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1. HowtoGettoNo
Ruthlessprioritizationforproductmanagers

2. 🛠I'vebeenworkingasaPMfor>10yearsinB2BSaaS.
✨IhelpPMsgrowtheirpracticeandcoachcompaniesthroughchange
management.
Youcanfindmeatlinkedin.com/in/cassidyfeinorcassidyfein.com
👋I'mCassidyFein
DirectorofProduct,Vimeo
Instructor,MindtheProduct
Cassidy
Fein
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

3. Stayuserfocused
What'sgoodforyourusersis
goodforthebusiness
Settherightpriorities
Determinewhat'simportant,
andmostimportantly,what
isn't
Evangelizeyour
roadmap
Radicalinclusivityand
removingyourselffromthe
equation
Protectyourteam
Avoidderailmentswhile
funnelingusefulfeedback
Whatwe'lllearntoday
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

4. Stayuserfocused
What'sgoodforyourusersis
goodforthebusiness
Settherightpriorities
Determinewhat'simportant,
andmostimportantly,what
isn't
Evangelizeyour
roadmap
Radicalinclusivityand
removingyourselffromthe
equation
Protectyourteam
Avoidderailmentswhile
funnelingusefulfeedback
Whatwe'lllearntoday
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

5. Doyouunderstandwhoyourusersare?
Current Prospective Competition
WillthishelpmedowhatI
needtogetdoneeasier,
better,faster?
WhyshouldIswitchto
yourproduct?
ChangeishardandIdon't
likeit!
Whatisdefensiblevs.
whatispotentiallyatrisk
now,5months,5years?
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

6. Areyouactuallytalkingtoyourusers?
• Yes,you!NotCI,notBI,support,notsales...you!
• Personasalonedon'tcount!
• CSAT/NPSalonedoesn'teither!
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

7. Areyouactuallytalkingtoyourusers?
• Howoften?
• Whichroles/cohorts?
• Withyourdev&designpartners?
• Atwhatstagesofthelifecycle?
• Areyoulisteningmorethanyoutalk?
• Howareyousharingyourlearnings?
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

8. Stayuserfocused
What'sgoodforyourusersis
goodforthebusiness
Settherightpriorities
Determinewhat'simportant,
andmostimportantly,what
isn't
Evangelizeyour
roadmap
Radicalinclusivityand
removingyourselffromthe
equation
Protectyourteam
Avoidderailmentswhile
funnelingusefulfeedback
Whatwe'lllearntoday
☑
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

9. Setprioritiesaccordingly
• Wherearetheprimarysourcesofyourdata?
• Howconfidentareyouinitsquality?
• Howmatureisyourproduct?
• Howmatureisyourmarket?
career.pm HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

10. Striveforabalance
❌
HighEffort,
LowValue
🛠
HighEffort,
HighValue
❌
LowEffort,
LowValue
🙌
LowEffort,
HighValue
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

11. "...productmanagersareontheleadingedgewhere
newproductsandservicesareconceived,developed
anddeployed.
Sowehaveaspecialresponsibilitytoconsiderthe
implicationsofourwork."
Founder,
SiliconValleyProductGroup
Marty
Cagan
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

12. Wecan,butshouldwe?
"Isitsomethingthat,ifalltheemailsanddocuments
anddiscussionsaroundtheproductwerepublished
online,you'dbeembarrassed?...
Willtheproductbesomethingthatyouwillbeproudof
aspartofyourpersonalbrand?"
FormerChiefEthicsOfficer,
Airbnb
Rob
Chesnut
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

13. Stayuserfocused
What'sgoodforyourusersis
goodforthebusiness
Settherightpriorities
Determinewhat'simportant,
andmostimportantly,what
isn't
Evangelizeyour
roadmap
Radicalinclusivityand
removingyourselffromthe
equation
Protectyourteam
Avoidderailmentswhile
funnelingusefulfeedback
Whatwe'lllearntoday
☑ ☑
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

14. Whatexactlyisthe"SwoopandPoop?"
"Likeaseagullontheattack,theexecutivehas
swoopedintotheprojectandpoopedalloverthe
team'sdesign.
Flyingawayasfastastheycame,theyleftcarnage
andrubbleintheirwake."
Founder,
UserInterfaceEngineering
Jared
Spool
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

15. Whydoesthishappen?
1. Nosharedunderstanding
a. Doeseveryoneknowwhyyou'rebuilding,notjustwhat?
2. Excludingstakeholdersatearlystages
a. Areyourdecisionsbeingmadeinavacuum?
3. Lackofsupportingevidencefordecisionmaking
a. Areyouprovidingdataandartifactsforeachstep?
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

16. "Everyweek.Actually,itwasusuallydaily.Iwoulddrop
abombonsomeoneinthecompany...
Goodorbad,noneofmyideaswerebasedonanykind
foframeworkorfilter.Iwasshootingfromthehip.
ThinkingthatIwashelpingusfocusandexecute.
Iwasdeadwrong."
Co-Founder,
KISSmetrics
Hiten
Shah
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

17. "Thesprintgivesteamsashortcuttolearningwithoutbuildingand
launching."
GV(GoogleVentures),gv.com/sprint/
ToolstoMitigate:
DesignSprints
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

18. Usersdon'twanttobegoodatyourproduct.
Theywanttobegoodatwhattheyneedtodo.
ToolstoMitigate:
JobsToBeDone
(JTBD)
@SamuelHulick
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

19. "Thejobs-to-be-donepointofviewcausesyouto
crawlintotheskinofyourcustomerandgowithheras
shegoesaboutherday,alwaysaskingthequestionas
shedoessomething:
Whydidshedoitthatway?"
Professor,
HarvardBusinessSchool
Clayton
Christensen
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

20. ...butwhatifyou'verunoutofoptions?
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

21. Stayuserfocused
What'sgoodforyourusersis
goodforthebusiness
Settherightpriorities
Determinewhat'simportant,
andmostimportantly,what
isn't
Evangelizeyour
roadmap
Radicalinclusivityand
removingyourselffromthe
equation
Protectyourteam
Avoidderailmentswhile
funnelingusefulfeedback
Whatwe'lllearntoday
☑ ☑ ☑
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

22. You'rethefirstlineofdefense.
The buck stops with you!
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

23. "Youhavetorepeatthevision.
Youhavetorepeatthemission.
Youhavetorepeatthe
strategies,objectives,yourpriorities..."
ExecutiveChairman,
LinkedIn
Jeff
Weiner
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

24. Whatareyouworkingon,andwhy?
• Roadmapreviews
• Usercohorts
• 1:1s
• Retrospectives
• All-hands
• Demoday
• OKRstostarteverymeeting
Everyoneoftheseisanopportunitytoalign!
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

25. "Takeadeepbreath.
It'snotSh*t.
It'stheenergyandchaosandspiritofPeopleDoing
whattheyHonestlyBelieveistheBestThingThey
CouldBeDoing..."
Author,
TheMakingofaManager
Julie
Zhou
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

26. Stayuserfocused
What'sgoodforyourusersis
goodforthebusiness
Settherightpriorities
Determinewhat'simportant,
andmostimportantly,what
isn't
Evangelizeyour
roadmap
Radicalinclusivityand
removingyourselffromthe
equation
Protectyourteam
Avoidderailmentswhile
funnelingusefulfeedback
Torecap,welearnedhowto:
☑ ☑ ☑ ☑
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

27. 💬I'dloveyourfeedback!cassidyfein.com/gettono
🖼Youcanfindacopyofthisdecktheretoo
Thanks!
DirectorofProduct,Vimeo
Instructor,MindtheProduct
Cassidy
Fein
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

28. Sources&Resources
PreventingtheExecutiveSwoopandPoop
JaredM.Spool
https://medium.com/@jmspool/preventing-the-executive-swoop-
and-poop-with-design-sprints-c01545490f76
20ProductPrioritizationTechniques:AMap
FoldingBurritos/Carer.pm
https://foldingburritos.com/product-prioritization-techniques/
Funnelsvs.Umbrellas
MartyCagan
https://svpg.com/funnels-vs-umbrellas/
TheUseoftheTerm‘Sh*tUmbrella’
JulieZhuo
https://medium.com/the-year-of-the-looking-glass/the-use-of-
the-term-shit-umbrella-70e8e6653157
MyBillionDollarMistake
HitenShah
https://producthabits.com/my-billion-dollar-mistake/
TheDesignSprint
GoogleVentures(GV)
https://www.gv.com/sprint/
NeverMixUpFeatureswithBenefitsEverAgain
SamuelHulick
https://ux.useronboard.com/never-mix-up-features-with-benefits-
ever-again-612115076cc
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com

29. Sources&Resources
KnowYourCustomers’“JobstoBeDone”
ClaytonM.Christensen,TaddyHall,KarenDillon,andDavidS.
Duncan
https://hbr.org/2016/09/know-your-customers-jobs-to-be-done
5Jobs-to-be-DoneExamplestoHelpYouInnovatewith
Confidence
GuerricdeTernay
https://guerric.co.uk/jobs-to-be-done-examples/
WhatisJobstobeDone(JTBD)?
AlanKlement
https://jtbd.info/2-what-is-jobs-to-be-done-jtbd-796b82081cca
Coaching-Ethics
MartyCagan
https://svpg.com/coaching-ethics/
TheManagementFrameworkthatPropelledLinkedIntoa$20Billion
Company
FirstRoundReview
https://firstround.com/review/the-management-framework-that-
propelled-LinkedIn-to-a-20-billion-company/
HowtoGettoNo,©CassidyFein2021,cassidyfein.com