Ashwin P.

💡 Just read about how CarCollect scaled from managing 1,000 cars a month to over 1,000 cars a day with Heroku! Check it out.

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After many years in product I finally decided to take my first, and probably last, "PM course": Shreyas Doshi's Product Sense course: https://lnkd.in/g6Gm9YzU Why my last? I don't think I'll ever need to take another course after this. He asked our honest take, so here's mine: The premise of a PM course always felt ironic to me because doing product in theory is never *remotely close* to doing product in practice. Well, this is finally the course that is built for, and built by, product in practice. Name a product concept that you've banged your head against the wall trying to put into practice (I'll name a few: Product Sense, Product Strategy, Product Vision). You've already read 5 books, 10 medium articles, and listened to 12 podcasts, and still feel like doing it yourself is like grabbing water. Every one of those concepts (and more) has finally been decomposed, distilled, and packaged into something that can compare to working directly with a world-class product leader yourself. Do yourself a favor and take this course, there is nothing remotely close to it that I'm aware of in existence. Also: you will laugh - guarantee you'll experience at least 1 moment of catharsis as Shreyas Doshi skewers some aspect of the tech industry and our experience as product people within it.

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I just wrapped up the Improving Your Product Sense course led by none other than Shreyas Doshi, and I can confidently say it’s been the highest ROI learning experience I've had. 💡 Here’s what made it exceptional: 1️⃣ Skills over Process: Instead of focusing on process and frameworks, Shreyas focuses on the meta skills needed to navigate ambiguity in order to make great product decisions. 2️⃣ Product Strategy Done Right: There’s plenty of noise around Product Strategy, but Shreyas provided a masterclass in distinguishing good strategy from bad strategy, with practical examples that hit home. 3️⃣ Learn by Doing:The hands-on assignments and breakout sessions were incredibly effective in reinforcing concepts through active learning. Highly recommend this course for anyone looking to level up their product sense! 💪✨

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awww yeah.. another article about M1's High Yield Cash Account! Check it out: https://lnkd.in/gusY-fat Quote from the article: "Regardless of your trading style, a handful of our investing accounts have cash idling – with the M1 High-Yield Cash Account, you’ll earn a competitive rate of return on your idle / uninvested cash. The rate is on par with many of the top interest bearing accounts available today and M1 High-Yield Cash Account deposits are FDIC-insured up to an aggregate total of $3.75 million."

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This week, the Pacific Northwest weather gave us an unplanned dose of "Yutori." Power outages, no internet, and suddenly, the hustle and bustle of life came to a screeching halt. In essence, Yutori suggests creating space in one's schedule and mindset for a slowdown, a blankness, allowing oneself to savor the sights and sounds around you. When you don’t rush; there is no concern for time. The flickering of a candle, a child’s laughter, my mothers’ voice on the phone. These are things that, in my usual hectic schedule, I barely have time to relish. But this week, as we sat in the darkness, we played games, read books, and reconnected with friends. Living with Yutori means embracing spaciousness. It’s about balancing work and personal well-being, without the constant urge to do more. Yutori can manifest in various ways, rooted in setting boundaries and sticking to them. It’s a fresh take on the often-overused concept of “work-life balance.” Let’s be honest, the phrase "work-life balance" has become so cliché that we almost roll our eyes whenever we hear it. But doesn't it feel good to use a term that conveys the same idea, but with a bit more flair and substance? Creating those boundaries isn’t easy, especially in a world where "do more with less" seems to be the motto. Even with the flexibility of working from home, many of us still find ourselves stretched thin. Efficiency and productivity might be up, but so is exhaustion. Despite having more control over our schedules than ever before, we often feel less in control and more overwhelmed. What I’ve gradually come to realize is that what’s missing from our jam-packed calendars is a sense of play, of ease, and spaciousness. There is unexpected beauty in slowing down, and joy in savoring simplicity. As a wise colleague once said - No one else is going to give you that lunch break , M- its you! :-)

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maybe one of the few posts that I ever will do, but the situation did demand it! Just completed the "Improve your product sense" course by Shreyas Doshi as part of the November 2024 cohort. Doubt if I have ever taken such a unique course steeped in learnings extracted from years of Shreyas' product experience. And these are not learnings in the usual sense / frameworks that are dime a dozen (which can be misinterpreted based on the reader's context). Instead, it is a well thought & laid out interaction with Shreyas himself over 8+ days through live interaction, intense lecture, pre-reads, peer discussions & AMAs. Highly recommend the course for senior product folks as it helps reinforce good habits, identify & overcome anti-patterns, unlearn & relearn the product craft & how to apply it contextually for high leverage outcomes! https://lnkd.in/gWjzF3aN

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Since launching last Fall, its been incredible to see all the many workflows and integrations that companies are building with Lucid's Developer Platform. We've seen companies build automated processes and deeply linked templates that help with Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Engineering teams get the most out of Lucid. Come learn how to get started building from two of our engineers on the API teams who help engineers build these integrations every day.

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A powerful team is never just a collection of individuals. There is extraordinary value in connections and relationships that are built over time. But how do you quantify these nuanced and dynamic traits? Here are some ideas: ✨ DORA Metrics: While primarily leveraged for assessing software delivery performance, DORA Metrics can offer insights into team efficiency and collaboration. Metrics like deployment frequency and lead time for changes are indirect indicators of how well a team operates together. 🌟 Net Promoter Score (NPS): Going beyond customer satisfaction, internally, NPS can be adapted to gauge team members' satisfaction and willingness to recommend their team to others. It captures engagement, morale, and overall sentiment within the team. ♻️ Feedback loops: How often is the team giving feedback to others? Tracking data points like these over time, and especially showing how changing the team impacts the data can tell a compelling story. It might give a clear voice to a nuanced understanding of the impact of changing the team when there are concerns for doing so. As a leader what metrics do you track to help you understand how change impacts a team?

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There is a broad phenomenon in tech companies right now (based on anecdotal LinkedIn research) of culture shifts. I want to give you a model for thinking about this problem. The problem can be thought of as an "explore/exploit" problem, specifically one with limited time and resources. Tolerance for exploration is correlated with more time and resources. Exploration in company cultures includes things like investing in long term learning programs, trying new benefits, testing theories, and generally being more flexible with planning and experimentation. Appetite for Exploitation increases when there are options with well established upsides compared to options with high uncertainty, and resources are constrained. These constraints can be real, imagined, or manufactured. This is a special form of risk aversion. Problematically, humans are bad at the math for knowing what the optimal stopping point is for either exploitation or exploration, and often pick the wrong strategy for the moment. But the trend right now is exploitation, both culturally and economically. (Not to be confused with abusive exploitation, though that may happen in step with certainty exploitation.) I'm curious - does this describe a situation you've seen?

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Hot off the press, this latest Silicon Valley Product Group article is a good reminder that there are multiple paths to success, and we have to tailor our strategies to fit our unique circumstances. There’s rarely a single answer or approach when it comes to topics like organizational design— after all, people and companies are complicated and are never the same! To quote Marty: “I believe strongly that with the right people with the right skills, a strong product team can succeed no matter the org design. […] I will never again doubt what a motivated group of empowered and skilled cross-functional professionals can accomplish.” Definitely worth a read if you have ~4 minutes and lead or are part of a product team.

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Recently, a colleague asked how to improve collaboration with a partner they historically didn't get along with. Here's what I shared: 🔭 Create a shared vision. Define common goals you both want to achieve. 🤝 Establish a 'social code' together. Agree on how you'll communicate, make decisions, and handle disagreements. 👂 Practice active listening. Seek to understand their perspective before responding. 💪 Focus on strengths. Identify what unique skills each person brings and leverage those. 🛡️ Build psychological safety. Make it okay to take risks and share ideas without fear of judgment. ⚖️ Hold each other accountable - respectfully. Give feedback on behaviors, not personality. 🎉 Celebrate wins together. Acknowledge progress and milestones, no matter how small. Great partnerships aren't born, they're built through intention and effort. What are your tips for improving difficult work relationships? #Collaboration #TechLeadership #TeamBuilding #Leadership

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Santana Row shopping center in San Jose has implemented a ticketless parking system that eliminates the need for drivers to take a ticket upon entry and pay at a pay station upon exit. Instead, drivers can simply scan a QR code (see photo) posted throughout the garage using their phones, enter their license plate number and credit card information on the website that pops up, and a camera will read their license plate and open the gate as they exit. While this system may seem convenient and efficient, I think there is a significant security concern! There is a risk that perpetrators could replace the posted QR code with their own, which would redirect drivers to a fake website where they would unknowingly enter their credit card information. This could lead to unauthorized charges and potential identity theft. It is crucial for the shopping center to address this security concern by taking appropriate measures to protect drivers' personal and financial information. They must ensure that the QR codes posted are authentic and that there are no vulnerabilities that could allow perpetrators to manipulate the system. As an alternative solution, pay stations could be installed for shoppers to use instead of relying on their own phones.

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In this in-depth explainer of investment performance, I mixed in some live-action humor to keep it interesting. Enjoy! https://lnkd.in/gFEspDXa

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Here's something counterintuitive; taking on more investment risk reduces long-term returns: https://lnkd.in/gHwkjHmP This is only my second investment video, so I'm still learning. If you have any feedback, I would love to hear it. Based on the feedback from the first video, I tried to make the audio more balanced on this video. I also shortened the length, to make the content more digestible.

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A clear agent framework can guide you in structuring team roles and task allocation, including: Development of various custom tools to support the agent. Defining the agent's workflow steps, led by product managers. Designing clear task requirements, with participation from customer support teams. Directing agents to complete tasks, facilitated by prompt engineers. Selecting the most cost-effective and efficient LLM models, managed by engineering managers. Reviewing and fine-tuning individual agent contributions to overall outcomes, supported by data scientists. Monitoring token usage and execution speed, handled by SREs (Site Reliability Engineers). This course demonstrates how crewai enables the effective assembly of teams fulfilling the above roles. https://lnkd.in/gYeUGEv4

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#Layoffs and Misguided Corporate Spending ( A note to Leadership) I've spent over 16 years working across both MNCs (50%) and startups (50%). During my time at one of the world’s top 10 dream companies, I used to see an annual trend: layoffs. The pressure this puts on employees is immense. Here’s the ironic part: the same company ( Should I say some Big Heads) cutting jobs spends crores on unnecessary luxuries—like installing 90-inch LED TVs in lift lobbies, excessive property beautification, and lavish gifting. The amount spent on these could easily cover the salaries of hundreds of employees. When layoffs happen, it's often percentage cut—x% must go. But why aren’t senior leaders cutting these extravagant expenses in first place? I’m not suggesting cutting essential marketing costs and basic comfort costs for employees that drive business, but who’s choosing companies based on lift lobby TVs or expensive sofas in the pantry? We’ve all heard of a company that hired a famous footballer for an ad, only to later struggle to pay employees. It’s baffling that leaders allow these misguided financial priorities to persist. Why isn’t there a system in place to curb over-spending and protect employees—the true backbone of the company? Those four LED TVs won’t save the company. But four dedicated employees just might.

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Fellow in-house taxonomists, ontologists, metadata managers, and semantic wizards: what is the name of the team or business unit that you work within? I have the good fortune of getting to rename the "Content Standards" program I lead at Kaiser Permanente IT. My team has determined that the name is too vague to convey the core activities of the program, and leads to confusion with the cross-functional teams we collaborate with. I'm looking for a clear name that will resonate with stakeholders within my org. So I've got a very classic taxonomist question: What to call the program? 🤔 For some context... What my program is responsible for: - Defining and governing standards for metadata, structured data, taxonomy, and ontology for classifying/structuring digital content - Implementing processes and platforms to good metadata hygiene - Assessment and remediation of content metadata What my program doesn't cover: - Writing or editorial style guides - Content design - Content strategy - Site maps or navigational structure - Data governance Any ideas are most welcome!

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3 simple ways in which fraudsters can break through merchant onboarding systems: 1. Fraudulent documents 2. Fradulent businesses 3. Fradulent locations In this 10 min clip, Paritosh Desai and I just break down RBI's regulations for onboarding merchants, and how fraudsters break into the system.

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Interested in capturing the attention of in market buyers? Come see how TrustRadius can partner with you to increase your market share!

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