We track Product so you don't have to. Top Podcasts summarised, the latest AI tools, plus research and news in a 5 min digest.

Hello, Product fans!

Get ready for today's scrumptious serving of Product Tapas! 🍲

🔥 What's Smoking Hot?

📰 Not Boring: Today's menu includes some spicy developments in the tech world. We're examining the impact of OpenAI's decision to delay the GPT Store launch to 2024 amid leadership shake-ups, and Meta's recent launch of models aimed at enhancing speech translation. 🌐

🤖 GPT & Tool Time: We've got the usual summary of great time-saving GPTs and AI tools and for new readers a reminder on how to get your hands on our exclusive Product Tapas Product Audit tool. 💻🔍

🎙️ Product Bites: Feast on a selection of expert insights and thought leadership. We're delving into the evolution of product strategy with our focus on 'Growth Loops are the New Funnels' and sharing insights from the #mtpcon Leadership Forum on 'Mastering Cross-Discipline Collaboration.' 🌟

Your input is crucial to the zest of Product Tapas! Spread the word, bring in more fellow product aficionados, and let us know how we can spice up future editions! 🚀👋

Let's jump into today's content! 🚀👇

📰 Not boring

• Booking.com users angry at firm’s response to hacks

• OpenAI’s GPT Store delayed to 2024 following leadership chaos

• Google is also delaying the launch of its Gemini AI (GPT4 competitor) to 2024

• Morgan Stanley expects smartphone sales to rebound next year thanks to generative AI features

• Amazon bought rises from SpaceX to ensure satellites go up in time

• Meta lauches a set of models to make speech translation more seamless and expressive

• 10 years after GTA 5, the first GTA 6 trailer dropped (5th dec)

• Zoom for apple TV pops up unannounced in the App store

• WhatsApp lets iOS users send photos and videos in original quality, start voice chats without ringing in large groups, and more

  View more →

📰 Time-Saving Tools & GPTs

1. Product Manager Expert

   • Nickname: The Taskmaster🛠️

   • Description: An expert in Product Management, this GPT helps PMs navigate their day-to-day working task​

   • Conversation Starters:

     • How can I streamline my product management workflow today?

     • What are some effective strategies for managing cross-functional teams in product development?

2. AIProductGPT: Add AI to your Product

   • Nickname: The Innovator's AI 🌟

   • Description: AIProductGPT instantly crafts detailed AI-powered requirements (PRD) and mocks, enabling your team to hit the ground runni​​ng

   • Conversation Starters:

     • Can you help me create a detailed product requirements document for an AI feature?

     • What are some innovative AI features we can add to our current product lineup?

3. Productivity Bot

   • Nickname: The Efficiency Enchanter 📅

   • Description: Utilizes AI to help optimize users' productivity, from scheduling to task automation

   • Conversation Starters:

     • How can I automate repetitive tasks in my product management process?

     • What are some AI tools that can help me manage my time more effectively?

4. Automate your meeting notes, transcribe, summarise, search, and analyze voice conversations using Fireflies

5. Product Tapas Product Audit tool: Our own comprehensive Product Management Audit tool 👀 👀 👀 allows you to thoroughly evaluate your organisation’s end-to-end product management practice, by gauging Product Maturity across four key areas:

   1. Strategy & Principles

   2. Execution & Delivery

   3. Team Capabilities

   4. Data-Driven Insights

   Featuring 19 targeted questions, this audit tool generates a dynamic visual output making it easy to pinpoint strengths versus development areas.

   Tailored recommendations then provide clear direction on reaching the next level of product management maturity and help facilitate productive prioritisation conversations with cross-functional partners.

   The full spreadsheet tool equips you to independently conduct audits while accessing the GPT version simplifies the process further. Drive organisation-wide product excellence through objective assessment.

   Sound interesting? Snag your free copy just by bringing 5 friends to our Product Tapas family using the link below [web users see newsletter for link] 🚀👇

🫦 Product Bites

🌟 Mastering Cross-Discipline Collaboration

This summarises a recent Mind the Product article. It’s from an #mtpcon leadership forum about communicating with multiple teams through cross-discipline collaboration. Let's unravel what they shared!

📖 Read the full article here 

⏱️ Reading Time: 0.5 Minutes

What's the Buzz? 🐝 The forum highlighted that effective collaboration across different departments is challenging but crucial. Georgie Smallwood from Moonpig emphasized, "Without good cross-functional collaboration, we can’t deliver anything."

What's the Big Deal? 🚀

• The Stages of Product Leadership: Georgie outlined the journey from a senior product manager to a head of product, and finally, to a Chief Product Officer (CPO). Each stage demands different communication skills, from building relationships with engineers and designers to navigating the complexities of middle management and the loneliness of the CPO role.

• Communication is Key: The panel stressed the importance of effective communication with various teams. This includes writing better emails, engaging with teams on their topics, and understanding different power dynamics within teams.

• Unique Insights: Each panelist shared their nuggets of wisdom:

  • Sean: Read "The Culture Map" by Erin Myer for better decision-making across cultures.

  • Phil: Simplify your language for real-world communication.

  • Joe: Learn the language of other teams.

  • Georgie: Seek help from fellow product people.

Why Should You Care? 💡 Understanding the nuances of each leadership stage and mastering communication across disciplines are key to success.

📖 Read the full article here 

🌟 Growth Loops: Evolution Beyond Traditional Funnels

🚀 The AARRR funnel framework, a long-standing metric in strategic growth, is being outpaced by the concept of growth loops. This summarises the third post in a four-part series by notable authors Brian Balfour, Kevin Kwok, Casey Winters, and Andrew Chen, focusing on the transition from traditional funnels to more dynamic growth loops.

📖 Read the full article here 

⏱️ Reading Time: 0.5 Minutes

What's the Buzz? 🐝 Funnels have been a useful starting point, but they don't quite capture how the fastest-growing products expand. The authors argue for a shift towards growth loops, emphasizing their sustainability and defensibility in product growth.

What's the Big Deal? 🚀

1. Rethinking Growth: The common answer to "How does your product grow?" has been the funnel model. However, this framework is over a decade old and lacks the comprehensive view needed for today's dynamic growth environment.

2. Limitations of Funnels:

   • Strategic Silos: Funnels often lead to isolated strategies in product development and acquisition, ignoring the interconnectedness of product, channels, and monetisation.

   • Functional Silos: Teams structured around funnel layers (marketing, product, sales) can end up working against each other, harming overall growth.

   • One Directional: Funnels miss the concept of reinvestment and compounding growth, leading to unsustainable growth models.

3. The Power of Growth Loops: These loops are closed systems where inputs, through specific processes, generate outputs that can be reinvested, leading to sustainable and compounding growth. They provide a more holistic view of how product, channels, and monetisation work together.

4. Examples of Growth Loops: Pinterest and Survey Monkey are cited as examples where user actions fuel further growth, demonstrating the efficiency of growth loops.

5. The Lifecycle of Tactics: As strategies and tactics become widely adopted, their effectiveness decreases, highlighting the need for unique, product-specific growth strategies.

Why Should You Care? 🧐 If you're involved in product growth and strategy, understanding growth loops is crucial. They offer a more sustainable, compound, and defensible approach to growth, breaking away from the limitations of traditional funnels. So take a look at the full article to find out more!

📖 Read the full article here 

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Please, one last thing - share the love!

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• FIVE: Send this to five people who sign up and get our free Product Maturity Audit

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Packed with useful tags, product and usage details to help you find the best GPT for the job! [web users see newsletter for link]👇

That’s a wrap.

As always, the journey doesn't end here! Keep exploring, keep questioning, and most importantly, keep growing in your product journey. Until our next issue, keep savouring the bites of wisdom we've shared. 🚀👋

Alastair & the Product Tapas Team 🍽️.