🎾 5 Career Rules, Implicit Strategy & Your Ultimate PM Portfolio Guide
+ 2 Thought-Provoking Questions
Estimated read time: 1 minute 37 seconds.
This is Sunday 1-1-2-3 with George.
Welcome to the 99th edition.
🆕 In today’s edition:
⚡️ 4 actionable steps you can take tomorrow to forward your product & career
📝 Your guide to CAC payback period
🎙️ A simple game to improve your AI product sense!
📚 Stop Asking Questions
+ thought provoking questions & 1 quote
🛠️ 4 Actionable Tasks [Less Than 30 Minutes Each]
Cornerstone Challenge Meeting: Schedule a 30-minute meeting with your core team members for a focused discussion to identify the most critical and addressable challenge currently facing your product. Make this the cornerstone for aligning your upcoming OKRs and roadmap. - From TBM 227: Explicit vs. Implicit Strategy
Cross-Dept Insight Exchange: Schedule a 30-minute meeting with a colleague from a different department or project to discuss their current challenges and share insights from your own work. Aim to identify at least one potential area for collaboration or mutual learning. This feeds into the advice on building meaningful relationships and generating luck through cross-functional opportunities. - From 5 Rules That Will Drive a Long, Healthy Career
Rapid Impact Sizing: Conduct a rapid impact sizing exercise for an upcoming feature.
Identify key metrics (e.g., DAU, MAU, Revenue).
Make quick but data-informed assumptions for user adoption and engagement.
Sketch a simple model on Google Sheet to estimate impact on chosen metrics.
Identify the weakest/riskiest assumption; flag it for more rigorous analysis later. - From An Advanced Guide to Impact Sizing
PM Portfolio Drafting: Allocate 30 minutes on Monday to draft the outline of your Product Manager Portfolio using a tool like Miro for mind mapping. Focus on 3-4 key initiatives or features you've worked on. For each, jot down context, your specific contribution in STAR format (Situation, Task, Action, Result), and any possible visual aids (e.g., interface screenshots, flowcharts). - From How to create a Product Manager Portfolio
🎓 3 Learning Opportunities
Article: “Your guide to CAC payback period”
Time: 4 minutes
Video: "A simple game to improve your AI product sense!"
Time: 1.5 minutes
Book: "Stop Asking Questions: How to Lead High-Impact Interviews and Learn Anything from Anyone" by Andrew Warner
Time: 11 days (30 mins per day reading)
❓ 2 Thought-Provoking Questions
If you were to leave the company today, what would you want your successor to focus on? What stops you from focusing on that now?
If you accidentally launched a half-baked feature and it became highly popular, what would your next steps be?
🌟 1 Inspirational Quote
That's a wrap for today. Stay focused and see you next week! If you want more, be sure to follow me on Twitter (@nurijanian)
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Who's George?
I’m an underdog product manager.
Product management in New Zealand (where I live) is still a relatively immature discipline. I also came into it late via data science and UX. I may be older than others, but I often feel like a rookie.
To become better at my craft, I learn and explore new ideas relentlessly.
Then I share high-quality, tried-and-true ideas that can be used right away.
How I can help you:
If you want to feel smarter, I’ve compiled my best actionable finds in prodmgmt.world.
If you need to figure out prioritization in your role, get The Big Book of Prioritization.
See you next week.
— George.