A Product Trio is a fundamental concept for product teams.

But contrary to what many believe, it is not:

- A framework to follow
- A strictly defined set of roles
- An exclusive group that performs product discovery alone

Three pieces of advice:
🧵 1. Reject working in silos

You do not want silos in your Product Trio. Product Discovery is teamwork.

A picture is worth a thousand words: OKRs vs. KPIs vs. Metrics

When comparing OKRs and KPIs, many forget a critical aspect - the relationships between them.

In short, the Key Results in the OKR always refer to quantitative metrics, some of which might be KPIs.

Let's dive into more details. 1. What are OKRs?

OKR stands for “Objectives and Key Results.” The 2 components:

- Objective (What, When): A qualitative, inspirational, time-bound goal for a team to focus on. Typically set quarterly.
- Key Results (What): Quantitative metrics (typically three) that monitor progress towards the Objective.

Many PMs struggle to explain the difference between Vision, Strategy, Objectives, and Roadmap.

But those are extremely simple concepts.

Let's tackle them one by one: 🧵 1. Product Vision (Why)

Product Vision is the long-term aspiration of your product. It motivates your team to wake up every morning and go to work.

For example, “Send humans to the Moon” or “Help tour operators focus on doing what they love.”

Effective vision needs to be inspiring and emotional. It becomes much more memorable when it speaks to people's hearts.

My favorite example is the JFK Moon speech:

7 Prioritization Frameworks for PMs + free templates:

1. Eisenhower Matrix
2. Opportunity Score
3. Impact vs. Effort (2x2)
4. Risk vs. Reward
5. Kano Model
6. Weighted Decision
7. (R)ICE Framework 1. Eisenhower Matrix

Free template (Miro): miro.com/templates/eise…

Top 29 free PM templates that will make PM a breeze:

Product Discovery:

- Customer Interview (PPTX)
- User Persona (PPTX)
- User Journey Map (PPTX)
- Opportunity Score: Introduction (PDF)
- Opportunity Score: The official Dan Olsen's template (PPTX)
- Jobs-to-be-Done Opportunity Score calculation (XLSX)
- 5-Day Design Sprint: The only official template (Miro)
- Opportunity Solution Tree (Miro)

[A free link at the end of the thread, 🧵] Prioritization:

- ICE Framework (XLSX)
- RICE Framework (XLSX)
- Impact vs. Effort (Miro)
- Eisenhower Matrix (Miro)
- Risk vs Reward (PPTX)
- Weighted Decision Prioritization (XLSX)

The Ultimate List of Product Metrics:

- Acquisition: How do users find you?
- Activation: How do they experience value?
- Retention: Do they stay with you?
- Revenue: How do you make money?
- Referrals: Do they tell others about your product?
- Engagement: How do they interact with your product?

🧵 This list is based on the AARRR framework. It is universal and fits every organization that works on customer-facing tech products.

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Remember, you don't need to track everything.

Instead, focus on just a few key metrics that matter the most.

Interviewing customers is a critical PM skill.

But only a few can do it right.

Top 12 best practices and common mistakes to avoid: 🧵 1. Ensure diverse perspectives

Product Discovery is not a task for a single person. Instead of building stage gates, we should embrace the collaborative approach.

The whole Product Trio (Product Manager, Product Designer, and Lead Engineer) should be present.

Grab my top 118 books for PMs
(+bonus on page 14) 🧵 1. Product Discovery (15)

7 Prioritization Frameworks for PMs 🧵

(bookmark this post for later)

1. Eisenhower Matrix

Useful for: prioritizing tasks.

Free template:  miro.com/templates/eise…
2. Opportunity Score

Useful for: prioritizing opportunities

Introduction (PDF): 

@danolsen's template (PPTX):  drive.google.com/file/d/1ENbYPm…
docs.google.com/presentation/d…

The ultimate list of product metrics for PMs:

- Acquisition
- Activation
- Retention
- Revenue
- Referrals
- Engagement

🧵 1. Acquisition Metrics

All PM templates from my Google Drive are now free for everyone. Happy Monday! 🎁

PPTX:

XLXS: https://t.co/4zVKENRF8N

DOCX: https://t.co/vsxpFnx3F3

And there is more 🧵 https://t.co/rr6KnXPWPCdrive.google.com/drive/folders/…
drive.google.com/drive/folders/…
drive.google.com/drive/folders/…
27 free FigJam PM templates by @MarynaKucherova:
https://t.co/2fk4UYbMUcfigma.com/community/file…

The reality is 90% of new products fail.

The first step to ensure you have a chance to succeed?

The right market segment and a value proposition.

But many make similar mistakes 🧵 Many PMs segment the market based on peoples' characteristics and only later consider their underserved needs/jobs.

But markets are defined by the problems people have, not by the products or people's characteristics.

A better, more systematic 5-step approach:

I just finished a Continuous Product Discovery video course! 🚀😊

You can benefit from a shorter version - Continuous Product Discovery Introduction.

Let’s get into it right now 🧵

1. In case you don’t know me

2. Why do we need Product Discovery?

From this video, you will learn:

- The problem with new ideas.
- 5 risk areas PMs should be aware of.
- Why learning by delivering is not a good idea.
- Why do we need Product Discovery?

Over 80% of PMs are trapped in a feature factory trap.

Changing it might seem like a Sisyphean task.

Here are 3 proven tactics you can use: 🧵 Before we dive in, educating your stakeholders is pointless. Knowledge about best practices is free and available to anyone.

It's safe to assume they don't want to know.

The product death cycle is a terrible trap.

Many PMs forget about the "Why" and become waiters.

To please everyone, a waiter collects and waterfalls all "feature requirements" to the team. But no matter how much the team delivers, it gets only worse. 🧵 Features shipped in a hurry do not solve anyone's problems and do not drive the expected business results.

The feature factory.

Fortunately, you can prevent or escape that trap.

Try this (4 ways):

PM needs to be technology-literate.

But it's hard without a tech background.

Top 6 free tech courses that will help you land a new job (or keep the existing one): 🧵 1. SQL by SQLBolt

Quickly learn SQL in your browser using a set of interactive lessons and exercises.

PM should spend most of her time on Product Discovery.

But there are 3 different schools. It's easy to get confused.

What are they?

And how to combine them (8 tips)? 🧵 Before we dive in, those are:

1. Start with customers. Ideate in a trio (PM, Designer, Engineer).

2. Start with stakeholders. Ideate together. Customers will test your ideas (Sprint).

3. Spend most of your time in the problem space (JTBD). Solutions are just a consequence.

YouTube is a free university for PMs.

But it's tough to cut through the noise.

Top 7 PM channels you'd be crazy to miss: 🧵 1. Dan Olsen

@danolsen hosts my favorite YouTube gem with 150+ PM videos. Many inspiring talks and in-depth interviews with the top book authors. I have watched many of them 3+ times.

youtube.com/@DanOlsen

Over the last 2 months, I've spoken to 30+ PMs.

2 areas limit the growth of many people the most: Product Discovery and Strategy.

If you, too, get overwhelmed by so many resources, or struggle to understand what the PM job is about, start by watching those 3 videos: 🧵 1. The Root Cause of Product Failure with @cagan:

Want to break into PM? I have a plan tested with my first students.

9 videos, 7 books, and 2 top-notch courses you can take for free 🧵 Before we dive in:

- Please study carefully. This is not a race
- Make notes / create a mind map
- 3 times a week, write a short post
- Start networking. See the “PM People” section
- Theory is not enough. But it's a solid foundation

The product death cycle is a terrible trap.

Many PMs forget about the "Why" and become waiters.

To please everyone, a typical waiter collects and waterfalls all "feature requirements" to the team.🧵 But no matter how much the team delivers, it gets only worse. Features shipped in a hurry do not solve anyone's problems and do not drive the expected business results.

The feature factory.

Fortunately, you can prevent or escape that trap.