Mohit Jitani

Mistakes that I make as a #ProductManagement mentor/ leader Mistake 4: Focussing to mentor only on the hard skills- problem structuring, product discovery and prioritisation. And not mentoring on the soft skills like relationship building, proactive communication and messaging for different stakeholders to build trust and credibility in the system.

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Product Managers, if you're seeking career growth insights, Lenny Rachitsky's recent podcast featuring Vikrama Dhiman is an absolute must-listen. Vikrama shares a valuable PM skill development framework, and immense wisdom and specificity on how to sharpen skills at every stage. While avoiding generational stereotypes, he definitely addresses what, I'd hazard, other leaders have noticed as a rising trend of young professionals seeking rapid career progression ahead of skill enhancement - and he does it with gracious & empathetic advice that is right on the money. For leaders aiming to mentor product managers effectively, this discussion is a goldmine too. Thanks Lenny and Vikrama for the thought-provoking dialogue #ProductManagement #CareerGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment

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Market awareness and building commercial acumen are hot topics in the product management community right now. Next Wednesday for #WorldProductDay2024, Anthony Marter and I are sharing learning journeys and practical tips on how product managers can build their business nous, GTM muscles and "exec speak". If you're in Auckland, and you're product-interested, come along! 🚀 🚀 🚀 #product #strategy #market #value https://lnkd.in/ger4jyKw

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Product management is like being a Bollywood director. You gotta write the script, pick the perfect cast, and make sure the movie leaves everyone saying 'Paisa vasool!' Product gets the box office success, the actors get the fame...well, maybe next film! #productmanagement #productmanager #productstrategy #madeinindia #indianstartups #marketingchai #uxindia #productfun #pmlife #humor #productmemes

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Deep Dive: Lessons from 50+ Conversations with VP Product / CPOs Over the Last Year 🔍 In the past 12 months, I've engaged in enriching discussions with numerous VP Product and Chief Product Officers. These conversations have been insightful, revealing both challenges and best practices shaping the product management landscape today. Here’s a detailed list of the top 10 takeaways: 1. Integrative User Research: Successful products are built on a foundation of continuous user research, integrating feedback loops into every stage of the product life cycle to refine UX/UI. 2. Agile Leadership Evolution: Dynamic markets demand leaders who not only advocate for but actively implement agile methodologies, ensuring rapid adaptability and resilience. 3. Advanced Analytics for Predictive Insights: Leveraging sophisticated analytics tools to not only interpret current data but also predict future user behaviors and market demands. 4. Building Scalable Systems: Emphasizing the need for infrastructure that supports scaling, particularly as products grow and evolve in complexity and user base. 5. Enhanced Cross-Functional Synergy: Encouraging seamless interaction between product, marketing, sales, and tech teams to ensure a unified approach to product development and launch strategies. 6. Focus on Product-Led Growth: Shifting strategies to center around the product as the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion. 7. Emphasis on Continuous Learning and Development: Investing in continuous education and professional development to keep skills relevant and teams innovative. 8. Strategic Experimentation: Cultivating a culture where calculated risks and strategic experiments are encouraged to quickly test new ideas and learn from the outcomes. 9. Enhanced Customer Journey Mapping: Detailed mapping of the customer journey to understand and anticipate every touchpoint, improving personalization and identifying opportunities for product improvement. 10. Regulatory Compliance and Security: Staying ahead of regulatory changes and enhancing product security to safeguard user data and comply with global standards. Each of these points reflects a broader trend in product management that demands attention and strategic action. I’m keen to hear how others in the industry are navigating these complexities. What challenges have you faced, and what solutions have you found effective?

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🎉 Exciting news! 🎉 I am now on Topmate as a Mentor, offering guidance and helping aspiring PMs and mid-career PMs grow. 🚀 After more than 18 years of experience in Product Management, I believe it's important to give back to our community and share our knowledge with others. 🤝 #Mentorship #GiveBack Join me on Topmate and let's grow together! 💡 #ProductManagement

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Product Sense: The X-Factor for Exceptional Product Leadership In recent times, the concept of "Product Sense" has gained significant traction across the product management community. It is being widely discussed, assessed during interview processes, and evaluated during performance reviews. However, there seems to be a lack of consensus on what precisely constitutes Product Sense, and how one can develop and refine this critical skill. Since writing about something is the best way to drive clarity of thought, here is my attempt at describing my understanding, and I would love to get the readers' thoughts on it, especially if they disagree, which will allow me to expand my own thinking. Defining Product Sense Product Sense is the innate ability to anticipate market dynamics, empathize with user needs, and make strategic product decisions that drive differentiation and product success. It is a rare combination of user empathy, market awareness, and execution prowess, manifested through a series of innovative product moves. The Core Elements of Product Sense A. User Empathy and Perpetual Learning At the heart of Product Sense lies a deep curiosity and empathy for users, their motivations, needs, and pain points. This empathy, coupled with a perpetual learning mindset, enables product leaders to understand the full landscape and identify impactful opportunities aligned with business objectives. B. Attention to Detail and User Experience When building solutions, product leaders with strong Product Sense sweat the small stuff – they obsess over the user experience, ensuring it fits seamlessly into the overall product flow and maintains consistency across the entire product experience. C. Testing and Validation Effective product leaders test their ideas across various user perspectives, including novice, mid-level, and power users. This approach highlights friction points and ensures an enjoyable experience for all user segments. D. Go-To-Market Strategies Successful product leaders understand that building a great product is only half the battle. They work tirelessly to ensure users discover, try, and derive value from the product, driving adoption and impact. Developing Product Sense While Product Sense is often described as an innate ability, it can be cultivated and enhanced through continuous learning and practice. There is a wealth of literature and resources available to develop and refine the core dimensions of Product Sense, including strategic thinking, customer discovery through empathy and curiosity, opportunity prioritization, solution ideation and testing, and go-to-market strategies. Aspiring product leaders are encouraged to explore and adapt these techniques to their specific contexts. Great products are not conceived through methodologies or frameworks alone. Product Sense is this elusive "art" that must be practiced and refined continuously.

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Mistakes that I make as a #ProductManagement Mentor/ Leader Mistake #2 Setting the same mentoring/ working model for all the mentees And not taking their strengths, development areas, working style into consideration and not adjusting the mentoring/ working model for each person differently

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I loved this episode because it really spoke to the reality of what many PMs face in their daily practice. Gupta raises an interesting point about how all roads lead back to the feature factory, contrasted with the ideal of Empowered product teams as referenced in Marty Cagan's books. Many companies can be successful without having empowered teams. What Cagan highlights is that the the companies with stellar performance are more likely to have empowered teams. That distinction is significant. I agree generally with the advice in this episode. If you find yourself in this situation, embrace the factory and look for ways you can add value to that reality within your sphere of influence. You might find you're a happier PM. And if not, you'll have stories of impact you can share as you look for a place that will make you happy. And, above all, know that as an IC not all anti-patterns are yours to solve!

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ShareChat PM interview questions [1] How would you improve Swiggy revenue? [2] What metrics would you, as a PM, track for WhatsApp? [3] Estimate the number of airplanes in the Indian sky at noon? [4] How could you use hashtags on Sharechat to drive engagement? [5] Design a camera for the elderly. [6] How would you design Uber for blind? [7] Assume that the page views on Flipkart’s product pages have declined over the last 3 weeks. How would you go about investigating this? [8] What metrics and goals would you focus on for Instagram stories? Liked this? Follow Vishal Bagla for more. #ProductManagement #ProductManagers #InterviewPrep #Jobs

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As a seasoned Engg and Product Leader , I'm often asked: Is AI right for my product? There is NOT a simple "yes" or "no" answer to it! Because, It requires a very careful assessment and evaluation. Do not just blindly follow the train, till you calculate everything around it to aboard. Let's understand with some examples : -Assessing AI for the product means, understanding its potential benefits and drawbacks. Take, e.g., the 📊Recommendation Systems. AI-powered recommendations can significantly enhance user experience by personalizing content. However, they require vast amounts of data and sophisticated algorithms, which may not always be feasible or necessary for every product. -On other hand, let's consider 🔒Cybersecurity. AI has changed the way of threat detection, enabling real-time analysis of complex patterns to identify and mitigate risks. In this case, integrating AI isn't just beneficial but essential for staying ahead of evolving security threats. -Now let's look at chatbots: While AI-driven 🤖 chatbots can automate customer support and streamline interactions, they may "still" fall short in handling nuanced Q/A or providing empathetic responses. In such cases, a human touch might be more effective. -On the other hand, in industries like healthcare , 🏥AI-powered diagnostic tools have demonstrated remarkable accuracy in detecting diseases from medical images. In this domain, the benefits of AI in improving healthcare outcomes outweigh concerns about privacy or algorithmic biases. 👩‍🎓 As a Technical Product Manager, my role is to guide 🗺 product decisions based on rigorous analysis and strategic foresight. Before jumping on the AI bandwagon, let's critically evaluate its relevance and potential impact on our product's success. When deciding 🛠️whether to incorporate AI, it's imp to weigh in factors like data availability, computational resources, and the problem domain's complexity. Blindly following the AI trend without proper evaluation can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities for innovation. It is also 🎯crucial to educate leadership authentically, about the true status of AI research and its impact on consumers. Blindly saying "yes" to every AI implementation request, isn't beneficial to informed decision-making. By providing a balanced view of AI's capabilities, limitations, & risks, we can foster discussions grounded in reality. Ultimately, empowering leadership with knowledge and fostering a culture of critical thinking enables us to make responsible decisions aligned with our product's goals & values. 💡 What are your thoughts on incorporating AI into product development? 👩‍🏫 How do you approach educating leadership about AI in your organization? Share your strategies and insights in the comments below #ProductManagement #AI #TechInnovation #DataDrivenDecisionMaking #StrategicThinking #Engineering #Leadership #AI #Leadership #ProductStrategy #EthicalAI #ContinuousLearning #InformedDecisionMaking

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❓Here's an open question - are you a product manager who has explored re-tooling as a creative technologist? 🧙‍♂️ 👀 I've met many PMs who, after being a senior product manager for a while, will question their career progression. I talked with several very senior PMs about this at a recent conference. If you go into group product manager or director roles to mentor and lead others, you quickly lose visibility on the things that were your skills, passions, and motivations in the first place. 🐬 On the flip side, I've seen many senior engineers shift from tech leads or development managers in favour of staff or principal engineer roles to free them up for the most creative, high-impact work. 🤖 I didn't know many creative technologists before I was at Shopify. They would say those two words together, creative technologist, and I would think, that's a description but not a role, right? Like, I work creatively with technology to discover potential solutions through prototyping ... 💌 Would love your thoughts. I appreciate this is a niche, reflective, PM post 😂 . The new thoughts are still spinning from ProductCamp Vancouver. Also, the power to create now is limitless. I had an opinion that PMs were being squeezed out (post-Brian Chesky's comments, and other market changes), but I'm now starting to see that with better Python skills, I can 10x myself to build out tools without an engineering team (pre-production). There's a market/skills/role opportunity unlock here for PMs given the airspace to do so. 🚀 #productmanager #productleader #creativetechnologist #AI

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B2B Product Management... Last week at the The Product Folks event, I had some sigh of relief. Relief that as a B2B PM, I was not alone. Relief that other B2B PMs broadly have the same set of problems. I was sitting at a round table discussion on "Mastering B2B product strategies" - alongside other senior B2B product leaders from Nutanix, Innovacer, Incref, MediBuddy. Surprisingly the PM side problems had a large overlap 1. How & when to custom build for large enterprise deals 2. Career growth & setting up the PM org structure for scale 3. Collaboration with customer success & implementation teams Looking forward to views from other B2B PMs. #B2Bproductmanagement

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Here’s a set of seven tweets that neatly define what product-market fit is for an early stage founder. As with all the work of Naval Ravikant, it is pithy but packed with insights, worth reflecting on. Like a good shloka (a hymn) it has layers of meaning. In my new post, I unpack the ideas of PMF as described in this shloka. #PMF #StartUps #Tech

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Mistakes that I make as #ProductManagement mentor/leader Mistake 12 Having a very transactional relationship with the mentees where I as a authority person will always have right answers to their questions or problems And not being vulnerable for them to know that I too will make mistakes while helping them to grow and become strong product managers.

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AI IS EATING PRODUCT MANAGER ROLES! Okay. That's a shameless clickbait. But it's also partially true. Read on to know more. I tried ChatPRD today. It's a service to assist PMs in writing product requirement documents. And to be honest, it's surprisingly effective. The service takes minimal input about the product and chucks out a fairly detailed PRD. I gave a one liner about an idea/product and the service threw a 200 word document. The document ticks many points for a PRD checklist. It was detailed and had most sections required for a PRD like problem narration, user scenarios, goals, success metrics, etc. It uses a fairly professional language that most PMs are used to. Although the output is probably generalized, I can tweak individual sections by giving additional prompts. When I asked it to expand on the user stories, it listed out more stories covering much more spectrum on the scenarios. If it doesn't eat our jobs immediately, it will help us to be more productive by detailing out the PRD text, automating the mundane writing (rather typing) part. What I wonder is typing PRD is not just a mundane routine. It involves hard thinking on the PM part to think in the user shoes, empathize with them and cover their scenarios. In that view, a PM is more of a wingman for a user, a bestie within the context of the problem the product is solving. Imagine a PM recognizing every pain point in every instance of usage of the product and address the important ones in a never ending cycle. I'm not sure how much of the user empathy part the service will be able to replicate. To this part the PM is not losing his job, at least for the foreseeable future. So my click bait statement is not fully true but this also raises one pertinent question. How many of us do real product management? How many of us work with users to discover problems? It's a known fact that many or most companies operate feature factories where a stakeholder, mostly a large client or a revenue center partner like sales or marketing prioritizes and hands down enterprise level problems. Individual product teams break that big problem down to smaller constituents that their products deal with and work towards solving those sub parts. In this parlance, AI product management services may end up eating PM roles. Peripheral functions like program, design and development can use these services to list down requirements without a PM and develop functionalities. There is some potential to a threat here. To summarize, AI PM services may end up eating the routine mundane parts of PM role. This may impact feature factory PM roles more than discovery PM roles. But these services will not take away the hard PM role for products involving human interaction, involving empathy. The future looks interesting. Do try ChatPRD if you're into or interested in product management. It's a good tool to improve your PRD productivity. 

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One of the sneakiest but an effective way to test product hypothesis and guage user demand is Fake door tests PS: done these in Uber and a startup , both times it helped give us rich data and informed product strategy A good tool in the arsenal of #Startups and #ProductManagers Do not overdo it though . https://lnkd.in/geZ9QNQZ

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