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+ Advice from an Amazon VP with 70 US Patents & Work Smarter, Not Harder with Reforge
Estimated read time: 3 minutes 24 seconds.
This is Sunday 1-1-2-3 with George.
🆕 In today’s edition:
🔐 Access to PRD World ($35 value - FREE for Paid Subscribers)
🆓 Becoming The Best Product Manager Possible - Part 1 | Become a Knowledge Sponge: Learn From Experts
🆓 How To “Think Big” (Advice from an Amazon VP with 70 US Patents)
🆓 Work Smarter, Not Harder with Reforge
❓ 1 Thought-Provoking Question
How would your product change if it were designed by someone who uses it only once a year, yet whose life depends on it that day?
🌟 1 Useful Quote
🎓 2 Learning Opportunities
Article: How To “Think Big” (Advice from an Amazon VP with 70 US Patents)
Time: 5 minutes
Video/Audio: Work Smarter, Not Harder with Reforge
Time: 33 minutes
⏮️ Rewind
Same Time Last Year
This Week’s Highlights From Twitter
🛠️ Becoming The Best Product Manager Possible - Part 1
The tweet on the notes to a PM from Coinbase’s CEO resonated with a lot of people.
But I’m pretty sure everyone read it and filed it under “I’ll keep that in mind”.
I want to actually give you a really crisp, clear, step-by-step blueprint to make that a reality.
I guarantee that even if you’re in the Top 5% of Product Managers, you will still have gaps, and so this blueprint will methodically close those gaps.
Today’s part 1 focuses on the first part of that note: “Become a knowledge sponge”.
Become a Knowledge Sponge: Learn From Experts
Objective:
To systematically absorb and document knowledge from market leaders and innovators, inside and outside your company.
Task Duration:
50-60 minutes for each session, bi-weekly.
Required Inputs:
A list of market leaders and innovators in your product space.
Access to research materials: articles, case studies, product reviews, and user forums.
A digital tool for journaling (e.g., Google Docs, Notion, or Evernote).
Steps:
Schedule the First Routine Learning Session: Pick a date within the next two weeks to dive into market research.
Preparation (15 minutes):
Identify Key Performance Areas: Consider what areas are most relevant to your product's success. Is it technology innovation, marketing creativity, user experience design, or business model innovation?
Set Specific Criteria: For each key area, define what exceptional performance or innovation looks like. This might include achievements like leading a successful product launch, publishing influential research, or developing a novel technology.
Utilize Professional Networks: Leverage platforms like LinkedIn, industry forums, and professional associations to identify individuals who meet your criteria. Use keyword searches related to your product's key performance areas to find profiles that stand out.
Ask for Recommendations: Reach out to your network, including colleagues, industry contacts, and mentors, asking for recommendations. Sometimes the most valuable connections come through personal referrals.
Review Accomplishments and Contributions: Look for tangible evidence of each candidate's impact in their field. This might include successful projects they've led, awards they've won, papers they've published, or patents they hold.
Consider Relevance to Your Product: Ensure that the candidates' area of expertise aligns closely with your product's needs. Someone might be a leading expert in their field, but if their focus is not directly relevant to your product, they might not be the right fit for this context.
Create a Candidate List: Based on your research and evaluations, make a list of top candidates who best meet your criteria and could provide valuable insights or contributions to your product.
Prioritize Based on Fit and Availability: Consider which candidates are most likely to be interested and available for whatever role you have in mind (e.g., advisory board member, interviewee for user research). You might need to prioritize based on how directly their expertise and achievements align with your product's current challenges and goals.
Draft a Personalized Message: When you contact your chosen candidates, make sure to personalize your message. Highlight why you've selected them specifically and what you admire about their work.
Explain the Opportunity: Clearly articulate what you're asking of them and what they would gain from participating. Whether it's the chance to influence an innovative product, the opportunity for professional exposure, or a direct benefit like compensation, make the value proposition clear.
Research (15 minutes):
Start with a general search for the person's name to find their LinkedIn profile, personal or company website, and any other professional profiles they may have.
Look for recent articles on reputable industry websites or news outlets. Use search queries that include the person's name and the current year to filter for recent publications.
Search for case studies or reports that mention projects or products they've been involved in. Business school libraries or industry-specific forums may have these resources.
Find user reviews of their products, if applicable, on platforms like Trustpilot, Product Hunt, or industry-specific review sites. This will give you insights into how their work is received by the end user.
Search for interviews or talks they've given, which can often be found on YouTube, industry conference websites, or podcasts.
Skim for relevance: Quickly assess each source to determine its relevance to your research objectives. You're looking for insights into their product development philosophy, feature prioritization, and user needs addressing.
Take focused notes: As you go through the materials, jot down key insights, quotes, or data points that directly relate to your research questions. Be sure to note down the source URLs for future reference or deeper exploration.
Prioritize depth over breadth: Given the time constraint, it's better to thoroughly understand a few high-quality sources than to skim through a lot of superficial information.
Documentation (15 minutes):
In your Innovation Journal, create a new entry for the session. Start by summarizing the key facts about the entity: their market position, notable products or features, and recent innovations.
Look for patterns or themes in what you've learned. How does this person approach product development? What philosophies or methodologies do they rely on?
Identify unique strategies or tactics they've employed in addressing user needs and prioritizing product features.
Reflect on the 'why': Beyond their actions and decisions, try to understand the motivations and reasons behind their approach. This can often be gleaned from interviews or personal statements.
Document specific insights or ideas that could be relevant to your product. This could include unique solutions to common user problems, effective product design elements, or successful marketing strategies.
Reflection (5 minutes):
Reflect on how the insights from the session could apply to your product. Consider questions like:
What can we learn from their approach to user experience?
Are there features or strategies they use that could benefit our users?
How might we adapt some of their successful tactics to fit our context?
Output:
A detailed entry in your Innovation Journal that includes:
A summary of the market leader's or innovator's key attributes.
Documented insights and ideas that could inform your product strategy.
Initial reflections on how these insights could be applied to your product.
Checkin:
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