Newsletter; Feb 2024
A rundown of what I’ve been enjoying lately and recommendations if you’re looking for inspiration.
Reading, Listening, Watching
Last month I mentioned that I was listening to Sheila Johnson’s memoir Walk Through Fire on Spotify Audiobook. I finished the book at the beginning of Feburary and enjoyed it overall. Ms. Johnson’s story, for me, was equally inspiring and frustrating because of the struggle of her first marriage.
Some business/product advice in an interview snippet of Mark Zuckerberg: “There’s the famous 80/20 rule where you get 80% of the benefit by doing 20% of the work, but you can’t just 80/20 everything. There have to be certain things that you are just the best at and that you go way further than anyone else on to establish this quality bar and have your product be the best thing that’s out there.”
Diary of a CEO with Steven Barlett, with guest Paul Brunson had loads of good conversation about modern relationships.
Invisible Beauty, a documentary about Bethann Hardison, viewable on Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV. This was such an inspiring documentary about a legendary Black supermodel and her influence on the industry.
Newsletter; Jan 2024
A rundown of what I’ve been enjoying lately and recommendations if you’re looking for inspiration.
Reading, Listening, Watching
I’m reading/listening to Sheila Johnson’s memoir Walk Through Fire on Spotify Audiobook (I love that most audiobooks are included in my premium subscription!!). I’m about halfway through and it’s been a great listen - she is a powerhouse! I’ve been reading it with my linesister and we are both enjoying it.
An article in Harvard Business Review, How to Keep Employees Productive: Support Caregivers, about a new trend in the workforce that leaders ought to think about.
A really interesting podcast listen for folks who manage people: New York Times The Daily The Hybrid Worker Malaise talks about the views of workers and companies as we/they balance workplace expectations.
Jay Shetty & Daniel Kaluuya - thoughtful, mindful conversation
I subscribed to Masterclass this month during their new year special and I’ve been really enjoying it. I’ve been a member before but there is so much new content on their platform now. I started with Martha Stewart’s ‘Think Like a Boss, Live Like a Legend’ class - it follows a day-in-the life but she also shares her entrepreneurial journey, which I found fascinating. Next up is Ava Duvernay’s ‘Reframe Your Thinking’ - I’ll be back to recommend that one soon!
Rewatching a sermon from Elevation Church’s Pastor Steven Furtick called “Ugly Trust.” It’s from about 8 months ago, but it came on automatically after another sermon that I was watching on Youtube (thank you algorithm) and it reminded me of how good this message was. It was really timely for me to rewatch.
Why your startup company should go "back-to-school" this Fall
At Plural (fka Civic Eagle), we've informally designated September as "Learning Month" for our 11-FTE, remote team. As a seed-stage SaaS startup, we maintain a lean operation and we value any opportunity to level up our skills.
At the beginning of September, the leadership team and I asked that every teammate register and attend a conference or take an e-course at some point during the month. The post-summer months seem to be a popular time for conferences, summits, workshops, etc. And now, with conferences all across the world going virtual due to the pandemic, there is a plethora of amazing content for teams to access from their homes.
Here are three reasons why our company gives PTO for learning:
Professional development is critical for an early-stage startup.
If your team is anything like my team, you have colleagues who are hustling everyday and challenging themselves to learn the next new thing that makes them better at their job. Your team may also be super lean, with teammates covering multiple roles and filling in gaps in function where needed. The nature of this type of team culture necessitates a particular emphasis on professional development.
The case for prioritizing professional development is without dispute — it allows your team to build confidence in their skills and learn new ones; it enables your company to expand its knowledge base; it motivates and inspires your teammates to commit to their work.
Professional development is relatively low cost.
You might wonder whether the trade off of work-time for learning is worthwhile — in my opinion it is. The leadership team and I acknowledged that this Learning Month initiative would mean that some meetings would be canceled, agendas would be pushed back, and that a sprint or two would be lighter than normal. While these are important concerns for any size company, we accepted those sacrifices, betting that the knowledge gained would help propel us in the long run.
In order to minimize disruption, we made sure that there was clear communication among the team and team leads about when and which conferences were being attended, calendars were updated as needed, and time was allocated towards debriefing about new learnings. Debriefing about what was learned is a really important step in making this initiative worthwhile. The objective is to discuss and brainstorm with your colleagues about how your company can apply what was learned to the challenges you’re facing.
Professional development can help expand your company's brand.
Attending conferences and other virtual events is a great way to network while working from home, and when done properly, I've also found that it's great for organic PR.
Change your nickname on video calls to something like <Name (Company Name)> so that other attendees, moderators and keynote speakers can recognize your brand. Introduce yourself in the conference spaces designated for networking; ask questions during talks via the chat window; add speakers and panelists who resonate with you on LinkedIn; be on the lookout for your industry peers, future teammates and potential mentors. Don't be shy — be sure to engage at these events and it'll be worthwhile for your team and your business!
Three questions for product designers to answer in 2020
2020 is the year that has forced product leaders to re-evaluate everything about the products they’re building.
As we’re all becoming acutely aware that the world will no longer be “normal,” product leaders are facing the question of what this means for their products. Good product leaders and their organizations are asking themselves how they can create value during this time and make a difference in the lives of their users.
At Civic Eagle, we’re building technology for the future of civic engagement and political transparency. Our flagship software product, Enview, makes it easy for leading organizations to discover legislation and manage public policy; in my role as a co-founder and the chief product officer, I had to especially consider these existential questions.
Now more than ever, our products need to make a positive impact in our end users' lives. The ground-shifting events of 2020 — the coronavirus epidemic, civil rights movements around the world, and more — have streamlined our customer's attention and consumption. Anything deemed unnecessary has been cut. So how do organizations and product leaders ensure that they are continuing to build products that evolve with our users?
Product leaders can ask themselves these three questions to expose opportunities to make a real impact in their users' lives and this new world we’re living in.
Do you have a clear vision of the world you want to impact?
This is an expansion of the popular notion by author Simon Sinek to "start with why." The first step is to understand why your product is needed in the world; your north star for why your organization exists.
To answer this question you need a clear vision of how the world is transformed by your product; what's different, what's improved, and why your end user would be on board with this vision.
The answers to these questions will be your foundation for how you position your product in the new reality post-2020.
Do you have a clear understanding of who you're serving and what their role is in the greater ecosystem?
Your end users do not exist in a vacuum. They have a key role and they need your product in order to perform this role successfully.
Taking a step back to consider your users’ position during this time can illuminate opportunities for your product to provide added value to them.
At Enview by Civic Eagle, we recognized that usage on our legislative intelligence platform took a steep decline in the immediate weeks after lockdown. We understood that in our users’ role as government affairs specialists, their work was more or less at a standstill until legislatures decided to reopen.
In order to engage and continue to provide value to our less active users, we created and launched a newsletter that included summaries of coronavirus-related legislation and police reform-related legislation that my team researched on our platform. By sending this additional (read: bonus) content to our users, we stayed top of mind and demonstrated to our users that we were with them each step of the way.
This initiative took about 6 hours FTE per week to research, generate, and distribute this content. But this strategy engaged customers, provided brand awareness to prospective customers, and demonstrated our ability to serve our unique users’ needs.
Have you explored strategic partnerships lately?
I wholeheartedly believe that it is the role of product leaders to advocate for innovation as much as possible within an organization. During these changing times there are incredible opportunities for companies to think outside of the box and tackle new challenges, and it is the responsibility of the product team to facilitate this progression.
Lean on design thinking methodologies to uncover new ways to row in the right direction, while also leaving a net positive impact on your users and your communities. Now is the perfect time to introduce social impact into your business model.
Collaboration is the new competition. Extend your product, services, or offerings to strategic partners for mutual benefit. Perhaps now is the time to reconsider your vertical integration plans and focus on horizontal expansion while partnering with other organizations.
Making an impact means taking the ego out of your work, so don't be shy to approach adjacent and complimentary partnerships during this time. This is an opportunity for you to extend your value to your users and community at large.
So what’s next?
If I could speculate just one thing about the trajectory of the industry after 2020, it would be that there will be an empowerment of the role of product within organizations and business models. ‘Product-first,’ ‘product-led,’ and ‘product-focused’ will be terms to describe teams around the world.
Good product and good design are more important than ever in the lives of our users. As we navigate the new set of challenges in front of us, let’s keep our eyes open to the wide array of new opportunities available. I hope these questions will kickstart your exploration into designing for greater impact.