Category: Product

Product ROI, the return on investment calculation for work done in software engineering, is the subject of many coffee conversations I’ve had. One former CTO called it the “holy grail” of product / engineering management. Rich Mironov’s recent article on the allure of Product ROI highlights its lure and its pitfalls. Inspired by this, though,...

Note: This article was originally posted on Medium — March 13, 2024. I’ve built software products for two kinds of companies: The first is a standard software company, a product company. This is straightforward: You create software and someone uses it, and they pay you to use it. The second kind of company is a...

Note: This post originally published on Medium, November 10, 2020. I love a good retrospective meeting — when the team writes down what’s working, what could be improved. We scribble on sticky notes and place them firmly on a white board. (Admittedly, it’s hard to get the same satisfaction of placing a virtual sticky note,...

Note: This article was originally published on Medium — October 16, 2020. When I was starting out in textbook publishing, we did financial simulation models for each new textbook. Each new book got its financial simulation alongside a templated marketing brief that was circulated around in a red folder so that everyone would sign it. The...