Not having a product strategy is often painful. You feel the impact of not knowing where you are going. But when you want to convince the company to invest in building such a strategy, you need to be able to explain what good it will bring. Here are three benefits of having a solid product strategy in place. — Before I met Arik, I was single for a long time. Over 8 years, my longest relationships were three months or so, and they were rare. I spent most of my 20’s either dating or taking a break from dating. It wasn’t at all fun. I knew I didn’t want…

A solid product strategy takes time to build. It usually involves hard decisions and non-trivial questions, which take time to answer well. It can’t be done in a rush, things need to sink in so that you can think it through. Here is the method I use for creating a product strategy that makes sense. — When I was in high school, I had very long hair. I am extremely tall, so when I say that my hair was running all the way through my back, that’s a lot of a way to go through. Unfortunately, when I was in high school, my sisters who are…

One of the places where product leaders add the most value is by connecting the dots. Seeing a broad picture and making sure everything fits together is one of our superpowers. But what happens when the dots don’t connect? It’s your responsibility to call it out, even if you don’t fully understand why. — When my sister first introduced me to Strava she described it as a social network for runners. I didn’t think I need one, but when I joined eventually (you can’t say no to my sister, trust me), we were both surprised to see how many of my real friends are…

There are many ingredients needed in order for your product to succeed. Not all of them are related to your product, or even to your product’s domain. Your customers’ ecosystem has more impact on your ability to succeed than you might think. Here is why. — I recently ran into a Google bug. I have been using Google Drive as my primary storage since the first days of Infinify. I have also been using PowerPoint for creating my presentations ever since forever. Unfortunately, the bug I ran into creates a problem in saving PowerPoint presentations smoothly…

As product leaders, our success depends on others. We are so used to helping people and making sure the company gets what it needs, that we sometimes take it too far. Where is the line that you shouldn’t cross? Here are three examples of things you shouldn’t do. — As a parent, my instinct is to do whatever it takes to keep my kids safe and happy. When something happens — they fell and hurt their knee, or a friend broke their heart — I literally feel the pain with them. Many times, I wish I could take it…

As product leaders, we constantly struggle to balance between getting guidance from above and setting the direction ourselves. The CEO, or any of the founders if you are in a startup, seems to rightfully want to set the tone. Or do they? Here are 3 things you want to pay attention to. — I love massages. They are so good for both the mind and the body, that I try to get them regularly. As the CEO of Infinify, a mother of three daughters, a partner to my beloved husband, and a few other roles I fill in my life, my mind is…

With everything you have to do every day, it is so easy to neglect strategy. Not because it’s not important, but because it seems less urgent than everything else you have to deal with right here and now. But much like code, your product strategy also requires maintenance. And when left unhandled for too long, you might barely notice, but the impact can be deadly. — You probably know that hypertension is called “the silent killer”. It causes 60,000 deaths a year in the US alone — hence “killer”, and it has no symptoms until it’s too late — hence “silent”.

Your product will always have bugs, and you will always need to chase and fix the important ones. But sometimes, the really important bugs are not showing in the product itself. These are bugs in your product strategy, and if not fixed, it will be very difficult for your product to succeed. Here are a few popular strategic bugs and how you can fix them. — Many of you know that I started my career as a developer in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). After winning a few battles just to get there, I got to participate in a prestigious and very intensive 6-months development training (AKA MAMRAM). Fewer people know that after I completed my…

So you have done your planning and now want to communicate your roadmap to management or to the team. You know that you need a little more than a timeline with features on it, but what is this more exactly? Here is a template that will help you not only communicate your roadmap better but also build it the right way from the get-go. — You might have heard that I’m writing a book on product leadership. It’s a long journey, especially for someone like me who takes their words very seriously. …