Chris Elsheikhi’s Post

Three essential characteristics of a product leader at startup are: 1. Entrepreneurial spirit  2. Ability to understand and apply technology to solve problems 3. Inclusive style and collaborative style of Leadership The roles of Product Leaders and Product Managers are very different in startups and mature companies. At early-stage startups, the role is to spot the right problems and the right customer segment. The Product Leader must also be visionary and have foresight to visualize the opportunity and predict how the future of the product will unfold in the next 5 years as the startup evolves through its growth and scaling stages. Once the startup has identified the right problem and solution fit, it gets into the growth stage. Here, the role of the product manager is to maximize the value for the customers and focus on building the right features and creating differentiators. The focus is on creating a product that delivers higher value than competitors. Once, the product has crossed the growth stage, it gets into the Market Leadership stage, the phase of scaling up.  In this stage, the focus of the product leader is on acquiring mainstream customers, revising the pricing strategy to attract the masses and emerge as a Market leader. The focus is on marketing and building the brand. The role of Product Manager is very dynamic in startups and different as a startup evolves through the following phases:  1. Discovery phase 2. Early stage startup  3. Growth stage startup 4. Scaleup stage startup #productmanagement #startup Reference Book: Software Product Management for Startups

In the past 6 months, I've been immersed in a venture focused on developing a WealthTech #product for a new market. As a product manager, my biggest fear was creating a product that no one would use. I've seen many startups fail because they spent too much time and money on building features that nobody wanted or needed. That's why I decided to help the team to release the product ASAP. I've learned that not all features are required for early adopters. It's crucial to build only what contributes to shaping a valid business model. But then, a new challenge emerged - how to get those first customers! (I should have tackled this much earlier!) One of the best insights I gained was from a Y Combinator YouTube video that outlined precisely how to acquire those critical initial customers. The main lesson? Startups don't take off on their own; you must actively recruit your customers. Simply improving the product won't do the job. You can discover everything I've learned in the mind map below. [Download the PDF for better quality] Link to the video: https://lnkd.in/e9zv7aek Let's discuss and share our experiences in the comments. Have you encountered similar challenges in your journey as a product manager? #Startup #Customer #ProductManagemet #ExecutionIsEverything

Launch days are the kind of days where even my coffee needs a coffee 😵💫 and that’s not counting the months of groundwork - the brainstorming, strategizing and preparation that it takes to bring the pieces together Stressed? Me? Of course not. Just ask Bryony Pearce … I’m a total joy to be around on launch days, right? 😂 Let’s be real - they’re tough. They’re tough for any type of team, but, when launching a new product or feature as a startup: the stakes feel even higher, there’s no space for mistakes, and often, you’re working as a team that’s still … well… figuring things out. But the buzz of a successful launch? Irreplaceable. Chatting with other start-up founders & product marketing people, it’s clear many of us feel the same. Yes it’s tough, yes it’s stressful. But seeing a vision come to life is one of the things I love about it all. And once it’s all over, I’m already itching to dive right into the next. TOP TIP: Tools like Notion are lifesavers for building and executing a successful launch. It keeps us on track at The Alliance, keeping all our launch resources in one place. You can get up to 6 months of Notion for free, with unlimited AI ($6,000 in savings) using my link: https://ntn.so/richardking When you fill out the form, select my name in the partner field and enter my code RichardKingXNotion to get 6 months + unlimited AI on me once approved! #Notion #NotionPartner #NotionForStartups #Startups

So, what do we do in the Product Space? Here is the answer 👍 We guide founders through the reality of building and scaling a tech product. Let me know if you want to chat about it 🦄

June’s Product Group London saw the group engage in a discussion on the topic of the night: Product Delivery in Startups & Large Organisations alongside an insightful conversation with Susana Videira Lopes, Director of Product, Abatable (ex- Onfido). - Product Delivery – with a multitude of angles explored the group went from conversations about what needs to be in place to support product delivery (e.g. culture, strategy, team and organization buy-in, resources, risk appetite), through to a number of activities and considerations to help drive delivery. On the differences between startups and large organisations the theme was that startups can and are more flexible with there delivery approaches, whilst larger orgs are likely to be more structured - unless the product team is separate from the core business or has a specific experimentation / discovery mandate. - Susana Videira Lopes – next up Susana spoke about her experiences growing products and revenue at Onfido (incl. turning around a prototype for a prospect in 3 weeks); evolving product delivery practices as the organization grew; transitioning from a PM to product leader and starting a coaching and startup advisory business. Susana also shared some perspectives on working with a founder as the first PM and how you know if a startup is right for you i.e. by get into the founders head and aligning to their vision and ensuring that you can work with them before joining, respectively. More info on Susana’s PM coaching and startup advisory can be found here: www.susanavideiralopes.com Thank you Susana Videira Lopes 🙏. Thanks to everyone who came and engaged in the discussions 🙏. Thanks to Meta 🙏 for hosting us and providing the refreshments. See you on 11th July! #tpglondon #prodmgmt #productmanagement #startups #bigcompanies #meta

When you are the product person in your startup it’s easy to become opinionated. It’s also extremely easy to feel uncertain about product decisions. The worst thing you can do is feel uncertain AND opinionated at the same time, and rush decisions on a whim. ━ If you do feel uncertain, it’s a good signal you need to track how aligned the product decisions are with your team’s objectives (and current reality). Here’s 5 questions that help me when I feel in the dark: 1️⃣ How is [this] getting us closer to our goals? 2️⃣ Do we have data or insights to back [this]? 3️⃣ How will [this] affect the implementation timeline? 4️⃣ How will [this] affect scalability and future product iterations? 5️⃣ Have I consulted the right people for their input? I want to say that product is not about knowing all the answers, but it is about asking the right questions and bringing the right people to the table. If you feel uncertain, keep it transparent with your team, and let them help you. #product #startups

Early-stage startup founders often find themselves at a crossroads when it comes to strategic marketing expertise. While pre or post-Series A funding might not allow for a full-time CMO, there's an innovator in the marketing arena: the Fractional CMO. ARCH Collective's blog explores this concept in depth, highlighting the immense value they bring, especially when budgets are tight. You'll discover the unique advantages of their diverse client experience and how they can craft rapid, effective strategies tailor-made for tech niches. Plus, if you're contemplating a shift in your marketing efforts or gearing up for a seamless transition to a full-time CMO in the future, this alternative approach could be your answer. Explore this comprehensive piece and the potential of Fractional CMOs for your startup here ➡️ https://buff.ly/3RDQL6t #fractionalcmo #startupmarketing #b2btech #startups

Here are the key benefits why you should adopting a virtual CMO/ Fractional CMO i.e. CMO on demand can be a very impactful for harvesting the at most marketing benefits. Outsource the responsibilities of the Marketing Manager/CMO/Marketing Director for your start-up/enterprise, to Launching Stories. To discuss further DM us. #startup #techstartups #techmarketing #productmarketing #brandstrategy #marketingstrategy #marketingconsultant #virtualcmo #CMOonDemand #technologymarketing

90% of people did not see your first launch Launch every day, every week, every month Launch should be the best friend of every founder I was afraid of it, delayed it and had many doubts like: - Need to have a better product first - Better to build features than launch - Not ready to launch it does not yet looks great - We dont have major update for launch - Nobody cares about my launch This led to the thing that some products built were not launched. And than I realise that most of people did not even see your launch and still have no idea what you are doing. Now I believe: No matter what you launch product or servide No matter is it a big update or smth already exist  No matter, how ready it is. No matter. Just launch. So, keeping this in mind, we launch Papermark daily, I do micro launches for Postli and any other products. And support other founders to launch. Did you launch your product/startup/ service today? Your Monday reminder, you can even launch in the comment I am experimenting with weird images, no judgement 😂

Launching a new tech venture or business? 🚀 It's a massive journey filled with hard work, tears, and those 'why-did-I-do-this' moments for months (or years)! 😅 But don't stop once you go live – post-launch efforts are key to your product's success. 😎 Come to the experts. -Maximize, Optimize, Thrive- #StartupSuccess #startups #product #launches #newagecontent https://lnkd.in/ddWfzwx5