The Product Guy

JULY 18, 2019

Product development roles and “product” as a discipline are rapidly evolving within technology companies. At startups or growth stage companies, a “Product Manager” is responsible for identifying what needs to be built and then executing on building the product. Product Management at scale has also evolved but at a slower pace.

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Weak Development Team B2C Customer Experience Advertising 344

The Product Coalition

FEBRUARY 15, 2021

TL; DR: How to Make Agile Work in Fast-Growing Startups For years, I worked in several Berlin-based, fast-growing startups in my capacity as Scrum Master, agile coach, and Product Owner. work in a fast-growing startup. Also, let me introduce you to the anti-patterns agile startups shall avoid at all costs. ??

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Agile Startups Technical Review Software Review 195

Intercom, Inc.

MARCH 15, 2018

As a startup scales, the importance of infrastructure engineers simply can’t be overstated. They’re the ones making sure your app is secure, that uptime looks good, and that the rest of your engineering org has the right tools to build features your users need and want. The tenets of foundation engineering at Stripe.

Engineering 214

Engineering Feedback Software Onboarding KPIs Management 214

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 20, 2018

I came to Intercom from a company with a culture of heavyweight engineering processes. From an engineering perspective, it successfully kept you focused on coding. Processes have to serve the development of the product. No separate QA team. It was a well-oiled machine with battle-tested and often updated procedures.

Engineering 212

Engineering Weak Development Team Agile Consulting 212

Intercom, Inc.

DECEMBER 2, 2021

For the very first time, we’re releasing Engineer Chats , an internal podcast here at Intercom about all things engineering. Previously hosted by Jamie Osler , a Senior Product Engineer at Intercom for over seven years, it’s now up to Principal Systems Engineer Brian Scanlan to pick up the baton and keep the chats going.

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Engineering Presentation Technical Review Systems Review 178

Product Talk

DECEMBER 18, 2024

We covered how to manage messy opportunity solution trees , the most common challenges teams face when getting started with the discovery habits, what Im working on next, and so much more. Discovery is a team sport. We need engineers involved throughout. I started my career as a software engineer. I hate definition wars.

Product Research 246

Product Research Research Software Analytic Tools Feedback Software 246

Intercom, Inc.

JUNE 10, 2020

I hope this post allows people and teams to safely talk about Product Judgment. If you ever had to face a Manager, Director or Exec as they make bad product decisions and you’re struggling to persuade them otherwise, this post will help you. It takes years to build, and therefore ranges from very weak to very strong.

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Research Software Weak Development Team Reporting Tools Customer Communications 291

The Product Coalition

OCTOBER 12, 2020

During this period, we went through different phases, which gave us several lessons that helped us identify our final vision to build an open-source data integration engine. Exploring 2 directions at a time, max We’re 5 people on our team, including 4 with an engineering background. This article lists these lessons.

Startups 179

Startups Analytic Tools User Testing User Friction 179

Intercom, Inc.

MAY 29, 2018

Those unfamiliar with what product engineers do could be forgiven for assuming that it’s all broadly the same job. The shift from one type of job to another has highlighted for me the stark differences between different engineering disciplines. Being a Consultant Engineer.

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Consulting Engineering Reporting Tools Weak Development Team 169

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 16, 2022

This is my 4th startup and have seen many ups and down in my decade long journey. I saw quick explosive growth in my mobile gaming startup, an acquisition of my payment startup, failure of an AI based startup and numerous pivots in between. But the startup bug in me is too strong and I decided to startup again.

Startups 158

Startups Feedback Software Customer Feedback User Testing 158

Intercom, Inc.

JUNE 14, 2018

Looking for an example of a happy, high performing product team? Rather than suggesting a model startup, advisor and author Laura Klein is likely to point you toward her favorite heist film. I was working with a bunch of different companies and teams of all different sizes. Laura: Exactly.

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Weak Development Team Onboarding KPIs CTO Coach Fractional CTO 190

Lenny Rachitsky

MAY 27, 2025

Startup founders are the happiest people in tech: They’re the only group growing more optimistic while consistently outranking everyone else in workplace well-being. A widespread gap in career clarity: Many tech workers don’t know what they should be doing to continue developing in their careers. fintech, healthtech).

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Technical Review Reporting Tools Data Visualization Weak Development Team 140

Sachin Rekhi

JANUARY 11, 2016

Every startup I've worked at folks have lamented about how there were never enough resources to accomplish everything they wanted to. Whether it was not enough engineers to build the desired features, not enough designers to design those experiences, not enough marketers to drum up interest, or not enough salespeople to generate revenue.

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Weak Development Team Customer Experience User Testing Startups 144

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 13, 2019

Great engineers leave when they are no longer excited by an opportunity. These engineers are in demand, they have other companies constantly knocking on their doors, pitching them exciting opportunities, as well as money, in an attempt to convince them to leave. Why should we care enough to make that our responsibility?

Engineering 152

Engineering Product Manager Product Management Customer Experience 152

Lenny Rachitsky

JANUARY 12, 2025

She’s also the co-founder of the startup bootcamp Transparent Collective and is an active angel investor. She’s also the co-founder of the startup bootcamp Transparent Collective and is an active angel investor. They should be directly involved in understanding the customer and the solution.

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Weak Development Team Feedback Software User Testing Customer Experience 65

The Product Coalition

SEPTEMBER 28, 2022

Strategy and enabling your team to solve problems makes the difference between a boss and an impactful leader. Using the ‘Kernel’ from Richard Rumelt’s ‘Good Strategy/Bad Strategy’, specifically insights and developing a guiding policy allows you to enable your team and avoid micro-managing. Poor strategy is everywhere?—?you

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Weak Development Team Product Strategy Strategy Product Research 148

The Product Guy

MARCH 14, 2017

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. Soon the whole team was standing behind the designer’s screen shouting new ideas and tips about the layout, the colors, the icons, the fonts and everything else. What to expect from a design team?

User Testing 304

User Testing Research Software Feedback Software Data Visualization 304

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 4, 2019

The fastest growing software companies in recent years all have something in common – they started with little to no sales team. They relied on a great product, with a passionate userbase that helped kickstart an organic growth engine which sold the product for them. Yes, Slack started off with no sales team. What’s not to like?

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Weak Development Team Outbound User Testing Research Software 162

Arkenea

APRIL 10, 2025

In a fastmoving digital economy, many organizations leverage outsourced software product development to accelerate innovation, control costs, and tap into global expertise. Rather than building and maintaining a large inhouse team, businesses partner with specialized vendors to handle design, development, testing, and deployment.

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Analytic Tools Research Software Reporting Tools Software Review 52

The Product Coalition

MARCH 18, 2022

Recently one of the founders of a hot startup asked me, “How do we know if we should add new value props for existing customers or continue to invest in existing ones? Given that we have finite engineering and product resources, what is the path forward?” Perhaps the sales team isn’t trained adequately.

Customer Experience 205

Customer Experience Customer Feedback User Testing Onboarding KPIs 205

Userpilot

DECEMBER 31, 2024

While your product managers use our analytics reports to track product usage, your engineering teams can use our session replays to uncover bugs, and your customer support team may use our in-app help center feature to offer self-service and reduce support tickets. Userpilot is perfect for non-technical teams.

Data Visualization 105

Data Visualization Analytic Tools Feedback Software Reporting Tools 105

Intercom, Inc.

NOVEMBER 20, 2018

In the early stages of most SaaS startups’ lives, the CEO or founder often acts as the initial head of sales. It is important that these friendly connections represent the target persona market you have outlined, as otherwise, the feedback loop is likely to be weak. Iterate the product based on feedback.

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Feedback Software Research Software Startups Product Research 178

Product Innovation Educators

AUGUST 14, 2023

I founded Prodify so my team and I can help companies by sharing knowledge from our previous experiences. It’s not because they’re bad at what they do. Often the senior leadership team thinks they talk about strategy a lot, but the employees under them don’t understand the strategy.

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Technical Review User Testing Weak Development Team Vision 268

The Product Coalition

SEPTEMBER 4, 2020

Three years later I became a web application engineer at a startup that built software for military and private industries. I became director of communications, leading the development of intranets and web applications. From Startup to Enterprise A job at a startup means a lot of responsibility.

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Weak Development Team Systems Review Customer Experience Software Review 141

Mind the Product

APRIL 16, 2020

Before moving to super app Gojek to lead its efforts on mass financial inclusion, Adam Darcy developed PayMe, a product that has helped to transform the way young people in Hong Kong think about HSBC. However, I quickly discovered that there’s too much brand risk for a trusted bank to take this type of lean startup approach.

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Weak Development Team Banking Customer Experience User Friction 197

Product Talk

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Instead of relying on someone else (like a coach or leader) to tell them what to do next, product teams can use an opportunity solution tree to keep track of their desired outcome , the opportunities they’ve identified to chip away at that outcome, and the solutions they’re considering to address those opportunities.

Data Visualization 337

Data Visualization Analytic Tools Research Software Product Research 337

Intercom, Inc.

JANUARY 20, 2022

Not too long ago, when Intercom turned 10 , we dedicated an entire episode to speed , or why startups should always strive to keep momentum as they scale. We surveyed and interviewed key people in our teams to understand how they worked and how they saw Intercom’s internal operations. Paul: Yeah. Some of this cut deep.

Feedback Software 249

Feedback Software Reporting Tools Product Research Data Visualization 249

PMLesson's Ace the PM Interview

MAY 14, 2021

Becoming an engineering manager is the first step into the big world of management for many software engineers. Engineering managers are tech experts and great leaders. That is why we wrote this article to give you an overview of the transition from software engineer to engineering manager. So let's get to it!

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Software Engineering Engineering Reporting Tools Feedback Software 92

Mind the Product

DECEMBER 11, 2017

Three years later I became a web application engineer at a startup that built software for military and private industries. I became director of communications, leading the development of intranets and web applications. From Startup to Enterprise. A job at a startup means a lot of responsibility.

Weak Development Team 130

Weak Development Team Systems Review Customer Experience Software Review 130

Userpilot

APRIL 24, 2025

Want to advance your career in product management or find top talent for your team? Millions of companies, from the worlds largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups, use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Who would be a bad fit for this job?

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Research Software Analytic Tools Feedback Software Customer Communications 52

Mind the Product

APRIL 13, 2020

Christina Wodtke’s path to her current standing as an established authority on the attributes of high-performing teams and the use of OKRs has been a roundabout one. She’s also due to deliver a workshop on how to design product teams with intention at MTP Engage Hamburg. So what about high-performing teams?

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Technical Review Weak Development Team Travel Product Research 235

Mind the Product

AUGUST 23, 2018

I’ve worked for more than a decade in product management with Fortune 500 companies and startups, and I realize I’m seeing a scary pattern. Product managers are only hired after the innovation or startup teams get concepts or funding approved. According to CB Insights, this is 42% of startups.

Weak Development Team 142

Weak Development Team Product Manager Product Management Technical Review 142

Intercom, Inc.

JUNE 15, 2022

Product teams often fall into the trap of spending most of their time on the core functionality of the products they’re building. Without an accessible onboarding process , customers may never reach the stage where they can use the game-changing features your team has worked so hard to build, making outcomes difficult to achieve.

User Testing 194

User Testing Customer Experience Weak Development Team Customer Feedback 194

Product Innovation Educators

JANUARY 10, 2022

I learned from these product diseases and developed an intuition after really hard lessons. Your title is irrelevant—if you’re building products and thinking about how to engineer change, you’re applying product thinking. [9:05] A vision with this level of detail gives teams enough direction to make decisions.

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User Testing Product Manager Product Management Vision 243

The Product Coalition

JANUARY 5, 2023

Dark periods are when a product team knows what to design and develop and go about doing it, but the work has yet to be exposed to users in any significant way. Product dark periods are when a product team’s commitment and culture are tested. Developers will be knocking out cards. The dark periods are challenging.

Customer Experience 147

Customer Experience Weak Development Team User Testing Customer Feedback 147

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 19, 2018

In engineering, you want to move fast, ship often and solve real customer problems. It means reducing choices amongst engineering teams and standardizing technology, so our team can spend as much time as possible delivering value to customers. Rich: Today I’m the Senior Director for Foundations Engineering at Intercom.

Research Software 192

Research Software Feedback Software Analytic Tools Customer Communications 192

Intercom, Inc.

APRIL 11, 2019

Six years ago, Segment were just four engineers sitting in an apartment on Russian Hill in San Francisco. Startup marketing is tough. But today, marketing is the primary driver of revenue at your typical, fast growing B2B startup. This is episode five of Scale , a brand new podcast series on moving from startup to scale up.

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Marketing Weak Development Team Startups Advertising 162