May 7, 2020
Monthly recap 2
Social media are full of content on what to study, watch and read during the quarantine. But let us be honest — whereas remote working saved time for commute it also challenged us to balance work, family, and keeping motivated and healthy while staying in our apartments. It is hard and stressful at times (at least for myself).
On the upside I continue reading (with the focus on quality over quantity) and sharing with you what I read and listen to on product management, fintech and start-ups. Here is my recap for March and April, 2020, with links attached.
Books
I switched to reading fiction as it was great to give myself a break from ‘professional’ literature and just enjoy a good read.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
A disturbing book on how relationships might transform lives while not necessarily having a happy ending, which is okay
Articles and blog posts
Life in 2030 — a16z
Frank Chen delivers his vision of major tech trends — ranging from customized food based on health data to smart coaching and auto pods. What’s more interesting, he uncovers why start-ups struggle to make that bright picture of our future happen anytime soon. The talk is also available on YouTube
The decade software ate the world — Inside Intercom blog
From future to past.. here is a detailed overview of what happened in tech in 2010s — from the rise of software and mobile to cloud and SaaS
Canva’s Growth Strategy: How they acquired 15,000,000 users — The Growth Manifesto
A thorough case study of Canva’s extraordinary growth that made it possible to reach 15 million users and 3.2 billion dollars evaluation (2019)
Design’s Unsexy Middle Bits — Medium
Christina Wodtke argues that design is much more than a mere design thinking approach. Well.. hard to disagree but good to remind yourself that design thinking is only a framework whereas design is about executing that framework effectively
Why Standups are Useless and How to Run Great Product Team Meetings — Medium
I personally do not think that stand ups are of no use, but alternative opinions are always welcome. The article argues that while standups can help to track progress (especially prior to product launch), it might be more efficient to hold regular decision-making meetings to enable the team to discuss and resolve stumbling blocks
Working Remotely? 5 Ways to Help Your Product Team Thrive — Product Talk
Everybody had to adapt to remote working and I read a lot on how to make that transition smooth for my team. I found this article concise and the most helpful
Reports
How to Build a Bank — 11:FS
A guide on delivering digital product proposition in financial services. It outlines how to create an initial product and scale it successfully. A nice read even if you are not up to launch a new bank :)
Videos
Rethinking the Product Mindset — Mind the Product
Sandhya Hedge, Executive VP of Growth & Marketing at Amplitude, passionately speaks about dilemmas product managers face every day. She starts with foundational questions about prioritization, hypothesis testing, and continuous delivery and follows with more challenging ones on importance of culture building and team empowerment. Whether you are a junior PM or a seasoned one I am sure you could find your own insights from Sandhya’s talk
How to Grow and Scale High-Functioning Team — Mind the Product
Richard Cadman, a Principal Product Manager at Monzo, talks about scaling a Lending product team. Monzo is well known for its strong culture and a loyal community of customers, so it was really interesting to get a glimpse on how product teams are built and what product principles Monzonauts adhere to deliver superior quality and sustain growth
When the product manager is not the one driving product’s growth — Epic Growth Conference (in Russian)
Egor Danilov, CPO at youla.ru, an online marketplace, delivers a thought provoking talk about profitability being the North Star metric for product managers and gives great examples how a PM’s role might evolve and take different turns including doing business development, sales and much more
Podcasts
Fintech Marketing Podcast by 11:FS
11:FS launched a new podcast about marketing and brand strategy of world’s fintechs, start-ups and banks. I enjoyed a lot the episode with Chad West, Global Director of Marketing and Communications at Revolut
Let me know if you have read or watched any stories from the list and please share your reading list as well.
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