Looking into multiple vision statements, I realize that there are only two broad possibilities (and a combination of these two) to define your product vision. One is Customer value/experience (what the product delivers) and the other is the platform (what the product becomes). In detail: Customer Value/Experience: Your vision is expressed directly
This is the first post on ‘Product vision’ under the Product Leadership series. Product Leaders & PMs write product vision statements for a variety of reasons – to inspire teams, to provide a sense of direction, and to ease decision-making at all levels. But what does a product vision mean for a
After reading my previous post, a budding product leader pinged me, “Venkat if I have to follow your advice, I would have to start spending more than 50% of my time on stakeholder management”. This was her reaction to my last post on a framework for stakeholder management (article link in the
Why this post? While transitioning from an individual contributor to a leadership role, your perspective would change from “How do I make an impact?”, “how do I leverage others’ expertise to make an outsized impact?”. So, at leadership levels, the importance of stakeholders increases multifold. Given this importance, a leader needs to
Aarti joined Bell Technologies, a fast-growing startup as a Group PM to lead customer experience. In her role, she had to deal with Karan, a tough stakeholder. Karan used to challenge Aarti by constantly questioning her approach, priorities, and decisions. Aarti initially took everything at face value and kept answering his questions,
Interview fatigue is real. Even a seasoned hiring manager gets a little discomposed when a calendar alert shows up with the subject “Interview with ….”. This is because interviews get repetitive after a point. Managers in high-growth companies easily do 100+ interviews in a year. Interviews become mechanical, more of a ritual.
Vivek, the interviewer walked out of the interview room with high shoulders and veiled pride. He stared at the recruiter who was anxiously hoping that at least this candidate would be OKed by the interview panel. Vivek said – ‘Not good’ and walked away. A couple of weeks later, he met a
In the last few years, employers engage prospective employees during the timeframe between offer acceptance and joining. The engagement happens in the form of – 1. Sending flowers, chocolates, and gifts to candidates along with a lovely welcome letter 2. Invite the candidate for team dinner/lunch to get to know their colleagues
Dhruv, the VP of products was reviewing hiring funnel data. One glaring point he noticed was – two of the panelists were saying ‘yes’ to all the candidates they interviewed. This doesn’t make sense. He started creating a mental model of interview decisions and this is what he got to – Nailing
One startup founder asked me – “Can you help me hire a rock star PM in the next 10 days?” In another time, a Product Director from an MNC was telling me – “I feel that we end up rejecting good candidates too often for flimsy reasons. Any idea how to reduce
