Weekly Product Hits: What You're Resisting, The Rule of 40, Separation Anxiety
Product Hits: November 3, 2025Every week, I share three great product resources from a variety of perspectives. Let's dive in! What Are You Resisting? by Deb Liu Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry.com, identifies that resistance can feel like control but often keeps us stuck. While many product managers regularly prefer being in control, Liu argues that real progress comes from relaxing into change, accepting help, and finding flow instead of struggle. The Rule of 40 by Nnamdi Iregbulem Nnamdi Iregbulem, Partner at Lightspeed Ventures, revisits the Rule of 40 (a benchmark investors use to gauge how efficiently a software company balances growth and profitability). He shows that the market constantly shifts, meaning “growth at all costs” only works some of the time. Iregbulem reminds PMs that every product decision contributes to that balance: features, pricing, and efficiency all shape whether the company grows sustainably or burns too fast to last. Separation Anxiety by Julia Austin Julia Austin, CTO at DigitalOcean, describes how early employees can struggle as startups scale and leaders become less accessible. She offers practical ways to ease that transition: talk openly about changing dynamics, set clear boundaries, and build new rituals that preserve connection. Behind the ScenesHey there, it’s Clement! While innovation is exciting to pursue, it's notoriously difficult to measure. How do we know that we're driving innovation? When we're experimenting with new ideas & trying fresh approaches, we're really looking for that spark of progress that makes our customers say, “Wait... I didn’t even know that was possible!” The tricky part is that traditional metrics rarely show that spark early on. Usage, retention, and NPS take time to reflect change; by the time they move, the insight that caused it might already be buried. So instead of chasing immediate numbers, look for signs that users are starting to feel the shift. Are they suddenly leaning in during research sessions? Are they describing your product in new ways? Are they asking when something will be available instead of if it will work? Those reactions are early signals of value! This is qualitative momentum that later becomes measurable impact. The goal of innovation isn’t always to invent something brand new. The goal is to help customers unlock new superpowers. And so sometimes, that means that we're bringing something proven into a new context, where it suddenly feels transformative. If your product is helping your customers imagine new possibilities or empowering them to close gaps they thought were permanent, that’s real progress. The metrics will catch up. 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: May 11, 2026 Every week, I share three great product resources from a variety of perspectives. Let's dive in! Why Intelligent Conflict is the Skill Leaders Need by Kate Leto Kate Leto, Head of Product at Moo, argues that the biggest source of dysfunction on teams usually isn’t open fighting, but fake alignment. She explores how avoided conversations, vague feedback, and “nice” team cultures quietly slow decisions and erode trust. Leto shows why strong product leaders learn to...
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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...