Nobody wakes up thinking: “I’m going to buy a new SaaS today!” What they’re really thinking (besides coffee): “How do I make this pain go away?”. Too many people in tech pitch what their product does—instead of what it means for the person using it. The real value of your product isn’t just in its features, but in how it transforms the user’s life: Avoiding stress Solving problems Helping them achieve their goals When you focus only on features, people won’t see the transformation. And...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
I don’t care how disciplined you are—even Navy Seals deal with procrastination. When someone flags a problem at work, my default reaction is: “That’s something for future Adam to deal with.” (And just to be clear: I’m not a Navy Seal—just making a point). Of course, I don’t just ignore it. I’ll analyze the issue, weigh it against the backlog, and decide if it’s worth tackling now or later. This goes to show that if a problem doesn’t feel painful or urgent enough, it’s easy to: Delay Forget...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
It’s frustrating when nobody understands you despite having the most accurate explanation. For years, I struggled to explain what I do as a product manager in social settings. Whether it’s family, friends, or other professionals, I’d get nervous when they ask: “So what do you actually do?”. I’d try to sound impressive by cramming in as much detail as possible. I’d throw out Agile/Scrum buzzwords like: “Outcomes over outputs” or “Leading without authority”. The result? People stared at me with...
3 months ago • 4 min read
Here's the video version of this newsletter: An envelope. A charity letter. And five crisp one-dollar bills. These items were crucial for an experiment by a group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, back in 2004. They were trying to figure out what would make people care enough to take action. Is it the size of the problem? The severity? Or… something else entirely? The experiment Here’s how they set up the experiment: after completing a survey, participants were paid in cash (5...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Here's the video version of this newsletter: “Sell me this pen”. You’ve probably heard of this infamous sales interview question (it was also referenced by Leonardo DiCaprio a few times in the movie ‘The Wolf of Wallstreet’). The challenge here is to take something dull and make people feel something about it. At first glance, it’s just a pen. But a great salesperson doesn’t sell the object—they sell the possibilities. They make you imagine: the love letter you’re writing the contract you’re...
4 months ago • 2 min read
You can have the most well-designed product on earth, but it will mean nothing if nobody cares. In the early 2000s, Apple’s share of the PC market was consistently under 5% globally. Apple was facing an uphill battle against the dominance of Microsoft. Windows PCs were the default choice for most households, educators and businesses. Their robust support and compatibility with legacy systems made it a no-brainer for consumers. Apple on the other hand, had perception issues: Too expensive:...
6 months ago • 4 min read
Imagine booking a stay on Airbnb. You spot a gorgeous listing for RM144 per night—not bad, right? You click through, scroll, and get more excited to find out that it’s got: A pool A nice skyline view of KL An LRT station (public transport) nearby But just as you’re about to click reserve, BAM it hits you! The total price jumped from RM144 to RM768. Turns out the price offer is for a 5-night stay and the website pre-selected a date range for you. There’s also a cleaning fee that came out of...
6 months ago • 3 min read
You might be thinking: “Saying "no" to a feature request is stressful, sure, BUT it’s not like someone’s life is on the line”. But think about it—if you can learn from an expert who had to negotiate with dangerous criminals in high stake situations, it’ll make negotiating feature requests a piece of cake in comparison. That’s where FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss and his book, Never Split the Difference, comes in. I found some examples that’s surprisingly applicable for managing day-to-day...
7 months ago • 5 min read
I analyzed Marily Nika’s funnel and was shocked at what I found. At a glance, she’s crushing it: 7000+ X followers 77,000+ LinkedIn followers No. 1 AI PM course on Maven But she’s leaving $13,233 of monthly revenue on the table due to “leaks” in her marketing funnel (without realizing it). She could easily be making even more if it weren’t for these costly mistakes: The “leaks” in the funnel Mistake #1 - Weak opt-in She’s currently driving traffic from her social profiles to a newsletter...
9 months ago • 4 min read