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.

Hey Product fans!

As you’ll see Today’s Tapas is served 🌮 a day earlier than usual. I want to see if more of you prefer it on a Sunday ahead of the Monday rush. Let me know your thoughts in the poll below 👇

Now you’ve done that, let’s see what’s cooking today🧑‍🍳 ?

📰  Not Boring: From Apple's Vision Pro's extended demo and possible shaky start, to robot news, our usual smattering of AI topics, new products from Notion and Samsung and Meta's job cuts, plus more we're covering all bases. 🌐🔍

🤖 GPT & Time-Saving Tools: Today, we spotlight tools that revolutionise workflow automation and productivity. From custom AI agents at Taskade.com to diagram creation with DGM, and something to help you work through problems into action. Plenty to up your efficiency and creativity for the week ahead. 🛠️💻

🍔 Blog Bites & 🎙️ Pod Shots: Our platter includes a strategic growth plan for 2024 from Product Compass, and a deep dive into the art of “reteaming” with insights from Heidi Helfand. Plus, we explore Sam Altman's AI perspectives and the “Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams” in our Pod Shots section. 📚🎧

Are you ready to jump in?

LFG! 🚀👇

📰 Not boring

• Apple Vision Pro’s Lengthy Sales Pitch Will Include 25-Minute Demo when it goes on sale in just over 2 weeks ⏲️ 

  • Seems it’s not off to the best start though; Netflix won’t create a native app, it’s supposedly pretty heavy and competitors like Nimo got some good reviews at CES recently

• More tech fruit co news, Apple has made a big change to its app store guidelines

• Our robot overlords are hot on the heels of their AI counterparts as a robot has learned how to cook, clean, and do your laundry

• Sadly there’s more bad job news as Meta workers brace for more cuts to technical program manager jobs after the role is eliminated at Instagram

• Taiwan’s president-elect faces growing challenges with its chip industry

• Notion unveiled its standalone calendar app, not long after appointing creator of Google Sheets as its CTO, I see a pattern here 👀 

• Samsung announced the new S24 series with AI (including features such as Circle to search, Live Translate, AI-powered camera, Generative Edit and Transcript Assist…)

• Unsurprisingly, there’s lots more AI news from Davos

  Want even more news?? View more here →

📰 Time-Saving Tools & GPTs

Short and sweet today, from workflow automation and personalised bots to amazing diagram creation and problem-solving. We’ve got you covered:

1. Two tools to help you create custom workflows for your team projects, marketing campaigns, and more

   • Modelize.ai - “Automated AI workflows built by experts”

   • Taskade.com - “Custom AI agents to revolutionise your productivity”

2. DGM - Great tool to create diagrams and code from sketches or formal notations like UML and ERD (free version available too!)

3. Antispace - I’m intrigued by this one; it’s pitched as converting thoughts into actions by aiding problem dissection, solution formulation and implementation. If you try it let me know your thoughts

🍔 Blog Bites

Your Growth Plan for 2024

As we’re still just about in the “starting out the New Year” phase, I thought I’d share this great template from the Product Compass outlining some practical resources for analysing strengths and weaknesses, planning and ultimately realising your goals.

Read the original article here 

🌟 What's the Buzz?

This template, which Pawel himself has used to achieve significant milestones like growing his LinkedIn following and newsletter subscribers, is designed to help set goals, analyse strengths and weaknesses, plan actions, and realise dreams. It covers various aspects of life, including career, personal growth, health, and relationships.

🚀 What's the Big Deal?

The template is a useful practical tool for planning and tracking progress in multiple areas. It emphasises the importance of having a personal vision that motivates and drives you. The SMART technique for goal setting ensures that objectives are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Pawel also highlights the significance of understanding your strengths and weaknesses, particularly in the context of a product management career. This involves leveraging tools like SWOT analysis and resources like free PM courses, books, and videos. Additionally, the importance of community support and accountability in achieving goals is underscored.

🧠 What Can I Do With This as a Founder or PM?

1. Define Your Personal Vision: Develop a clear, motivating vision for your future. This should align with your long-term goals and aspirations, both professionally and personally.

2. Identify Growth Areas: Focus on multiple aspects of growth - career, personal development, health, and relationships. This holistic approach ensures balanced development.

3. Set SMART Goals: Use the SMART framework to create specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals. For example, aim for a promotion or develop a new product strategy within a specific timeframe.

4. Conduct a SWOT Analysis: Regularly assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This will help you understand where you excel and where you need improvement.

5. Develop an Action Plan: Break down each goal into smaller, manageable steps. Determine what skills and knowledge you need to acquire and what habits you need to develop.

6. Leverage Community Support: Share your goals with family, friends, colleagues, and your professional community. This not only provides moral support but also creates a sense of accountability.

7. Regularly Review and Adjust Plans: Make it a habit to assess your progress monthly. Identify what’s working, what’s not, and adjust your plan accordingly. Celebrate your achievements and learn from setbacks.

8. Utilise Free Resources: Take advantage of free PM courses, books, and videos to continuously learn and improve in your field (see links below)

9. Enjoy the Journey: Remember that personal growth is an ongoing process. Enjoy the journey and recognize your accomplishments along the way 🚀.

⚡️ Resources to Help You Plan

1. Personal Growth Plan Template for 2024: - This is the central resource of the article, a downloadable template for planning personal and professional growth.

2. Notion: 13 Free PM Courses with Certificates: A curated list of free courses for product managers.

3. Notion: Top 100+ PM Books (by seniority, category): A comprehensive list of books recommended for product managers.

4. Notion: Top 31 PM Videos: A selection of great videos for product managers.

5. Interactive PM Competence MindMap:- An online tool to explore different competencies relevant to product management.

Read the original article here 

🔢 How to Describe Your Business as an Equation

As some of you may know, I started my career as a Strategy Consultant. I spent a large chunk of this period of my life doing driver trees and financial modelling. Because of this, I’m a big fan of breaking down a Product or business this way to understand the key value drivers / levers.

This joint article by Lenny Rachitsky and Dan Hockenmair follows a similar theme. So I loved it ;)

 Read the full article here 

🌟 What's the Buzz?

Lenny Rachitsky and Dan Hockenmaier emphasise the importance of understanding your business through the lens of an equation. By converting complex business models into simplified equations, they illustrate a practical approach for founders and Product Managers to grasp the intricacies of their businesses. They drill into examples across various tech business models, including B2B SaaS, B2C/consumer products, and marketplaces.

🚀 What's the Big Deal?

The big deal here is the clarity and focus these equations provide. They help dissect business models into tangible components like customer acquisition, pricing strategies, and revenue streams. For B2B SaaS, the models cover seat-based and usage-based pricing with different growth strategies (bottom-up and top-down). Consumer models focus on subscription and ad-based revenue, while marketplace models dissect the dynamics of B2C and B2B platforms. The article also introduces the concept of contribution margin for businesses with significant costs, a crucial metric for understanding profitability.

Here are a few key takeaways:

1. B2B SaaS with Seat-Based Pricing (e.g., Slack, Figma):

   • Equation Focus: Balancing new customer acquisition with expansion and reactivation of existing accounts, while managing churn and contractions.

   • Key Insight: Identifying the most effective channels for acquiring new seats and expanding usage within existing accounts can significantly boost Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR).

2. B2B SaaS with Usage-Based Pricing (e.g., AWS, Datadog):

   • Equation Components: New usage acquisition and its conversion to paid, alongside managing customer expansions and churn.

   • Strategic Implication: Focusing on how customers are using and engaging with the product can lead to more tailored and effective pricing strategies that maximize ARR.

3. Top-Down B2B SaaS (e.g., Salesforce, Snowflake):

   • Formula Elements: Lead generation through various channels and their conversion into high-value contracts.

   • Operational Impact: Recognising the importance of sales-led efforts and the quality of leads in driving significant contract values and customer acquisition.

4. B2C Subscription Models (e.g., Spotify, Netflix):

   • Revenue Equation: Balancing new subscriber acquisition with retention and reactivation, alongside optimizing average revenue per subscriber.

   • Growth Leverage: Enhancing the trial-to-paid conversion process and retaining subscribers can exponentially increase monthly and annual revenue streams.

5. B2C Free Models with Ads (e.g., Instagram, YouTube):

   • Income Formula: Focusing on active user engagement and maximizing ad impressions per user.

   • User Engagement: Understanding and optimising how user engagement translates into ad revenue is crucial for these models.

6. Marketplaces (e.g., Airbnb, Uber):

   • Revenue Drivers: Balancing transaction volume, average order value (AOV), and the take rate.

   • Strategic Focus: Maximizing transactions while optimizing the customer and seller experience can significantly impact overall revenue.

🧠 What Can I Do With This as a Founder or PM?

1. Create Your Business Equation: Start by choosing a model that best fits your business. Use the equations as a starting template to develop your unique formula.

2. Identify Key Levers: Determine which parts of the equation represent the most significant opportunities or challenges for your business. Focus on these areas for growth or optimisation.

3. Resource Allocation: Use your equation to guide where to allocate resources and efforts. For example, if customer acquisition is a significant lever, invest more in marketing and sales strategies.

4. Experiment with New Levers: Identify an element within your model that you haven’t fully explored. Experiment with strategies to leverage this component for growth.

5. Track and Optimise: Regularly revisit and adjust your equation based on performance data and market changes. This approach keeps your strategy aligned with your business goals.

6. Understand and Apply Contribution Margin: Especially for businesses with considerable costs, calculate and monitor your contribution margin to ensure profitability.

7. Calculate Payback Periods: Understand the time it takes to recoup customer acquisition costs. This is crucial for sustainable growth and financial planning.

8. Cross-Functional Alignment: Use the equation as a common language to align different teams within your organisation, ensuring everyone works towards the same objectives.

📖 Read the full article here 

🎙️ Pod Shots

Continuing our theme of one more general business pod and one more specific related to Product. Today we cover the man of the moment Sam Altman on the recent Bill Gates Unconfuse Me podcast. Our second is yet another stellar Pod from Lenny. This time with heaps of practical advice from Heidi Helfand about the art and wisdom of changing teams. That’s three in two newsletters from Lenny. I’m going to have to give it a break for a while after this!

🤖 Sam Altman on AI and the Future

🎙️ Listen to the full episode here 

📆 Published: November 1st, 2023

🕒 Estimated Reading Time: 2 minutes. Time saved: 28 minutes🔥 

In this episode of the Unconfuse Me podcast, Bill Gates interviews Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, about the future of artificial intelligence and its potential impact on society. Altman shares his insights on various topics, including the development of AI models, the challenges of interpretability, the need for global regulation, the implications for job markets, and the role of AI in addressing societal issues. Throughout the conversation, Altman emphasizes the importance of building safe and responsible AI systems.

🔬 Understanding AI Models and Interpretability

Altman discusses the evolution of AI models, particularly the impressive advancements in language models like Chat-GPT. He acknowledges the current limitations in understanding the inner workings of these models but expresses optimism that further research will improve interpretability. Altman highlights the potential for AI to enhance reasoning ability and reliability, as well as its customization and personalization capabilities. He also mentions the importance of AI models being able to use individual data. Altman believes that while our current understanding of AI is limited, continued scientific curiosity and exploration will lead to significant progress in the coming years.

🌍 Global Regulation and Ethical Considerations

The conversation shifts to the topic of global regulation and the need for responsible AI development. Altman proposes the establishment of a global regulatory body, similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for nuclear energy, to oversee the development and deployment of highly powerful AI systems. He acknowledges the challenges of different countries having varying perspectives on issues such as copyright and model behaviour. Altman emphasises the importance of striking a balance between regulation and innovation, ensuring that AI systems are safe and aligned with societal values. He also mentions the potential of AI to address polarisation and other societal challenges.

🏭 AI and Productivity Improvement

Altman and Gates discuss the potential impact of AI on productivity improvement. Altman explains that AI systems can enable individuals to work more effectively and efficiently, leading to qualitative shifts in the nature of work. He uses the example of coding, where AI can make programmers more productive and enable them to think at higher levels of abstraction. Altman envisions AI systems that can perform complete tasks, such as writing entire programs or even running companies. He believes that as AI continues to advance, it will create new opportunities and challenges, ultimately driving significant productivity improvements.

🤔 Ethical Dilemmas and Human Purpose

The conversation delves into the ethical dilemmas and philosophical questions surrounding AI. Gates expresses concerns about the potential loss of human purpose and the impact on society if AI systems surpass human capabilities. Altman acknowledges these concerns but remains optimistic that as AI progresses, new forms of purpose and fulfilment will emerge. He believes that humanity will continue to find problems to solve and ways to contribute to society, even in a world of advanced AI. Altman emphasises the importance of embracing the transformative power of AI and navigating the challenges it presents.

🌐 Equity and Cost Reduction

Altman discusses the issue of equity in AI and the importance of reducing the cost of access to AI technologies. He highlights the significant cost reduction achieved in the past few years, particularly with OpenAI's GPT-3 model. Altman believes that the cost of intelligence will continue to decrease, eventually driving it close to zero. He envisions a world where access to AI is affordable and widely available, leading to substantial improvements in quality of life. Altman emphasizes the potential of AI to address societal inequalities and create opportunities for all.

👥 Building Great Teams and Talent

Altman reflects on the importance of building great teams and attracting top talent. He credits his experience at Y Combinator for teaching him the value of assembling talented individuals and allowing them to focus on solving big problems. Altman emphasizes the need for diverse skill sets within teams and the importance of aligning everyone towards a common mission. He encourages individuals to take risks, pursue their passions, and be clear about what they want to achieve. Altman believes that creating a purpose-driven work environment leads to greater satisfaction and impact.

🧠 What can I do with this as a founder or PM?

As a Product Manager or leader, there are several key takeaways from this podcast episode that you can apply to your role:

1. Understanding AI Models: Gain a deeper understanding of AI models and their limitations. Stay updated on the latest research and advancements in AI interpretability to ensure you can effectively communicate the capabilities and limitations of AI to stakeholders. Good job you’re reading Product Tapas to help you here ;)

2. Future of AI: Consider the potential impact of AI on your product and industry. Explore how AI can enhance existing features or enable new capabilities. Identify areas where AI can improve productivity, efficiency, and user experience.

3. Global Regulation and Ethics: Stay informed about the evolving landscape of AI regulation and ethics. Understand the potential implications of AI on society and be proactive in addressing ethical concerns. Collaborate with legal and compliance teams to ensure your product aligns with regulatory requirements.

4. Impact on Society and Jobs: Anticipate the potential impact of AI on jobs and society. Identify opportunities to reskill and upskill employees to adapt to changing roles and responsibilities. Consider how your product can support job creation and address societal challenges.

5. Cost and Accessibility of AI: Monitor the cost and accessibility of AI technology. Evaluate the feasibility of integrating AI capabilities into your product based on cost considerations. Advocate for accessibility and affordability to ensure a wider user base can benefit from AI-powered features.

6. Importance of Talent and Purpose: Foster a culture of talent and purpose within your product team. Encourage team members to pursue their passions and align their work with a larger mission. Create an environment that attracts top talent and enables them to thrive.

7. Collaboration and Problem-Solving: Leverage AI as a tool for collaboration and problem-solving. Explore how AI can augment human capabilities and improve decision-making processes. Identify areas where AI can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work.

8. Continuous Learning and Adaptation: Embrace a growth mindset and stay updated on the latest advancements in AI. Continuously learn and adapt to new technologies and methodologies. Encourage experimentation and innovation within your product team.

By applying these insights to your role, you can effectively navigate the evolving landscape of AI and leverage its potential to drive innovation and create value for your users 🚀.

Want to quickly know more? Just ask the episode below👇️ 🤯 
or if you prefer, 🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

⏰ Timestamps:

• [00:01:19] Building safe and responsible AI.

• [00:08:03] Regulation and global impact.

• [00:10:34] International weapons inspectors and AI safety audit.

• [00:13:45] Impact of AI on jobs.

• [00:20:37] Human purpose and AI.

• [00:25:27] Cost reduction of intelligence.

• [00:30:48] Building high-performing teams.

👩‍🏫 The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams: Insights from Heidi Helfand

“Reteaming is hard. Reorgs are hard. You can't lump them all into one thing with, you know, oh, it's all great all the time. No, it's not. If we could just build the software, deliver to the customer, get the product market fit. Hey, have we delighted them or not? If only it could be that easy. No, we have the people layer.“

In this Podcast, Heidi Helfand, an expert in team organisation and reteaming, explores the various scenarios that cause businesses to restructure, how you can prepare for it and deliver it well.

📆 Published: January 18th 2024

Estimated Reading Time: <2 minutes. Time saved 76 minutes 🔥 

🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

🧠 The Five Types of Reteaming

Heidi Helfand's book, "Dynamic Reteaming: The Art and Wisdom of Changing Teams," explores the different patterns of reteaming. Here are the five types she discusses:

1. One by One: This pattern refers to individuals joining or leaving a company. When someone joins, it's important to help them feel a sense of belonging and provide a smooth onboarding experience. When someone leaves, it's crucial to ensure knowledge transfer and minimize the impact on the team.

2. Grow and Split: As teams grow larger, they may reach a point where it becomes necessary to split into smaller teams. This allows for better focus and specialization. However, it's important to address any dependencies that may arise from the split.

3. Merging: Merging occurs when two or more teams or companies come together. This can happen due to business decisions, acquisitions, or downsizing. It's essential to facilitate communication and create a shared vision to ensure a smooth transition.

4. Isolation: Isolation involves creating a separate team to work on a specific project or innovation. This pattern allows for process freedom and faster iteration loops. It's important to provide clear decision-making structures and protect the team from distractions.

5. Switching: Switching refers to team members moving from one team to another. This pattern can bring fulfilment, learning opportunities, and prevent stagnation. It's crucial to create safety nets and build redundancy in knowledge to ensure smooth transitions.

Practical Tips for Successful Reteaming

Throughout the episode, Helfand shares practical tips for successful reteaming. Here are some key takeaways:

• Transparency and Collaboration: When undergoing reorgs or team changes, it's important to be transparent and involve team members in the decision-making process. This can be done through visualizing team structures, soliciting feedback, and allowing team members to express their interests and preferences.

• Decision-Making Clarity: Clearly define who is requesting the change, who can provide input, who is the decider, and who will execute the change. This framework, known as RIDE (Request, Input, Decider, Execute), helps ensure clarity and accountability.

• Timeboxing: Timebox reteaming activities to avoid prolonged disruptions and ensure focus on the work at hand. Bias towards shorter timeframes to prevent excessive deliberation.

• Building Redundancy: Foster a culture of shared ownership and knowledge transfer within teams. Encourage pairing and switching to prevent single points of failure and ensure continuity in case of departures or changes.

• Story of Our Team: Use the "Story of Our Team" exercise to create a shared sense of history and milestones when merging teams. This exercise helps build connections and aligns the merged team towards a shared vision.

Real-World Examples

Heidi Helfand shares several real-world examples in her book and during the podcast episode. Here are a few notable examples:

• Expert City: When the marketplace product at Expert City wasn't gaining traction, the CEO made the decision to pivot. A small team was formed off to the side, given process freedom, and tasked with exploring new ideas. This led to the development of GoToMyPC, which became a successful product and saved the company.

• Menlo Innovations: Menlo Innovations implemented a pairing and switching culture, where team members regularly rotate pairs and work on different projects. This approach fosters learning, fulfilment, and prevents stagnation.

• Appfolio: Appfolio implemented grow and split patterns as the company expanded. They also emphasized knowledge redundancy and shared ownership to ensure smooth transitions and prevent single points of failure.

These examples highlight the importance of embracing change, fostering collaboration, and creating a culture of continuous learning and development within teams.

🧠 What can I do with this as a founder or PM?

1. Embrace Organisational Change and Reteaming: Understand that change is not only inevitable but can be beneficial. As your company grows, reorganizing teams (reteamings) can lead to new perspectives and innovations. Don't fear change; instead, use it as an opportunity for growth and improvement.

2. Transparency in Reorgs: Be transparent about reorganisation plans. Involve your team in the process and welcome their input. This approach not only builds trust but also helps in identifying potential issues and opportunities from various perspectives.

3. Focus on the People Layer: Pay attention to the human aspect of your team. Understand that beyond building products and achieving market fit, how you structure and support your team plays a crucial role in overall success.

4. Utilise the Five Types of Reteaming: Be aware of the different ways teams change - one by one, grow and split, merging, isolation, and switching. Each type has its unique dynamics and understanding these can help in making informed decisions about team changes.

5. Encourage Internal Mobility and Development: Allow and encourage team members to move within the organisation (switching). This not only helps in personal development but also prevents stagnation and keeps the team dynamic and engaged.

6. Create a Culture of Open Communication: Foster an environment where team members feel comfortable discussing changes and their impact. Open communication helps in managing transitions smoothly and maintaining team morale.

7. Strategic Use of Isolation Teams: For innovative projects, consider using isolation teams. These teams are separated from the daily operations and can focus on creative and innovative solutions without the regular project constraints.

8. Recognise the Opportunity in Reorgs: Reorgs can lead to new roles and growth opportunities. Be proactive in understanding and adapting to these changes to leverage them for career advancement.

9. Managing Team Growth and Splits: Be aware of the signals that indicate when a team becomes too big and needs to be split for efficiency. Understand that growing and splitting teams is a natural part of a company's evolution.

10. Be Prepared for the Emotional Impact of Change: Acknowledge and manage the emotional responses to team changes. Whether it's excitement for new opportunities or anxiety over uncertainty, being mindful of these emotions is crucial in leading effectively.

Want to quickly know more? Just ask the episode below👇️ 🤯 
or if you prefer, 🎙️ Listen to the full episode here

⏰ Timestamps:

• [00:00:25] Team reorganization and success.

• [00:03:46] Teams changing and reorgs.

• [00:08:32] Transparency in reorgs.

• [00:11:36] Giving choice is important.

• [00:17:20] The five patterns of reteaming.

• [00:19:53] Isolation team at Expert City.

• [00:24:19] Creative software development flow.

• [00:26:37] Isolated teams and innovation.

• [00:30:21] Process freedom and decision making.

• [00:34:33] Onboarding and sense of belonging.

• [00:39:01] Merging and consolidation.

• [00:43:38] Switching for knowledge redundancy.

• [00:45:34] Team changes and reorgs.

• [00:50:19] Anti-patterns of reteaming.

• [00:56:30] Dealing with constant change.

• [00:57:23] Company growth and perspective.

• [01:02:42] Vintage clothing and thrifting.

• [01:08:30] Fun team-building activities.

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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.

Please do share to help us continue to grow and let us know what you would like to see more or less of so we can continue to improve your Product Tapas. 🚀👋

Alastair & the Product Tapas Team 🍽️.