WIP Newsletter #2
What we’re reading (and listening to):
“Truth seekers have a strong bias towards discovering the truth being their primary motivation and what ultimately guides their decision-making. It takes incredible humility and curiosity to embody this trait, but when it exists, the benefits are felt throughout the entire R&D team”. Sachin Rekhi discusses what sets the best Product Managers apart from the pack in “The Best Product Managers are Truth Seekers”
“If you’re mission-oriented like Pinterest, you try and find the metrics that most closely align to giving you signal that you’re fulfilling that mission.” In this essay from Reforge, Casey Winters (ex Growth Product Lead at Pinterest) talks about how to set retention metrics, how to learn from experimentation and how to think about retention over the long term. Read “Casey Winters on Pinterest’s Retention Wins…”
In his post, Steven Sinofsky cautions against leading (or managing) by editing. This is particularly pertinent for Product Managers. The allure of leadership by editing is seductive, however it can systematically erode the quality of a team. Steven presents things you can do to counter this instinct. Read “Leading by Editing, Isn’t (and Why)”
Cindy Alvarez talks about the art of figuring out who is going to buy your product before committing resources to it.Highlights include the importance of managing expectations internally and externally, how principles of customer development translate to larger companies and ways to ensure your feedback is free from bias. Listen to the podcast “Customer Development is Product Management”
“Whatever your first mile is now, it must not only get consistently better but also must consistently change.” Scott Belsky (founder of Behance) writes about the considerations in crafting a first mile experience in the post “Crafting the First Mile of Product”
Six examples of strong Product Managers at work on iconic products. The post highlights what it means to be a stellar Product Manager. It’s no surprise that traits like grit, persistence, creativity, collaboration and influence are hugely important in building impactful products. Bonus is that all six of the featured PMs are women. Check out “Behind Every Great Product”
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