Main Takeaways: - Why it's important to track your product journey. - How you can improve as you go. - What you could be doing better.

1. The Six Product Lessons I Learned
the Hard Way by fmr eBay Sr PM
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6. Alexandra Tigan
The Six Product Lessons I Learned The Hard Way

7. A bit about me
Sr Product Manager
eBay, London
Consulting Product Roles
Condé Nast, etc., London
Sr Product Manager
The Royal Mail Group, London
Product Graduate, Owner and then
Manager
OVO Energy, London
Education
University of Oxford (UK)
Durham University (UK)

8. Disclaimer
The lessons and stories in this presentation are my own and
they do not represent the opinions of any organisation I
have been affiliated with.

9. Agenda
1. A little
knowledge is
a dangerous
thing
User
experience
Physical
Computing
HTML,
CSS,JS
2.The
title
doesn’t
make the
job
4.Perfect
is the
enemy of
good
enough
1. One
step at a
time is
good
walking
3.Lies,
damned lies
and
statistics
5.The
strength
of the
team is in
each
member
6.A
rolling
stone
gathers
no moss
What we call the
beginning is often
the end. And to make
an end is to make a
beginning. The end is
where we start from.
T.S. Eliot

10. Here we go...

11. Lesson 1
One step at a time is good walking

12. 1. One step at a time is good walking
Livin’ la dolce vita
Has this always been this
hard?!
This is starting to
make sense
I chose this not because
it’s easy. I chose it
because it’s hard
*quote by Lao Tzu

13. 1. One step at a time is
good walking
Tech
People
Design
Business
Product Process
*quote by Lao Tzu
❏ Theoretical product
knowledge is useful.
Practice is essential
❏ A good product manager is
a person with strong
multidisciplinary skills
❏ Genuine product manager
positions don’t tend to
be the typical 9-5 jobs
❏ There are no ‘best’ paths
into product
Created with Picsart
Created with Picsart

14. Lesson 2
The title doesn’t make the job

15. 2. The title doesn’t
make the job
❏ Real product people
don’t ‘work in IT’ or
‘do project stuff’
❏ Product titles aren’t
an exact science
❏ There’s a fundamental
difference between
Product Owners and
Product Managers
❏ More senior job titles
depend on the company
hierarchy
1

16. Lesson 3
There are three types of lies: lies, damned lies
and statistics

17. 2.There are three kinds
of lies: lies, damned lies
and statistics*
2
3
4

18. 2.There are three kinds
of lies: lies, damned lies
and statistics*
❏ Product without data is
like swimming without a
stroke
❏ Data won’t tell you
what to build
❏ If in doubt, ask your
users BUT you can’t
rely on users telling
you what to do
❏ Users like change a lot
less than they say they
do
*quote by Mark Twain
5

19. Lesson 4
Perfect is the enemy of good enough

20. 4. Perfect is the enemy
of good enough
❏ 95% of new products
fail*
❏ Without good discovery
practices your team is
a feature team
❏ Small increments have
the biggest impact
❏ Don’t fall into the
‘cemetery of features’
trap
*https://www.inc.com/marc-emmer/95-percent-of-new-products-fail-here-are-6-steps-to-make-sure-yours-dont.html
6

21. Lesson 5
The strength of the team is in each member

22. 5. The strength of the
team is in each
member
❏ Product is a team sport
❏ Your superpower is the
ability to influence
without authority
❏ Your ‘immediate’ team
is as important as your
‘extended’ team
❏ Your users are also
part of our team
❏ Don’t underestimate the
importance of
stakeholder mapping
*quote by Phil Jackson
For me there are 1,600 superstars in Mercedes.
But the strength of the team is every single
individual. I cannot drive the car, I am not
able to design an aerodynamic surface but I try
to understand everything about the guy who can
and I try to provide a framework for these
individuals to perform at their best.
Toto Wolff - CEO, Team Principal and co-owner of
the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
7

23. Lesson 6
A rolling stone gathers no moss

24. 6. A rolling stone
gathers no moss
❏ Theoretical product
knowledge, best
practises and
disciplines are
constantly evolving
❏ No two products are the
same
❏ Users’ expectations are
ever changing. Learning
to adapt is a must, not
a nice-to-have
❏ Leadership is a tough
but incredibly
rewarding nut to crack
8

25. Reference
Sources of images used:
1:Personal account on LinkedIn
2:https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband
/speed/
3:https://www.inorthumberland.org.uk/availab
ility-checker/
4:https://www.moneysupermarket.com/broadband
/packages/
5:https://heap.io/resources/webinars/webinar
-how-to-use-data-to-drive-product-decisions
6:https://tenor.com/view/ted-lasso-mvp-gif-1
8590092
7:https://www.linkedin.com/company/mercedes-
amg-petronas-formula-one-team/life/695a8b20-
cde8-4d69-85f2-54506479b352/?scrollTo=photos
8:https://www.linkedin.com/company/mercedes-
amg-petronas-formula-one-team/life/695a8b20-
cde8-4d69-85f2-54506479b352/?scrollTo=photos
9: http://gph.is/2cO3bbq

26. Contact & Feedback
Alexandra Tigan
www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-tigan/
P.s. I love feedback. Really

27. Thank you!

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