“Venture services focuses on solving a specific sub-section of founder needs: the need for quality software and the need for capital to pay for it.” This post is the second part in a series on venture and venturing. …

This post is part one of two about venture and venturing. Part One examines the ‘what’ and the ‘why’ of venture, primarily from the perspective of the providers. Part Two delves into ‘how’ venturing actually works in the context of ‘venture services’, the corner of the venture ecosystem I occupy…

“Companies fail all the time. And product strategy is the best defence you have against this.” — Des Traynor, Intercom — [This article is adapted from various presentations given in London in 2017, including Products that Count and the London Product Strategy Meetup. …

Getting Product Strategy right Companies fail all the time. And your product strategy is the best defence you have against it, says Intercom’s Des Traynor. In Summary: In a short talk, packed with insights, Des Traynor explains why, in the early stages, nailing product strategy is even more important than perfecting sales and marketing. …

The Product Strategy Toolset A canvas masterclass, from Alex Osterwalder. In Summary: Selling colleagues on the value of product strategy can be challenging in startups and tech companies where the prevailing culture is one of coding rather than talking. …

Aggregation Theory | The Big Idea in Product Ben Thompson (via his Stratechery brand) is unquestionably the most influential commentator on Product Strategy right now and Aggregation Theory is his Relativity. It’s ‘The Big Idea’ that makes sense of everything. In Summary: Aggregation Theory describes how certain platforms companies (eg. Facebook, Google, Uber) have been able to dominate…

How can Machine Learning lead to better Product Design? Quora’s CEO wades in (on Quora, obviously…) In Summary: Machine learning can help curate a better product over time. Predicting user behavior helps shape your UX around how people will use your product. Machine learning helps reduce the need for the user to make choices. If you have a search…

“In a freemium world, there’s far less sales involvement. The product does the majority of the selling.” — Jess Iandiorio (Drift) It was some time ago that SaaS companies discovered that, by aligning engineering, marketing and data teams they had created a new channel for lead generation. …

What (exactly) is an Anti-Active Usage Product? Engagement is a lagging indicator, says Plainflow’s Leonardo Federico. In Summary: Most Products Managers monitor user engagement as a key ‘metric that matters’ for their product. But user time is finite and the impact on our lives of multiple products demanding our attention is constant distraction (from notifications) and context-switching. …