Samantha Park

Every roadmap decision is a wager: growth, retention, revenue, learning, or infrastructure. The difference?👇 Leaders know how to size the opportunity, set the metrics, and know when to double down (or kill it). 📌Save this framework for your next strategy session! #ProductManagement #ProductLeadership #ProductStrategy

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🚨 Product leaders: how often do you walk out of a meeting thinking, "Wait… I thought we agreed on that?" You're not alone. Misalignment with stakeholders kills momentum—and rework becomes your team’s middle name. But what if you could read their minds? Not in a superhero way. In a product-led way. 💡 Through structured listening, real empathy, and actionable translation—mind-reading becomes a powerful product leadership tool. In our latest blog, we share a proven playbook to: ✅ Decode stakeholder signals (without guessing) ✅ Surface hidden risks and priorities ✅ Reduce rework and deliver faster ✅ Build trust and shared clarity It’s time to make “you get me” the norm—not the exception. 👇 Read the full guide and start your Product-Led Transformation today: 🔗https://lnkd.in/gtAYC8dP #ProductLedTransformation #ProductLeadership #StakeholderAlignment #EmpathyInProduct #MindReadingNotRequired

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🚨Hot take: Building a great product isn’t a solo mission. It takes a village — PMs, designers, marketers...and yes, product strategists. But while most folks know what a PM does — the Product Strategist? That’s where things get fuzzy. 👀 So let’s clear it up. They’re the ones connecting the business goals to the product roadmap. Tracking market shifts before they hit. Making sure your team isn’t just shipping fast, but smart. In our blog, we’re putting the spotlight on one of the most quietly powerful roles in product. 🔗Tap https://lnkd.in/gFFXKS9c to read the full breakdown! #ProductManagement #ProductStrategist #ProductManager #ProductTeam #ProductRoles

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Most PMs struggle aligning the company with their next feature launch. Launch tiers can help. There’s a strategy to launch tiers, and once you get it right, it changes everything. Here's a break down the 4-tier launch system that the best companies use to align PM with PMM and the rest of the GTM team: — First, let’s talk about what launch tiering really means. Not every product launch deserves a full-scale campaign with press releases and marketing blitzes. But most teams either overinvest in minor updates or underinvest in major ones. The solution? Launch tiers. — Tier 1: Major Launches These are the big ones: New product rollouts, major redesigns, or features that can redefine your category. They need: → Full company alignment (PMs, marketing, sales, PR, support) → A marketing campaign, press releases, and executive support. — Tier 2: Mid-Level Launches These are meaningful updates that improve the product or help expand market reach... But don’t require full-scale efforts. They involve: → Collaboration with marketing, but on a smaller scale → Blog posts, emails, and internal training for sales teams — Tier 3: Routine Updates These are your everyday product improvements. Small design tweaks, bug fixes, or iterative feature updates. Here’s what they need: → Simple announcements like release notes or in-app notifications → Minimal or no involvement from marketing and sales — Tier 4: Silent Releases These updates live behind the scenes... Things like backend optimizations, performance upgrades, or security patches. What they require: → Documentation for internal teams → No external communication or customer-facing announcements — But how do you decide which tier your launch belongs to? Ask these questions: → Business Impact: Will this update drive growth, retention, or revenue? → Customer Impact: Will it significantly change user workflows? The bigger the impact, the higher the tier. — Once you’ve categorized your launch, the next step is creating a playbook for each tier. For each tier, outline: → The key deliverables → Team roles and responsibilities → Lead times and budgets This way, there’s no confusion or last-minute scrambling. — If you treat every product launch the same, you’ll either burn out or miss key opportunities. Learn more about nailing launches here: https://lnkd.in/eB7s6umA And use this tier system to launch smarter, not harder.

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New episode of SVPG Product Therapy: Christian Idiodi and Marty Cagan discuss one of the most talked-about, and often misunderstood topics in product: product strategy. If you care about alignment, outcomes, and building products that actually move the needle, this one’s worth a listen. Links to episode: Youtube https://lnkd.in/gCB5HCix Apple Podcasts https://lnkd.in/gZqhTvuz Spotify https://lnkd.in/g5VV-j9w

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VP playbook for developing a product strategy OK, here's the scenario: You're a new VP Product and need a product strategy fast. What do you do? Playbook: 𝟭. 𝗨𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗥𝗢𝗟𝗘 What is the ratio of product/tech to marketing/sales? You can do this by cost or headcount. (Ignore operations for now.) This signals what your role is. Talk all you want about the importance of a product-led culture. More often than not this is baked into the company through headcount. You can't be product-led if you have twice as many sales reps as engineers. S&M > product • "Sales-led" • Role: keeping the lights on • Time will be mainly fielding sales requests and supporting existing product. S&M = product • Balanced org • Role: incremental innovation • Can take on 1-2 major product initiatives as well. Product > S&M • "Product-led" • Role: major innovation • You're driving the strategy and need to have a vision for where the company is going and how to move major business metrics. (gulp) 𝟮. 𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗛 𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗘 Understand how the product org currently spends it's time. Track number of story points / tickets / developer time on: 1. Fixing bugs (unplanned) 2. Tech debt (planned) 3. Sales requests (unplanned) 4. Strategic product work (planned) How much planned work did you ship in last quarter? You can make incremental changes to this only. “Stakeholder demand does not drive output” You should start to have an idea of what you can get done in the next quarter (Assuming we don't have time / budget to radically change team size) Use this tracker: https://lnkd.in/e2wN-2hK 𝟯. 𝗦𝗡𝗔𝗣 𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗚𝗬 Speak to 2-3 key stakeholders (e.g. CEO, CRO, CMO) Write up your understanding of the context and strategy in 1-2 pages: • Objective - What are we trying to achieve (quant + qual) • Context - What is market, funding and internal situation • Pillars - What are 2-3 biggest themes of work that need to get done Your pillars might include: • Goal - Purpose of this theme • Metrics - How you measure success • Rationale - Why this makes sense • Example features - Not commitments, but help align on what we're talking about Share with as many people as possible for feedback (as a VP, start at top of org) Simplify this template: https://lnkd.in/eidd3E7g 𝟰. 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗖𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 Have a workshop with execs to agree how you split existing teams between: • Strategic pillars • Ad hoc sales requests • Tech debt (i.e. increased velocity in future) Discuss % and convert to teams later. “If it’s not painful, it’s not prioritisation” This should be a leadership group decision. As Product VP you should enable smart decisions. Don't let wishful thinking flex capacity estimates.

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Design metrics link design to business performance. In this throwback featured post, our chief instigator Bryan Zmijewski, argues that design impacts business success, and teams need a structured way to connect UX efforts to measurable outcomes. Check out his post: https://lnkd.in/gibPbYAw Our upcoming release of Glare, an open data-informed design framework, provides a design metrics tree that helps teams make design work: • Understand how UX metrics impact business results • Show the value of design investments to stakeholders • Continuously improve design based on data Here’s how it works: → UX metrics (like desirability, comprehension, and usability) are the leaves of a design metrics tree. They measure how users experience a product. → Design initiatives (like improving navigation or UI) are the branches, connecting UX insights to product improvements. → Product metrics (such as engagement and feature adoption) form the trunk, showing how design impacts product success. → Business metrics (like revenue and retention) are the roots, grounding design in measurable business value. By using Helio to collect these metrics, teams ensure that design isn’t just about craft…It’s also measurable, strategic, and contributes to business growth. 💜 If you are a product or design leader and want to dive deeper into how to align your metrics, join the discussion in our open framework Glare: https://lnkd.in/gynueqWu #uxresearch #productdiscovery #marketresearch #productdesign

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The best product websites do more than pitch. They explain, guide, and reflect the product itself, and often serve as a company’s first impression. On this episode of Design Review, YC’s Aaron Epstein is joined by Karri Saarinen, co-founder & CEO of Linear, to break down how today’s best software companies design their sites. They review examples from Linear, Sprites AI, GigaML, UnReal Milk (Brown Foods), Confident AI (YC W25), and Dropback, exploring how structure, motion, and clarity shape not just the user experience, but the brand as well. https://lnkd.in/gM9JFbva

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Want to unlock real autonomy in your product teams? Start with three simple questions. I had Keith Lucas on the Product Thinking podcast this week, and he shared something that hit me: most teams struggle with autonomy because they're missing foundational clarity, not advanced frameworks. Keith, former product and engineering leader at Roblox and author of "Impact," swears by three questions that work whether you're onboarding to a new team or tackling complex initiatives: - What are we doing? (mission and focus) - Why are we doing it? (purpose, vision, strategy) - How do we know we're making progress? (alignment and course correction) As Keith puts it: "Those questions are simple, but they encapsulate a lot." I see this constantly. Teams think they're building "user onboarding improvements" but can't explain if it's to reduce churn, increase activation, or improve experience. Without that clarity, how can they make independent decisions? The magic isn't in complex planning. It's in ensuring every team member can confidently answer those three questions before you hand them the keys. If people start with clear vision, mission, and values, then work together on strategy and goals, autonomy follows naturally. How clear are your teams on their "what," "why," and "how"? Check out the full episode wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

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🚨 Burnout in product management is real and widespread. Read now "What burnout taught me: Lessons from product managers" 👉 https://bit.ly/3FwRnef In this article, we speak to Nick Jemetta and Büşra Coşkuner about: ▶️ Why burnout happens in product roles ▶️ What it actually feels like ▶️ How individuals and organisations can prevent it ▶️ Why it’s a systemic issue, not a personal failure Read now 👉 https://bit.ly/3FwRnef #ProductManagement #Burnout #MentalHealthAtWork

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🚀 Scaling fast? Org Design > Values as a growth-led culture. We’ve worked with hundreds of tech companies navigating this exact moment. And the ones that scale best? They design their org and culture with intention. They DON'T rest their entire culture on a few descriptive words. A few signs your culture isn’t scaling with you: ‍ - There’s constant confusion around decision ownership. - Internal comms are reactive, not proactive. - Different execs are selling different visions of the business. - People are being hired for jobs that don’t really exist yet. - You’re expanding into new regions without clear local leadership models. If this might be you... Our new article might be helpful. We unpack how to: ✅ Build a team structure that grows with you ✅ Avoid culture debt as headcount climbs ✅ Essentials for a culture-for-growth If you're hiring, expanding or evolving—this one's for you. 👇 Read it here https://lnkd.in/eC_UWSip #Startups #Scaleups #OrgDesign #CultureAtScale #ThinkAndGrow

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What are the top product managers doing differently? In the latest roundtable hosted by Products That Count CEO Hoda Mehr, members of the PM Awards Advisory Board break down key trends they spotted across hundreds of award nominations, from how top PMs are navigating complexity to where the craft of product management is evolving most rapidly. Watch the recording to hear from seasoned product leaders across industries as they share what sets standout PMs apart today and what that means for the future of the role. Whether you're building your product team or growing your own career, this is a must-attend conversation on what great looks like right now. https://lnkd.in/g4cF3K4b #productmanagers #pmawards #productleadership Keyuri Anand Kristen Johansen Apoorva Mishra Daniel Feldman

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💡 Applying JTBD for Product Managers 🚀 Stop Building Features, Start Solving Struggles: Key Takeaways from When Coffee & Kale Compete Alan Klement’s When Coffee & Kale Compete, and it’s a must-read for every Product Manager looking to move past feature-driven roadmaps and truly build products people will buy. The core of the Jobs to be Done (JTBD) theory is simple, but transformative: Customers don't want your product—they want a better life. They "hire" your product to make progress. Here are the 4 Key Learnings & Takeaways for Product Managers: 1. The Job is Transformation, Not a Task 🗺️ Key Learning: A Job to be Done is defined as the process of transforming an existing, constrained life-situation into a preferred one. It's not a list of activities or features. PM Takeaway: Stop documenting "User Stories" as tasks ("As a user, I want to export a CSV"). Instead, frame the struggle and desired progress ("Help me move from feeling overwhelmed by data to feeling confident and in control of my metrics"). This leads to more innovative solutions. 2. Competition is Progress-Based, Not Category-Based 🥊 Key Learning: Your competition is anything a customer uses to make the same progress. (Example: A dating app's competitor might be "staying home and watching Netflix" if the job is to "feel less lonely on a Friday night.") PM Takeaway: Always ask: What is the customer "firing" when they "hire" my product? This helps you identify non-obvious threats and design an offering that truly defeats the status quo. 3. Design for the "Four Forces" of Demand ⚖️ Key Learning: A customer's decision to switch is driven by four forces: the Push (dissatisfaction) and Pull (attraction to new solution) forces that generate demand, which must overcome the Anxiety (fear of the unknown) and Inertia (comfort/habit) forces that reduce demand. PM Takeaway: Your onboarding, support, and messaging should focus as much on minimizing Anxiety and Inertia (e.g., free trials, great support, clear pricing) as they do on promoting the Push and Pull of your value proposition. 4. Progress is Emotional First 💖 Key Learning: Functional progress is only part of the story. The ultimate Job is often tied to an emotional outcome: to feel more successful, confident, or respected. PM Takeaway: When interviewing customers, go beyond what they do and dig into why it matters and how they want to feel. Design the experience to deliver that emotional payoff at every step. If you’re serious about innovation and achieving Product-Market Fit, understanding the Job to be Done is essential. Highly recommend! #JTBD #ProductManagement #ProductStrategy #Innovation #ProductLeader #BuildWhatMatters

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After an organizational shakeup, Paul Lefevre, Product Manager at Powell, led the charge to implement product management software that would address three big challenges: misaligned teams, unclear roadmaps, scattered feedback… The solution? A single, powerful platform: airfocus. Why did it work? 🚀 Easy to adopt 📊 Visual prioritization 🌍 Public roadmap portal 🔗 Seamless Azure DevOps integration The result? A fully aligned product org — and half a day saved per PM, every week. As Paul himself said, “Just try it. […] you’ll see where the value is.” 👉 Read the full case study to see how they did it: https://lnkd.in/dgWnjz48

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🎯 Product leaders, strategists and discovery-minded teams - if you're not yet using Deep Research to build problem fluency, this one's for you. We all want to build better products. But too often, teams jump to solutions before they’ve understood the problem deeply enough to create real value. That’s where Deep Research can transform the game. In his blog, Principal Consultant Munish Malik introduces COSID, a structured prompting approach for working with AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to run high-quality, multi-step research that uncovers systemic patterns, root causes and overlooked opportunities. ➡️ Context ➡️ Objective ➡️ Scope ➡️ Interest Areas ➡️ Deliverables What started as an experiment has evolved into a repeatable technique that accelerates discovery and elevates product thinking (all without requiring massive research budgets or timelines). Real-world results include: ✅ Uncovering new market segments and business models ✅ Reframing assumptions about user needs ✅ Strengthening the credibility of sales proposals This is applied AI in action, not just automating tasks but enhancing insight. 🔗 Read Munish's blog to explore how COSID works, see example prompts, and hear what happened when Munish demoed it live at Agile India 2025. https://lnkd.in/exijFX2K #AI #ProductManagement #DeepResearch #PromptEngineering

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🥇ChatGPT ranks ProductPlan as #1 for stakeholder views. Here's why: ProductPlan's Strategic Portfolio Views feature enables your product team to present a clear picture of your strategy and planned work. Choose which data to display, eliminating unnecessary details and distractions. Quickly answer the "what" "why" and "when" for your stakeholders, and increase strategic alignment. Curious to see this capability in action? https://hubs.li/Q03BN-g90 #ProductManagement #ProductStrategy

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