This is what happens when a colour blind person gets a DJI Mavic Pro.

Product Management Coach

Hey there! 👋
I'm Max, a product leader with over a decade of experience in product management.
Whether you're just starting out, a seasoned PM, or aiming for a Head of Product role, I’m here to help you level up. Together, we can unpack the nuances of product management and sharpen your skills
A Few Areas We Can Dive IntoNavigating ambiguityDefining product vision and strategyBoosting your confidence as a Product ManagerCollaborating with other d... read more

Product Development Roles and Responsibilities

The efficiency of a product relies heavily on the team behind its development. Familiarising oneself with the diverse roles and obligations that accompany the product development procedure is crucial to ensuring the eventual product meets the consumer's expectations while also adhering to the schedule and financial constraints. Let's take a look at the distinct roles in product development and their corresponding duties.
The process of introducin... read more

"The Mom Test" - Book Summary

Just finished reading a book by Rob Fitzpatrick "The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you". It's an excellent book - short, practical and to the point.
This book can be very helpful for Product Managers, User Experience Designers, someone who is planning to launch their own business and tech guys who are learning how to talk to customers.
Talking to customers is one of the f... read more

Changes at Basecamp

Basecamp went big this week!
There's a lot of hate and negative vibes around the recent Basecamp's corporate policy changes. See the announcement “No more societal and political discussions on our company Basecamp account”. People were quick to accuse DHH and Jason Fried of eliminating freedom of speech.
I'd like to share four points.
I respect DHH and Jason for being very clear on what they believe the right thing for Basecamp is. There's nothi... read more

Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) in Purpose Statements

While scrolling through a number of lists outlining the ‘purpose’, ‘vision’ and ‘mission’ of organisations, I spotted a pattern – some of them reference all three types of jobs from the "Jobs To Be Done" (JTBD) framework: Functional, Consumption and Emotional/Social jobs.

Here’s how the three jobs are defined according to the JTBD framework:
Functional job - This is defined as the underlying process that the job executor is attempting to underta... read more

Product Management FAQs

Product managers decide what to build next. They are accountable for the overall success of the product.
Product Managers drive the vision, product strategy, user experience, execution, and success of the product or one of its areas. Product Managers are trusted by the organisation to make prioritisation calls.
Product Managers and their teams work on a product or feature that impacts the wider business, from customer support to finance. They mus... read more

Building Trust with a Founder

First of all, make sure that you understand the founder's context, the things the founder cares about and worries about, and the overall vision.
One of the most important things is to get to the bottom of what the business goals are. In a startup, you'll typically have a short runway and run out of cash. Understanding that runway is super important because it defines how much time you've got, creates a constraint, and limits some options because... read more

Tips for Aspiring Product Managers

As a Product Manager, you are given the opportunity to solve customer and business problems.
It all starts with learning about business goals and understanding how the business operates. Simultaneously, you study the market and discover challenges that your customers are dealing with.
Based on your learning you then formulate a strategy to address customer problems and ensure that the business excels. While formulating the strategy, you get to me... read more

How to Get Into Product Management With No Experience

Getting into product management with no experience may seem daunting, but you can achieve your goal by breaking it down into smaller steps. Start by taking on a pet project, reading business books, getting a job at a tech company, and acting like a product manager. Keep building your skills, and you will soon be on your way to a career in product management.
You've likely experienced a number of painful problems in your life and thought, "I wish... read more

Reflections on “Atomic Habits” by James Clear

Earlier this year, I finished reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. I'd like to share key insights that have helped me form a couple of good habits. Here is my reflection on Atomic Habits.

James Clear gets to the point of what it takes to build healthy long-lasting habits. One of the ideas he puts forward is the power of compounding effect: changes that seem small and unimportant at any given day will compound into remarkable results, if we are ... read more

How THE ICONIC continuously improves customer experience

At THE ICONIC we are passionate about creating great customer experiences. It’s quite common for us to evolve our rituals and processes to support our customers’ needs. Coupled with this, whenever we see an opportunity to break barriers between teams and departments, we grab it and work in tandem towards the same goal.
Even after having OKRs in place, aligning goals and priorities across the whole business is a tricky affair. Over time, we discov... read more

Skills Over Tools, People Over Certificates

Product management advice often focuses on mastering tools, but tools are just a means to an end. Spending too much time on them can distract from what matters most—understanding customers and solving their problems.
Instead: Focus on learning customer research, prioritisation, and communication skills. Tools come and go, but these skills are timeless. Build your foundation on these, and the tools will follow naturally.
People overplay the import... read more

The benefit of a small product team

In an organisation, when a decision to create a new product is made, there is a high chance that one of the existing teams will be allocated to the task right away. Management expectation is always high, and it’s usually assumed that the team can shift gears immediately and become productive in a matter of days.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t work this way. And let’s not forget that it takes much longer for a completely new team to jell and perform.
T... read more

Running Lean: Forget the business problem...for now

Often in companies of different sizes, the product team is either forced, or voluntarily switches, to ‘solution mode’ hoping to solve a business challenge. A much better way forward is to fully understand the customer problem.
You might get lucky and guess the right customer problem to solve based on your experience, insights and gut feeling. But, realistically, what are the odds of that? It's a bet!
Sadly, in most organisations, stakeholders alr... read more

Creating Successful Products in a Corporation

How do you go about improving your chances of creating a successful product in a corporation?
Have you ever tried to create a new digital product in a large corporation? You have? Well then, you know it’s damn hard! And if you haven’t…it’s damn hard!
In a modern corporate environment, it is a huge challenge to build a digital product that is commercially viable, technically feasible and irresistible to customers. Business priorities change, often... read more

Five ways to improve your team’s dynamics

Doesn’t it feel great when on top of solid job performance your team is buzzing, joking and having a good time? Yes, it does without a doubt!

Daniel Pink, in his book, Drive, lists 3 elements of the motivation formula: (1) Autonomy — the desire to direct our own lives; (2) Mastery — the urge to get better and better at something that matters; and (3) Purpose — the yearning to do what we do in the service of something larger than ourselve... read more

The First 2 Weeks in a Product Role

Starting a new job is often thrilling and overwhelming. Like a rollercoaster ride, I get pumped up and excited to get on but also my heart starts pounding and palms get sweaty.
Do you get the same feeling?

I like all the new opportunities that come with a new job such as learning extra skills, applying my expertise, meeting new people and making friends. On the other hand, the first few weeks can be particularly stressful, trying to fi... read more

Building a Thinking Team Culture

When a product leader decides to forge a new feature or even build a new product it’s a good idea to brief the team and draw a couple of diagrams on a whiteboard. What does your team do next though?
I bet the chances are the devs have already started thinking about technical implementation, the designers are creating UI elements in their heads, and the testers are coming up with scenarios to break whatever they can.

At that point interru... read more

Four Ways to Develop a Good Reading Habit

I’ve never read more than 15–20 books in a year. One of the excuses I had was that I’m a very busy person — with 2 children, a full-time job, a local soccer team I play for, plus a million other things to do.
Last year, I set a goal to read 36 books. My objective was to learn more about leadership, business, product management and, of course, enjoy a few fiction books (sorry, “Fifty Shades of Grey” isn’t one of them).
What’s more, I realised my a... read more