Karen Ng

The debate between specialized roles and cross-functional collaboration in product development is heating up. Throughout my entire career, I’ve seen teams falter into silos, creating friction between product management, design, and engineering. There have been debates about ownership and responsibilities across these roles. What’s interesting is that successful teams don’t usually have these debates. They work together. In the latest episode of the Product Thinking podcast, I explored this topic with Todd Wilkens, CPO at Qualio. Todd's journey from design to product leadership offers insights into building a culture of ownership and collaboration. Here are the key takeaways from our conversation: 1️⃣ The power of shared goals in breaking down disciplinary boundaries 2️⃣ Strategies for scaling culture while maintaining agility 3️⃣ Why a "show, don't tell" mentality drives better outcomes 4️⃣ Rethinking traditional role definitions for modern product development Todd shared this thought-provoking perspective: "Hire smart people and give them autonomy. When you align everyone around customer impact, the magic happens." This episode will help product leaders navigate the evolving landscape of team structures and collaboration. Todd's insights challenge us to reconsider how we build and empower our teams to drive real innovation. Listen to the full podcast episode here: 🎧 Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eucH9Zg4 🎙️ Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/e_bdcJtD How are you adapting to the changing dynamics of product development roles? Share your thoughts, and let's continue this conversation in the comment section! #productthinking #teamculture #productleadership #collaboration #innovationmindset #managers

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Having examined the careers of 1,000+ product managers, I find five "hidden" roadblocks that surprised these talented folks: 1. Being Stuck in Non-Product Land: Many find themselves in environments prioritizing outputs over outcomes, stifling essential skills development like customer insight and strategic vision. 2. Getting Known Only for Execution: Excelling in execution can, unfortunately, pigeonhole you into more of the same, preventing you from taking on more strategic roles that drive significant impact. 3. The Comparison Trap: Comparing your career to others can be detrimental. Each journey is unique, and focusing on your own path and progress is vital. 4. The Upper Limit Problem: This psychological barrier where you subconsciously limit your success can significantly hinder you. Recognizing and pushing beyond your internal limits is key to achieving greater career heights. 5. Extreme Manager Dependence: Relying too much on your manager for career progression can leave you passive in your own career development. Taking ownership and advocating for yourself is essential. Remember, your career is your story to write. Inspire your teams and stakeholders by transforming your environment and narrative. If you're stuck in a less product-led role, find ways to steer towards a more outcome-focused approach. Share your vision, and slowly shift the culture around you. If you would like to see an entire video that discusses these findings in depth, please comment "video," and I will send you the link.

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Looking for a Product Leadership role? Explore these top opportunities to drive innovation, lead teams, and shape strategy at these companies: 1. SVP, Product Management – MasterControl, Salt Lake City, UT (Remote) Lead product strategy and development for MasterControl's quality and compliance software portfolio while managing the product management team. MasterControl provides cloud-based quality and compliance software to over 1,000 companies in life sciences and regulated industries. 2. Group Product Manager - Microsoft Security Service Edge – Microsoft, San Francisco, CA (Remote) Lead Microsoft's Security Service Edge (SSE) offering, driving product strategy and development for Microsoft Entra Internet Access and Private Access solutions. Microsoft is a global technology leader with 228,000 employees across 190 countries, focused on empowering every person and organization to achieve more through technology. 3. VP of Product Management – Benevity, Seattle, WA Lead product strategy and development for Benevity's Finance Platform, managing a product team while driving vision, roadmap execution, and platform operations. Benevity is a B Corporation that provides social impact technology to Fortune 100 companies, enabling corporate giving, volunteering, and other social action initiatives. 4. VP of Product – Banyan Software, Chicago, IL Serve as a key executive leader at SoftSmiths (a Banyan Software portfolio company) responsible for driving product strategy, innovation, and execution in the energy sector, initially working independently with potential to build a product team. Reports to the CEO of SoftSmiths, working closely with VP Technology. Banyan Software is one of fastest-growing private software companies in the US that acquires and grows enterprise software businesses with dominant positions in niche vertical markets, operating with a permanent "buy and hold for life" strategy. 5. Director of Product Management – Mark43, New York, NY (Remote) Lead the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) product line and Mobile applications, managing a team of 2-3 Product Managers while driving product strategy and development. Mark43 is a technology company that develops cloud-native software solutions for law enforcement and public safety agencies to improve community safety and quality of life. 6. Head of Product – 0x, San Francisco, CA (Remote) Lead Product team overseeing consumer and developer platforms while driving product strategy and fostering team growth. Reports directly to the CEO. 0x is a Web3 company providing developer APIs for token access and liquidity, having processed over $130B in trading volume through major platforms like Coinbase and MetaMask. Want more Product Leadership roles? Access the weekly updated database: https://lnkd.in/gq9qY6s4

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📣 Product Folks: 😡 Have you and your team hit the wall with trying to focus on value? That *could* look like: ▶ No steady stream of data to inform strategy, prioritization + roadmaps ▶ Stakeholder misalignment ▶ Competing priorities ▶ Duplicative or overlapping work streams 🤓 Are you ready to put Product Operations into practice at your company? Join me for Produx Labs' Product Operations June 5 Masterclass! Snag your seat today. https://lnkd.in/ephFvTwf #productmanagement #productops

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👋 Do any of these resonate with you? A. Getting your first job in product management is tough. B. Changing customer behavior is challenging. C. Selling SaaS in this climate is tricky. D. Leading a team through uncertainty isn’t for the faint of heart. Over the past year, I've conducted over 200 calls on these topics with customers, founders, leads, and aspiring product managers. Here are my top two takeaways: 1. Community is key. Sharing experiences and seeking feedback from those on the same path (or having gone down it) sharpens your approach, makes the journey more rewarding, and less lonely. 2. Connection energizes. Engaging with the community has been incredibly fulfilling and motivating for me. To make these connections more accessible, I've opened a few 1:1 mentorship slots on Intro. Plus, 25% of the proceeds will be donated to charity (Kings County Tennis League). ⏩ https://intro.co/hirefrank As a former VP of Product at Slack, InVision, Casper, and Betterment, I’m excited to share my experiences and insights. I’ll also bring in learnings from my time at Etsy and Google. Here’s what we can cover together: ✔️ Roadmap prioritization & sequencing ✔️ Uncovering customer insights ✔️ Pricing & go-to-market strategies ✔️ Product feedback ✔️ Career advice for PMs ✔️ And more Honored to be on @Intro alongside world-class experts like Mark Mullen (seed investor in GOAT, Scopely, Figment & Trade Desk), Shegun Otulana (founder of Theranest/Therapy Brands, sold for $1.25B), Kathy Wang (head of AR product at TikTok), and Lars Schmidt (award-winning talent strategist, LinkedIn Top Voice). Comment “interested” and secure your spot now: https://intro.co/hirefrank

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Lior Solomon and the team at Drata thought if their Amplitude experiment produced at least 500 customer adoptions, that would be a success. So, when the experiment actually drove 2,000 customer adoptions, let’s just say they were excited about that. Learn how Lior and the team at Drata use Amplitude!

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ENOUGH WITH THE FRAMEWORKS! If you've worked with me, you've probably heard me say that. Product teams should be focused on driving outcome and impact, not falling in love with the process. And that's something Peter Yang from Roblox knows all too well. We had a great conversation on Next Gen Builders about how the PM role is evolving, how to use #AI to focus on more important work (like talking to customers), and more. Tune in to our conversation: https://lnkd.in/dY-AZh2s

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Nick is one of the greatest product coaches out there today. 💪 It was a delight getting to chat with him about his journey from product to coaching. He talks about some of the things we don't often hear in Product Management, mental health. His stories about the challenges he's overcome were inspiring and hope to have him on the show again to cover more! If you have any questions for Nick after listening to the episode, comment on this thread so I can bring him back on. 🙌 Product Coffee - productcoffeepodcast.com #productcoaching #productmanagement #transformation

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Reader feedback for my latest post about how to use AI and my PRD template to never have to write a PRD from scratch again. Read the full post here: https://lnkd.in/eJjVXJUJ

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Product Rockstars in tech....It's not about strategy. It's not about frameworks. To play big...it's about the soft skills. Yep....your EQ is critical to level up and lead. You need to master the human side of work.  Treating people with respect Understanding how to communicate Executive presence Managing politics (yep...,I said it) Treating people as human beings To level up in the world of tech....it's about the human game. #productmanagement #techleaders #womenintech Are you ready to level up into leadership? Are you ready to learn how to play the human game? Respond with 'yes' and I'll send you my E-Book on The Next Generation of Leadership in Product

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Product Market Fit (PMF) is a vague, messy concept at best Not all companies are created equal They scale and reach PMF at different rates and in different ways I assess PMF based on where the company is in its growth - Pre-revenue stage? High usage rates and strong qualitative feedback signal an initial product-market fit - $1mm+ ARR? You can brag about early PMF…. if you have good recurring revenue or repeat customers and efficient customer acquisition - Achieved $10mm+ ARR? You should be able to expand into new markets or verticals with the existing product to claim PMF status - 100$mm+ revenue?  Your brand is strong in the marketplace and is capable of attracting many inbound customers I have seen multiple companies pour fuel on fire…  Incorrectly assuming they reached PMF Only to crash and burn in the confusion & premature scaling that ensues You are not going to make that fatal mistake, right? Next time you "reach" your Product Market Fit Review closely what stage of growth you are at and adjust your claims accordingly PS: How do you measure Product Market Fit?

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Marty Cagan distinguishes between two types of teams: the mercenaries and the missionaries. The mercenary teams are the "ticket takers". They're just doing the next thing in front of them, checking off the boxes without much deeper investment. They're content to churn out features and fix bugs, but they lack that true sense of purpose and ownership. And then there are the missionary teams. These are the ones who are deeply invested in the customer experience, driven to solve real problems and make a meaningful impact. They're the ones who challenge assumptions, dig deeper into user needs, and are constantly seeking to understand the "why" behind the "what." Now, I'm not saying that mercenaries are bad or that missionaries are the only way to go. While I believe a missionary team will deliver better results - and is a joy to be part of - I’m coming around to the fact that there's a time and a place for both. The distinction is a helpful gutcheck. Because managing a mercenary team like a missionary team just makes everyone miserable, and you’ll spin your wheels, losing productivity entirely. You can’t just flip a switch. Meet your team where they are at and give them the support they need the way they need it. At the end of the day, it's not about checking boxes or hitting deadlines. It's about creating something that truly makes a difference in people's lives. That kind of work, the kind that comes from a place of deep passion and purpose, can take many different paths to get there.

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Interesting piece and helpful definition about the quickly evolving role of product management Your job as a PM is to deliver business impact by marshaling the resources of your team (both human and AI) to identify and solve the most impactful customer problems.

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In Enterprise B2B SaaS, product building and feature delivery are only a portion of a PM's role. Many PMs may feel restless or disengaged when not immersed in feature development or large-scale initiatives. On the other hand, product leadership often becomes overly focused on the velocity of feature delivery, overlooking broader opportunities. However, there are far more exciting ways for PMs to contribute. These opportunities go beyond feature work to involve deep, strategic efforts that shape the long-term vision of the problem space. Watch my latest video to learn how to transform your product environment into meaningful engagement opportunities. Elevate your perspective from feature-centric thinking to becoming a visionary, long-term product leader! https://lnkd.in/gAx3fs4t

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Have you ever been told "I need you to be more strategic"? Did you even know what that meant in the context of the job you were already doing? Is being "strategic" critical to being a successful Product Manager or Engineer? Listen now: https://lnkd.in/eyuAQVGC We dive back into Reddit this week to answer some questions and hopefully help some folks out. From a team where product managers are rewarded for sneaking features into releases, to a VP who is obsessed with RACI charts, a theme emerged this week of “everything in moderation” as our overarching recommendation. There’s also a question of what to say when your boss asks you “to be more strategic” and a look at a Zendesk email spoofing hack that got us onto a tangent about Salesforce and Jira. As one does. #Zendesk #strategy #productmanagement #engineering #podcast

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What if your product could sell itself?💡 In this Product Thinking episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with Wes Bush, CEO of ProductLed and author of "Product-Led Growth: How to Build a Product That Sells Itself." Wes is a pioneer in the product-led growth movement, which flips the traditional sales model. Instead of relying on a sales team, the product itself drives acquisition, engagement, retention and revenue by proving its immense value upfront. Our discussion covered key insights like: 👉 Building products so valuable that users naturally want to upgrade and pay 👉 Optimizing seamless user experiences that convert free users to paid 👉 Rapidly demonstrating your product's core value to facilitate adoption As Wes emphasized, product-led growth goes far beyond simply offering free trials or open access. It's about meticulously crafting an exceptional first product experience that instantly captivates users and showcases the immense value from the start. Wes provides a fresh perspective on this increasingly important approach. Our discussion offers insights into effectively implementing product-led principles in any business. Have you embraced product-led growth strategies? What successes or challenges have you faced? Share your experiences and insights below! Listen now: https://lnkd.in/eBJePuVx #ProductLedGrowth #ProductStrategy #UserEngagement #SaaS #ProductManagement

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"An empowered team doesn't just get to work on whatever they want." Chris Jones and Marty Cagan have helped 200+ companies build better product orgs. In my new episode, Chris shares: - Why "empowered" isn't what you think it is - How to escape the feature factory trap - If empowerment matters in wartime scenarios - How to take back control of your career Some insights from Chris: "Empowered comes from our belief that the team closest to the customer can best solve their problems." "Companies will start by being customer-focused. But when they become successful, they start implementing processes that often give a false sense of control." "Anytime you're given a feature to build, it's critically important to align with leadership on a shared definition of success." 📌 Watch now: https://lnkd.in/gdXqSrJQ Also available on: Spotify: https://lnkd.in/ghMZWW8J Apple: https://lnkd.in/grhhYVyh Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gQar3whE

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How can product leaders move the needle and take the lead in this shift? Moving Off the Solution – guide your team to step back from the tech stack and view the challenge from the POV of a new user. Measuring Customer Perceived Value -- require PMs to sit with a cohort of users -- typical users. Conduct a discovery exercise. A small sample size is sufficient. Embrace the Change – this should require a complete change in mindset but a different orientation. Focusing the team on adoption, cross sell and upsell has clear near-term and long-term ROI for the company. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gjJk_K5V #leadership #prodmgmt #ROI

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I wrote two term sheets this week into startups backed by amazing founding teams, and in both cases I recommended a pivot to the team’s initial GTM strategy.   Sometimes being well networked, or building in a white hot problem space can be a gift and a curse when it catches the attention of enterprise customers.   On paper, it is the exact type of validation a funding team is seeking as they work through an initial version of their product, but more often than not it has the potential to derail a startup’s potential for success.   The startups in question were both experiencing this exact dynamic.  In one case, the team had caught the eye of one of the largest robotics companies in the world and begun conversations around a potential partnership.   The second company is backed by a 20 year industry veteran with a deep rolodex of enterprise customers within his ICP.  Some of the largest retailers in the world were engaging in conversations around piloting his product.  As I explained to both of these founders, this was amazing validation, but should also not be the focal point of their initial GTM.   The reality is, in order to successfully deploy within either of these customers, they were looking at a long and arduous path, filled with security reviews and product feature sets that realistically an early stage pre-seed company with 2 founders could not deliver upon.   My advice to them, continue those conversations, with the realization that they could take 1 year+ before realistic deployments, but focus the lion’s share of their GTM energies toward customers with lower deployment hurdles, in this case Series A/B backed robotics companies and $50M-$250M retailers.    To be clear, the  genuine interest from these enterprises is a massively positive indicator on the problem/solution set they are building for, and it is part of the reason we are bullish on the market opportunity of each startup.  I’ve just seen so many startups fail to deploy an initial product and ultimately never raise a seed round because they get stuck in a seemingly never ending enterprise sales cycle.

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