Startup

How to play product manager

A primer for the easiest job around (for those who don’t do it) Acting the Part | Credit: Kyle Head A conundrum I tell everyone that product management is common sense. Yet you probably need this guide to do it. Until you can reconcile this, you have much to learn. Step 1: Gird thyself Product management (PM) can…

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How you name products matters

Clowns-as-a-Service is gonna be huge. Photo by Wesley Tingey on Unsplash Clowns-as-a-Service At more than one company, I have been called “the namer of things” or “He who names things.” (Okay, I capitalized “H” myself.) In a recent conversation with a product colleague, we discussed an idea that he and several others had been touting for almost…

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A brainstorming manifesto

Part one — in verse Photo by You X Ventures on Unsplash Manifesto scribbling probably comes naturally to some people. Like Luddite serial killers. But I have no idea how to write one. So I’ll start mine like a children’s story. Once there was a project called Bluefin, a code name for sure to keep truth in to thwart…

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The opposite of fear isn’t bravery.

The opposite of fear isn’t bravery. Photo by Matheus Ferrero on Unsplash Ever heard of courage porn? I bet you have. It’s the podcast that tells you that all you need is to be brave. It’s the book that tells you to overcome your fears. It’s motivational posters. It’s that TED talk. Let’s be honest. You could…

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Intermittent Fasting and the Placebo Effect

Wolverine. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the X-Men will agree that this Marvel saga would be nothing without Wolverine. The X-Men comic book series was birthed by Stan Lee and his co-creator, Jack Kirby, in 1963. The 1990s cartoon enthralled my brothers and me with its gritty storylines and complex characters. The…

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Squirrels teach us about office manipulators

What squirrels can teach us about office manipulators “highway road photo” by Alexandre Godreau on Unsplash Once I got run over once, the temptation was to become hyperaware of this new reality. I began to see specters where none existed. Toast Protocol An oncoming car approaches. After a moment of frozen panic, a squirrel usually darts towards…

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Two different approaches to uncertainty.

Leprechauns make mayhem. Wizards make a raucous. Photo by Amy Reed on Unsplash Magically delicious. I mean, they’re frosted. So of course they’re going to be fucking delicious. But magical, too? Count this kid in. Fun fact: Lucky the Leprechaun has an alias. His drinking buddies supposedly call him “Sir Charms.” (That’s like believing that other people…

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ENOUGH: Flawed beauty and the portfolio model for hiring.

Eight. That’s how much is enough. When I was a kid, we swam in a pool with Dick Van Patten. Okay, that sounds weird. All of it. The then aging star from the hit TV show “Eight is Enough” was at a resort hotel at Disney World. He was there with his grandchildren. Round, tan, and…

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How to get laid… off.

“A low shot…” by ALP STUDIO on Unsplash A gnat committed suicide in my eye last night. That was in the 5th inning of a playoff baseball game. There were bugs everywhere. The home team was trailing. My son Casey scored the tying run. No, his name’s not actually Casey. They won. They’re the Nationals. The…

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What shades of gray, gun control, and Kurt Vonnegut can teach you about decisions.

Iraq Shooting Range (US Army) Home on the range A story oft repeated at the Naval Academy was that a single SEAL Team shoots more small-arms ammunition in a single year than the entire U.S. Marine Corps. Whether that technically holds up, the staggering implication is indeed true: The only thing stopping us from shooting more…

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UNVALUE: Saying “no” starts with yourself.

A Soul Half Full Catholic kids tend to have lots of Irish friends. In seventh grade my sister and I changed to a Catholic school named after Saint Brendan the Navigator. That last part is to distinguish him from all the other beatified Brendans you know. In my class there was even a real live…

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