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Out of the hundreds of nominations, and amazing finalists, the 8th annual winner of The Best Product Person is … Melissa Perri. The Best Product Person (TBPP) is the leading international award honoring excellence in Product Management. Established in 2010, TBPP is awarded annually in association with The Product Guy and The Product Group. Take a moment and congratulate The Best Product Person of 2017: Melissa Perri. ( tweet ).
“What is the difference between a Product Owner and a Product Manager?”. It’s an interesting question and one that takes time to unpack. Let’s look at where these terms and disciplines originated from and how some common frameworks explain them. When I started my career, I was called a Business Analyst. I did very little “business analysis” as we would look at it in traditional IT companies.
It’s a Common Challenge. “You just can’t make up your mind. I really wish that for once, you gave us clear priorities,” Jane said accusingly at the end of the workshop and walked out of the room. [1] It felt like a slap in the face, an unprovoked attack. How could she say something so wrong? Does this story sound familiar? I certainly find that as product managers and product owners, we sometimes have to deal with pushy, stressed, or unhelpful stakeholders and team members —with people wh
I’ve got a pet peeve to share with you. If you’ve been following along with the growth of the Lean Startup and other experimental methods, you’ve probably come across this hypothesis format: We believe [this capability]. Will result in [this outcome]. We will have confidence to proceed when [we see these measurable signals]. If you aren’t familiar with this format, you can learn more about it here.
Speaker: Ben Epstein, Stealth Founder & CTO | Tony Karrer, Founder & CTO, Aggregage
When tasked with building a fundamentally new product line with deeper insights than previously achievable for a high-value client, Ben Epstein and his team faced a significant challenge: how to harness LLMs to produce consistent, high-accuracy outputs at scale. In this new session, Ben will share how he and his team engineered a system (based on proven software engineering approaches) that employs reproducible test variations (via temperature 0 and fixed seeds), and enables non-LLM evaluation m
“Big data.” It’s one of Silicon Valley’s favorite and most annoying buzzwords, yet there’s no data shortage in sight as data companies continue sprouting (and growing) like weeds. It’s clear that data is here to stay, but many product managers are still yet to embrace data-driven product management…and they’re making a big mistake. Here’s why every product manager should start paying more attention to data ASAP: It’s Not as Complicated as it Looks.
One of the most challenging questions about product management has been – in my experience – “What is Product Management?”. In this post, I share a simple model or framework to answer this question. I talk about this model with lots of people, but I’ve never explicitly written it down in a post. I’ve found the model to be very powerful in my career, and I hope it’s helpful to you.
One of the most challenging questions about product management has been – in my experience – “What is Product Management?”. In this post, I share a simple model or framework to answer this question. I talk about this model with lots of people, but I’ve never explicitly written it down in a post. I’ve found the model to be very powerful in my career, and I hope it’s helpful to you.
As Product Managers, we perfectly understand the need to generate and use customer feedback. What isn’t so often clear is how to do this on a day-to-day basis, when we’re not as experienced or when we deal with “less than ideal” products and organizations. This led me to reach out to 14 leading Product Managers and talk with them about how they use customer feedback in their own companies and teams.
The ideas of Agile are great. It’s the way it has been codified into rituals and certifications, and rolled out mindlessly that misses the point. When people talk about Lean, the conversation often ends at process optimization, waste, and quality , and misses so much of what the Lean mindset offers. Design Thinking is held high as the new magic trick of design facilitators.
(Dream sequence: Sometimes, lying awake with some passing insomnia, I muse about one of my major pet peeves: over use of the “Reply All” button on Microsoft’s “Outlook” I dream of submitting a feature request …). Brief Description: As unfettered access to the “Reply All” option in Microsoft Outlook encourages people to over use this feature (i.e. replying to all recipients even when, or especially when, it is not appropriate), and that the concept
10 common mistakes or pitfalls new product managers should avoid. A few months ago I was contacted by a product manager, Areo Wong, who works in Hong Kong. He described himself as a “newbie” with about one-year of experience. He has been struggling to learn what the role of product manager was really about. After trying a few different approaches to learning more, he took a very creative path.
Stand out in your product management interview with guidance from Priyanka Upadhyay, an experienced product leader and Stanford Online program coach. In this guide, Upadhay dives into five key competencies interviewers will likely want to assess. She provides sample questions with detailed answers spanning: Product strategy Product design Execution Market estimation Teamwork Confidently land the product management role you want by pre-empting what interviewers are looking for and demonstrating y
As product designers we spend a lot of time trying to understand user friction and solve for it in the products we build. Doing so is absolutely critical to delivering delightful experiences for our users. I find though that sometimes teams are only perceiving and solving the most basic forms of user friction and aren't taking on some of the harder to perceive yet incredibly important higher level forms of friction that users are experiencing.
Guest Post by: Alex Hsu (Mentee, Session 4, The Product Mentor) [Paired with Mentor, Addi Regev]. Why do I need a framework? A research conducted by Alpha UX found that 25% of Product Manager surveyed wished for a clearer product roadmap and strategy. This was second only to increase in salary! Research article. While salary increase is a complex subject with variables outside of our control, I believe that having a clear product roadmap and strategy is every Product Manager’s responsibility.
“What is the difference between a Product Owner and a Product Manager?” It’s an interesting question and one that takes time to unpack. Let’s look at where these terms and disciplines originated from and how some common frameworks explain them. When I started my career, I was called a Business Analyst.
What? As you may know, the product owner originated from Scrum, where the role is responsible for maximising the value the product creates. This sounds like a text-book product management responsibility to me. Nevertheless, the product owner is often regarded as a tactical role focused on managing the product backlog, detailing requirements, and interacting with the development team.
Effective risk management in product development balances safety, compliance, and opportunity. Risks can't be eliminated, but they can be mitigated through structured assessments, clear documentation, and expert guidance. Engaging specialists ensures efficiency, regulatory adherence, and product security while reducing costly oversights. A well-executed risk management plan includes frequent evaluations, defined assessment criteria, and a structured decision-making process.
I’ve been thinking about the challenges of managing product teams by outcomes. Most leaders want their teams to have the autonomy to go after an outcome, but they struggle with trusting that their teams will do the right things. Most teams want that autonomy, but they struggle with communicating their progress toward an uncertain outcome. These shortcomings create a vicious cycle.
We live and work today in a world that is increasingly data-driven, but we cannot successfully adopt a data-driven approach to decision making without first identifying the metrics that matter most. In business, when faced with decisions, there’s far less “Because I think or feel like…” and far more “Because I crunched the numbers and they told me to.
In my Writing Tips for Product Managers post I suggested making your writing more readable. I mentioned a tool I use called Hemingway. It has both a Mac app and an online version. In this post I’m going to show how I use Hemingway. (In my upcoming writing course I’ll give a video demonstration of Hemingway.). Starting from terrible. I’ll start with a paragraph from a blog post I wrote in 2013.
As Product Managers, we perfectly understand the need to generate and use customer feedback. What isn’t so often clear is how to do this on a day-to-day basis, when we’re not as experienced or when we deal with “less than ideal” products and organizations. This led me to reach out to 14 leading Product Managers and talk with them about how they use customer feedback in their own companies and teams.
Savvy B2B marketers know that a great account-based marketing (ABM) strategy leads to higher ROI and sustainable growth. In this guide, we’ll cover: What makes for a successful ABM strategy? What are the key elements and capabilities of ABM that can make a real difference? How is AI changing workflows and driving functionality? This Martech Intelligence Report on Enterprise Account-Based Marketing examines the state of ABM in 2024 and what to consider when implementing ABM software.
In the closing talk of this year’s MTP Engage Hamburg, John Cutler looks at why his Medium post 12 Signs You Are Working in a Feature Factory touched a nerve for so many people in product development. There’s widespread tension in our industry, John says. While everyone talks about “outcomes over output” and says they strive for “real impact” with their craft, in our day-to-day work many of us simply give all our priorities and attention to shipping features.
“Have you heard the news? Digital Transformation is rocking the business world …” During the extended holiday break, I am spending time ruminating on the topic, as it dovetails into a key thrust of a project I am working on, loosely “The Future of Work” Foundations – The Network. Thinking way back to the first “dot com” bubble, and the insanity, the process for starting a company was pretty uniform.
Guest Post by: Jessica Waite (Mentee, Session 5, The Product Mentor) [Paired with Mentor, Radhika Nayak]. So, your boss’s boss walks into your office and changes your roadmap…. No, this is not a bad joke. As a product manager you prep, plan and execute. You spend months in discovery carefully understanding the customer, the business needs, the software requirements and how to execute it all.
Guest Post by: Liel Aharon (Mentee, Session 4, The Product Mentor) [Paired with Mentor, Felix Sargent]. At the end of 2015 I was in the worst nightmare of any Product Manager. I had a strong roadmap, clear goals and a vision for the product. The team had been working for almost a year and had a huge amount of code under their belts. We would regularly meet to discuss the features required, what the customers expected.
Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System
Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.
Guest Post by: David Pasztor. A product manager just stopped by the desk of the designer on a lazy Thursday afternoon. The designer showed him something, and they started discussing a new feature’s design loudly. The manager used wide gestures to show where he wanted to move certain elements. The developers sitting nearby just watched the show for the first time, but after a while they stood up to join the party one by one.
From The Best Product Person of 2016, Chris Butler, …. Looking Forward. > What new skill should I be honing right now to get ready for the future? Get great at doing research and customer development. If you aren’t used to talk with people and doing research for your product you are more likely to just be a project manager. I would say that getting great at research, really any/all types, is a key skill as the industry moves forward.
Guest Post by: David Parmelee, Digital Strategy Consultant. As Marc Wendell described in a Product Mentor video, the foundation of success in both product management and user experience (UX) is solving a problem for a specific user. Products fall short when they include and/or over-prioritize extraneous features that don’t solve that user’s problem.
Guest Post by: Hansa Vagadiya (Mentee, Session 4, The Product Mentor) [Paired with Mentor, Ladislav Bartos]. Recently, I participated in a product management mentorship program run by The Product Mentor. Ladislav Bartos , who was assigned to me as my inspirational mentor, has been working with me to further hone in on my product management skills. I have improved my stakeholder management techniques; learnt about service design thinking and enhanced my Google Analytics knowledge.
In 2024, B2B customers expect better quality and service with streamlined experiences that match consumer-grade simplicity—no long calls or meetings required. Our B2B eCommerce Trends Report, surveying 400+ B2B professionals in the US and Europe, reveals how eCommerce has become vital to top companies’ strategies. The report shows how leaders are leveraging eCommerce to break data silos, unify channels, and deliver the personalized experiences that customers demand.
From The Best Product Person of 2016, Chris Butler, …. Looking Forward. More to Come. The Best Product Person (TBPP) is the leading international award honoring excellence in Product Management. Established in 2010, TBPP is awarded annually in association with The Product Guy and The Product Group. Take a moment and congratulate The Best Product Person of 2016: Chris Butler. ( tweet ).
Guest Post by: Lonnie Rosenbaum (Mentee, Session 4, The Product Mentor) [Paired with Mentor, Marc Abraham]. Sharing product information within your company is one of the most valuable things you can do as a product manager. Whether it’s your plans (roadmap), feedback you’ve heard from users, product usage data (analytics), or posing questions — getting what you’re doing and thinking in front of a cross-departmental audience will provide you with input that helps you make better decisions a
When I first started in Product Management, I was told that my job was to keep my stakeholders happy. My stakeholders were members of the sales team. I understand that many Product Managers are taught better today that stakeholders include customers and users, but I was taught the term was reserved for internal folks who had a say in our product. Customers and users were considered separately, and handled differently.
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