Experts, not managers. Taking your product to the next level
— October 18 2009
Thanks, @jordi9, for the conversations that inspired this post. @jordi9 and @jandreu run a spanish event-organization and ticketing site in its infancy now.
So you run a business. You’ve probably been running it for years, or maybe you’re thinking of starting one now. However, you’ve done deep research about its possibilities and environment.
But you feel you’ve already done everything you could come up with to make a great product. Is it the time to look for a new role in your team? Should you look for an experienced CEO with MBAs to take you to the next level? Where can you find insight?
The answer, in my opinion is: While MBAs may be great for running organizations, nobody can ever know more about your product than you. An expert CEO can help you evolve the insides of your company, like human-resources or financials, but he can’t replace the role of the product manager.
If a management guy isn’t the answer, how can you build a better product?
It turns out there are great rsources out there, endless sources of knowledge, that can help you a lot:
You need experts, not managers. Experts have spent years becoming really good at something, and they will come up with great ideas about your product as soon as they see it. Why would you invest years trying to master something that’s not your core business? Ask an expert about SEO. About proper wording to sell. About pricing, servers, design, usability.
You need specialized books and blogs, not general guides. Nobody learns how to program from a single source. The great thing about books on very specific subjects is that they mean something different for each reader. Try getting some of these and read them while thinking how to apply what you’re learning to your product:
- Influence: The psychology of persuasion. Could your site be a better selling-machine?
- The tipping point. Understanding how ideas and tendences spread.
- Seth Godin’s blog. Daily thoughts and tips about marketing.
- Derek Siver’s guide to musicians. A human approach to business, valid also for start-ups.
- The art of the start. Tips about investors and start-ups.
I’m just listing non-fiction books. Fiction books are priceless for insight, imagination and writing style. Some, like Atlas Shrugged, come close to philosophical essays every entrepreneur should read.
Lastly, you need feedback from users. Look over their shoulders when they use your product. Learn how they behave. Explain better what they didn’t understand. If something is not being understood, it’s probably your fault.
