“You get what you measure.” A concept that seems simple enough, yet even the world’s best businesses get wrong. Measuring the wrong things drives poor decision making and undermines performance. Simply put, using a metric the wrong way is as bad or worse than not measuring anything at all. Let’s take a look at a few metrics ...continue
It was revealed last week that Facebook is experimenting and planning the wide release of a stories feature similar to Snapchat. Haven’t we been here before? But count me out amongst the many who criticize Facebook for it’s lack of creativity and imagination. Snapchat’s IPO roadshow will likely reveal just how well Facebook’s strategy is working, but ...continue
Over the past month, I’ve focused on my growth in product during the span of the last few years. This led me to reflect on my initial days as a product marketing manager and internalize where we succeeded but also what we could have done better. From those thoughts, I’ve tried to put together a ...continue
A few days ago, I posted a few of the resources I used as I grew into the product marketing manager / product manager role. With this post, I’m focusing on the things that you won’t read in those books but will likely learn on the job. Being a product marketing manager or product manager ...continue
Last week, I introduced a series which I hope will be of use to new product managers in markets outside of Silicon Valley. For the first installment I am focusing on a few resources that really shaped my view of product management over the last three years. Udemy (Coursera, EdX, Khan Academy) Silicon Valley is full ...continue
Jonathan and I are at the CBI Insights Innovation Summit in Santa Barbara this week. Below are a few quick takeaways from yesterday’s panels and discussions. Enjoy. As can be expected, voice and text will be the biggest winners at the intersection of UI and AI over the next few years. People can now interact ...continue
With most of my usual newsletters and bloggers taking the final week of 2016 off, I spent the last week of the year reviewing the blogs, podcasts, and books that had the most influence on my thinking. One of those posts was Fred Wilson’s Second and Third Tier Markets And Beyond in which Fred discussed ...continue
Since I am just beginning to write on a consistent basis, this might be fluid but at least for awhile my plan on Friday’s is to write briefly on one of a few topics: a product feature I really enjoy or think needs some work, something fun (for those days when I am short on ...continue
A few days ago Hunter Walk (quickly becoming one of my favorite VC blogs to read) posted a blog on the new reality that is non-tech firms being more frequent acquirers of startups than tech companies. Yesterday, CB Insights did the same putting the spotlight on several of the companies that exited to traditional companies with ...continue
A few days ago I read M.G. Siegler’s Medium post on his 2016 Homescreen which provoked me to think about the apps I use on a daily basis. Siegler does a really great job explaining not only how his workflows have changed but how the changes in tech are affecting his daily app usage. I thought ...continue
This past week, our CRO John Tough provoked a conversation over email about our success at Choose Energy and he’d noted a change in our culture over the last few months. Culture is something which had always been top of mind for us, but lately something had been clicking. As any good leader does, John ...continue
Over the last four years, I’ve been blessed to work a variety of different jobs with a diverse group of people. I’ve gone from retail store manager to a publicly traded company, to a growing startup while acquiring my MBA somewhere in between. During that time, I’ve worked with some exceptionally talented, hardworking people who ...continue
Recently on the “This Week in Startups” podcast Silicon Valley investor and CEO of Vayner Media, Gary Vaynerchuk was the featured guest and one of his insights added a unique dimension to the way I think about product development. Gary asserted that all great products are actually in the time business; meaning they all give us ...continue
In a blog that is going to be focused mostly on energy, tech, startups, and similar topics at the outset, I couldn’t help but write about Jordan Spieth’s Masters victory for my first post. I found several aspects of Spieth’s road to victory to be relatable to the business world. In particular, 5 things stood out ...continue
