Lecture Notes: Product Management and Leadership

Introduction

• Discussion between Harry and Shreyas Doshi, an experienced product management professional with experience at Stripe, Twitter, and Google.
• Shreyas started as an engineer in 2001, moved to product management at Yahoo in 2006.

Career Path in Product Management

• Started in Silicon Valley in 2003.
• Introduced to product management through customer interactions as an engineer.
• Decided against pursuing an MBA to enter product management.

Defining Product Management

• Definition: "The art, science, and practice of making successful products and making products successful."
• Two aspects: Creating successful products and making existing products successful.
• Success involves user adoption, customer satisfaction, and business impact.

Metrics in Product Management

• Metrics often debated; different companies have different focuses.
• Six Categories of Product Metrics: Health, Usage, Adoption, Satisfaction, Ecosystem, Outcome.
• Adoption metrics require preconditions; usage and health metrics provide deeper insights.

Adoption Metrics

• Adoption is an outcome; better to focus on usage metrics.
• Importance of understanding usage to improve adoption.
• Health metrics: Ensuring product availability and performance.

Misunderstood Metrics

• North Star Metric (NSM) is not a cure-all; often hard to measure perfectly.
• Early-stage focus on qualitative feedback rather than just metrics.
• Founders should be deeply involved in defining metrics.

Types of Product Leaders

Operator

• Excellent at scaling, cross-org alignment, and execution.
• Superpower: Communication.
• Challenge: Lacks original product insight.

Craftsperson

• Great at defining products and mentoring.
• Superpower: Product Insight.
• Struggles with large orgs and alignment.

Visionary

• Big picture thinker, invents what’s next.
• Superpower: Sees what others cannot.
• Rare to find competent visionaries.

Hiring and Role Transition

• Transition from needing craftsperson to operator post Product-Market Fit (PMF).
• Decision should be based on company stage and founder's competence.
• Scaling brings need for role change due to increased complexity and alignment needs.

Strategy and Customer Feedback

• Listen to feedback but ground decisions in strategy.
• Understanding core customer motivation is key.
• "BTD Framework": Below, Table stakes, Differentiation.

Angel Investing Insights

• Focus on founder capability over just the idea.
• Importance of a great team and leadership.

Company Examples

• Stripe Terminal: Strategic differentiation in a crowded space.
• Amazon's leadership principle: "Leaders are right a lot."

Product Strategy and Execution

• Lido School in India as an example of effective strategy and execution.

Conclusion

• Engaging discussion highlighting the importance of metrics, the role of product leaders, and strategic approaches in product management.