Austin VOP #102: Elena Lenova @ BigCommerce | Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres
Austin Voice of Product - Inspiring the next generation of Product Leaders
Austin Voice of Product
Talking to Elena reminded me of the best product leaders: she focuses on empowering and coaching the PMs on her team. I also love her advice for aspiring PMs to think like a PM every day. And most of all, I appreciate her generosity and spirit. Folks like Elena are what make Austin’s product community awesome!
Read more: Product Leaders Coach and Empower
What I’m Reading
Teresa Torres, one of my favorite product thought leaders, released her book Continuous Discovery Habits. I participated in her early readers program and got a chapter a month over the past year and saw how thoughtfully she wrote the book and considered feedback from folks in the program.
Teresa's book is based on both practical experience as a product discovery coach as well as empirical social science research. I find most books on product management to be too anecdotal or based on frameworks that do not work well in a real work setting.
Product discovery can be a challenge for most of us - an afterthought or a lower prioritized activity given all the demands of our jobs. Teresa's guidance on how to build habits around doing product discovery is super valuable. I have used some of these techniques in the book and they bear fruit every week!
If you would like a good preview of the ideas in the book, Andrew Skotzko interviewed her for his podcast: Habits for Clear Thinking and Better Product Bets.
Austin Product Events
June 16 — ProductHired Job Club
How to get promoted to be a Director of ProductJuly 12 — The Product League
Think Like a Product Manager
More events on the Austin Product Events page.
In The Community
Tim Gasper was promoted to VP of Product at data.world. 🙌 Read his interview: Product Management and Entrepreneurship Exercise The Same Muscle
Anne Hunt delivered the commencement address at the University of Colorado Department of Philosophy - Wow! 🤩 Read her interview: Product Managers Know Their Why
Austin Product Positions
I share product positions posted by product leaders I know. Feel free to reach out to me for an intro or share with others.
athenahealth is looking for a Director of Product for their epocrates Growth team.
AWS is hiring a Senior Product Manager for their Marketplace team.
Verb is looking for a Lead UX Designer for a 6-9 month contract engagement.
My friends Andrew and Jenny at BravePath (product consulting and talent recruiting) are working with some leading companies to hire the following positions. Happy to make an intro if you or someone you know is a good fit.
Yours in product,
Reza