Matthew Spaulding

Y'all, I've been thinking about this a lot lately: exceptional product leaders aren't defined by how many features they ship – but by how many they deliberately choose not to build. Here's what saying strategic "nos" has taught me: 1. Every "yes" comes with an opportunity cost. When you say yes to one feature, you're implicitly saying no to dozens of others. Make it count. 2. The hardest nos are to good ideas. Bad ideas are easy to reject. The real challenge? Saying no to solid proposals that simply don't serve your core strategy. 3. The way you say no matters more than the no itself: - "No, because..." builds trust - "No, but here's what we can do..." shows partnership - "No for now, and here's when we'll revisit..." keeps doors open Product management isn't about making everyone happy – it's about making the right people successful. How do you handle saying no to stakeholders while maintaining strong relationships? #ProductManagement #Leadership #Strategy #ProductDecisions #StakeholderManagement

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I’m wrapping up a year of fractional Product work, as I prepare to jump back into a full-time role (more on this soon!). I had never heard of fractional execs a couple years ago, and surely never imagined myself as someone who’d take a leap into such an amorphous career chapter. But after consulting with a half-dozen companies in the past year, I found a lot to love about the fractional model. Here were three unexpected learnings from my year as a fractional product exec 1️⃣ Fractional work was deeply fulfilling and rewarding. I was able to raise my hand to support leaders I admired, help friends launch new startups, and explore mission-driven companies adjacent to my own passions. Even though the roles were temporary, my role and impact were unexpectedly meaningful because I was selective about where to invest my time.  2️⃣ I was able to do some of my best work because of the sustained focus. This was an energizing luxury. I had not experienced this level of focus since I was much earlier in my career. But, as a fractional exec, I’d be tossed 1-2 projects by clients every couple weeks. Ten whole dedicated days to wrangle a roadmap, build a hiring plan, or lead customer discovery meant that I could be more thoughtful and intentional, without the drain of distractions. I learned to say no to meetings that wouldn’t push my work forward and would be wasteful hours for clients. 3️⃣ I precisely calibrated my capacity to show up better at work and home. In the wild world of startups, I was always ON. Through my experiment with fractional work, I learned my boundaries with unique clarity–the exact threshold when our family life would feel excessively hard or when my broader values and aspirations would feel back-burnered for too long. Fractional work allowed me to scale my work incrementally over controlled periods, enabling me to discover what interval / hours / locations work best for me. I have many more learnings I’ll share from my exploration into fractional work. Most importantly, through this period of discovery, I found a need and opportunity too compelling to only support fractionally and decided to take on a bigger, committed role. I’ll share where I’ll be extending full-time roots soon.

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"I think it’s very harmful to bring consumer product thinking to a space like Stripe or any kind of a B2B space, generally. You have users by the wheelbarrow. You treat them in aggregate. You talk about MAUs. Everything’s statistical. Like LinkedIn with the dark patterns...oh complete your profile, everything’s nudging you towards some business outcome. And what we really try to constantly clobber people over the head with at Stripe is: these are people starting a business, who are generally really talented. And you can just see it if you go talk to any of them. And so - we have another value at Stripe that we try to really inculcate which is talking up to the user. When you’re writing product marketing copy, you’re not trying to bamboozle them with highfalutin statements. You’re trying to explain to a busy business owner, who is constantly switching between product and business and finance and all these things, why this thing will solve some kind of specific need that they have. But it’s not hucksterism. It’s not sloganeering. Every week we have a user at this weekly fireside where we’ll just interview them about their business, how they started, how they got there, how they’re using Stripe, what they’d like to see us do better, everything like that. I think that’s important to stay connected to this. I think the classic technology product management domain is a bit - I would say - it’s not respectful enough of who the users actually are and how capable they are." - John Collison

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Stop calling it technical debt. We’re not fixing old code - we’re investing in our platform's future. As product leaders, we often struggle to get buy-in for these critical improvements because we're telling the wrong story. Here's what transformed our customer conversations: Instead of talking about refactoring legacy systems, we shared how we're strengthening our foundation to unlock new possibilities. Rather than discussing system complexity, we focused on how our platform investments directly improve reliability and speed. The magic happened when we stopped apologizing for maintenance and started showcasing the long-term vision. Our customers don't care about our code - they care about growing their business, staying competitive, and reducing risks. The key is simple - translate technical challenges into business opportunities. Customers want to hear about outcomes, not operations. #ProductLeadership #TechnicalStrategy #CustomerSuccess #ProductManagement

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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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Stop throwing a North Star Metric at your team without any context. It doesn't work. A NSM is not a concept that will create immediate alignment. "Here's the metric, now go optimize the product to improve the metric." Product teams need more to figure out what is influencing the NSM. And management needs more to prove its value. The CoCoCo for successful North Star Metric implementations 💃🏻 1️⃣ CONTEXT 2️⃣ CONNECTION to business value 3️⃣ CONNECTION to user value AND 💫 BONUS 1 - Co-creation 💫 BONUS 2 - Co-ownership With a shout-out to Amplitude and Daniel Schmidt. A comparison of Amazon vs. Patagonia. And the evolution of Netflix’s NSM over time - with a surprise, if you haven't heard it yet. 👉 Ask Me Anything: Drop your NSM questions in the comment 👇

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Over the last few weekends, I’ve had a ton of fun building a new tool alongside some Ro’ers. The Ro GLP-1 Supply Tracker helps patients find GLP-1 supply, report shortages to the FDA, and track which drugs are currently in shortage. Here’s how it works: https://lnkd.in/eKUfQ9j9 This free tracker does four 4 things: 1) It shows which GLP-1s are in shortage by individual drug and dose. This automatically pulls from the FDA’s website, plus crowd-sourced shortage reports. 2) It makes it easy for everyone to share where and when they find GLP-1 supply (which will notify patients who need supply nearby) or share what drug and dose they are looking for (which will automatically report a shortage to the FDA). Patients can pay it forward to help other patients find the medications that they need. 3) It let’s anyone get on our ‘Supply List’ which means we’ll send them real-time, localized email alerts when GLP-1s are found in-stock near them, including the drug + dose, and pharmacy name, address, and phone number. 4) It enables patients and providers to sign up to receive automated notifications as soon as a GLP-1s status changes on the FDA’s list. This up-to-date information helps them better work together to align on the best possible care plan. The first principle at Ro is to fight for patients. Navigating the shortage is hard. But finding GLP-1s shouldn’t be. Patients deserve better. They deserve easy access to the most effective healthcare. Ro will fight for that every single day.

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🎯 Ever wonder why 70% of products fail to meet their original objectives?  Scope creep is often the silent killer of great product visions. Here's my battle-tested framework for taming the scope monster while keeping your product on track: 🔄 The "RADIO" Method for Feature Prioritization: • Remove: Ruthlessly eliminate features that don't align with your core value proposition • Analyze: Deep dive into usage data and customer feedback • Decide: Make clear yes/no decisions (no "maybe later" list!) • Implement: Focus on one feature at a time • Optimize: Measure impact before adding more features 🎯 Pro Tips for Execution: Create a "Scope Shield" document outlining: • Core features vs. nice-to-haves • Clear success metrics • Release timeline boundaries • Non-negotiable quality standards ⚡ Quick Reality Check: Remember, every "yes" to a new feature is a "no" to: • Team bandwidth • Technical stability • Launch timeline • User experience simplicity 🔑 The Secret Sauce: Learn to say "Not Now" instead of "No." It keeps stakeholder relationships positive while maintaining product focus. 💡 Weekly Action Item: Schedule a 30-minute "scope sanity check" with your team. Ask these three questions: • Does this feature serve our core users? • Can we measure its impact? • What would we have to sacrifice to include it? Remember: The best products aren't built by saying yes to everything, but by saying yes to the right things at the right time. #ProductManagement #ScopecreepPrevention #ProductPrioritizationFramework

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Hot take on a lot of early-stage digital health companies out there: You're not a tech company. Most tech-enabled care companies I've seen over the past two years are only tech-enabled in the sense that they use telehealth as their delivery mechanism for care. There are exceptions to this, of course - companies who build computer vision and applied AI tools to better the doctor-patient experience, companies who build tooling around risk scoring and stratification to enable more personalized medicine, companies who build truly novel intakes to better route patients to the appropriate care, etc. These companies have real technology chops and, if they sell it right to the market, can get credit for this from investors. But if you're truly a telehealth provider, you need to realize now that the goal post has shifted dramatically from 2021 and you're going to be valued at maturity at something like 3x EBITDA. That's profit. Not revenue. Throw a revenue multiple out the window. That's not the world we live in if you're a virtual doctor's office. Think of how that impacts venture math. If you're raising a seed round at $15M post-money (or $12M pre-money), it means you'll have to generate something like $150-200M in annual EBITDA to be a fund returner for your seed investors. Maybe even more with dilution, since telehealth businesses are not traditionally capital efficient and will likely need to raise material additional capital to reach that scale. You need to be ridiculously profitable (probably on $800M-$1B in annual revenue since you're likely going to be a 40% gross margin business). Here's the good news: you can set yourself up well (and probably be a contrarian founder relative to your peers), by talking about EBITDA growth and how you can grow into a fund-returning outcome based on realistic mature market comps. This will stand out for the investors you're pitching, even at the early stage. This is how you can beat the malaise of the tech-enabled care market. Focus on the right metrics and the right type of growth. You don't have to have all the answers (no founder does), but you need to make sure the ship is headed in the right direction. A focus on profitability for "tech-enabled care" (*ahem* telehealth) businesses is a good first step.

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💡Managing up is one of the hardest parts of being a product leader. Here’s a clip (see comments) from the Prodify Product Leadership course we created, where we dive into how to manage up effectively. While designed for newer product leaders, the course offers valuable insights and strategies that can benefit professionals at various stages of their careers. Here's why mastering this skill is critical: 1. 🤝 Shared Success: Your wins are your manager's wins. Help them shine! 2. 🔍 Transparency Builds Trust: Keep them informed to reduce uncertainty and avoid surprises. 3. 🆘 Leverage Support: Your manager can be your best advisor and supporter in challenging times. 4. 🗣️ Influence Upwards: Don't shy away from giving feedback on strategy, culture, and processes. 5. 📈 Personal Growth: Take ownership of your performance and growth discussions. Our curriculum covers everything from product vision and strategy to team leadership and stakeholder management. It addresses the most core topics I would want leaders on my team to understand. 🚀 Ready to transform your product leadership skills? Don't miss this opportunity to invest in your career. Join us and learn how to not just manage products, but lead with confidence and impact. Enroll now: https://lnkd.in/ga5f6Wfi 🎉 Special Offer: Use code PRODIFY15 for a 15% discount when you sign up by October 31st! #ProductLeadership #ManagingUp #CareerGrowth #ProductManagement PS - What tips would you offer in managing up? Share in the comments – I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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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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Chief Product Officers have the shortest tenure of any C-Suite member: 2.5 years. In my recent interviews with Product Leaders, a common theme emerged - navigating a role under a non-technical Founder/CEO can be extremely challenging…but not impossible: CPOs that focused on educating their org about how product works, shared their vision and strategy constantly, and showcased how product metrics tied to clear ROI and customer value had longer tenures and better, more collaborative relationships with the rest of the organization > those who didn’t.

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I gave a talk earlier this year at Figma Config, about org-chart design in startups. We worked with our friends at First Round Capital to write up a companion piece, with more details and examples. Take a look if you wanted to know more, or if you prefer reading to watching videos! The original talk is here: https://lnkd.in/esxpSc5U

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Really love this and the break down of the process. I can apply this to make many of my communications more direct and get to the root of “so why should I care?” Or “how does this impact me/my team/mywork?” faster. This is simple and easy to apply to all copy!

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(Walmart is hiring. See below.) Is product management right for you? My career started at McKinsey & Company. One thing I really appreciated at McKinsey was the amazing career advice one would get routinely. We were at lunch one day and one of my senior colleagues was talking about career growth and switching roles. He said "When changing roles, make sure you are not RUNNING FROM a role, but RUNNING TO a role." What he was trying to say was that do not take another role just because you do not like your current role. What one should do instead is to understand specifically what it is about the current role that they do not like. Is it the travel? Is the work too technical? Or is it not technical enough? Is it the lack of work-life balance? etc. The reason this is important is that this enables each person to decide what kind of role they are most interested in. This in turn allows each of us to decide what kind of role we should be RUNNING TO. The same is true of product management. ***** Now, I love product management. ❤️ But I can only speak for myself. 🙂 For folks who are looking to transition to product management, it will help you to make sure that you are not RUNNING AWAY from your current role. If you are interested in product management, take some courses, talk to product managers, try to sit in on product meetings, etc. The more you research, the more you can be certain that product management is a role you want to be RUNNING TO. Thoughts? ***** Follow #walmarthiring ⬅ ⬅ ⬅ See 5 jobs-related posts below ⬇ ➡ Manager, Operations: https://lnkd.in/g9Qt95p5 ➡ Staff Software Engineer (Multiple Roles): https://lnkd.in/gZVZzGqM ➡ Principal Data Scientist: https://lnkd.in/gYpTzX7q ➡ Staff Product Manager: https://lnkd.in/gAgBdTZ7 ➡ Senior Product Manager: https://lnkd.in/gm8BKCJi Follow me at ➡ ➡ ➡ #rajshenoiphd #productmanagers #productstrategy #productinnovation #productmanagement #MIT #McKinsey #Indian

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Product people in social impact: Listen to your customers 📢 How do you do this? ✔ Understand who you are building for to give them what they need ✔ Ask the right questions ✔ Talk less Base conversations on... ✔ Concrete facts ✔ Their life (not ideas) like problems, constraints, cares, goals ✔ The actions they are already taking I've been learning all about the art of talking to customers. I've been totally inspired by Rob Fitzpatrick's The Mom Test and Teresa Torres's Product Discovery course (via email) - specifically Customer Interviews. They both agree that people describe themselves as who they want to be, not who they actually are. You want facts and commitments, not compliments. Opinions are worthless. Give yourself grace when having conversations with customers or users because this takes practice and lots of awareness for course correction. My rule of thumb is to speak to customers at least once a week. Get started with a manageable goal and do what works best for you. Keep building products that *truly* help solve real problems in this world. I'm here to support and cheer you on. Happy talking! :)

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🔄 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻—𝗜𝘁 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 🔄 Growth might slow when your product hits the maturity stage, but that doesn’t mean you’re done. Maturity is where innovation becomes critical. How do you keep your product fresh in a saturated market? 🌱 Here are a few strategies: 1. 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴: Add features that enhance value but stay true to your product’s mission. Don’t overcomplicate things. 🆕 2. 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘴: Consider expanding into new regions or demographics. 📈 3. 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: Sometimes, it’s not the product that needs to change—it’s how you market it. 🎨 Maturity is just a new beginning. How have you kept your product alive and thriving during this stage? #ProductMaturity #MarketInnovation #ProductStrategy

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I'm often asked about the difference between full-time and fractional product work. Here's one of the things I always tell folks -- fractional is all about impact, impact, impact 🔥 This means that the ability to develop context quickly, ramp up (and get educated) around new problem spaces & industries and sniff out potential challenges for a product and team are crucial...and also what makes the role so damn fun and dynamic. Side-note: This is not to say this isn’t the case with full-time work. The best full-time folks certainly adopt this mindset. But I know this to be *particularly* the case with fractional work and what you should expect when working with a stellar fractional professional.

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Just wrapped up a fantastic course in Product Operations! As someone deeply invested in optimizing product teams, this course offered a comprehensive dive into the fundamentals and advanced strategies essential for making product teams thrive. The demand for skilled Product Ops pros is growing fast, and this Product-Led Alliance course by Chris Butler captured exactly why this role is indispensable. Key highlights: 🔹 Mastering Core Terminology & Roles – Clarifying expectations and responsibilities so that every Product Ops professional can deliver maximum value. 🔹 Community-Centric Product Management – Practical insights on applying product management expertise to foster strong, engaged product communities. 🔹 Experimentation & Data – Tactics for designing experiments and using data to inform programs and elevate team performance. 🔹 Building World-Class Communities – A blueprint for driving collaboration across product, process, and people. Excited to bring these insights into my work and help drive the impact of Product Ops forward! #ProductOperations #ContinuousLearning #ProductManagement #ProductOps #Leadership

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