Tips From Product Management Experts

Principal Product Managers already know this. Every time you say "yes" to a feature, you are saying "no" to a thousand others. But here’s the real problem—most teams don’t realize what they’re saying no to. So they end up: ❌ Saying yes to executive requests instead of customer needs ❌ Filling the roadmap with noise instead of true business impact ❌ Shipping features that check a feature parity box, not create a competitive advantage Saying no isn’t the hard part. Saying no intentionally is. I learned this the hard way. Early in my career, I thought I needed to produce by executing. -> So when an executive requested a feature, I said yes. -> When customers asked for enhancements, I said yes. -> When the roadmap had space, I filled it. And for a while, it felt like we were winning. We were getting things done. But there wasn't impact. ❌ Customers were overwhelmed—the product was getting cluttered. ❌ Engineers were stretched thin—delivering, but not innovating. ❌ Our competitive edge was fading—we were keeping up, not leading. That’s when I realized: Every time you say "yes" to a feature, you're saying "no" to a thousand others. Here's how to avoid my mistake and how to become a better product manager. 🚀 Tie every decision to strategy Every feature request should pass the "Vision Filter": Does this make the product fundamentally stronger? If not, it’s a distraction. A simple way to check: If this didn’t exist, would our core users still love the product? When leadership or customers push for a new feature, ask: -> "How does this align with our strategic goals?" -> "What problem does this solve better than anything else?" -> "Would we prioritize this if a competitor didn’t have it?" 💡 Pro tip: Keep a "Not Now" list—a backlog of good ideas that don’t fit today’s strategy. This keeps discussions productive without derailing focus. ⏳ Measure trade-offs beyond effort A “quick” feature is never quick. And never free—it costs engineering time, product complexity, long-term maintenance debt Instead of asking "How long will this take?", ask: -> "What ELSE could we build with the same resources?" -> "Will this add future maintenance burden?" -> "Will customers even care about this?" 💡 Pro tip: Before greenlighting a feature, ask the team: "If we build this today, what are we committing to maintaining for the next two years?" If that answer makes you hesitate, rethink the priority. 📊 Optimize for Long-Term Impact Not all features are created equal. The best ones don’t just check a box—they create lasting value. Before saying yes, ask: -> "Will this feature still matter in a year?" -> Does it open new revenue opportunities or expand our market? -> Will it strengthen our competitive edge, not just match the market? 💡 Pro tip: The best products prioritize driving customer value over just adding features. --- 👋 I'm Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership and building better products.

Vlad Loktev taught me more about product management than anyone else I've ever worked with, and is responsible for the biggest inflection in my PM career. Vlad spent 10 years at Airbnb where he started as an IC PM and quickly advanced to lead product, and then GM the entire Airbnb homes business, managing over 1,000 people and reporting directly to CEO Brian Chesky. He recently left Airbnb and joined Index Ventures as their newest partner. Prior to Airbnb, Vlad spent a year at Zynga, where he helped grow Words with Friends to over 14 million daily active users. In our conversation, we discuss: 🔸 Insight into Brian Chesky’s leadership style 🔸 Why success as a PM is all about impact, impact, impact 🔸 Why chaos can be good 🔸 Why as a leader it’s OK to let some fires burn 🔸 Why you should learn to “poke the bear” 🔸 Balancing product release speed with quality 🔸 Lessons on prioritization, decision-making, and organizational design 🔸 Advice for founders on building company culture 🔸 Much more Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gMrECh5z - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gG8yRXh2 - Apple: https://lnkd.in/g8rKdAjm Some key takeaways: 1. Relentlessly focus on impact. Start by identifying the highest priorities for your organization or team. Each day, ask yourself: What are the most critical tasks or projects that align with these priorities? Ensure your efforts are directly contributing to these goals. 2. Don’t be afraid to “poke the bear”: When you have a strong opinion or concern, don’t shy away from voicing it, even if it challenges the status quo. Poking the bear means confronting difficult issues constructively and openly, which can drive meaningful change and improvements. 3. Lead with curiosity and dial down advocacy: When entering a conversation or meeting, start by asking open-ended questions to understand others’ perspectives fully. This approach shows respect for differing opinions and helps you gather important information. Only after you have actively listened and absorbed the other viewpoints should you advocate for your own perspective. 4. Let some fires burn. You can’t address everything at once, and if you feel a need to do so, that’s a sign you don’t understand what’s most important for your business. You need to be explicit with yourself and your team about what the priorities are and what you’re willing to let burn in service of them. Aligning on this in advance will help you resist the urge to put out fires as they start. 5. Two tools to help you calm your mind: a. The serenity prayer: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” b. The shit bucket: Designate a specific place, like a physical trash can or a digital file, as your ‘shit bucket’ for frustrations and issues you can’t change.

Product Managers: Stop trying to prove you’re the most technical person in the room. Do this instead. Listen - you weren’t hired to write code. You were hired to lead. The fastest way to dilute your impact is by trying to match your engineers on technical depth instead of leaning into your actual superpower: clarity, strategy, and customer obsession. Here’s what actually moves the needle: 1. Know your customer inside and out. Not just their problems—but their aspirations, fears, and daily tradeoffs. 2. Craft a compelling narrative and strategy. A vision without clarity is just noise. Great PMs align people through story and focus. 3. Understand enough technical depth to earn respect, not to build the thing yourself. Your job is to ask the right questions, not answer all of them. 4. Be the decision-making engine. Create a space where smart people make smart decisions—fast. And when they are stuck, you make the decision for them. 5. Ask the “dumb” question. “Can you translate that into plain English?” is often the bravest, most powerful thing in the room. The best product managers I know don’t try to be engineers. They respect the craft—and build trust by doing what engineers need most: clearing ambiguity and setting a compelling direction. Remember: if you’re feeling the pressure to out-tech the tech team, stop. Instead, manage the product. Shape the story. Lead the room.

I had a great time sharing my advice on Product Management in the Age of AI in this interview with Aakash Gupta (just published): https://lnkd.in/gZqAtPBp The top take aways are: 1. AI hasn't changed the fundamentals. You still need to understand customers, identify problems, and prioritize opportunities. 2. Prototyping with vibe tools is the biggest unlock. What used to take weeks (text → sketches → wireframes → Figma → code) now happens in minutes (text → live prototype). This is where AI truly transforms PM work. 3. Start with bolt.new/Lovable, graduate to Cursor. Lovable and Bolt are perfect for quick prototyping without code. Cursor gives you more control and learning opportunities for serious AI PMs willing to touch code. 4. The design gap is closing. AI tools have moved every team up 1-2 levels in UX maturity (see Dan's model). Teams without designers can now create professional prototypes, but still need humans for breakthrough innovation. 5. Match research method to uncertainty. New product/market = in-person research. Existing product usability = remote unmoderated. The more uncertain you are, the more human interaction you need. 6. Good usability ≠ product-market fit. Always ask "How likely are you to use this?" at the end. Dan learned this the hard way - zero complaints doesn't mean people want your product. 7. Protect Discovery time. If your PM-to-dev ratio is above 1:10, you're probably a Jira jockey. Use Dan's 4 D's: Discover → Define → Design → Develop. Ensure you're spending adequate time in Discover and Define. 8. Collaborate, don't replace designers. Be upfront: "This prototype is only directional, not pixel-perfect." Use AI for quick validation, bring designers in for differentiated experiences and innovation. Check out the episode for all the details! #productmanagement #genai

Here are six pieces of advice I would give my younger self and Product Managers (PMs) early in their career: 1. Be a doer, not a talker. Don't obsess over making your work visible. Focus on impact and people will notice. 2. Master design sense. At Duolingo, our high design standards and fluid team roles mean PMs who can't contribute to design discussions hit a ceiling fast. 3. Become fluent in data. Learn exactly what every metric means at Duolingo and how to interpret it. It takes about six months to truly calibrate. 4. Run 30 experiments in your first six months. The more reps, the faster you learn. There's no shortcut – you learn by getting your hands dirty. 5. Meet as many colleagues as possible face-to-face. Those personal connections make everything smoother. 6. Don’t fixate on promotions. Years from now, you won't remember when you got promoted. You'll remember what you built and its impact. When you focus on impact instead of titles, you'll ironically advance faster because that's what we value. (We have a whole chapter on this called “Show Don’t Tell” in the Duolingo Handbook.) What's the best career advice you've received as a product manager? (This is a picture of me when I started at Duolingo in 2016).

My career has seen the dotcom boom, mobile computing, and now AI. Here are 5 ways Product Managers can succeed during tech revolutions 👇 🌊 Anticipate the Wave Anticipate change to future proof your product’s longevity and growth potential. Learn about the new tech, how to use it, and how to build it into your product. Don’t ignore it and hope it fades away. 💡 Redefine Possibilities What wasn’t possible before may be possible now. It is the Product Manager’s job to look forward and use new tech to increase the value of what they are building. You need to see what is possible WITH the new tech, not if it is possible to get by without it. 👂 Customer Discovery Technology needs to solve a customer problem and create value. Don’t just throw the hottest new thing into your product for the sake of it. Stay close to your customer’s needs and stay curious about how new tech can help offer solutions. A product manager’s core purpose is to solve problems in novel ways that the customer didn’t know they needed. 👯 Collaboration Innovation comes from collaboration. And the product manager is the facilitator. Times of significant change call for even more collaboration than normal, so don’t silo yourself. 🔄 Experimentation Good product management has always required experimentation. This is even more important in uncharted territories. Experimenting with what problem to solve, how to solve it, etc. Expect and embrace iteration and fine tuning before you settle on how to adapt to new tech. ➡ Takeaway: In any tech revolution, the role of the product manager is to shape the future. If you are waiting for the future to shape you, you are 1 step behind. What are you doing to shape the AI revolution?

As a PM, you have to be the expert in your user. In this episode, 20+ year PM George Harter (a 'Super IC PM') breaks down his two part strategy to: 1. Listening tour 2. Surveys — Tune in for his methodology and much more - like navigating leadership challenges to the future of AI and product management. Apple: https://lnkd.in/eAEVwr3u Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eyt7agKj YouTube: https://lnkd.in/ehi7Sn5D — Thank you to our sponsors: ‪Attio‬: The next generation CRM - https://lnkd.in/e9aZFheX ‪Sprig‬: Build products for people not data points - https://lnkd.in/ekSMEwQm ‪Cello‬: All-in-one platform for partner & user referrals - www.cello.so/productgrowth — Here were my favorite takeaways: 1. Know Your Users Like Your Best Friends Product managers must develop a deep understanding of their users’ needs and pain points. This knowledge should be so ingrained that PMs can answer questions about user behavior and preferences without needing to consult additional resources. Without this deep user knowledge, PMs risk losing credibility and slowing down the development process. 2. Value of In-Person User Interviews Conducting user interviews in person provides richer insights than zoom calls. In-person conversations allow product managers to: - Observe body language and non-verbal cues - See the user's full work environment and context - Notice subtle reactions that might be missed on video calls - Build stronger rapport with users These advantages lead to a more comprehensive understanding of user behavior, pain points, and the overall user experience, ultimately resulting in better-informed product decisions. 3. The Power of the Humble Survey Surveys are a crucial tool in a product manager's arsenal. They help validate and prioritize insights gathered from user interviews. Survey results provide quantitative data to support product decisions. George on how to carry out a survey: - Use simple, focused surveys (e.g., drag-and-drop ranking of pain points) - Aim for at least 100 survey responses to gain statistical validity Surveys, when used effectively, can bridge the gap between qualitative user interviews and data-driven decision making. This enables product managers to justify their roadmap choices and gain stakeholder buy-in. 4. Timing Matters in Career Transitions As a Product Manager seeking to switch industries or roles, timing can be crucial. Strategic job searches can significantly improve outcomes for PMs looking to make a change. For example, look for opportunities during periods of economic growth when companies are more willing to take chances on candidates without specific industry experience. — What was your favorite moment from the episode?

Ever wonder how to shift from outputs to outcomes in a mixed project-product environment? This is actually a very common challenge, let’s break it down… Many companies start moving towards a product operating model in pieces instead of the whole organization. Sounds tricky? It is. But here's the way forward. Transitioning to outcomes is a learning process, it doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and effort to align leadership, especially when they're stuck in project management mode. Leadership might ask, "Why fund this for longer when we could just complete projects and move on?" The answer lies in communication. You must articulate the value of looking beyond one-off projects to building products that evolve and offer ongoing solutions. Emphasize that managing products isn't about creating new features constantly, but about developing software that meets broader needs, reducing costs, and enhancing scalability. Start small. Make your product team a niche of success. Show how your approach delivers better products that customers love. Share those success stories across your company to stir excitement and advocate for a broader adoption of the product model. Not everything needs to be productized. Identify which parts of the business benefit most from a product approach and focus there. This clarity helps draw a line between projects and products, paving the way for smoother transitions. Lead by example. As your team succeeds, alignment on budgeting, strategy, and cross-functional collaboration becomes the norm. It's about fostering a product culture that connects strategy to execution, ensuring that the organization's goals are met through continuous improvement and learning. Good luck, and remember, transformation is a journey, not a destination. 🚀

Tradeoffs are part of almost every decision we make in building products. And there’s never a clean tradeoff – they are often challenging and sometimes even polarizing. After navigating hundreds of tradeoffs in my career, I’ve developed a few principles for making these decisions: 👉 Quality is nearly impossible to recover from, especially when customers have credible alternatives. It’s rare that you want to compromise quality for speed. 👉 That being said, when no credible alternatives exist in the market, prioritize speed. First-mover advantage is real. 👉 Be cautious of "ship momentum" that leads to poor tradeoffs. Sometimes slowing down actually helps you move faster in the long run. 👉 There's always a tradeoff happening. If it’s not clear what the implications are, keep digging until you find them. 👉 Assess not only the upside and downside risk but also the probability of that risk. Some high-downside risks with low probability are worth taking if the upside is significant. 👉 Accept that tradeoffs are inherently imperfect. Have the courage to make the call anyway. Then explain the “why” again, and again, and again… What's the toughest product tradeoff you've had to make? #ProductManagement #Leadership #DecisionMaking #ProductStrategy #ecommerce #retail

🚨 𝟳 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗺!) Even the best product managers make mistakes—but the key is learning from them. Here are 7 common PM pitfalls (including some controversial ones) and how to fix them: 1️⃣ 𝗙𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 ❌ PMs often become attached to an idea and push it forward—even when users don’t want it. ✅ Instead, 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺. Continuously validate and pivot based on feedback. 2️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 = 𝗔𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗲 ❌ Some PMs mistake Agile methodologies for product management. Agile is about execution, not strategy. ✅ Product management 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘁—with discovery, research, and alignment with business goals. 3️⃣ 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗩𝗣 ❌ If your "MVP" has every feature imaginable, it's 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗠𝗩𝗣—it’s just a bloated launch. ✅ A real MVP solves 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 in the simplest way possible. Ship, learn, and iterate. 4️⃣ 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗘𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 ❌ PMs get stuck in meetings, roadmaps, and internal politics—losing touch with 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘀. ✅ Regularly 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀—don’t rely on secondhand insights. 5️⃣ 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 ❌ Just because stakeholders 𝗻𝗼𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 doesn’t mean they’re aligned. ✅ Repeat back decisions, 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 to avoid misalignment. 6️⃣ 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵 ❌ Relying purely on data can lead to 𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘁𝘀—metrics only tell part of the story. ✅ Balance 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 from users, research, and market trends. 7️⃣ 𝗧𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗢𝘄𝗻 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 (🔥 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲!) ❌ PMs who micromanage every decision slow things down and 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀. ✅ Great PMs 𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀—while keeping the big picture in focus. 📌 𝗧𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆: Avoid these pitfalls, and you’ll be a more effective, strategic, and impactful product manager! 💬 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸? Have you seen (or made) any of these mistakes? Let’s discuss in the comments! 👇 💡 𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝘀? Visit www.productdiscipline.io and let’s build the right products—efficiently! #ProductManagement #BuildRightProducts #Leadership #ProductStrategy #ProductDevelopment #Agile #DigitalProductDiscipline #MVP