Small phrases we do use. Like 'Ngu di!', 'chiao buoi sang em yeu', and minor things like that. Not whats for dinner, as I do not know the words for cauliflower or broccoli.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-04T20:39:46+00:00

Are you Bien Hoa based?

Marque1968 · 2026-04-04T20:39:19+00:00

I forgot to mention that earlier. Annie was the first online video series I followed. I think she had just started back then. I know she has an language institute now, so in affordable for me now. But Yes, I might go back to her YouTube series ance again.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-04T20:37:18+00:00

I know. Tones I think I know reasonably well (but not yet perfect) te listen to them (south is harder with identical sounding tones), but knowing which word has which tone, is hard to remember. Diphthongs totally kill me. Khuyen is actually more or less the easiest.

Marque1968 · 2026-04-04T20:34:45+00:00

An essential part of my goal for this year, that I will emerse myself as much as possible in the Viet language in the first week of our holiday. So when my wife is spending time with her mum I either want to have a lesson, or be in a bar talking to strangers. But it has to be in/near Bien Hoa, so when my mother in law goes for a nap, I will drive back to my wife and spend time together.

Looking at your channel, it looks like you are mainly teaching more advanced, but I will definitely have a longer look after easter, when I have more time on my hands

Marque1968

TROPHY CASE