Thread by @JacobGnther1

Notes on Product Management:

Have a great vision: look at successful visionaries for instpiration: Musk, Jobs, Bezos, Page & Brin, etc.

Have a great strategy!

Product market fit is more important than the team. @pmarca pmarchive.com/guide_to_start…

Look for:
Moat (sustainable comp advantage)
Network effects
Visibility/predictability of revenue
High switching cost for customer
Customer concentration
Major partner dependencies
Organic demand vs marketing spend
Growth
@bgurley abovethecrowd.com/2011/05/24/all…

Your distribution model depends on whether installation requires assistance (none, little, a lot), how it gets delivered (online, not directly) and who makes the purchase decision (individual, small group,..., entire company) @bhorowitz a16z.com/2017/06/09/dis…

Product > Strategy > Business Model
@fredwilson avc.com/2013/06/produc…

Do not solve small and infrequent problems. Do not solve problems people do not care about. Do not solve problems you cannot experience yourself @destraynor intercom.com/blog/good-prod…

Attract customers with tools (Instagram filter), make them stay for the network (sharing, liking, etc.) @cdixon cdixon.org/2015/01/31/com…

Start with a very narrow niche, then expand. @davemcclure 500hats.com/niche-to-win-b…

Large companies are often trapped in the innovator's dilemma. Make use of that when you compete against them @asmartbear blog.asmartbear.com/compete-on-pro…

Distribution > Innovation! @bhorowitz a16z.com/2015/11/05/dis…

Design:
Do not just build features but build everything around solving customer problems! You ship solutions to problems, not features. medium.com/uie-brain-spar…

When asking customers for prioritizing what is important, give them a blank sheet. Do not prime them with other peoples opinions! @kennethn library.gv.com/babe-ruth-and-…

Catalogue all feedback sources.
Create a feedback river (feedback dump for all relevant ppl)
Develop feedback system of record (systemized)
Use feedback in product roadmap process
sachinrekhi.com/designing-your…

Kano Model: Satisfaction vs Investment.
Basic Feature = limited upside with possibly unlimited investment
Delightful Feature = Huge payoff with small investment
However, delightful features will degrade to basic expactations over time.

Apply Kano model to User's needs and Product Features (User's problems).
Monitor customer satisfaction to understand if a delight has become an expectation. Constantly look for sustainable delighters but also fulfill needs.
mindtheproduct.com/2013/07/using-…

Position: lnow where your product/company stands in relation to others, and work from there (think blue ocean, red ocean) m.signalvnoise.com/position--posi…

Written communication to engineering is superior as it is more lasting, consistent and raises accountability.
The specs should contain: problem, measurable goals, context, detailed solutions, timeline.

How to write specs:
Qucik draft (1-2h)
Have 1-1 meetings (1-4h)
Write spec and re-edit ( .5-3 days)
Get review (15min)
Update (1-2h)

Further tips for effective specs:
Keep it short
Simple language and formatting
Stay ahead
Think like an engineer
Quality images
Comunicate and set directions
Make sure audience reads specs
Get honest feedback
goberoi.com/on-writing-pro…

Do not focus on the customer demographics/psychometrics and correlations of consumption but the customer's circumstances and his hopes of accomplishment. Always take social and emotional component into account! hbr.org/2016/09/know-y…

Working backward prod definition:
Write press release (what prod does and why it exists, what its features and benefits are, write how world will see it)
Write FAQ abt prod
Define cust experience
Write user manual (what the prod is and how they use it)
allthingsdistributed.com/2006/11/workin…

Instead of having many features, focus on 3 and make them exceptional and for get the others. paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2010/02/if-you…

Solve easily communicatable problems worth solving
Only use intuition when you are part of target audienc
Fail fast and learn the lesson
First broad then deep solution generation
If you have not considered so proposition, solution gen was not broad enough

Test as much as possible, and so that you learn
Ideas = Hypothesis, try to constantly break them
Do a post mortem after every project; what lessons have you, the team had, what to do differently in the future

Have extremly good success metrics since it is what people aim for
Define metricsbefore launch to avoid confirmation bias
Have counter metric to know you create value
Come up w metric by crystal ball method and work backwards
If you do not understand sth, bring it up asap

If you are constantly in disagreement with team, it is probably rooted in the measure of succes
Think: what can I do to optimize success of team
Fall in love with problem, not solution
Always assume best intentions
Create environement for open expression
medium.com/the-year-of-th…

For scale: First Mile > Power User
First 15s of product for lazy, vain, selfish ppl (why there are here, what they can accomplish, what to do next)
Do>Show>Explain
Provide imediate novelty, utility, amusement to the user
medium.com/positiveslope/…

Bad managers talk, good managers write. Favor written communication as it makes ppl accountable, longer lasting and requires better thinking.
blog.idonethis.com/managers-write/

1 hour of user reasearch saves roughlz 10 hours of development so do more user research.
bokardo.com/archives/1-hou…

Engaged user = using core action
Have product with accruing benefits (longer use->bigger benefit by staying) and mounting loss (longer use->bigger loss by leaving)
Virtuous loops (notifications)
medium.com/@sarahtavel/th…

Control the menu, control the choice (whats not on menu?)
Have a variable reward
FOMO/FOMSomethingImportant (0.1% event)
Social approval (auto tagging)
Reciprocity
Bottomless bowls, infinite feed, autoplay
Interruption message > Respectful delivery

Bundeling user's reason with companie's reason (long paths to get more use time)
Inconvenient choices
Forecasting Error / Foot in Door
medium.com/thrive-global/…

cindyalvarez.com/10-things-ive-…

avichal.com/2016/08/04/pro…

thehipperelement.com/post/754767116…