Author: Charles Du

I’ve worked with many Product Managers in my career. Most were average, some were good, few were Rockstars. Here are the 3 qualities that separated a Rockstar Product Manager from the rest:  Product Vision Ability to Execute Leadership Product Vision Rockstar product managers can spot a product opportunity in a crowded market like a climber…

Facebook released some insane usage numbers yesterday. More than half the world’s internet users are now on Facebook. So how did Facebook outgrow other social networks like MySpace and Friendster? What is the guiding compass that Mark Zuckerberg uses to confidently make sweeping, counter intuitive product decisions? How does Facebook decide which features and products to focus…

These tools will help you design better products. Most of them have free trial versions. Some tools are great for small teams (less than 10). Some tools are great for large teams (over 50). The list is organized by when they’re used in the product lifecycle (from ideation to launch). Tools for Leading Brainstorming Sessions: Popplet – This is…

There’s an intense scene in the upcoming movie “Steve Jobs.” The scene shows Steve Wozniak asking Steve Jobs a question. “What do you do? You’re not an engineer, you’re not a programmer, you can’t design anything. What do you actually do?” -Steve Wozniak in the upcoming movie Steve Jobs Woz didn’t understand the value that…

A great product will grow it’s own ecosystem. In it’s own ecosystem, it will find purpose (self-actualize) and thrive. In each ecosystem, there are ecological features help keep the system thriving. These features help acquire new users, keep current users engaged, and minimize losing users to competing ecosystems. These features may be tools, transaction systems, reference documents.…

Understanding this framework will help you design better products. I often think of Product Management as giving birth to a new life form. You want to equip the life form with the right features to thrive in an ecosystem. How do you know what the right features are? How do you know when is the…