Avoiding the agency trap & ADHD in Product (with Janna Bastow, CEO ProdPad, co-founder Mind the Product)
Jan 6, 2021
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Janna Bastow, CEO of ProdPad, talks about the perils of building features for clients, avoiding the agency trap, and the challenges of date-based roadmaps. She also discusses her recent ADHD diagnosis and how it impacts Product Management.
ProductPad's origin story illustrates the importance of solving real problems for product managers.
Implementing a three-bucket approach in roadmaps provides flexibility and focuses on solving the right problems.
Deep dives
Podpad: Turning Needs into a Product for Product Managers
Podpad is a tool that helps product teams ensure they are solving the right problems. Developed by Jana Basto, the tool allows teams to build roadmaps, connect to experiments and customer feedback, and track objectives. It started as a side project and evolved into a widely-used tool for product managers worldwide. The journey involved collaborating with a co-founder and iterating based on feedback from the product management community. Through Podpad, Basto aims to empower product teams to deliver impactful solutions and achieve their objectives.
The Transformation of Roadmap Design: From Timeline to Three-Bucket Approach
Podpad's roadmap underwent a significant transformation to address the limitations of traditional timeline roadmaps. While the initial version aimed to please management and customers, it often failed to deliver all the features on time. After listening to customer feedback, the Podpad team introduced the three-bucket approach—current, near term, and future—to allow for greater flexibility and focus on solving the right problems. This new roadmap design empowered product teams to communicate strategy, align with stakeholders, and pivot when necessary.
The Power of Being Product-Led and Overcoming Organizational Habits
Being product-led is critical for companies to succeed, but it requires transforming organizational habits. Many companies have deeply ingrained habits that hinder effective product management, often favoring a sales-driven approach. Jana Basto identifies the need for companies to recognize the advantages of being product-led, understanding the trade-offs with sales-driven models, and embracing change. By aligning the organization and creating new working norms, companies can leverage product management principles to solve bigger problems, deliver value, and drive growth.
Personal Journey: Discovering ADHD and Creating New Coping Strategies
Jana Basto shares her personal journey of being diagnosed with ADHD. Initially skeptical and with misconceptions about ADHD, she realized the impact it had on her work and day-to-day life. The diagnosis provided a sense of relief and a vocabulary to understand her traits better. She celebrates her uniqueness and creativity while also exploring coping mechanisms such as medication, structure, and seeking professional help. By embracing her ADHD, Jana aims to set new working norms, leverage her strengths, and be more effective in her role as a product manager.
An interview with Janna Bastow. Janna is co-founder of ProdPad and Mind the Product, and inventor of the Now/Next/Later roadmap. We talk about a few things:
How ProdPad started as an idea to solve a problem for Janna in her Product Management job and became a company serving thousands of Product Managers
How date-based roadmaps are the devil and how to tackle management wanting false security
The perils of building features for clients, falling into the trap of being an agency instead of a product company, and never getting the chance to solve big problems
How Mind the Product started out and how they've pivoted to run successful events even in the middle of a pandemic (and how she misses a good flat white)
Janna's recent ADHD diagnosis, what that meant to her, how she's managing it, and some of the advantages and disadvantages the condition brings to Product Management
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