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🎸 What Guns N’ Roses’ Chinese Democracy Teaches Us About Product Development 🎸 Chinese Democracy took over a decade to release – but was it worth the wait? For most fans, it didn’t live up to the hype. Why? Because the band skipped the power of iteration. Instead of releasing songs incrementally and testing the waters, they built the album in isolation. 🔒 In product development, this is a classic misstep: waiting too long and building in a bubble often leads to missed expectations. Testing ideas, releasing features, and iterating based on real feedback keep us grounded in what our customers actually want. So, let’s learn from the rock legends! Release, test, improve – and don’t spend years chasing perfection alone. 👊 When have you learned from releasing incrementally? Share your experience! 👇

INDUSTRY: The Product Conference is coming up on September 24-25 in Cleveland, Ohio. I'm proud to be an INDUSTRY alumnus as a past speaker thanks to Mike Belsito, and it really is one of the best conferences for Product Managers and Product Leaders out there. You'll learn from some of the best of the best in product, meet peers that you can build real relationships with, and find that inspiration you're looking for. Register at: https://lnkd.in/gnPGJcpg  Use code: INDUSTRYxAlumni

🧠 Are you sabotaging your Leadership potential with a limiting mindset?   In our Leadership Deconstructed course we dissect the five mindset shifts you need to make if you want to be an effective Leader. 💡 Key Insights Explored:   🔄 Career Progression Unveiled: Each stride forward intricately connected with a profound shift in my overarching work and life philosophy. It's not just about navigating through roles; it's about evolving perspective.   🧠 Evolution of Thought Processes: Initially consumed by the pursuit of being infallibly right all the time, I relied on having the correct answer. However, this approach revealed a plateaued impact, prompting a reevaluation of her approach.   🔍 Identifying a Blind Spot: Amidst the pursuit of correctness, there existed a blind spot – a neglect of effective communication, relationship-building, and the delicate art of trust-earning.   🚨 A Pivotal Realization: Beyond the surface-level focus on improving communication skills, I had a realization – the importance of communication itself. It's a game-changer that transcends conventional wisdom.   💼 Mindset Check: The catalyst for transformation lay in a critical mindset shift. It entailed dislodging old work patterns, paving the way for the emergence of novel skills and approaches.   🤔 Struggle Unveiled: Wrestling with the formidable Arrogance of Knowledge, this ongoing battle serves as a testament to continuous growth and self-awareness.   🌱 Embarking on a Growth Journey: The process of unlearning these goblins extends beyond the professional realm; it's a lifelong pursuit deeply rooted since upbringing.   🔄 Mindset Shift: Catalyst for Skill Unveiling: Embrace the transformative power of mindset shifts, changing your mindset unlocks a cascade of newfound skills and capabilities.   🙏 A simple truth: change your mindset, and witness the skills follow, creating a transformative impact on both career and life 🚀🌟 Our Leadership Deconstructed course starts next week. Enroll today: https://lnkd.in/gEJ9KtCR

🚀 As part of our 4 week AI Product Management course we interview experts in the space to get their insights. Here’s a clip from our interview with Chris Butler (former Group Product Manager Google) on AI and machine learning. 🎟️ The next live cohort starts in less than a week on January 22nd. Enroll here: https://lnkd.in/d7gPdv3T 🤖💡 Understanding how these systems behave in various situations can be quite challenging. The key lies not only in the data we feed into them—whether it's for training a model from scratch or fine-tuning a language model—but also in the nuance of asking the right questions and making accurate predictions. 🔍 The future holds a closer collaboration with legal counterparts as we navigate the evolving privacy landscape globally. Getting intimately familiar with the privacy patchwork is crucial for responsible AI deployment. Long-term success requires a deep dive into the intricacies of data, its implications, and the ethical considerations surrounding it. ⚖️ Chris highlights the need for ML engineers and researchers to play a pivotal role as technical contacts. Navigating the trade-offs in the training environment and evolving these models over time is paramount. As we tread this dynamic path, the collaboration between technology and legal expertise becomes the cornerstone for ethical and effective AI advancements.

We ran a live lesson on the The five Stages of the AI Product Life cycle with John Haggerty last week, as a preview of the lessons from our four week AI Product Management course! You have one week left to enroll in the course & join weekly live mentor sessions with John: https://lnkd.in/dtDbcgBr Stage 1: Idea Generation • Identifying the problem • Market Research & feasibility study • Setting objectives and key results (OKRs • Ethical considerations Stage 2: Data Collection & Processing • Data sources & collection techniques • Data preprocessing: cleaning normalization, annotation • Ensuring data diversity and quality • Addressing privacy concerns: GDPR, CCPA, etc. Stage three: Model Development • Model selection based on the problem • Training, validation and testing splits • Hyperparameter tuning & optimization • Model evaluation metrics & feedback Stage four: Deployment & Integration • Transition from development to production • Scalibility considerations • Integration with existing systems • Continuous monitoring & user feedback Stage five: Maintenance & Optimization • Regular model updates based on fresh data • Addressing drifts in data distribution • Performance metrics monitoring • Feedback loop for iterative improvements You can watch the full lesson here: https://lnkd.in/eBpBKwZ5

I spoke (and gesticulated) about leadership with my friends at Gigantic. (From my expression you'd think I was watching pro wrestling...) PS - thanks to one of my nearest and dearest, Darren Lillien, for letting us use Stray Dog Classics for the shoot.

🌐 Our Web3 for Marketing course creator Ben Plomion joined us this morning for a live lesson on Web3 Marketing Strategies. 🚀 We learnt that two thirds of fortune 1000 brand globally have a Web3 presence today. As the discourse around Web3, crypto, and NFTs continues to evolve, a closer look reveals a different narrative than what headlines may suggest. Despite claims of a downturn, brands are quietly reshaping their strategies, focusing on consumer resonance rather than buzzword saturation. 👉 Key Takeaways: 1. Actions Speak Louder Than Words: In the last year and a half, leading brands have chosen a subtle yet impactful approach. Instead of vocalizing their Web3 victories, they've opted for a strategic rebranding, avoiding the jargon that dominates the tech conversation. 2. Digital Collectibles Over NFTs: Take Reddit's playbook; they launched a highly successful NFT collection without ever mentioning the term 'NFT.' Instead, they positioned them as digital collectibles, aligning language with consumer preferences. 3. Starbucks: Brewing a Quiet Revolution: Starbucks, a giant in the Web3 space, revamped its loyalty program using Web3 platforms. Points earned could be redeemed for digital art, essentially NFTs, but Starbucks wisely sidestepped the term to navigate the nuanced landscape. 4. Big Players in the Game: From VISA to Nike, and even more conservative brands like Ford, the momentum towards Web3 and metaverse integration is undeniable. These brands are leveraging these technologies without necessarily shouting about it in conventional terms. The live lesson was just a preview of Ben's Gigantic Web3 for Marketing course that you can get access to today: https://lnkd.in/gvJYYjg6

🙏 Big thank you to our Growth Design course mentor Kristina Volchek for running our live lesson yesterday on how she used Growth Design principles to grow Sweatcoin by 66 Million new users in 2022. 💥 We learnt the power of leveraging influencers, gamification and in-app referrals to drive business growth. 🧑🎓 Kristina will be leading the live weekly mentor session in the upcoming cohort of our 4 week Growth Design course. As well as the live sessions you will get 20+ video lessons taught by Joël van Bodegraven (ex-Sr Growth Designer at Miro), assignments, templates and resources. 🙋♀️ The course starts on February 26th, enroll today: https://lnkd.in/gYV8tUr2

Register for our upcoming series of live interactive lessons run by our Gigantic course facilitators, previewing content from their courses (for free!)! 💥 How to Address the top 10 Dysfunctions of Product Management 🙋♀️ Taught by: @David Jesse, former CPO @ Fetch 📆 Date: January 11 @ 11am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/gG3YyzJE 💥 Customer Discovery; Going Beyond What you Think 🙋♀️ Taught by: Prerna Singh, former VP Product @ Meetup 📆 Date: January 10 @ 11am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/g3_fb62T 💥 Deconstructing persuasion: How to speak to be heard **🙋♀️ Taught by: @**Alison Go, Leadership @ Meta & Amazon 📆 Date: January 9 @ 9am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/gBsxxEZi 💥 Growth Design Basics with ex-Miro Senior Growth Designer 🙋♀️ Taught by: @Joel Van Bodegraven, former Senior Growth Designer @ Miro 📆 Date: January 18 @ 9am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/g3wzFF-P 💥 Live lesson on the five stages of the AI Product Lifecycle 🙋♀️ Taught by: @John Haggerty, former VP Product @ Highway.ai 📆 Date: January 12th @ 9am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/gEK3XiFH 💥 Growth Design Case Study: How Sweatcoin gained 66 million new users in 2022 **🙋♀️ Taught by: @**Kristina Volchek, former Senior Growth Designer @ Sweatcoin 📆 Date: January 10 @ 9am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/g4nPbpFQ 💥 The future of marketing; build your Web3 Marketing Strategy 🙋♀️ Taught by: Ben Plomion, former CMO @ Dibbs 📆 Date: January 11 @ 9am PT 🎟️ Register for free: https://lnkd.in/gE_nJ3Ww

In our 12 week Product Management course Anna Marie Clifton teaches a whole module about how to successfully navigate your Product Management career. It's so important for you to think about your career like it's a Product, and something that needs to be actively managed. ❓ What audience are you trying to reach? ❓What features (*skills*) you have or need to develop? ❓What are the things customers (*hiring managers*) may not know about your skill or experience? In this module we invite Jackie Bavaro, co-author of cracking the PM interview and Cracking the PM Career, to share her advice and insights into actively managing your Product Management career. Jackie shares that Product Management career growth is not just about skills—it's about the scope, autonomy, and impact. From owning a feature with support to expanding the scope independently, your seniority is defined by the trust placed in your ability to deliver high-impact work. Enrollment is open for the January cohort of our Product Management course (limited seats): https://lnkd.in/gxK5pS6k