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A Practical Guide to OKRs

This article explains the difference between goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and how to write effective OKRs. It emphasizes the importance of setting input goals rather than output goals, and provides guidance on when to use each type. It also explains the importance of providing detail on how each key result will be measured. The article concludes that the best measure of a great OKR is if it is clear half way into the quarter whether it is on track or not, and what can be done to change its course.

How to Tap Into Latent User Demand in a Marketplace

Goibibo, the largest B2C player in the hotel industry, found a new area of growth by creating a product called "Hourly Bookings" to cater to the latent demand of users who only wanted hotels for a few hours. They identified customer needs and target locations, spoke to sellers, and ran a proof of concept. The proof of concept helped them identify what works and what needs to be improved upon, and they created a playbook to quickly scale the product in multiple cities. This taught them the value of building a playbook and keeping an eye on new trends.

Proving Structure for a Fast-Growing Team

This article discusses the challenges of managing a team that works across different industries, technologies, and products. It provides tips for structuring a team, specializing for growth, connecting remotely, trusting the team, and collecting feedback. These strategies help to reduce stress and create a more positive work environment.

On The Contrary: Q&A with Seth Kimmel of Contrary Capital

The author has a long history in the tech industry, from programming in BASIC to working in hardware engineering and software engineering. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1990s and experienced the Dot Com Boom and Bust. Despite the downturn, the area has proven resilient and is now a hub for tech startups. The author has learned lessons from mentors and experienced leaders, and has developed strategies for building software at scale. They have also embraced the "remote-first" approach to working due to the pandemic, and are now tapping into the global talent pool to find tech talent.

Inspired by Women in Technology

This post is about the inspiring women in the tech industry, from Grace Hopper, the pioneer of the computer industry, to the female founders, funders, and leaders of today. It highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the tech industry and encourages us to learn from more women in technology.

When Asking “WHY” Becomes Counterproductive.

As a manager, it is important to be conscious of the impact of communication and language. Asking too many questions can make others feel defensive and lead to arguments. To avoid this, it is important to change the way of questioning and be prepared for meetings in advance. This will help to have productive discussions and create a positive team culture.

Hustling to Land a Role in the Tech World

A person looking to enter the tech space as a product leader can pursue an MBA to increase their hireability, or they can take a shot and hustle their way into a position. This can be done by offering to work for free as a trial period, and then the company can decide whether to keep them on or continue hiring. It is important to take ownership of tasks and projects, as many companies value this.

Transitioning from Tech to Education: Making a Larger Impact

After five years of working in tech, the author transitioned to an education company to make a more significant impact. They had to think differently about customer relationships and learn about the best way for children to learn. They faced challenges such as a low budget and difficulty getting buy-in, but these challenges helped them become more creative and self-aware. To increase self-awareness, the author suggests looking for what excites you on a day-to-day basis and following that.

The Multiplier Mindset: A Necessary Shift to Scale

After training as an engineer, the author learned the importance of human-computer interaction and specialized in the field. He developed the habit of trying to do everything himself, which was great in the startup world but created problems. He was micromanaging his team and received feedback that he was acting like a dictator. He changed his mindset to focus on leveraging his team and creating a system that completed the jobs, allowing him to have a greater impact.

Building a World-class Software Quality Team from Scratch

This article focuses on the process of building a successful software testing team. It outlines the importance of understanding the company's testing and quality needs, as well as the need for specialized skills and must-have attributes. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid methodology and the need for humility, patience, and the desire to constantly work on achieving desired outcomes.

Being an Influencer of Quality

Quality Assurance experts and testers are dedicated to speaking up when something is not right. They are the first users of features and end-to-end experiences in software and their goal is to not only uncover bugs, but to also advocate for the user experience and have a positive impact on the software development process. There are three ways to organize around advocating for and influencing quality: practices, knowledge, and caring. Quality teams have a big impact on how quality is viewed at an organization and can influence quality with their actions and behaviors.

Navigating Analytical Discussions for Best Product Fit

Product managers often focus on one feature or the first touch experience for their consumers, rather than the long tail of building a feature to its usability, support, and maintenance or the overall experience. To avoid risks and ensure customer satisfaction, product managers must think strategically ahead of time and consider factors such as performance, disaster recovery, compliance, and availability. It is also important to translate technical jargon into language that most leaders understand and to standardize requirements.

How to Effectively Release Features

This article discusses the problem of releasing features in big tech organizations, and how to become more agile. It proposes an automation system to provision infrastructure, and standardizing monitoring and metrics. It also suggests understanding which team members need more coaching and training to become a better leader.

Managing and Eliminating Cross-Team Dependencies

Working in a cross-functional environment, team dependencies can lead to missed deadlines, chaotic context switching, and non-stop meetings. To manage these dependencies, a heuristic was implemented to create an automated framework to test and deploy applications. Additionally, people should be managed based on their seniority and allowed to provide input and make changes in the process.

What Challenges Do AI Startups Face?

AI and ML models are based on probability and statistics, making them non-deterministic and difficult to perfect. To successfully deploy AI, one must build an intelligent system that imitates the human brain, and use a combination of autonomous and Human-In-The-Loop systems. This requires data operations, model building, and rolling into production. There is no single tool that can handle all of these processes, and the environment and challenges will keep changing, so the 'one size fits all' principle may not work. A feedback loop is necessary to make the process more stable.

Managing Customer Expectations in the Age of AI

Working at an AI startup can be challenging due to customers having unrealistic expectations from AI, which are often based on what they have seen in Sci-fi movies. To manage expectations, AI experts should put a thorough disclaimer, create an SDK to protect the system from wrong inputs, and embed an explainable AI into the system. This will help to bridge the gap between the system and the user, and provide logical reasoning behind any unexpected events.

How to Determine Product-Market Fit In Your Industry

When building a new product, it is important to consider both internal and external stakeholders. Utilize in-house resources to understand and refine the design of the product, and communicate the benefits of the product to potential stakeholders and users. Additionally, emphasize product marketing and find strategies that fit the market in order to differentiate the product from the rest.

Did Work From Home Hurt the Video Game Industry?

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced video game companies to work remotely, they had to quickly develop a new product to help their studios continue to deliver games on time. This product was built using a process of identifying needs and gaps, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test, and then polishing and adding features. In the end, the product was successful in helping the studios deliver games on time and with adequate quality. The key takeaway is to always focus on the end users and test and understand them ahead of time.

Product That Brings Opportunities

This article discusses how a small fintech team identified their target audience and used a test and learn approach to develop direct customer experiences. They identified the audience as digital giants, fintech startups, and large enterprise firms, and used five indicators to score their ideas: impact, confidence, competition, acceptability, and strategic impact. The approach was successful as the APIs could be expanded, allowing them to identify early successes and build upon them.

What Makes a Good Product Culture?

This article discusses the importance of creating a product culture in an organization. It outlines the five competencies needed to create a strategy stack, and how to use OKRs to set goals and visions. It also explains the importance of hiring the right people and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Finally, it emphasizes the need for leaders to step in when needed to ensure that teams are moving forward.

A Practical Guide to OKRs

This article explains the difference between goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and how to write effective OKRs. It emphasizes the importance of setting input goals rather than output goals, and provides guidance on when to use each type. It also explains the importance of providing detail on how each key result will be measured. The article concludes that the best measure of a great OKR is if it is clear half way into the quarter whether it is on track or not, and what can be done to change its course.

How to Tap Into Latent User Demand in a Marketplace

Goibibo, the largest B2C player in the hotel industry, found a new area of growth by creating a product called "Hourly Bookings" to cater to the latent demand of users who only wanted hotels for a few hours. They identified customer needs and target locations, spoke to sellers, and ran a proof of concept. The proof of concept helped them identify what works and what needs to be improved upon, and they created a playbook to quickly scale the product in multiple cities. This taught them the value of building a playbook and keeping an eye on new trends.

Proving Structure for a Fast-Growing Team

This article discusses the challenges of managing a team that works across different industries, technologies, and products. It provides tips for structuring a team, specializing for growth, connecting remotely, trusting the team, and collecting feedback. These strategies help to reduce stress and create a more positive work environment.

On The Contrary: Q&A with Seth Kimmel of Contrary Capital

The author has a long history in the tech industry, from programming in BASIC to working in hardware engineering and software engineering. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1990s and experienced the Dot Com Boom and Bust. Despite the downturn, the area has proven resilient and is now a hub for tech startups. The author has learned lessons from mentors and experienced leaders, and has developed strategies for building software at scale. They have also embraced the "remote-first" approach to working due to the pandemic, and are now tapping into the global talent pool to find tech talent.

Inspired by Women in Technology

This post is about the inspiring women in the tech industry, from Grace Hopper, the pioneer of the computer industry, to the female founders, funders, and leaders of today. It highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the tech industry and encourages us to learn from more women in technology.

When Asking “WHY” Becomes Counterproductive.

As a manager, it is important to be conscious of the impact of communication and language. Asking too many questions can make others feel defensive and lead to arguments. To avoid this, it is important to change the way of questioning and be prepared for meetings in advance. This will help to have productive discussions and create a positive team culture.

Hustling to Land a Role in the Tech World

A person looking to enter the tech space as a product leader can pursue an MBA to increase their hireability, or they can take a shot and hustle their way into a position. This can be done by offering to work for free as a trial period, and then the company can decide whether to keep them on or continue hiring. It is important to take ownership of tasks and projects, as many companies value this.

Transitioning from Tech to Education: Making a Larger Impact

After five years of working in tech, the author transitioned to an education company to make a more significant impact. They had to think differently about customer relationships and learn about the best way for children to learn. They faced challenges such as a low budget and difficulty getting buy-in, but these challenges helped them become more creative and self-aware. To increase self-awareness, the author suggests looking for what excites you on a day-to-day basis and following that.

The Multiplier Mindset: A Necessary Shift to Scale

After training as an engineer, the author learned the importance of human-computer interaction and specialized in the field. He developed the habit of trying to do everything himself, which was great in the startup world but created problems. He was micromanaging his team and received feedback that he was acting like a dictator. He changed his mindset to focus on leveraging his team and creating a system that completed the jobs, allowing him to have a greater impact.

Building a World-class Software Quality Team from Scratch

This article focuses on the process of building a successful software testing team. It outlines the importance of understanding the company's testing and quality needs, as well as the need for specialized skills and must-have attributes. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid methodology and the need for humility, patience, and the desire to constantly work on achieving desired outcomes.

Being an Influencer of Quality

Quality Assurance experts and testers are dedicated to speaking up when something is not right. They are the first users of features and end-to-end experiences in software and their goal is to not only uncover bugs, but to also advocate for the user experience and have a positive impact on the software development process. There are three ways to organize around advocating for and influencing quality: practices, knowledge, and caring. Quality teams have a big impact on how quality is viewed at an organization and can influence quality with their actions and behaviors.

Navigating Analytical Discussions for Best Product Fit

Product managers often focus on one feature or the first touch experience for their consumers, rather than the long tail of building a feature to its usability, support, and maintenance or the overall experience. To avoid risks and ensure customer satisfaction, product managers must think strategically ahead of time and consider factors such as performance, disaster recovery, compliance, and availability. It is also important to translate technical jargon into language that most leaders understand and to standardize requirements.

How to Effectively Release Features

This article discusses the problem of releasing features in big tech organizations, and how to become more agile. It proposes an automation system to provision infrastructure, and standardizing monitoring and metrics. It also suggests understanding which team members need more coaching and training to become a better leader.

Managing and Eliminating Cross-Team Dependencies

Working in a cross-functional environment, team dependencies can lead to missed deadlines, chaotic context switching, and non-stop meetings. To manage these dependencies, a heuristic was implemented to create an automated framework to test and deploy applications. Additionally, people should be managed based on their seniority and allowed to provide input and make changes in the process.

What Challenges Do AI Startups Face?

AI and ML models are based on probability and statistics, making them non-deterministic and difficult to perfect. To successfully deploy AI, one must build an intelligent system that imitates the human brain, and use a combination of autonomous and Human-In-The-Loop systems. This requires data operations, model building, and rolling into production. There is no single tool that can handle all of these processes, and the environment and challenges will keep changing, so the 'one size fits all' principle may not work. A feedback loop is necessary to make the process more stable.

Managing Customer Expectations in the Age of AI

Working at an AI startup can be challenging due to customers having unrealistic expectations from AI, which are often based on what they have seen in Sci-fi movies. To manage expectations, AI experts should put a thorough disclaimer, create an SDK to protect the system from wrong inputs, and embed an explainable AI into the system. This will help to bridge the gap between the system and the user, and provide logical reasoning behind any unexpected events.

How to Determine Product-Market Fit In Your Industry

When building a new product, it is important to consider both internal and external stakeholders. Utilize in-house resources to understand and refine the design of the product, and communicate the benefits of the product to potential stakeholders and users. Additionally, emphasize product marketing and find strategies that fit the market in order to differentiate the product from the rest.

Did Work From Home Hurt the Video Game Industry?

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced video game companies to work remotely, they had to quickly develop a new product to help their studios continue to deliver games on time. This product was built using a process of identifying needs and gaps, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test, and then polishing and adding features. In the end, the product was successful in helping the studios deliver games on time and with adequate quality. The key takeaway is to always focus on the end users and test and understand them ahead of time.

Product That Brings Opportunities

This article discusses how a small fintech team identified their target audience and used a test and learn approach to develop direct customer experiences. They identified the audience as digital giants, fintech startups, and large enterprise firms, and used five indicators to score their ideas: impact, confidence, competition, acceptability, and strategic impact. The approach was successful as the APIs could be expanded, allowing them to identify early successes and build upon them.

What Makes a Good Product Culture?

This article discusses the importance of creating a product culture in an organization. It outlines the five competencies needed to create a strategy stack, and how to use OKRs to set goals and visions. It also explains the importance of hiring the right people and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Finally, it emphasizes the need for leaders to step in when needed to ensure that teams are moving forward.

A Practical Guide to OKRs

This article explains the difference between goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and how to write effective OKRs. It emphasizes the importance of setting input goals rather than output goals, and provides guidance on when to use each type. It also explains the importance of providing detail on how each key result will be measured. The article concludes that the best measure of a great OKR is if it is clear half way into the quarter whether it is on track or not, and what can be done to change its course.

How to Tap Into Latent User Demand in a Marketplace

Goibibo, the largest B2C player in the hotel industry, found a new area of growth by creating a product called "Hourly Bookings" to cater to the latent demand of users who only wanted hotels for a few hours. They identified customer needs and target locations, spoke to sellers, and ran a proof of concept. The proof of concept helped them identify what works and what needs to be improved upon, and they created a playbook to quickly scale the product in multiple cities. This taught them the value of building a playbook and keeping an eye on new trends.

Proving Structure for a Fast-Growing Team

This article discusses the challenges of managing a team that works across different industries, technologies, and products. It provides tips for structuring a team, specializing for growth, connecting remotely, trusting the team, and collecting feedback. These strategies help to reduce stress and create a more positive work environment.

On The Contrary: Q&A with Seth Kimmel of Contrary Capital

The author has a long history in the tech industry, from programming in BASIC to working in hardware engineering and software engineering. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1990s and experienced the Dot Com Boom and Bust. Despite the downturn, the area has proven resilient and is now a hub for tech startups. The author has learned lessons from mentors and experienced leaders, and has developed strategies for building software at scale. They have also embraced the "remote-first" approach to working due to the pandemic, and are now tapping into the global talent pool to find tech talent.

Inspired by Women in Technology

This post is about the inspiring women in the tech industry, from Grace Hopper, the pioneer of the computer industry, to the female founders, funders, and leaders of today. It highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the tech industry and encourages us to learn from more women in technology.

When Asking “WHY” Becomes Counterproductive.

As a manager, it is important to be conscious of the impact of communication and language. Asking too many questions can make others feel defensive and lead to arguments. To avoid this, it is important to change the way of questioning and be prepared for meetings in advance. This will help to have productive discussions and create a positive team culture.

Hustling to Land a Role in the Tech World

A person looking to enter the tech space as a product leader can pursue an MBA to increase their hireability, or they can take a shot and hustle their way into a position. This can be done by offering to work for free as a trial period, and then the company can decide whether to keep them on or continue hiring. It is important to take ownership of tasks and projects, as many companies value this.

Transitioning from Tech to Education: Making a Larger Impact

After five years of working in tech, the author transitioned to an education company to make a more significant impact. They had to think differently about customer relationships and learn about the best way for children to learn. They faced challenges such as a low budget and difficulty getting buy-in, but these challenges helped them become more creative and self-aware. To increase self-awareness, the author suggests looking for what excites you on a day-to-day basis and following that.

The Multiplier Mindset: A Necessary Shift to Scale

After training as an engineer, the author learned the importance of human-computer interaction and specialized in the field. He developed the habit of trying to do everything himself, which was great in the startup world but created problems. He was micromanaging his team and received feedback that he was acting like a dictator. He changed his mindset to focus on leveraging his team and creating a system that completed the jobs, allowing him to have a greater impact.

Building a World-class Software Quality Team from Scratch

This article focuses on the process of building a successful software testing team. It outlines the importance of understanding the company's testing and quality needs, as well as the need for specialized skills and must-have attributes. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid methodology and the need for humility, patience, and the desire to constantly work on achieving desired outcomes.

Being an Influencer of Quality

Quality Assurance experts and testers are dedicated to speaking up when something is not right. They are the first users of features and end-to-end experiences in software and their goal is to not only uncover bugs, but to also advocate for the user experience and have a positive impact on the software development process. There are three ways to organize around advocating for and influencing quality: practices, knowledge, and caring. Quality teams have a big impact on how quality is viewed at an organization and can influence quality with their actions and behaviors.

Navigating Analytical Discussions for Best Product Fit

Product managers often focus on one feature or the first touch experience for their consumers, rather than the long tail of building a feature to its usability, support, and maintenance or the overall experience. To avoid risks and ensure customer satisfaction, product managers must think strategically ahead of time and consider factors such as performance, disaster recovery, compliance, and availability. It is also important to translate technical jargon into language that most leaders understand and to standardize requirements.

How to Effectively Release Features

This article discusses the problem of releasing features in big tech organizations, and how to become more agile. It proposes an automation system to provision infrastructure, and standardizing monitoring and metrics. It also suggests understanding which team members need more coaching and training to become a better leader.

Managing and Eliminating Cross-Team Dependencies

Working in a cross-functional environment, team dependencies can lead to missed deadlines, chaotic context switching, and non-stop meetings. To manage these dependencies, a heuristic was implemented to create an automated framework to test and deploy applications. Additionally, people should be managed based on their seniority and allowed to provide input and make changes in the process.

What Challenges Do AI Startups Face?

AI and ML models are based on probability and statistics, making them non-deterministic and difficult to perfect. To successfully deploy AI, one must build an intelligent system that imitates the human brain, and use a combination of autonomous and Human-In-The-Loop systems. This requires data operations, model building, and rolling into production. There is no single tool that can handle all of these processes, and the environment and challenges will keep changing, so the 'one size fits all' principle may not work. A feedback loop is necessary to make the process more stable.

Managing Customer Expectations in the Age of AI

Working at an AI startup can be challenging due to customers having unrealistic expectations from AI, which are often based on what they have seen in Sci-fi movies. To manage expectations, AI experts should put a thorough disclaimer, create an SDK to protect the system from wrong inputs, and embed an explainable AI into the system. This will help to bridge the gap between the system and the user, and provide logical reasoning behind any unexpected events.

How to Determine Product-Market Fit In Your Industry

When building a new product, it is important to consider both internal and external stakeholders. Utilize in-house resources to understand and refine the design of the product, and communicate the benefits of the product to potential stakeholders and users. Additionally, emphasize product marketing and find strategies that fit the market in order to differentiate the product from the rest.

Did Work From Home Hurt the Video Game Industry?

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced video game companies to work remotely, they had to quickly develop a new product to help their studios continue to deliver games on time. This product was built using a process of identifying needs and gaps, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test, and then polishing and adding features. In the end, the product was successful in helping the studios deliver games on time and with adequate quality. The key takeaway is to always focus on the end users and test and understand them ahead of time.

Product That Brings Opportunities

This article discusses how a small fintech team identified their target audience and used a test and learn approach to develop direct customer experiences. They identified the audience as digital giants, fintech startups, and large enterprise firms, and used five indicators to score their ideas: impact, confidence, competition, acceptability, and strategic impact. The approach was successful as the APIs could be expanded, allowing them to identify early successes and build upon them.

What Makes a Good Product Culture?

This article discusses the importance of creating a product culture in an organization. It outlines the five competencies needed to create a strategy stack, and how to use OKRs to set goals and visions. It also explains the importance of hiring the right people and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Finally, it emphasizes the need for leaders to step in when needed to ensure that teams are moving forward.

A Practical Guide to OKRs

This article explains the difference between goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and how to write effective OKRs. It emphasizes the importance of setting input goals rather than output goals, and provides guidance on when to use each type. It also explains the importance of providing detail on how each key result will be measured. The article concludes that the best measure of a great OKR is if it is clear half way into the quarter whether it is on track or not, and what can be done to change its course.

How to Tap Into Latent User Demand in a Marketplace

Goibibo, the largest B2C player in the hotel industry, found a new area of growth by creating a product called "Hourly Bookings" to cater to the latent demand of users who only wanted hotels for a few hours. They identified customer needs and target locations, spoke to sellers, and ran a proof of concept. The proof of concept helped them identify what works and what needs to be improved upon, and they created a playbook to quickly scale the product in multiple cities. This taught them the value of building a playbook and keeping an eye on new trends.

Proving Structure for a Fast-Growing Team

This article discusses the challenges of managing a team that works across different industries, technologies, and products. It provides tips for structuring a team, specializing for growth, connecting remotely, trusting the team, and collecting feedback. These strategies help to reduce stress and create a more positive work environment.

On The Contrary: Q&A with Seth Kimmel of Contrary Capital

The author has a long history in the tech industry, from programming in BASIC to working in hardware engineering and software engineering. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1990s and experienced the Dot Com Boom and Bust. Despite the downturn, the area has proven resilient and is now a hub for tech startups. The author has learned lessons from mentors and experienced leaders, and has developed strategies for building software at scale. They have also embraced the "remote-first" approach to working due to the pandemic, and are now tapping into the global talent pool to find tech talent.

Inspired by Women in Technology

This post is about the inspiring women in the tech industry, from Grace Hopper, the pioneer of the computer industry, to the female founders, funders, and leaders of today. It highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the tech industry and encourages us to learn from more women in technology.

When Asking “WHY” Becomes Counterproductive.

As a manager, it is important to be conscious of the impact of communication and language. Asking too many questions can make others feel defensive and lead to arguments. To avoid this, it is important to change the way of questioning and be prepared for meetings in advance. This will help to have productive discussions and create a positive team culture.

Hustling to Land a Role in the Tech World

A person looking to enter the tech space as a product leader can pursue an MBA to increase their hireability, or they can take a shot and hustle their way into a position. This can be done by offering to work for free as a trial period, and then the company can decide whether to keep them on or continue hiring. It is important to take ownership of tasks and projects, as many companies value this.

Transitioning from Tech to Education: Making a Larger Impact

After five years of working in tech, the author transitioned to an education company to make a more significant impact. They had to think differently about customer relationships and learn about the best way for children to learn. They faced challenges such as a low budget and difficulty getting buy-in, but these challenges helped them become more creative and self-aware. To increase self-awareness, the author suggests looking for what excites you on a day-to-day basis and following that.

The Multiplier Mindset: A Necessary Shift to Scale

After training as an engineer, the author learned the importance of human-computer interaction and specialized in the field. He developed the habit of trying to do everything himself, which was great in the startup world but created problems. He was micromanaging his team and received feedback that he was acting like a dictator. He changed his mindset to focus on leveraging his team and creating a system that completed the jobs, allowing him to have a greater impact.

Building a World-class Software Quality Team from Scratch

This article focuses on the process of building a successful software testing team. It outlines the importance of understanding the company's testing and quality needs, as well as the need for specialized skills and must-have attributes. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid methodology and the need for humility, patience, and the desire to constantly work on achieving desired outcomes.

Being an Influencer of Quality

Quality Assurance experts and testers are dedicated to speaking up when something is not right. They are the first users of features and end-to-end experiences in software and their goal is to not only uncover bugs, but to also advocate for the user experience and have a positive impact on the software development process. There are three ways to organize around advocating for and influencing quality: practices, knowledge, and caring. Quality teams have a big impact on how quality is viewed at an organization and can influence quality with their actions and behaviors.

Navigating Analytical Discussions for Best Product Fit

Product managers often focus on one feature or the first touch experience for their consumers, rather than the long tail of building a feature to its usability, support, and maintenance or the overall experience. To avoid risks and ensure customer satisfaction, product managers must think strategically ahead of time and consider factors such as performance, disaster recovery, compliance, and availability. It is also important to translate technical jargon into language that most leaders understand and to standardize requirements.

How to Effectively Release Features

This article discusses the problem of releasing features in big tech organizations, and how to become more agile. It proposes an automation system to provision infrastructure, and standardizing monitoring and metrics. It also suggests understanding which team members need more coaching and training to become a better leader.

Managing and Eliminating Cross-Team Dependencies

Working in a cross-functional environment, team dependencies can lead to missed deadlines, chaotic context switching, and non-stop meetings. To manage these dependencies, a heuristic was implemented to create an automated framework to test and deploy applications. Additionally, people should be managed based on their seniority and allowed to provide input and make changes in the process.

What Challenges Do AI Startups Face?

AI and ML models are based on probability and statistics, making them non-deterministic and difficult to perfect. To successfully deploy AI, one must build an intelligent system that imitates the human brain, and use a combination of autonomous and Human-In-The-Loop systems. This requires data operations, model building, and rolling into production. There is no single tool that can handle all of these processes, and the environment and challenges will keep changing, so the 'one size fits all' principle may not work. A feedback loop is necessary to make the process more stable.

Managing Customer Expectations in the Age of AI

Working at an AI startup can be challenging due to customers having unrealistic expectations from AI, which are often based on what they have seen in Sci-fi movies. To manage expectations, AI experts should put a thorough disclaimer, create an SDK to protect the system from wrong inputs, and embed an explainable AI into the system. This will help to bridge the gap between the system and the user, and provide logical reasoning behind any unexpected events.

How to Determine Product-Market Fit In Your Industry

When building a new product, it is important to consider both internal and external stakeholders. Utilize in-house resources to understand and refine the design of the product, and communicate the benefits of the product to potential stakeholders and users. Additionally, emphasize product marketing and find strategies that fit the market in order to differentiate the product from the rest.

Did Work From Home Hurt the Video Game Industry?

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced video game companies to work remotely, they had to quickly develop a new product to help their studios continue to deliver games on time. This product was built using a process of identifying needs and gaps, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test, and then polishing and adding features. In the end, the product was successful in helping the studios deliver games on time and with adequate quality. The key takeaway is to always focus on the end users and test and understand them ahead of time.

Product That Brings Opportunities

This article discusses how a small fintech team identified their target audience and used a test and learn approach to develop direct customer experiences. They identified the audience as digital giants, fintech startups, and large enterprise firms, and used five indicators to score their ideas: impact, confidence, competition, acceptability, and strategic impact. The approach was successful as the APIs could be expanded, allowing them to identify early successes and build upon them.

What Makes a Good Product Culture?

This article discusses the importance of creating a product culture in an organization. It outlines the five competencies needed to create a strategy stack, and how to use OKRs to set goals and visions. It also explains the importance of hiring the right people and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Finally, it emphasizes the need for leaders to step in when needed to ensure that teams are moving forward.

A Practical Guide to OKRs

This article explains the difference between goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and how to write effective OKRs. It emphasizes the importance of setting input goals rather than output goals, and provides guidance on when to use each type. It also explains the importance of providing detail on how each key result will be measured. The article concludes that the best measure of a great OKR is if it is clear half way into the quarter whether it is on track or not, and what can be done to change its course.

How to Tap Into Latent User Demand in a Marketplace

Goibibo, the largest B2C player in the hotel industry, found a new area of growth by creating a product called "Hourly Bookings" to cater to the latent demand of users who only wanted hotels for a few hours. They identified customer needs and target locations, spoke to sellers, and ran a proof of concept. The proof of concept helped them identify what works and what needs to be improved upon, and they created a playbook to quickly scale the product in multiple cities. This taught them the value of building a playbook and keeping an eye on new trends.

Proving Structure for a Fast-Growing Team

This article discusses the challenges of managing a team that works across different industries, technologies, and products. It provides tips for structuring a team, specializing for growth, connecting remotely, trusting the team, and collecting feedback. These strategies help to reduce stress and create a more positive work environment.

On The Contrary: Q&A with Seth Kimmel of Contrary Capital

The author has a long history in the tech industry, from programming in BASIC to working in hardware engineering and software engineering. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1990s and experienced the Dot Com Boom and Bust. Despite the downturn, the area has proven resilient and is now a hub for tech startups. The author has learned lessons from mentors and experienced leaders, and has developed strategies for building software at scale. They have also embraced the "remote-first" approach to working due to the pandemic, and are now tapping into the global talent pool to find tech talent.

Inspired by Women in Technology

This post is about the inspiring women in the tech industry, from Grace Hopper, the pioneer of the computer industry, to the female founders, funders, and leaders of today. It highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the tech industry and encourages us to learn from more women in technology.

When Asking “WHY” Becomes Counterproductive.

As a manager, it is important to be conscious of the impact of communication and language. Asking too many questions can make others feel defensive and lead to arguments. To avoid this, it is important to change the way of questioning and be prepared for meetings in advance. This will help to have productive discussions and create a positive team culture.

Hustling to Land a Role in the Tech World

A person looking to enter the tech space as a product leader can pursue an MBA to increase their hireability, or they can take a shot and hustle their way into a position. This can be done by offering to work for free as a trial period, and then the company can decide whether to keep them on or continue hiring. It is important to take ownership of tasks and projects, as many companies value this.

Transitioning from Tech to Education: Making a Larger Impact

After five years of working in tech, the author transitioned to an education company to make a more significant impact. They had to think differently about customer relationships and learn about the best way for children to learn. They faced challenges such as a low budget and difficulty getting buy-in, but these challenges helped them become more creative and self-aware. To increase self-awareness, the author suggests looking for what excites you on a day-to-day basis and following that.

The Multiplier Mindset: A Necessary Shift to Scale

After training as an engineer, the author learned the importance of human-computer interaction and specialized in the field. He developed the habit of trying to do everything himself, which was great in the startup world but created problems. He was micromanaging his team and received feedback that he was acting like a dictator. He changed his mindset to focus on leveraging his team and creating a system that completed the jobs, allowing him to have a greater impact.

Building a World-class Software Quality Team from Scratch

This article focuses on the process of building a successful software testing team. It outlines the importance of understanding the company's testing and quality needs, as well as the need for specialized skills and must-have attributes. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid methodology and the need for humility, patience, and the desire to constantly work on achieving desired outcomes.

Being an Influencer of Quality

Quality Assurance experts and testers are dedicated to speaking up when something is not right. They are the first users of features and end-to-end experiences in software and their goal is to not only uncover bugs, but to also advocate for the user experience and have a positive impact on the software development process. There are three ways to organize around advocating for and influencing quality: practices, knowledge, and caring. Quality teams have a big impact on how quality is viewed at an organization and can influence quality with their actions and behaviors.

Navigating Analytical Discussions for Best Product Fit

Product managers often focus on one feature or the first touch experience for their consumers, rather than the long tail of building a feature to its usability, support, and maintenance or the overall experience. To avoid risks and ensure customer satisfaction, product managers must think strategically ahead of time and consider factors such as performance, disaster recovery, compliance, and availability. It is also important to translate technical jargon into language that most leaders understand and to standardize requirements.

How to Effectively Release Features

This article discusses the problem of releasing features in big tech organizations, and how to become more agile. It proposes an automation system to provision infrastructure, and standardizing monitoring and metrics. It also suggests understanding which team members need more coaching and training to become a better leader.

Managing and Eliminating Cross-Team Dependencies

Working in a cross-functional environment, team dependencies can lead to missed deadlines, chaotic context switching, and non-stop meetings. To manage these dependencies, a heuristic was implemented to create an automated framework to test and deploy applications. Additionally, people should be managed based on their seniority and allowed to provide input and make changes in the process.

What Challenges Do AI Startups Face?

AI and ML models are based on probability and statistics, making them non-deterministic and difficult to perfect. To successfully deploy AI, one must build an intelligent system that imitates the human brain, and use a combination of autonomous and Human-In-The-Loop systems. This requires data operations, model building, and rolling into production. There is no single tool that can handle all of these processes, and the environment and challenges will keep changing, so the 'one size fits all' principle may not work. A feedback loop is necessary to make the process more stable.

Managing Customer Expectations in the Age of AI

Working at an AI startup can be challenging due to customers having unrealistic expectations from AI, which are often based on what they have seen in Sci-fi movies. To manage expectations, AI experts should put a thorough disclaimer, create an SDK to protect the system from wrong inputs, and embed an explainable AI into the system. This will help to bridge the gap between the system and the user, and provide logical reasoning behind any unexpected events.

How to Determine Product-Market Fit In Your Industry

When building a new product, it is important to consider both internal and external stakeholders. Utilize in-house resources to understand and refine the design of the product, and communicate the benefits of the product to potential stakeholders and users. Additionally, emphasize product marketing and find strategies that fit the market in order to differentiate the product from the rest.

Did Work From Home Hurt the Video Game Industry?

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced video game companies to work remotely, they had to quickly develop a new product to help their studios continue to deliver games on time. This product was built using a process of identifying needs and gaps, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test, and then polishing and adding features. In the end, the product was successful in helping the studios deliver games on time and with adequate quality. The key takeaway is to always focus on the end users and test and understand them ahead of time.

Product That Brings Opportunities

This article discusses how a small fintech team identified their target audience and used a test and learn approach to develop direct customer experiences. They identified the audience as digital giants, fintech startups, and large enterprise firms, and used five indicators to score their ideas: impact, confidence, competition, acceptability, and strategic impact. The approach was successful as the APIs could be expanded, allowing them to identify early successes and build upon them.

What Makes a Good Product Culture?

This article discusses the importance of creating a product culture in an organization. It outlines the five competencies needed to create a strategy stack, and how to use OKRs to set goals and visions. It also explains the importance of hiring the right people and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Finally, it emphasizes the need for leaders to step in when needed to ensure that teams are moving forward.

A Practical Guide to OKRs

This article explains the difference between goals and OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), and how to write effective OKRs. It emphasizes the importance of setting input goals rather than output goals, and provides guidance on when to use each type. It also explains the importance of providing detail on how each key result will be measured. The article concludes that the best measure of a great OKR is if it is clear half way into the quarter whether it is on track or not, and what can be done to change its course.

How to Tap Into Latent User Demand in a Marketplace

Goibibo, the largest B2C player in the hotel industry, found a new area of growth by creating a product called "Hourly Bookings" to cater to the latent demand of users who only wanted hotels for a few hours. They identified customer needs and target locations, spoke to sellers, and ran a proof of concept. The proof of concept helped them identify what works and what needs to be improved upon, and they created a playbook to quickly scale the product in multiple cities. This taught them the value of building a playbook and keeping an eye on new trends.

Proving Structure for a Fast-Growing Team

This article discusses the challenges of managing a team that works across different industries, technologies, and products. It provides tips for structuring a team, specializing for growth, connecting remotely, trusting the team, and collecting feedback. These strategies help to reduce stress and create a more positive work environment.

On The Contrary: Q&A with Seth Kimmel of Contrary Capital

The author has a long history in the tech industry, from programming in BASIC to working in hardware engineering and software engineering. They moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in the mid-1990s and experienced the Dot Com Boom and Bust. Despite the downturn, the area has proven resilient and is now a hub for tech startups. The author has learned lessons from mentors and experienced leaders, and has developed strategies for building software at scale. They have also embraced the "remote-first" approach to working due to the pandemic, and are now tapping into the global talent pool to find tech talent.

Inspired by Women in Technology

This post is about the inspiring women in the tech industry, from Grace Hopper, the pioneer of the computer industry, to the female founders, funders, and leaders of today. It highlights the importance of diverse perspectives in the tech industry and encourages us to learn from more women in technology.

When Asking “WHY” Becomes Counterproductive.

As a manager, it is important to be conscious of the impact of communication and language. Asking too many questions can make others feel defensive and lead to arguments. To avoid this, it is important to change the way of questioning and be prepared for meetings in advance. This will help to have productive discussions and create a positive team culture.

Hustling to Land a Role in the Tech World

A person looking to enter the tech space as a product leader can pursue an MBA to increase their hireability, or they can take a shot and hustle their way into a position. This can be done by offering to work for free as a trial period, and then the company can decide whether to keep them on or continue hiring. It is important to take ownership of tasks and projects, as many companies value this.

Transitioning from Tech to Education: Making a Larger Impact

After five years of working in tech, the author transitioned to an education company to make a more significant impact. They had to think differently about customer relationships and learn about the best way for children to learn. They faced challenges such as a low budget and difficulty getting buy-in, but these challenges helped them become more creative and self-aware. To increase self-awareness, the author suggests looking for what excites you on a day-to-day basis and following that.

The Multiplier Mindset: A Necessary Shift to Scale

After training as an engineer, the author learned the importance of human-computer interaction and specialized in the field. He developed the habit of trying to do everything himself, which was great in the startup world but created problems. He was micromanaging his team and received feedback that he was acting like a dictator. He changed his mindset to focus on leveraging his team and creating a system that completed the jobs, allowing him to have a greater impact.

Building a World-class Software Quality Team from Scratch

This article focuses on the process of building a successful software testing team. It outlines the importance of understanding the company's testing and quality needs, as well as the need for specialized skills and must-have attributes. It emphasizes the importance of having a solid methodology and the need for humility, patience, and the desire to constantly work on achieving desired outcomes.

Being an Influencer of Quality

Quality Assurance experts and testers are dedicated to speaking up when something is not right. They are the first users of features and end-to-end experiences in software and their goal is to not only uncover bugs, but to also advocate for the user experience and have a positive impact on the software development process. There are three ways to organize around advocating for and influencing quality: practices, knowledge, and caring. Quality teams have a big impact on how quality is viewed at an organization and can influence quality with their actions and behaviors.

Navigating Analytical Discussions for Best Product Fit

Product managers often focus on one feature or the first touch experience for their consumers, rather than the long tail of building a feature to its usability, support, and maintenance or the overall experience. To avoid risks and ensure customer satisfaction, product managers must think strategically ahead of time and consider factors such as performance, disaster recovery, compliance, and availability. It is also important to translate technical jargon into language that most leaders understand and to standardize requirements.

How to Effectively Release Features

This article discusses the problem of releasing features in big tech organizations, and how to become more agile. It proposes an automation system to provision infrastructure, and standardizing monitoring and metrics. It also suggests understanding which team members need more coaching and training to become a better leader.

Managing and Eliminating Cross-Team Dependencies

Working in a cross-functional environment, team dependencies can lead to missed deadlines, chaotic context switching, and non-stop meetings. To manage these dependencies, a heuristic was implemented to create an automated framework to test and deploy applications. Additionally, people should be managed based on their seniority and allowed to provide input and make changes in the process.

What Challenges Do AI Startups Face?

AI and ML models are based on probability and statistics, making them non-deterministic and difficult to perfect. To successfully deploy AI, one must build an intelligent system that imitates the human brain, and use a combination of autonomous and Human-In-The-Loop systems. This requires data operations, model building, and rolling into production. There is no single tool that can handle all of these processes, and the environment and challenges will keep changing, so the 'one size fits all' principle may not work. A feedback loop is necessary to make the process more stable.

Managing Customer Expectations in the Age of AI

Working at an AI startup can be challenging due to customers having unrealistic expectations from AI, which are often based on what they have seen in Sci-fi movies. To manage expectations, AI experts should put a thorough disclaimer, create an SDK to protect the system from wrong inputs, and embed an explainable AI into the system. This will help to bridge the gap between the system and the user, and provide logical reasoning behind any unexpected events.

How to Determine Product-Market Fit In Your Industry

When building a new product, it is important to consider both internal and external stakeholders. Utilize in-house resources to understand and refine the design of the product, and communicate the benefits of the product to potential stakeholders and users. Additionally, emphasize product marketing and find strategies that fit the market in order to differentiate the product from the rest.

Did Work From Home Hurt the Video Game Industry?

When the Covid-19 pandemic forced video game companies to work remotely, they had to quickly develop a new product to help their studios continue to deliver games on time. This product was built using a process of identifying needs and gaps, creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to test, and then polishing and adding features. In the end, the product was successful in helping the studios deliver games on time and with adequate quality. The key takeaway is to always focus on the end users and test and understand them ahead of time.

Product That Brings Opportunities

This article discusses how a small fintech team identified their target audience and used a test and learn approach to develop direct customer experiences. They identified the audience as digital giants, fintech startups, and large enterprise firms, and used five indicators to score their ideas: impact, confidence, competition, acceptability, and strategic impact. The approach was successful as the APIs could be expanded, allowing them to identify early successes and build upon them.

What Makes a Good Product Culture?

This article discusses the importance of creating a product culture in an organization. It outlines the five competencies needed to create a strategy stack, and how to use OKRs to set goals and visions. It also explains the importance of hiring the right people and creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Finally, it emphasizes the need for leaders to step in when needed to ensure that teams are moving forward.