Writing from Brandon Chu on product management, teams, startups, and AI.https://brandonmchu.com/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2021-07-28-david-hariri-on-co-founding-ada-the-pivot-that-created-a-unicorn-and-what-product-market-fit/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2021-07-28-david-hariri-on-co-founding-ada-the-pivot-that-created-a-unicorn-and-what-product-market-fit/In this episode I speak with David Hariri, co-founder of Ada, an AI powered customer support platform that raised at a 1.2B valuation in…Wed, 28 Jul 2021 14:42:46 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2021-04-28-craig-miller-on-being-shopify-s-cpo-marketing-by-an-engineer-leadership-and-scale/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2021-04-28-craig-miller-on-being-shopify-s-cpo-marketing-by-an-engineer-leadership-and-scale/Black box of PM Podcast: Season 01, Episode 01Wed, 28 Apr 2021 13:20:12 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-08-19-product-management-mental-models-for-everyone/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-08-19-product-management-mental-models-for-everyone/Mental models are simple expressions of complex processes or relationships. These models are accumulated over time by an individual and…Sun, 19 Aug 2018 19:51:22 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-06-01-managing-and-developing-product-managers/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-06-01-managing-and-developing-product-managers/If the craft of Product Management is often mired in ambiguity, managing product managers is ambiguity².Fri, 01 Jun 2018 12:50:21 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-01-07-the-first-principles-of-product-management/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2018-01-07-the-first-principles-of-product-management/Some of the best PMs I know make their decisions based on first principles. A first principle is a “basic, foundational proposition or…Sun, 07 Jan 2018 18:36:10 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-07-11-making-good-decisions-as-a-product-manager/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-07-11-making-good-decisions-as-a-product-manager/While product managers may not build the actual product, they do produce something very tangible for a team: decisions.Tue, 11 Jul 2017 22:43:06 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-04-12-deadlines/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-04-12-deadlines/For as long as I’ve been working in tech I’ve heard this oscillating debate about the use of deadlines in projects, with particularly…Wed, 12 Apr 2017 03:08:45 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-03-06-ruthless-prioritization/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2017-03-06-ruthless-prioritization/All high functioning teams must prioritize. Not once a month, not once a week — but rigorously, and ruthlessly.Mon, 06 Mar 2017 00:28:24 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-11-29-applying-leverage-as-a-product-manager/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-11-29-applying-leverage-as-a-product-manager/I get every new PM I manage to read (or re-read) High Output Management by Andy Grove within the first month of joining my team. It’s a…Tue, 29 Nov 2016 01:37:53 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-10-06-scaling-conversational-commerce/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-10-06-scaling-conversational-commerce/We just enabled 325,000 merchants to sell in messaging, without building a bot.Thu, 06 Oct 2016 17:42:23 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-09-04-why-hey-and-thanks-still-matter/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-09-04-why-hey-and-thanks-still-matter/Hey,Sun, 04 Sep 2016 17:59:57 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-08-25-a-bad-product-decision/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-08-25-a-bad-product-decision/I often wonder if I should have been fired for itThu, 25 Aug 2016 12:03:13 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-04-04-mvpm-minimum-viable-product-manager/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-04-04-mvpm-minimum-viable-product-manager/You’ve probably seen this diagram before. It elegantly shows that product management is the intersection of a diverse skill set.Mon, 04 Apr 2016 01:26:14 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-01-10-product-partnerships-pt-2-2-executing-a-partnership-as-a-pm/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2016-01-10-product-partnerships-pt-2-2-executing-a-partnership-as-a-pm/This is a continuation of Part 1: The Making of a PartnershipSun, 10 Jan 2016 17:55:58 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-12-30-product-partnerships-pt-1-2-the-making-of-a-partnership/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-12-30-product-partnerships-pt-1-2-the-making-of-a-partnership/I realized the other day that I’ve spent a lot of the last few years building products in partnership with other companies. I’ve led teams…Wed, 30 Dec 2015 18:56:35 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-11-01-the-black-box-of-product-management/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-11-01-the-black-box-of-product-management/PMs get sad when you ask them why they existSun, 01 Nov 2015 15:12:24 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-08-25-7-heuristics-for-being-a-product-director/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-08-25-7-heuristics-for-being-a-product-director/I’m a big believer in developing heuristics over the course of your life. These are rules of thumb you internalize so that you don’t have…Tue, 25 Aug 2015 14:07:34 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-07-24-canadian-startup-people-you-might-want-to-exercise-those-options-early/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-07-24-canadian-startup-people-you-might-want-to-exercise-those-options-early/Short post here.Fri, 24 Jul 2015 20:57:28 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-07-15-what-stories-have-you-never-finished/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-07-15-what-stories-have-you-never-finished/That’s it, I’m shipping these unfinished thoughts.Wed, 15 Jul 2015 03:04:12 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-04-23-start-with-lunch/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-04-23-start-with-lunch/The simplest, most delicious way to become a great teamThu, 23 Apr 2015 11:29:44 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-04-02-the-1-cold-email-i-get/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-04-02-the-1-cold-email-i-get/“How can I get into product management?”Thu, 02 Apr 2015 12:27:35 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-03-11-product-managers-are-forged-in-the-crucibles-of-launches/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2015-03-11-product-managers-are-forged-in-the-crucibles-of-launches/Come spend a day in the fireWed, 11 Mar 2015 14:20:47 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2014-08-21-the-time-value-of-shipping/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2014-08-21-the-time-value-of-shipping/Unpacking “Shipping as a Feature”Thu, 21 Aug 2014 14:14:52 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2014-05-30-pms-you-don-t-need-that-technical-degree/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2014-05-30-pms-you-don-t-need-that-technical-degree/In defense of “non-technical” product managersFri, 30 May 2014 01:25:12 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2013-08-29-why-i-quit-my-startup/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2013-08-29-why-i-quit-my-startup/A 100-days later, from the other sideThu, 29 Aug 2013 19:28:33 GMThttps://brandonmchu.com/blog/2013-08-13-product-management-is-a-lot-like-playing-poker/https://brandonmchu.com/blog/2013-08-13-product-management-is-a-lot-like-playing-poker/Some lessons from the feltTue, 13 Aug 2013 23:11:04 GMT