Kayla Rodríguez’s Post

View profile for Kayla Rodríguez, graphic

Associate Brand Manager @ Spotify | Brand + Creative

Hey LinkedIn! (Heads up—long post ahead!) As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve joined Co.Lab 🚀 joincolab.io, a bootcamp where I’m stepping into the Product Manager role, working with an amazing group of developers and designers to bring a new product to life. 💡 We’ve been focusing on ideation, validating our problem space through user research, and creating an MVP! This week, we hit a little bump in the road, and I thought it would be helpful to share, as it’s something I think can be relatable in any field. At the start of the program, my team and I identified a problem in the gifting space and developed a product idea we thought was super niche. Initially, we couldn’t find anything quite like it, so I felt super passionate about what we were building. 🎉 However, during some deeper market research for our upcoming Mid-Point demo, I discovered two products from 2019 and 2020 solving the same issue!! One of them even just secured $32M in seed funding! 😭 😭 😭 Naturally, I felt a bit defeated, thinking our idea wasn’t as groundbreaking and innovative as we thought. But after reflecting with friends and family, I realized this discovery actually confirmed we’re on the right path. Almost every successful idea has a direct competitor: Lyft vs. Uber, Afterpay vs. Klarna, Airbnb vs. VRBO. Our challenge now is to figure out how we differentiate. It’s not the end—it’s the start of an exciting journey. We now have something to compare ourselves to, and this gives us a chance to focus on making our product stand out. Competition pushes us to think more strategically and pinpoint what makes our solution unique in the gifting space. (I even get to put my Branding hat on a little here!) Just a reminder that when you’re feeling defeated, sometimes all you need is a quick breather 😤 and a shift in mindset to discover an even more exciting path forward. Pivoting and redirecting has been a huge part of this process, and it's been a great lesson I’ll continue to take with me in both work and life! #innovation #product #problemsolving #redirection #grit

Co.Lab | Product Management Training Programs | Bootcamp Programs

Co.Lab | Product Management Training Programs | Bootcamp Programs

joincolab.io

Christian Reid

Talent, Coach, Product, Mentor | xMeta, xSpotify, xApple

2mo

Competition breeds innovation! It’s not always about being the first to do something but doing it the better than everyone else in a way that’s unique to your users! Can’t wait for the mvp to go live!

Simone Jackson

Global Brand at Spotify | Forbes 30 Under 30 2024

3mo

Go, Kayla! ❤️

See more comments

To view or add a comment, sign in

Explore topics