Austin VOP #110: Josh Tong of CognitOps | Project-based vs. Outcome-based Roadmaps
Austin Voice of Product
I met Josh a few years ago via Rajesh’s Prodify community. I have always enjoyed our conversations about product and how he shares what he is learning with the community. He has some great insights about startup product management and why it is a great way to grow as a PM and prepare to be a future founder.
Whenever you are in a growing company, growth creates opportunities. It creates opportunities to learn quickly and accept new responsibilities and challenges. I believe it’s possible to get 5–10 years of experience in just a few years at a fast-growing startup.
He also writes some great posts on AI/ML on LinkedIn. He will be sharing some of those learnings at the Product League later this month (see below).
Read more: Startup Product Management
What I’m Reading
Last month I was grappling with how to communicate the roadmap for the product I am working on at Procore. I have done quarterly roadmaps and they imply certainty where none exists - especially past the first 2 to 3 quarters. This article from Gibson Biddles newsletter helped me create an outcome-based roadmap and it has resonated well as I have presented it to the team and stakeholders. My team appreicated the Now, Next, Future format because it sharpens our current focus and gives us room to learn and adjust for what comes later. If you are curious about how you can apply this to your product, reach out, I would love to share how I did it.
And for Gib’s article, read more here: What do you think about project-based roadmaps versus outcome-based (metric-based) roadmaps?
Austin Product Events
Josh will be presenting at the Product League later this month on a topic he posts frequently about - AI Product Management. I always appreciate his concise and practical thought leadership.
February 28 — The Product League
AI Product Management: Overcoming the 3 Barriers to Impact
More events on the Austin Product Events page.
In The Community
Anne Hunt joined AWS 🙌
Annan Patel is Head of Product at Sellers Shield 💪
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.
Wheel is hiring a Senior Product Manager for Marketplace and Payments
Housecall Pro is hiring a Senior Product Manager for their Revenue Enablement team
Amazon Kindle is hiring a Senior Product Manager for their Kindle Book Delivery team
data.world is looking for a Product Manager for their data catalog and governance platform
Yours in product,
Reza