Practical Product is the most actionable and practical podcast for B2B and SaaS Product Managers. This show is hosted by Jason Evanish, a Product Manager for over 12 years as a Founder, coach, and early-stage Product Leader.
Practical Product will talk about building a great strategy, avoiding pitfalls, balancing the many demands of a career in product management, and so much more.
We have many awesome guests lined up, some you've heard of in the Product Management space and some lesser-known, yet very talented PM's that you should get to know.
Follow the show and get ready to learn the practical product advice you've been dying to hear.
Get more product advice on Jason's blog: https://jasonevanish.com
Follow Jason on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Evanish
Get coaching from Jason or take his course: https://becustomerdriven.com
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Practical Product is the most actionable and practical podcast for B2B and SaaS Product Managers. This show is hosted by Jason Evanish, a Product Manager for over 12 years as a Founder, coach, and early-stage Product Leader.
Practical Product will talk about building a great strategy, avoiding pitfalls, balancing the many demands of a career in product management, and so much more.
We have many awesome guests lined up, some you've heard of in the Product Management space and some lesser-known, yet very talented PM's that you should get to know.
Follow the show and get ready to learn the practical product advice you've been dying to hear.
The Harsh Truth of Interviewing & Hiring Product Managers w/ Willis Jackson, Founder of Middle Mile and former 1st PM at Grove Collaborative
Episode 9
Friday, December 2, 2022 • Duration 01:32:24
Unfortunately, the product management interview process at most companies is poor. Navigating the interview process, or creating a good one at your company is a tall task.
In this wide-ranging interview we cover both perspectives to help you think about both the perspective of the interviewer and the interviewee.
For the interviewer:
If you know you'll be hiring down the road, start planning now. Think about the skills you want, the values you want, and the process you'll follow.
Interviewing is a skill. Spend time reading and learning how to do it well.
It's much easier to create your interview plan in small, incremental steps leading up to when you need them than being buried, desperately needing help and spread too thin.
Avoid puzzles, brain teasers, and hypothetical situations that are nothing like the job they'd have. Research shows it has no bearing on evaluating candidates effectively.
If you're going to make an assignment, make it:
A reasonable time request (a few hours, not days worth of effort)
Consistently applied to everyone (don't give one person a day and someone else 2 weeks)
Involves what the job would really include. (Willis's example is a plan after an experiment / launch fails)
Extremely clear what you'll evaluate them on and what you will not. (Like whether you care about design or format)
Be proactive in communicating with your recruiting team. Enlist their help and expertise to find & close great candidates.
Remember that hiring the wrong person is extremely expensive in time wasted by your team, cost on your budget, and setbacks on your projects.
For the interviewee:
Make your resume succinct and include data & numbers as much as covering skills and actions
If you do not have numbers now, start working on it now. Get in the habit to look up numbers and see what work you did has moved the needle.
How to make Product Specs that Your Teammates and Executives will Actually Want to Read (aka - The Product Thesis)
Episode 8
Saturday, November 19, 2022 • Duration 35:20
I learned how to make a great product spec from long-time Silicon Valley product leader Josh Elman. He calls it the "Product Thesis" and that's what we cover today.
Here's a breakdown of the sections I talk about for The Product Thesis: 1. Why are we working on this next? 2. When and how do people use this feature? (aka - what are the use cases?) 3. What problems do we need to solve? 4. How much time is budgeted for this project, and when does this need to be completed? 5. What are the future considerations that must be accounted for? 6. What is our KPI or metric for this thesis? 7. For larger companies: Who are the stakeholders and how/when do they need to be involved? 8. Optional: What kind of launch or marketing/sales efforts go with this feature? 9. Further Reading (aka - links to data, interviews, designs, mockups, etc)
How Free Tools can Supercharge the Growth of Your Business w/ Michael Novotny of Product & Build Co
Episode 7
Friday, November 11, 2022 • Duration 01:17:46
Today we talked about how building free tools (aka - side projects) for your company can help drive major growth.
Building these tools helps you a few ways:
People who use your free tool may directly sign up for your paid product when they see you made the free tool.
People using your free tool may give you their email address, which you can market to later.
Others will link to your free tool, boosting your SEO through improved backlinks.
Michael shares a lot wisdom and experience doing these, and the most important tips are:
Build a portfolio: You need to launch many (ideally 4-5 or more) so that some will hit, and others won't. If you only launch one, the odds work against you on the moon and stars aligning for you.
Build in public/test with your community: To increase your success rate, validate and test the ideas you have for tools to see if they resonate and what are the most important things it needs to do to provide value.
Use low and no-code tools: You can build and launch a lot faster using these tools, and since it doesn't touch your core product, it doesn't need the perfect architecture.
Links to Products, Case Studies & Tools Mentioned in this episode:
And Remote-How.com is a marketplace for more help with remote challenges
One of the best ways to build connection across departments and teams is with Peer 1 on 1s.
Consequences of AI, Understanding our Bundling Phase, & Self-Deprecation in Product Managers
Episode 5
Friday, October 28, 2022 • Duration 34:32
This episode is a collection of my thoughts on some trending topics I am seeing in the world of Tech and Product Management.
1. We are in a Bundling Phase: How can we as Product Managers bundle our offerings for consumers who are concerned about economic instability? We need to establish our products as absolute must have's in the eyes of our customers and recognize the new market dynamics to survive and thrive .
2. Let's stop the Self-Deprecation in Product Managers: Don't be the "this is fine" dog meme, be part of the solution when you see negative trends within the culture or product at your organization.
3. The Truth about AI & the Future of Work: I break down a clip from Yuval Noah Harai and his horrendous take on the "Useless Class" of folks he predicts will grow as technology continues to advance. We must shut push back on this rhetoric and build tools for an abundant AI future.
(0:33) - Introducing Hostos (2:14) - What is it like being a First-PM the 4th time around? (3:19) - What were you looking out for when taking on this new role? (5:53) - How did you think about filtering the Founder? (9:14) - What are the awesome parts of this kind of role? (15:07) - What are some of the hardest lessons you’ve learned as a First-PM? (16:25) - How do you think about hiring while being in lockstep with your team of engineers and designers? (20:14) - What do you think the ratio of PM’s to Engineers should be? (22:31) - Do you look for PM’s with specific skill sets or ones who are generalists? (25:17) - What advice would you have for someone interested in taking on the First-PM role? (38:40) - What should potential PM’s look for in a company to determine if it’s a good fit? (46:52) - What would you recommend someone does if they think some of these pitfalls apply to their situation? (48:11) - What advice would you give to founders thinking about hiring their First-PM? (51:28) - When is the right time to hire a First-PM? (54:00) - How can the First-PM be set up for success? (56:12) - How can people find you online?
The Curse of the 1st PM - Part 1: The Company View w/ Pulkit Agrawal, Co-Founder of Chameleon
Episode 3
Tuesday, October 11, 2022 • Duration 54:19
Why do so many 1st PMs end up not working out? What can we learn from these situations, where a founder hires a PM and then things don't work out?
In our first of a 2 part series, we interview a founder who knew about the curse of the 1st PM and it still didn't work out. Pulkit Agrawal, co-founder of Chameleon, candidly reflects on lessons learned from their 1st PM not working out and what he's doing differently the second time around. We look at how this is often a blameless set of circumstances that evolve as the company grows and makes it so someone who was a fit at the time may not be a fit as you grow.
This sets up for next episode's guest, where we talk to multi-time 1st PM, Hostos Monegro, who shares the employee perspective on this exciting, but challenging role at startups.
More on our guest, Pulkit Agrawal, co-founder of Chameleon:
(2:37) - What was your experience hiring your first PM? (5:35) - How has your approach changed for hiring PM #2? (6:27) - What got you excited about the person you ultimately hired for the #1 role?(7:37) - What traits were you looking for in candidates?(8:39) - Were there any concerns that you perhaps overlooked?(10:15) - Was there an initial ‘honeymoon’ phase as they were integrating with the team?(13:52) - When did you start to realize things may not be working out?(18:28) - How did you handle the transition of a PM leaving the team?(25:13) - Is it inevitable that the first PM will never be a perfect fit?(28:23) - Do you think hiring a designer & QA person first would’ve helped you more than a first PM?(30:31) - What strengths are you looking for in this next PM?(34:02) - How are you thinking about changing your hiring process the second time around?(35:44) - What advice would you give a founder who’s considering hiring their first PM?(43:17) - How can the founder set the PM up for success?(45:03) - What advice would you have for PM’s interviewing for a first PM role?(48:52) - What are some red flags candidates need to look out for?(50:46) - What advice would you give to current first-PM’s?
(1:43) - What are some of the biggest changes when someone shifts to a remote PM role?
(11:38) - How can a Remote PM be successful?
(14:55) - How do you advise Remote PM’s to think about understanding how their team is feeling and reacting to their work and communication in an asynchronous environment?
(18:57) - How do you tell if your team is on the same page when everyone is remote?
(24:00) - Do you think the ideal product team size is different for remote vs. in-person?
(26:54) - How do you avoid meeting & Zoom overload?
(39:52) - What makes a good discussion meeting, and when do you need to have those on the calendar?
(42:16) - How do you create the collaborative juices from a whiteboarding session to a remote team?
(48:48) - How often do Remote product teams need to be together in person?
(51:53) - How much would you think about geolocation when it comes to constructing pods?
(58:49) - What are ways PM’s can prepare themselves for the shift to a remote-first organization?
(1:04:54)- What questions would you recommend asking when sussing out if a remote company is the right fit?
(1:14:15) - What skills would you recommend developing for folks looking to become remote PM’s?
(1:20:32) - What are things that are good ways for folks to build their writing and communication skills?
(1:27:10) - Are there any more skills people need to develop to be great Remote PM’s?
(1:27) - Bundling within companies amidst economic uncertainty
(6:34) - What to do as a PM when you see customer churn due to bundling
(9:37) - Building tighter relationships with Sales and CS
(10:23) - Understand your secret sauce
(12:37) - Self-Deprecation in Product Managers
(17:29) - Yuval Noah Harari on the “Useless Class” & The future of work with AI
(29:22) - Product Managers can be part of the solution
(32:04) - Final Thoughts & Recap
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