The diverse skills of an agile product manager
As I am clearing my head about my own role as Agile Product (or sometimes Project) Manager, I decided to create a list of the most important skills I should have. Silently, I will also evaluate how I match up against those skills Number one for me is to be able to see the larger picture. There is a wide world out there, within which, a product should take its rightful place. A product manager should be able to understand the width, breadth and depth of the market. Communication is another significant aspect. After all, the product manager is nothing but a liaison between (future) customers, stakeholders, team members and the World Wide Web. Being able to explain clearly abstract ideas, being able to understand what people imply, is a skill that cannot be disregarded. Prioritising development is another significant […]
Read MoreInterview with Ash Maurya on his latest book Scaling Lean
Last week I had the opportunity to interview Ash Maurya. You probably already know who he is but I would still like to refer to his excellent ability to launch new startups and books at the same time. His latest book is Scaling Lean. With this publication he attempts to teach aspiring startups, as well as startups who have already reached product/market fit, how to scale and grow. The book is full of clear examples and valuable instructions. If you want to know more about Ash and his new book, please, listen to the interview. And, if you have any questions, I will be very happy to pass them on.
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Advantages and Disadvantages of an Entrepreneurial Life
Disclaimer: I am deeply prejudiced against being an employee! Deeply! I would personally become an employee only out of necessity; that is, to keep my kids away from hunger. So beware that the following article may be a tiny bit partial. I will do my best to sound less militant and more objective, though. Advantages: 1. Freedom, Freedom, Freedom! I have been born to be free and I intend to keep it that way! Let’s face it. Like most entrepreneurs I have issues with authorities, rules, regulations, restrictions, bonds, bondage , structures, hierarchies, conservatives views, traditions, stereotypes, and anything else that could be deemed as restrictive. I need to be able to think by myself and for myself, come up with new ideas and take action to turn them into reality. 2. Money! I know that a job pays well […]
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Which type of crowdfunding campaign would you launch?
After a lot of questions I received, I thought I should outline the types of crowdfunding we encounter. Not all of them are the right fit for your business, though. Only one, maximum two of them may be pursued at all times. And make certain that it aligns with your general funding strategy. Otherwise, you will be losing too much money and time. The first type I can think of is Donation Crowdfunding. It’s about donating money without expecting a product in return; you just give the money out. This kind of model perfectly fit charities and some social enterprises. Then we have Equity Crowdfunding. The crowd, or whoever contributes money, gets an amount of shares in the company. This process is legal in the US and US, while it is also expanding in other countries. The platforms offering Equity Crowdfunding are increasing […]
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All you need to know about office space
The influence your office has on your ability to work shouldn’t be underestimated. When considering which kind of space would best suit your business it helps to know what’s on offer. Traditional lease office A traditional lease is a popular choice among larger corporations and established businesses of all sizes. It can be a great option for your company if you want an office you can call your own for a significant amount of time. Contracts can be anything from three years to more than ten. A traditional lease entails a significant amount of control over a space: the tenant is in responsible for the fitout, the design, and the everyday functioning of the office. This means you’re in charge of creating the office of your dreams! It’s worth bearing in mind that this entails a lot of responsibility. While […]
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Employability and the Entrepreneurial Mindset
It looks like the world has turned upside down in the past few years. Until 2008, most companies insisted that they would like to employ obedient workers who would follow to the letter given instructions. Colleges and Universities were very happy to oblige. Further and Higher Education Institutions forced their students to comply with the lecturers instructions. Yes, students were supposed to conduct some independent research but this task was always within constraints set in advance. In the end, innovation was not fostered. And new ideas died in their infancy. So, what changed? The economic crisis of 2008, whose results we can still see, left the companies struggling for survival. They realised that, unless they innovated more, they would be pushed out of their market by more agile startups. So, they changed their policies. In the first instance they tried […]
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Mae West Quote: On the most Valuable Asset in Business
I have been reading one of a Mae West biography. Yes, Mae West… the Hollywood actress, sex symbol, script write, real estate magnate and diamond expert! Just a few pages into the manuscript I came to realise what an extraordinary business woman she was for her time. By mid 1930s, not only was she one of the best paid actresses in Hollywood but she was also investing heavily on tangible assets, such as real estate and diamonds, in order to avoid the impact of the Great Depression. Her life and work is full of sensible advise for business people. When she first went to Hollywood to work for Paramount, she found herself wondering idly in the city. The studio has not provided her with a script to study and they thought she should be happy to have some time off. […]
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Twitter automation at its worst
I am annoyed! Very annoyed! And I have been brewing in relative silence for months! Oh well… I have been venting in private (friends and family) but never in public! Seriously, I do not understand why so many people automate their twitter accounts. Most of them have only a few hundred followers anyway. Instead of connecting with them, as this is the person of social media, they preferring spamming them with irrelevant messages and littering their inbox. I have unfollowed such accounts many times. I think I may be allergic to spam (not the food)! So, I decided to put together a list of NoNos. 1. Do not send an automated message when someone follows you for the first time. Some accounts either send DM messages or messages on the stream of the follower. Whoever makes contact with you for […]
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Business as usual, a day after Paris lost its light
Last night I watched, alongside the rest of the world, the infolding of the Parisian saga. On the internet paraded figures of chaos and pain, devastation and desperation. I cannot even imagine what my Parisian friends are going through at this moment in time. Their City of Light turned into a City of Darkness. The crime against the French people did not come out of nowhere. It culminated over the space of months, if not years. We got the first taste of it with the Charlie Hebdo attacks, when Islamic fanatics killed some of the most forward thinking journalists/ cartoonists/ political thinkers. It was the first incident that gave us an indication of the depth of the cultural problem within the french society. Or so we thought. It looks like the problem expanded (as did the number of dead) and […]
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Startup resentment and other stories
Over the past few years I encountered a great number of startups who come to me with a dream and an idea. They are all passionate about their vision and they are desperate to make it happen. I always admire these startups for their commitment and enthusiasm but I do not always share their optimism. In most of these cases, they present me with an incomplete monetisation model. In fact, they have not even considered such a model. They are ready to give away their product for free, so that ‘they create brand awareness’. They think that afterwards, everybody will flock to buy it! You cannot imagine in how many ways this is the wrong attitude. I will try to outline here most of the basic reasons for which you should actually charge for your product from Day One. First […]
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