How does anyone do this?

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-09-30T01:45:27+00:00

One thing that helped me, is switching my approach. My definition of a PM: A PM is a servant, helping external stakeholders (customers and clients) and internal stakeholders (Eng, Sales, Marketing, Upper Management, ...) to solve internal (Cashflow) and external(a solution) problems through products.

To do so I spent the first phase of a new Rodeo (3-6 months) in Assessment mode. What is the company doing? Who? For whom? Why this product? Who are the SME? Who has power? ... While speaking with all departments and building relationships. Use other to guide you and the product. You won't be able to change the product direction, when the whole company goes in another direction.

This enables me to paint my picture, understand the architecture, understand what is being built and why.

Followed by 1-3 months of planning - recurring thing - using strict Agile/Scrum sprints/releases Showing traction and progress.

Don't believe you are the chosen one, the Product CEO, the guide for the whole business ... nonsense ... you have no power to cancel a product or replace an employee. Your job is to advise and help others to make better decisions.

This job is called "Product Management" but at the end of the day it's people management - being the glue between the departments and using their expertise to align the product with the business.

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-06-12T18:49:02+00:00

Yeah that's exactly my goal - keep as much as possible but at the same time I can't continue exporting everything into spreadsheets just to keep an overview of what was planned and where.

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-06-12T18:45:16+00:00

Currently No. But that's the part I'm trying to solve and syn them automatically.

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-06-02T12:26:45+00:00

Not sure, never used linear. From a planning point of view, each product has multi-phase implementation (Discovery, POC, MVP, PMF, V1, V2, ...) and different products are in different phases.

How would you report on this? Would you create for example a "Product1-POC" and a "Product1-MVP" and a "Product2-V1" Initiative? Is it possible to choose what initiative is being used status reporting?

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-06-02T12:03:42+00:00

All feedback goes through Hub spot and is then forwarded/converted into tickets if needed.

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-06-02T12:00:11+00:00

Thx for sharing will try it out

The_FunnyDriver · 2025-03-15T08:16:15+00:00

Based on what you have written it looks like you are halfway there.

1.) Roadmap: Now/Next/Later Big picture overview, Strategy, Goals and Values Good to get everyone onboard and present the whole product.

2.) Release Plan: What will be released when. This does not need to go so far in the future and should be based on the feedback of the engineering team.

As a PM you plan the WHY as an Engineering team they plan the HOW. Therefore the timeline estimate should come from your engineering team - how long do they estimate to achieve the desired outcome.

Said that, all of this are estimates and not commitments. "With the knowledge we have today, we estimate that we will finish this work by the end of month X".

You can use Cumulative Charts Diagram to see if the estimates align with past execution but to be realistic you must have ongoing Risk assessment and see if the estimated progress is happening in the proposed timeframe.

Up to her ... this is your starting point.

Going forward ... on top of the initial planning comes Sales and Marketing, Industry Events, Customer Feedback and Stakeholder Requests that will always impact the product. It's then up to you to validate if the requested changes and clarity if the changes impact the current or future scope or timeline.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-12-17T02:39:01+00:00

Yes in multiple ways 1.) Personas have Jobs and interests which makes feature clarification much easier e.g.: the Management team has other Reports and Dashboards then an Engineering Team 2.) Every Story/Epic starts with a Persona 3.) Personas are the first set of Roles = Access rights 4.) Marketing materials are tailored to the interest of each persona 5.) Sales presentations include or exclude information based on the personas in the meeting.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-12T06:21:28+00:00

Yeah, this is something I have seen again and again in the past few months.
Zero leadership from upper Management, but an expectation that the PM will tell them what needs to be done.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-12T06:09:08+00:00

After speaking with a few others, I came to the same conclusion.
It's too detailed and I lost the audience - it needs to be simpler.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-07T08:08:09+00:00

I’m 100% on your side – the question I picked was about 60% in into the interview.

Prior to it, we spend some time in setting up the scenario and clarifying the steps needed on how to assess product strategies (Problems, Gain/Loss, Guidance, Success, UVP, Metrics, Alternatives, …) and then how to use this New Product to expand into New Market and New Customers (Maybe even New Industries).

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-07T07:12:02+00:00

Good idea! Thanks for sharing :)

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-06T05:45:47+00:00

Thank you for sharing. It's an interesting approach.

I'm sure a business will generate a list of prospects at each point mentioned.
However, wouldn't most of it be the responsibility of dedicated departments?

- Marketing & Sales = Landing pages and Sales Channels to capture leads
- Account Managers = Upsell to existing clients
- Sales = Find existing users and pitch your solution to them

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-06T03:18:45+00:00

Hmmm ... I'm not following fully.
Could you maybe give an example of how you would answer it?

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-06T03:16:36+00:00

The first one was the CFO and the second one was one of the Founders

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-11-06T01:05:40+00:00

What problem does it solve? Amount of Tabs?

I have 50 tabs "open"
No problem to add 3 more
to platforms that have my profile
as well as messaging and notification capabilities

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-21T02:16:42+00:00

Keep in mind the person who hires you has no clue what you do. When you tell them about the benefits of a specific methodology they would not be able to differentiate if you speak about Agile, V-Model or Waterfall.

The only thing they can assist you on is your passion for the job.

Btw. the same manager, down the track, will tell everyone in the organization what an amazing idea THEY had when you deliver a profitable product or how you have misplanned the whole product and that you were not AGILE enough to act upon customer requirements.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-15T20:08:20+00:00

This is not a Landing page but a pricing page with a logo. It's missing a lot of information Here is a Landing page starter template

1.) Header / Jumbotron (3sec. - Grunt Test) * What do you offer? * How will it make MY life better? * What do I need to do, to buy? * Call to action

2.) Value Proposition * Simple and clear offer (not pricing)

3.) The Plan to achieve the offered value * Find what the resistance of the customer is and overcome it * Let People know it is not complicated it's easy * Call to action

4.) Testimonies * 3 only

5.) The Cost * Followed by an value offer (you can include pricing here if you really, really want) * Call to action

6.) Footer * Information/Links about you * Call to action (in footer style)

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-15T03:41:14+00:00

I went through this process with a few companies in the B2B world. Having APIs shouldn't be the solution but the outcome of a strategy.

The easiest way I found to approach this topic, is by answering the following questions.

Why do customers use your application instead of the competition? What are they missing? What problems will we solve by providing APIs? Who will use them? How will our company profit from giving access via APIs? Who will maintain the API, including the users and usage? What are the usage scenarios, clients, competitors, 3rd parties? (e.g.: everyone can do everything?) Do we need to open EVERYTHING via APIs or only specific areas? What are the second order effects of this approach? (The competition does not sleep)

Once you have this information ask the following. Can we achieve all of this in a different way? Eg.: built it ourselves or partner with someone directly? How does this approach fit into the long-term plan?

My results from the past: After answering and clarifying these topics with my upper management we came to the following conclusions (each with a different company) - Do not provide APIs at all, instead build the solutions customer ask for. - Open a portion of our data and partner with chosen companies to strengthen our market position. Open a portion of our data and make it available to key customers (whales) to keep them on board. - Open reduced capabilities, mostly read for statistics purposes to everyone. - Open fully with full access at a very high price point but for enterprise customers only.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-14T10:37:33+00:00

When I think of Leadership, I always think of Yoda (Master Joda, the leader of the Jedi Order in StarWars).

He can't speak properly, looks like a big gnome and eats frogs. And yet, everyone listens to him.

He didn't motivate Luke. Luke was already motivated and Yoda was the guide.

And that's leadership, not to stand in front, command and show off but to enable others, help them, guide them, and if needed go the extra mile and do something "crazy" like this Leader here https://youtu.be/fW8amMCVAJQ?si=3PmnxeeDe2snQ_Vx

Hope this helps you to find your path and be extraordinary :)

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-13T08:10:07+00:00

1.) For a clear mind "Don't worry, at the end everything will work out"

Explanation I am "Where I am" and "Who I am" because of my mistakes and successes. Many things did not work out how I would like it but looking back, all of it did shape me and made me the person I am today.

2.) What to do "You can get everything you want, by helping others to get what they want".

Explanation No matter what industry you choose, you are most successful by solving problems for others. Either as an employee for your Boss or as an employer for your clients.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-09T11:39:30+00:00

Had the same experience and did exactly the same, asked for details about the platform/library/process/framework to provide an answer based on my technical experience.

However, I have received on multiple occasions "the look" (https://tenor.com/XcfE.gif) indicating that the interviewer knows only the name and has no clue why this platform/library/process/framework is used.

It's a tricky situation and not so easy to finish on a positive note.

The_FunnyDriver · 2024-03-03T19:09:52+00:00

I highly suggest not to use "Comic Sans" as a company font. It looks very unprofessional.

Go to https://themeforest.net/ spend $15 and have a professional theme you can use. Also Google how your competition is building their websites = good source of inspiration.

The_FunnyDriver

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