Carolina Puncernau

How have I not read this before?! Insightful, informal and peppered with great advice for product professionals and anyone hoping to build great products and businesses. Whilst not all of it was new it was great to be reminded that at work ‘there are two things that matter: products and people, what you build and who you build it with.’ #buildgreatproducts #productinspiration #productbooks

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When you’re a millennial product manager, attempting to share her knowledge of product, with the wider community and one of the most successful artists in the world is currently on a mass tour of the UK, there’s only one question on your mind: What would the dangerous animals of product management be if they were Taylor Swift songs? If you've been asking yourself the same question then have I got a blog post for you! https://lnkd.in/dYxE_QDq #product #productmanagement #tech #UX

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Last night at ProductTank London we heard from 4 different speakers on the topic of Product Culture. My key takeaway is this... 'Good' product culture lacks definition. You might read about the importance of product culture, or ask about it when interviewing. You may even try to evaluate how good or bad the product culture is at your company. But here's the bottom line: product culture 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 something that you'll usually find written down, like you would a strategy, a roadmap, or a vision. Hearing someone describe it will inherently be biased. Product culture is the shared values, beliefs, behaviours, and practices that shape a team, org, or company's identity. It changes when you change your beliefs, behaviours, and practices. Not satisfied with the product culture at your company? You're more empowered to change it than you might think. How have you gone about improving product culture at your company?

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When i was reading the “PM Burnout Report” i indeed payed the most attention to the part Petra is talking about So today, If you’re a Head of Product or a Product Lead, take a moment to reflect: • Are your Product Managers clear on their roles? • Do they have a well-defined scope of work? • Are their efforts recognized and appreciated? • Do they have a clear growth plan with set goals? If you have got at least one “no”, you might need to do a better job Burnout can stem from various factors, but as a leader, it’s your responsibility to prioritize your team’s well-being. When you take care of your team, they can take care of the product.

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I wrote about storytelling, messy validation and failure in my guest post for Product Breaks this week. Key takeaways: ⁉ Spell our your assumptions 🛑 Document your failures 🛣 Don't miss the connection... Hope you enjoy! #productstrategy #storytelling #assumptionmapping

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Last night’s Product Group London saw the group engage in a lively discussion on the topic of the night: Product Culture alongside a great conversation with James Gunaca, Product Management Career Coach (ex-Amazon, ExpressVPN). • Product Culture – the multi-faceted part of the organization that matters to many product people, but is missing or not in great shape for just as many. Some of the features of a great culture were listed as having a clear vision, the why, common goals, guiding principles, communication, leadership, curiosity, shared responsibility, empowered people, trust. In terms of creating a great culture, starting small, making it fun, changing the language used, leadership support, winning hearts and minds and proving the value were all stated as good places to start. • James Gunaca - following the topic of the night, James talked about his experiences in product management. Going from working in marketing agencies to landing roles at Amazon and ExpressVPN, James talked about topics such as how he made the transition, the products he’s worked on (incl. Amazon Echo), being an ‘Interview Bar Raiser’ at Amazon, and how he Is now focused on helping product people achieve their goals as a PM Career Coach. Thank you James Gunaca 🙏. Thanks to everyone who came and engaged in the discussions incl. 3 who passed by on trips from Egypt, Tokyo and Australia 🙏. Thanks to Preqin 🙏 for hosting us and providing the pizza and drinks. See you on 6th June! #tpglondon #prodmgmt #productmanagement #startups #bigcompanies

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I frequently hear Exec teams simultaneously claiming “Customer focus”, whilst avoiding talking with their customers. 🤔 Establishing the practice of user research at the top-most level enables a culture of customer focus throughout the organisation. Some of the biggest breakthroughs I've witnessed as part of a leadership team have resulted from the whole C-level spending a couple of hours meeting with real customers. Examples: - Finding our customers have an alternate use case for our product - Realising who our real competitors are - Discovering a new channel where our customers are engaged - Understanding the real connection between our pricing and customer actions - Uncovering features/UX being used in an unexpected way

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🤔 Is your team struggling with role clarity? 🚀 At Product People, we've tackled this challenge head-on, helping Product teams redefine their roles for maximum impact. ⬇️ Swipe to read some key insights to help you do the same! #TeamGrowth #ProductLeadership #Collaboration

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Since last year I have been actively involved in mentoring Product Managers including interview prep and helping them think more strategically ; I have realised there are 2 undervalued PM skills that can really help you get that entry level role at an advantage over the others. 1. Clear and Concise writing Skills - I am not talking about PRDs or presentation skills, I am talking about simple bare bone ability to write a one/two liner message and bring the next person clarity on what you need , and this is where ChatGPT is still not productive because it doesn't understand who's the recipient and what he/she needs/pain points. 2. Ability to Listen more and Speak Less - I usually see folks who have strong listening skills can absorb more knowledge, and subsequently do better in interviews/work since they answer while absorbing all the context and do not jump the gun. This also included already figuring out in your head what the person on the other side needs from you. So for anyone looking for enter Product Management, Try speaking and writing with clarity and think twice in your head on what you expect the other to reply before speaking.

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Leaders, you're failing 1 in 3 product marketers. Our State of Product Marketing 2024 report revealed a leadership disconnect in product marketing. Only 66.3% of product marketers feel supported by their leadership teams. That means over 1/3 of these key strategists don't have the backing they need to drive impact. Product marketers are the lynchpin between product, marketing, and sales - but they're being left behind. It's time for leaders to step up and empower their product marketing teams. Align around shared goals, provide resources, and foster an environment of collaboration. When product marketers thrive, your whole go-to-market strategy levels up. Don't let this crucial function fall through the cracks. 📈 The future is product-led. Is your leadership ready? Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/e8HU_qEJ #ProductMarketing #Leadership #MarketingSuccess #2024Report #IndustryInsights #GTM

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August’s Product Group London saw the group discuss Product Frameworks as the topic of the night alongside an insightful conversation with Randeep Sidhu, Healthtech Product Leader. • Product Frameworks – most people use product frameworks and find them (somewhat) useful (✅). What product frameworks is clear (✅). But from here the conversation varied with positives such as frameworks creating a consistent approach; helping align around a common language; providing a process to follow and guardrails; being repeatable, and supporting stakeholder engagement. And some negatives such as frameworks being useful when setting out, but losing their value as the team/individual become more experienced; causing confusion and wasting valuable time as they need to be explained, and reducing in value as they are customised. Plus, there were a few soundings about there potentially being too many frameworks! Sometimes at the end of an event there is a leaning in a particular direction, this one felt a bit more inconclusive – maybe we need a framework to help us decide J! • Randeep Sidhu – starting with details of his early career in education and consulting, Randeep then took us on a journey through his time working on the UK Covid app. A pressurised time, at the height of the pandemic, when he used Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to uncover unmet needs in the UK population and deliver a new app in 6 weeks. He also talked about his broader healthtech experiences around the world and give us a bit of an insight into his advisory work for Aviva (congrats on this recent appointment 👏), NHS Business Services Authority, Terrence Higgins Trust and the London Transport Museum. In particular, how working with these organisations enables him to use his digital skills and knowledge to support their work and have impact in areas that he really cares about. Thank you Randeep Sidhu 🙏. Thanks to everyone who came and engaged in the discussions 🙏. Thanks to Aspire 🙏 for hosting us and providing the refreshments. See you on 5th Sept! #tpglondon #prodmgmt #productmanagement #productframeworks

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Have you ever heard the phrase "eat your own dog food"? I firmly believe that no matter your role, it's crucial to actively use and experience the product you work on. This is especially true for product teams, and here’s why: 1. Understanding of the Product: You gain a deeper, firsthand knowledge of how your product functions. 2. Identify Experience Opportunities: You directly encounter any user experience gaps or pain points, just like your customers do. 3. Advocacy: You become a stronger advocate for your product, understanding its strengths and where it can improve. At Universal, I encourage my teams to visit our parks and use our app as often as possible. And honestly, it's hard to beat when your "product" happens to be technology inside a theme park! Here's a challenge: once a month, set aside time to use your product—whether it's an internal tool or an external offering. Go through the getting started process to see your product through the eyes of a new customer. Then, dive into some of the primary tasks or "jobs to be done." For us, that means finding an attraction, placing a food order, or receiving a notification when a wait time is low.

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👩‍💻 Hick’s Law – a crucial principle for product managers! It states that the time it takes for users to make a decision increases with the number of choices available. This highlights the importance of simplicity in UX design. By reducing options and keeping interfaces straightforward, we can enhance user experience and drive engagement. In my role at consumer core experience group at Yelp, I've found that applying Hick's Law helps users connect with local businesses more efficiently, improving overall satisfaction. Simply saying, the law works. Here's a nice article on Hick’s Law and its application in product design: https://lnkd.in/gVWXj8F4 #ProductManagement #UXDesign #HicksLaw #Simplicity #UserExperience #Yelp

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𝗘𝘅𝗰𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀: Reforge recently published our proven framework for weekly meetings. Last week, I met some brilliant founders of a SaaS company who were struggling to find Product-Market Fit (PMF). They asked for my advice, and it took me back to my days as a growth advisor at a VC fund. Over three years, I helped 70 teams tackle the same challenge using a framework designed to keep founders laser-focused on their primary hypotheses. 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻. This framework helps founders stay focused on their main goals: - finding the right problem to solve, - identifying the segment willing to pay, - developing an MVP that addresses the problem adequately, - and discovering the first sustainable acquisition strategy. Follow the link to get a ready-to-use template: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dVYBbn_e 𝗣.𝗦. Give me a shout if you need a how-to guide to use the tool effectively.

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🌟 I'm Open to New Opportunities! 🌟 As some of you may be aware, there were multiple redundancies at my current workplace, and unfortunately, my role was among those affected. So I am now officially “open to work” and actively seeking a senior product position. My journey in product management and development has been great so far, and I’m ready to bring my passion and expertise to a new team where I can drive impactful change. With well over 10 years of experience driving innovative technology solutions, I have led the end-to-end product lifecycle for award-winning mobile apps and cutting-edge web & SaaS products. My most recent roles at FOD Mobility Group and easyJet have honed my skills in cross-functional leadership, product strategy, and customer-centric design. Here’s a bit about what I bring to the table: 🚀 Product Strategy & Lifecycle: Successfully led products from concept to launch, ensuring they meet commercial goals. 🤝 Cross-Functional Leadership: Led and mentored diverse teams across Technology, UX/Design, Marketing, Sales, and Customer departments, aligning them with business objectives while fostering an environment of growth and high performance. 💡 Innovation & Vision: Crafted and executed product strategy roadmaps, always keeping a keen eye on innovation and user experience. 🏃‍♀️ Agile Methodologies: Proficient in Agile practices and ways of working, including backlog grooming and sprint planning, ensuring efficient and effective execution. I am proud to have received wonderful feedback from colleagues recently. You can read their recommendations on my LinkedIn profile to get a better sense of my dedication, leadership, and what I'm all about. I would ideally like a permanent role but am also open to contract positions. If you know of any opportunities or would like to connect and chat, please reach out to me via LinkedIn. Colleagues, past and present, I would also greatly appreciate a share! #OpenToWork #Product #ProductManagement #Innovation #Agile #Tech

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The Product role is changing…. Recently I hear product teams talking as much about preparing business cases as PRDs. 🤔 I think this is driven by a) CEOs looking to better align with technical teams on business objectives and b) product teams becoming more commercially savvy.  Both are positive moves.  Learning to navigate a P&L early is a sensible move.

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Been a brilliant few weeks meeting UserTesting Customers across Europe. With purse strings tightening, the sessions with Product Leaders, Designers and UX Researchers have focussed on fast, efficient, value driven product delivery as part of a Continuous Experimentation Culture. My highlights have been: - UX Researchers are having to do more with less, and are keen to empower others to maximise their impact - Designers feel more restricted in the current climate and want to find ways to drive design innovation - Product leadership are more open to different approaches than ever before (thank you Teresa Torres) - I've seen the amount of UX testing increase as the outputs are proving to positively impact key decisions throughout product delivery Engaging with Product Teams has been key - without their buy in, it is difficult to make changes. Access to Metrics and KPIs have also been crucial to showing the impact of positive change, with qualitative and quantitative insights working together a necessity to drive efficiency and good customer experiences. I'm really excited to continue this journey with these customers. If you or your team want to find out more about how I can help you, feel free to reach out. #UserTesting #ProductDelivery #ProductLeaders #UserResearch #UXDesign #ContinuousExperimentation #Consulting

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Sharing real stories from the trenches of product management. First topic - balancing big visions 🌟 with building MVPs that actually solve problems 💡 Would love to hear your thoughts! 👇 https://lnkd.in/einzrwbZ #ProductManagement #MVP #Startups

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