Weekly Product Hits: Product-Led Growth Myths, Career Sweet Spots, The Paradox of Better
Product Hits: August 11, 2025Every week, I share three great product resources from a variety of perspectives. Let's dive in! Product-Led Growth (PLG) Is a Misleading Name by Noa Ganot Noa Ganot, Founder of Infinify, explains why many product-led growth efforts fall short: teams copy tactics from scaled PLG companies without first reaching product-market fit for the right audience. She reframes PLG as a go-to-market model where the product drives acquisition, which requires rethinking both the market and the product before focusing on scale. Your Career Sweet Spot by Victor Cheng Victor Cheng, VP of Product at LivePerson, argues that the most successful careers aren’t built by grinding away at weaknesses, but by finding the “sweet spot” where natural strengths meet daily work. For PMs, operating in that zone turns effort into outsized impact, while misalignment makes every swing feel like a struggle. Paradox of “better” by Linda Zhang Linda Zhang, founder of Product Lessons, argues that “better” in both writing and product management comes from stripping away bloat and focusing on what truly matters. She shows why consistent practice, not perfect planning, is what builds the intuition to do less while achieving more. Behind the ScenesHey there, it’s Clement! One of the most common messages I get from newer PMs is: “I feel like I don’t belong. I’m just waiting for someone to find out I’m not good enough.” If that resonates, you’re not alone. Imposter syndrome hits hard in product management. The role is ambiguous, feedback loops are slow, and it’s easy to feel like everyone else knows something you don’t. When I first pivoted into product, I sat through roadmap reviews where senior stakeholders used acronyms I’d never heard and expected me to have a point of view. I’d Google terms under the table, nod quietly, and replay the meeting in my head multiple times just to understand it. I didn’t speak up much back then: not because I didn’t care, but because I didn’t want to sound dumb. What helped wasn’t more books or certifications. It was building a “wins list”, where I wrote down tangible moments where I made a difference, like unblocking design with a decision or flagging a critical bug before launch. I also stopped obsessing over what I didn’t know and started asking, “What’s the fastest way to get up to speed?” If I didn’t understand a system, I’d grab 15 minutes with a tech lead to sketch it out together. If I wasn’t sure how to size an impact, I’d ask a data analyst to sanity check my thinking. My goal wasn’t to know everything. Instead, it was to learn how to learn faster quickly. You don’t need to be the most experienced PM in the room. Instead, just be yourself: a person who learns fast, asks questions, and turns that learning into action. With love, Let's do more together!
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Product Teacher
In-depth essays and thought-provoking reads for product managers.
Product Hits: February 16, 2026 Every week, I share three great product resources from a variety of perspectives. Let's dive in! Onboarding people to AI product experiences by Krystal Higgins Krystal Higgins, Staff UX Designer at Google, argues that when a product behaves unpredictably, explanations aren’t enough to build trust; and, AI-driven experiences are inherently unpredictable. Instead of front-loading information, she shows how guided interaction and reversible decisions help users...
Product Hits: January 5, 2026 Every week, I share three great product resources from a variety of perspectives. Let's dive in! The curse of knowledge by Cindy Alvarez Cindy Alvarez, Director of UX at Microsoft, explains how expertise can distort communication, causing leaders to assume shared context when none exists. She urges PMs to design communication deliberately by spelling out intent, anticipating confusion, and explaining the why so teams can actually align and act. Get Out of Your...
Product Hits: November 17, 2025 Every week, I share three great product resources from a variety of perspectives. Let's dive in! Why OKRs Fail by Radhika Dutt Radhika Dutt, Chief Product Officer at Moveprice, explains that OKRs often fail because they compensate for a lack of clear vision, pushing teams toward short-term wins and metric gaming instead of genuine progress. Dutt urges PMs to replace goal-setting with vision-driven strategy instead; in other words, PMs should treat initiatives...