Friday was my last day at
@Optimizely, a bittersweet ending to a 7 (!) year journey founding
@expengine, joining Opti, and leading our
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💯" title="Hundert Punkte Symbol" aria-label="Emoji: Hundert Punkte Symbol"> product team. I shared what I&
#39;ve learned in a last lecture, and thought I&
#39;d share it here too
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten" aria-label="Emoji: Rückhand Zeigefinger nach unten"> (warning: mega thread + startup realness)
As a product leader, I had to start there. What have I learned about building great software and the craft of product management?
1. Say "no" more
2. Focus on users
3. Fast beats right
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙅🏻♀️" title="Frau gestikuliert „Nicht OK“ (heller Hautton)" aria-label="Emoji: Frau gestikuliert „Nicht OK“ (heller Hautton)"> Say "no" more. You don&
#39;t have a good product strategy until everyone knows what you *won&
#39;t* build, and you stick to it. Also p.s. B2B enterprise PMs: saying "yes" to custom features for prospects or unhappy customers rarely works in your favor in the long term.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤗" title="Umarmendes Gesicht" aria-label="Emoji: Umarmendes Gesicht"> Focus on users. Not buyers. Not your users&
#39; bosses. Not prospects. Users. Measure for both adoption and delight and obsess about both. We were able to swing NPS for a product 100 (!) points in the right direction by paying attention.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏃♀️" title="Läuferin" aria-label="Emoji: Läuferin"> Fast beats right. There is rarely an instance I can think of where we wouldn&
#39;t have been better off deciding faster, building faster, shipping faster. Investment in making your engineers more productive and happy pays off. As a leader, I&
#39;ve lowered my tolerance for slow.
So that&
#39;s product. But once you become Chief Something Officer, you have to think about the whole deal. So what have I learned about business?
1. Retention, retention, retention (pt.1)
2. Retention, retention, retention (pt.2)
3. Ownership
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💰" title="Geldsack" aria-label="Emoji: Geldsack"> Retention, Retention Retention (pt.1) - Net Dollar Retention is the SaaS metric to rule them all. If you&
#39;re selling subscriptions, you better have a good plan for retaining and expanding those customers. The entire company should care about this.
https://twitter.com/chriscantino/status/1321589761165778944">https://twitter.com/chriscant...
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👯♀️" title="Frauen mit Hasenohren" aria-label="Emoji: Frauen mit Hasenohren"> Retention, Retention, Retention (pt. 2) - Employee retention is the company metric to rule them all. I&
#39;ve had almost 0 regretted attrition on my team. How? Interesting problems that can be solved, clear career ladders/org design, and some fun.
https://twitter.com/saranormous/status/1321242847564083200">https://twitter.com/saranormo...
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏡" title="Haus mit Garten" aria-label="Emoji: Haus mit Garten"> Ownership. This was my favorite cultural value at Optimizely because it let me bring my big founder energy even though I wasn&
#39;t a founder. True test of ownership: will you raise your hand to be accountable, both good and bad?
https://twitter.com/ghoshal/status/1322019324652081153">https://twitter.com/ghoshal/s...
Finally, this was a high growth time in my career and I learned a few things that might be useful to others as they navigate startup life:
1. OMFG KNOW HOW EQUITY WORKS
2. Ladies: call out BS and PLEASE NEGOTIATE
3. Time flies when you&
#39;re having fun
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💵" title="Banknote mit Dollar-Zeichen" aria-label="Emoji: Banknote mit Dollar-Zeichen"> OMFG KNOW HOW EQUITY WORKS. I know so many startup employees who have big % comp as equity but have no idea how it works. Educate yourself on what questions to ask when interviewing, how to assess value, and how exits (really) look. I&
#39;m now twice-acquired and still learning.
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👭" title="Frauen halten Händchen" aria-label="Emoji: Frauen halten Händchen"> Ladies - two big lessons for you. First: Call out the
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐂" title="Ochse" aria-label="Emoji: Ochse">
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💩" title="Dreckshaufen" aria-label="Emoji: Dreckshaufen">. If you see something (sexual harassment, bad parental leave), say something. Make some noise.
Second, PLS PLS PLS NEGOTIATE. 100% of men have negotiated with me vs. < 10% of women.
https://twitter.com/cindygallop/status/840323111597854720?lang=en">https://twitter.com/cindygall...
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💕" title="Zwei Herzen" aria-label="Emoji: Zwei Herzen"> Finally, time flies when you&
#39;re having fun. I&
#39;ve had the MOST fun with
@thatsjonsense @keithadam (h/t for the last lecture idea)
@whelan_boyd @ceimaj @byro @Bexcitement @koomen @robinpam @YeelandChen @crocophant and all Optinauts. I&
#39;ll miss you and will be cheering you on!
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