Reflecting on Great Products and Great Product People

Great Products

From my time building products used by millions at Nokia and Facebook, I know what it takes to build great products. I believe you can build great products, too, and that starts with incredible resources. For example, the best practices shared on Product Talk. The shared wisdom of our network has helped companies big and small build better products. 

Our Product Talk guests have shared incredible insights on building great products. They show that in order to build great products, you need to have the right plan and the right tools. This, for example, is how Contentsquare VP of Product Excellence Danny Carvajal ensures he is building great products:

4 Pillars of Product Excellence

1. Organize, align, and calibrate OKRs – streamline goals and objectives across the entire organization. 
2. Provide your teams with the resources they need to succeed – find the right ways to work and then organize those practices. 
3. Have a good playbook – create plans that drive scale and innovation, but be flexible. 
4. Have an extensive tool kit – have roadmaps, product analysis tools, and strategies for removing roadblocks.

Great Product People

Of course, we know that behind great products are the innovative people that make them. Over these past 250 episodes, Product Talk has hosted absolutely amazing product people sharing words of wisdom on how they create their product magic. Here’s one of my recent favorites, Tenable Chief Product Officer Nico Popp, on what it takes to be great: 

“Everybody wants to put a man on the moon. If you’re passionate about that vision, you will inspire it. And it is that simple. You just have to be passionate about what you’re doing. Believe me, that’s it. That’s the secret. If you are passionate about the mission and the people, and the mission is valuable, people will want to be part of it.”

Focus on the user

A common thread running through these 250 episodes is that you have to build with your end-user in mind. Great product people know that their goals and frameworks must be customer-driven. Here is another good example, from CareRev COO Filiz Genca. She shared these words of wisdom about being obsessed with your customer: 

“Innovation in any industry requires a level of customer obsession, rather than a competitor obsession. So you really want to find ways to talk, listen, and be with the customers. This innovation is done through listening to your customers and inventing on behalf of them.”

I hope you enjoyed this look back at some highlights from our first 250 episodes. Join us for 250 more.