50+ New PM Templates, 390+ Product Discovery Questions, 3 PM Learning Plans, Top 25 PM Videos, Virtual Coach and more.
💡 The voiceover contains only the tip of the week - the importance of the strategic focus. Let me know what you think about this format.
Recently, I took many small initiatives to help you accelerate your PM career. In today’s newsletter:
50+ New PM Templates
390+ Product Discovery Questions
3 PM Learning Plans
Product Compass Crash Course on YouTube (25 videos)
Test your knowledge & improve (quiz)
💡 Tip of the week: The importance of the strategic focus
Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass, 2nd edition
1. 50+ New PM Templates
I’m doubling down on curating and creating free templates you can use to save time and learn best practices.
The current collection: https://huryn.substack.com/p/templates
In the next few weeks, I’ll:
Create more Notion templates.
Extend the pool of editable templates (now PDFs).
Help you create the best possible PM’s CV.
If you have any ideas of what else would help you in your work, drop them in the comments.
2. 390+ ready-to-use Product Discovery Questions
I found a fantastic Notion database template compiling 390+ ready-to-use Product Discovery questions: https://mazedesign.notion.site/69479454c71a48c49dae6e4f8406bd9a?v=eeb8b6ff563c4f47a69a70ccd5d36c56
More questions:
Tell me about the last time you had that problem.
What happened next?
Did someone help you (there may be a protagonist)?
Did you solve it? How exactly?
What tools, techniques, or workarounds did you use?
Why is it a problem for you?
How does it influence your job?
How does it impact your personal goals, life, and plans?
How do you feel about that?
What will the long-term consequences be if that doesn’t change?
What would change in your life if you solved this?
Why do you want to solve it now?
Why do you want to solve this problem, not others?
Opportunity score:
When using [Solution], how satisfied are you with your ability to achieve [Outcome]?
When [Customer job step], how important is it for you to be able to [Outcome]?
3. 3 PM Learning Plans (2 updated, 1 new)
Here is a link to the 3 free learning plans: https://huryn.notion.site/Learning-plans-3-c59b2917e9c342589fc10d18f0b7c664
4. Product Compass Crash Course on YouTube
Another way to quickly get an overview of the most important PM topics or refresh your knowledge is the “Product Compass Crash Course,” currently 25 videos.
A YouTube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLa1_vXxMr75GSOCCsej2sBfRl3IVolSdp
5. Virtual PM Coach
I created a free quiz consisting of 60 single-choice questions.
After submitting the form, you will immediately see:
The correct answers and points.
Explanations of all mistakes or empty answers
Recommended resources so you can study and improve
You can access it here: https://forms.gle/WokUPR1brkMPQ3H2A
Premium subscribers can also DM me on Slack. I’m happy to answer any questions and help you with any challenges.
Should I create more quizzes and split them into different areas (Marketing, Leadership, Product Discovery)? Or maybe I should create a unique quiz every month?
Let me know in the comments.
6. 💡 Tip of the week: The importance of the strategic focus
Every Product Manager wants to build great products. But most products are, at best, average. And don’t drive the expected business results.
Why?
After talking to 60+ Product Managers, I realized that there is one, by far, the most common mistake.
No strategic focus.
You see, many companies try to compete with everyone everywhere. This is often caused by sales attempting to grasp every possible opportunity.
A never-ending stream of “one more feature needed by a key account.” And benchmarking against the competitors.
The results?
When you try to do everything, you are not the best at anything.
And the ROI scrubs the bottom.
Fortunately, you can fix that. Once in a while, go back to the basics and ask yourself:
Who are your ideal customers?
What are their essential, underserved needs/jobs?
How can you solve their problems way better than anyone else?
What’s unique about it?
Will customers say, “I’d be delighted to pay more. This is special”?
How can you make your strategy difficult to copy?
What assumptions make you think it might work?
And how can you test them with minimal effort?
I get it. Having a strategy is difficult. It requires tradeoffs. Defining what you do and, more importantly, what you don’t. Saying no to many opportunities.
But having the right strategic focus is essential to achieve long-term goals.
So instead of trying to grasp every possible opportunity, define your market, value proposition, and what makes your strategy unique.
Experiment to test your assumptions.
And then align your product, sales, and marketing to work in harmony.
Many customers will be delighted. Others might be disappointed.
But that’s a good thing.
Because the best way to win is winning by being unique.
For more information, see The Product Strategy Canvas I published some time ago:
7. Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass, 2nd edition (premium)
Product Discovery is the most important area for a Product Manager. On 12th May 2023 (8 PM CET, 11 AM PST), I'll run a Continuous Product Discovery Masterclass.
What's inside?
Upon completion, you will:
Understand what Continuous Product Discovery is and how to leverage it.
Understand how to prioritize opportunities to maximize the outcomes.
Know best practices and avoid common mistakes.
Easily identify hidden assumptions and plan experiments.
Combine top discovery techniques: Opportunity Solution Tree, Opportunity score, and Strategyzer cards.
Get digital, verifiable credentials after passing the exam (80% required).
How to attend?
All premium subscribers can attend the live event and get certified for free. I’ll publish more information in our closed Slack community.
This is the last chance before I convert my masterclass into a self-paced video course at a regular price of $149 (I’ll finish it by June 1, 2023).
If you prefer the self-paced course, you can:
Preorder it here: https://www.theproductcompass.tech/ Use a 50% discount code valid until April 30, 2023: CPDM34758
Become a premium subscriber and get free access
What do my students say (April 1 edition)?
