Stop Prioritizing Speed Over Progress Today we're going to discuss the difference between real product progress and the illusion of momentum created by speed. Early-career product managers often get praised for being "fast." People say "Fail fast" or "Be quick to pivot". And while those statements good mantras generally speaking, speed can be deceptive. Moving quickly doesn’t mean you’re moving in the right direction. And it certainly isn't an indicator of progress. Over time, chasing speed...
10 days ago • 4 min read
The Product Manager Who Knew Too Much This week, I’m going to talk about a different kind of trap. The knowledge bottleneck. It happens when you, the product manager, become the person who knows everything about the roadmap, the customer, the edge cases, the trade-offs, the architecture, the goals, the caveats. That might sound like a good thing. It’s not. The longer you’re the only person with context, the more you turn into a blocker. You slow down decision-making. You burn out. Your team...
17 days ago • 4 min read
The Trap of “Being Helpful” This week, I’m going to walk you through one of the most common traps junior and even mid-level product managers fall into: mistaking responsiveness and availability for effectiveness. It starts innocently. You answer questions quickly, offer to write up docs, sit in extra meetings, and jump into every problem. But before long, you’re underwater. Your core responsibilities slip, and you’re not seen as a strategic leader. You’re seen as “the person who helps out.”...
24 days ago • 5 min read
When Your Engineers Don’t Trust the Roadmap This week, I’m going to break down what happens when engineers quietly (or not-so-quietly) stop trusting the roadmap. I’ll walk through how to spot it, how to prevent it, and how to earn back their confidence when it’s gone. If you’re in Product and your engineering team rolls their eyes when you talk about the roadmap, your job just got ten times harder. Execution slows down. Morale dips. You start spending more time defending the work than...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
"We Shipped It" Isn’t a Win Setting clear success criteria for product launches is paramount. But most PMs skip this step, often to their own detriment. Without clear success criteria, your launches are at the mercy of opinions. You’ll struggle to prove impact, defend your roadmap, or even explain what “done” means. Good success criteria protect your time, help you tell better stories, and earn trust. FAR too many Product folks confuse success with shipping. I say it all the time, but I'll...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Handling Constant Priority Changes Have you ever seen a wild shift in priorities? Have stakeholders who change their minds with the seasons? Do you get blind-sided by new urgent tasks that appear out of nowhere? For some of us, this happens practically every month. For others, it's very rare. But it happens when to all of us eventually. Today, we'll discuss practical strategies to manage shifting priorities without losing momentum or burning out. We product managers operate in environments...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Making Bad Product Decisions We all do it at some point. We make a poor product decision. They stem from rushed launches, weak market validation, or misaligned priorities. But, they can have long-term consequences for your product and company. As a product manager, every decision you make influences your company’s growth, customer satisfaction, and competitive edge. Some bad decisions are minor missteps, but others can derail entire products, erode trust, or burn significant resources....
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Leading by Influence One of the biggest misconceptions about product management is that you need direct authority to drive decisions. But in reality, product managers (PMs) often operate without formal power. This newsletter will teach you how to build influence, gain buy-in from stakeholders, and lead effectively even when you don't have direct authority. As a PM, your success depends on your ability to bring people along on a shared vision. Whether it's convincing engineers to prioritize...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Breaking into product Breaking into product management can feel impossible, especially if you don’t have a traditional background in tech, design, or business. Today, I’ll break down the biggest perceived barriers to entry and show you how to overcome them. Product management is an exciting and rewarding career, but many aspiring PMs never make it past the first hurdle. Whether it’s the lack of a technical degree, no prior experience, or unclear pathways into the role, too many people give up...
2 months ago • 3 min read