Product Launch
LATEST POSTS
Product Development When you Don't Have the Right Technology Expertise
A few months ago, I was given the task of delivering a product using technology that our company had never worked with and that our team had never encountered. My first thought was that it was highly risky and that there was little chance of success. But my second thought was: “OK, if I don’t […]
Understanding how Design Thinking, Lean and Agile Work Together
The ideas of Agile are great. It’s the way it has been codified into rituals and certifications, and rolled out mindlessly that misses the point. When people talk about Lean, the conversation often ends at process optimization, waste, and quality, and misses so much of what the Lean mindset offers. Design Thinking is held high as the […]
Taylor Wescoatt - Being the First Product Manager
In working at Seedcamp and helping over 100 startups understand product thinking, Taylor Wescoatt has learned some valuable lessons he’d like to share, together with some real-world examples to drive the point home! Being the first product manager at a startup typically means being the 10th or 15th employee, and recognizing that – although product […]
Product Development: Turning Months Into Weeks
How quickly your definition of “ambitious” can change. Five years ago getting a dog, starting a web company, working on huge projects here at Invoke all would have seemed hugely ambitious to me, but I’ve done them all. Building an effective real-time chat that syncs perfectly between consumers and supports e-commerce would have been ambitious […]
How bad Ideas get on the Roadmap
Assimilating new hires can take a big bite out of your schedule, but it’s a process I’ve always enjoyed, despite this. Having a captive audience eager to learn about the product is red meat to me. The only part of it that ever made me cringe was when a question about the product roadmap caught me […]
Josh Elman - Launching a Rocketship off Someone Else's Back
Every early-stage consumer startup spends most of its energy figuring out how to grow something really small to something really big. It is hard gain momentum from a standing start, so a lot of people look for distribution on top of another established platform, like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. However, founders often ask whether if […]
Building a Realistic Revenue Projection for a New Product
Here’s a scenario nearly everyone finds themselves in at some point in this line of work: You’re psyched about a new product or feature in the works. You’ve got requirements, design vision, and even a development timeline. You’ve got feedback from potential buyers and they love it. You’re ready to roll, and then you’re asked, […]
The Cosmic Background Radiation of the Internet
Fourteen billion years ago the universe was immensely hot, dense plasma. Then, as the universe expanded after the Big Bang, the gases within it cooled. When these gases reached a temperature of around 2,700°C (billions of years before galaxies existed) protons and electrons were able to combine into hydrogen atoms, releasing energy in all directions […]
Made With the Finest Rainbows: Was Starbucks' Unicorn Frappuccino a Success?
Glitter and sparkles swept America by storm the other weekend! Or at least some coffee shops, as Starbucks released its limited edition Unicorn Frappuccino (UF). People were sipping on blue and pink concoctions all over the place, and everyone had an opinion. Not everyone liked it — the top posts on Instagram with #tastesdisgusting were […]
Building a Product Startup Within an Agency
Every product comes with a tumultuous ‘origin story’. Ours is still unfolding, but I’ve been reflecting on what building a product business within a service agency has brought to the tale. We decided, about 18 months ago, that our consultancy business model, though growing and successful, could benefit from diversification — specifically, from creating something with tangible intellectual property. Six […]