The Secrets of Product Management Podcast by Nils Davis: tips for product managers, covering storytelling, go to market,innovation, resumes, job interviews, PRDs, working with developers, persuasion and influence

The podcast discusses the concept of storytelling in product management and its components. It explores the importance of solving business problems and the role of storytelling in conveying the value of a product. It also examines the impact of using photographs to convey powerful messages in presentations and provides practical tips for implementing storytelling in communication and problem-solving. Finally, it highlights how storytelling can emotionally engage audiences and personalize the problem being addressed.

There are no rules that define who will make a great product manager This episode was inspired by a “rant” (actually, a well-reasoned post) from Graham Reed on LinkedIn, and another post by Greg Prickril. Both were about the ridiculousness of the people posting nonsense and disinformation about product management and what it “really” is Read More

This podcast explores the importance of mental models in decision-making and problem-solving. It discusses the role of positive people and the concept of surrounding oneself with them. The podcast also delves into the value of mental models in building a toolbox for product management. It highlights the significance of a well-constructed value proposition and introduces various mental models for better decision-making, such as agile, 2x2 categorization, and cognitive biases.

86: Data-Driven Product Management (Rerun) This episode is a rerun of episode 86: Data-driven Product Management. Use that link to visit the show notes page. 86: Data-Driven Product Management (Rerun) This episode is a rerun of episode 86: Data-driven Product Management. Use that link to visit the show notes page.

Antifragility is the word of the day! The idea of antifragility kept coming up today and yesterday (more on that in the episode itself), so I thought I’d do a quick episode introducing the idea. Antifragility is the quality of a system that it gets stronger when bad or unexpected things occur. It’s like a Read More

The Product Bible In the previous episode I made a lot of complaints about PRDs, and then I made some claims that they could be better. In this episode, how you might actually make a better PRD. (This might be me tilting at windmills!) The overall argument PRDs are problematic. They go stale. No one Read More

Explore the limitations of traditional PRDs in product management, including lack of customer information, market analysis, and alignment with goals. Understand the impact of PRDs on sales and marketing, and how they become outdated. Discover strategies to enhance the effectiveness of PRDs by focusing on the problem being solved and maintaining relevance throughout the implementation process. Learn about the importance of differentiating the 'what' and the 'how' in PRDs.

What’s the first skill you should teach a new product manager? Carl Vellotti asked this question on LinkedIn a few months ago. (I can’t actually find the post, unfortunately.) My answer was about learning to do inquiry – asking good questions. I’ve covered this on the podcast before, in episode 114: Great Questions for Market Read More

Manan Modi, author of The Startup Product Manager My guest on this episode is Manan Modi, author of The Startup Product Manager, just published and available on Amazon. Manan reached out to me as part of his go to market plan for his book  (good thinking, by the way!). And I was intrigued by his Read More

How to show up as the amazing unicorn you are in your resume and job interviews This episode was inspired by a LinkedIn post from Jason Knight, in which he gave product managers advice on their resumes. Basically, he’s not seeing what he wants to see in peoples’ resumes. They’re boring. They don’t do a Read More