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Practice of Product Growth

Sean McVay’s Leadership Lessons for PMs

I’ve trained 100s of PMs. The 50% who are below average share one trait: They don’t lead well. Sean McVay, the winningest active NFL coach, is a must-know example about leadership for PMs. Here are 10 lessons from his leadership style to focus on: 1. Lead by example As Sean says, leadership, team culture, strategy […]

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Practice of Product Growth

How to Become a PM

So, you want to become a PM. But, you haven’t coded, and you didn’t go to a brand-name school. You’re not sure you can do this. Are you curious and hardworking? Then you can. Here’s your process:1. Develop a long-term plan2. Put in the extra work3. Develop PM experience 1. The first thing you need […]

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Product Growth Optimization

Wordle is the Anti-Growth Hack

Modified version originally published in Master the Meta. Just a few weeks into the year, we already have our first hit game of 2022. As Emily Coleman said, “Wordle is the sourdough starter of Omicron.” In a world of increasing social disconnection and outside-the-home chaos, Wordle has been a comforting, participate-with-other social gaming phenomenon. The simple […]

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Companies that Matter

Netflix: Lessons in Experimentation

A Collaboration with Productify  Product people are both lovers and haters of experiments. On the one hand, they are great at helping measure the result of changes.  On the other hand, launching anything as an experiment takes more analytics and engineering work, and typically also slows down forward progress. If you already have a vision […]

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Companies that Matter

From 0 to $50B: the Coinbase Profile

Brian Armstrong just bought one of the most expensive homes in the state of California. For $133M, his modern Bel Air mansion is now one of the priciest single-family home transactions ever.  The self-confessed “on the spectrum” (of Autism) CEO has managed to become one of the world’s richest entrepreneurs, as well as one of […]

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Practice of Product Growth

The 5 Mistakes of Creators Who Aren’t Growing

5 common problems with creators who aren’t growing: 1. Content is all over the place. Have a consistent through line in your messages and work. Build an expectation with your audience. Don’t talk about food, buddha, PM, and AC Milan together. A master throughliner to model off of is Teresa Torres. 2. Content volume isn’t high […]

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Product Growth Optimization

The Women of Product Twitter

Product Twitter is one of the most underrated resources to improving your PM career. Every list has a bunch of men on it. Women built PM and are responsible for pushing it forward. 15 of my favorite follows: @jackiebo: The woman who has gotten millions into product. Author of Cracking the PM Interview and previously […]

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Companies that Matter

How is OpenSea worth $13B?

Six months ago, OpenSea raised at a $1.5B valuation. Today, it just raised at a $13.3B valuation. NFTs are a massive business. Here is OpenSea’s yearly transaction volume. It takes 2.5% of that volume, generating the revenue in the pictured line chart. 2018: $474K2019: $8M2020: $24M2021: $15B We’re only a few days into 2022, but […]

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Companies that Matter

Why Did Rocket Companies Acquire Truebill?

1.275 billion dollars, all cash. When news hit two weeks ago that the lending company owned by Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert was buying the personal finance app Truebill, heads turned.  It was an eye-popping sum for a company that just 6 months earlier raised a series D at a $500M valuation. Did Truebill deserve […]

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Practice of Product Growth

The History of Product Management

Have you ever told a relative what you do, only to receive a puzzled look? Product management, as a field, is new. Our parent’s generation didn’t even consider it. Your average non-techie has no idea what it is even about.  How did Product Management as a job come to be? Has it always been around, […]