If you're fascinated by the transformative power of Generative AI tools like ChatGPT, then you won't want to miss this discussion! The potential of these new tools is truly staggering, and they promise to revolutionize the way product managers work. However, it's critical that we approach this technology with caution and a deep understanding of the potential risks involved. In this talk, Dan will delve into the potential downsides of AI tools that product managers need to be aware of. From ethical considerations to data privacy concerns, disinformation to discrimination, we'll be exploring all the potential pitfalls that come with this powerful technology. AI has the power to change everything - for better or for worse. So don't miss this crucial opportunity to gain valuable insights from industry experts and make sure you're not caught up in your own personal Black Mirror episode.

Blockchain encourages thinking differently about how we design systems and processes. We'll evaluate a different way of thinking: Event-driven design. A process of using events to trigger actions rather than large complex processes. We don't get (too) technical. This is for anyone who designs systems and processes (not just for coders or technical product managers). We'll explain the basics of blockchain for those who aren't experts (yet). We'll talk about blockchain and how this approach aligns well with a blockchain mindset, but the approach does not require implementing blockchain. When done, though, you may change the way you think about processes just like we did.

When Ted Lasso went from coaching American football to soccer in the UK -- a sport he knew nothing about -- everyone assumed he would fail. But his leadership style took a broken team and turned it into something special. Product leaders can learn a lot from Lasso's style. Leading a strong product design team is a lot like being a good coach. The trouble is -- it isn't easy. In this talk, UX leader Cindy Brummer will explain 8 lessons product leaders can use with their teams for better outcomes. Key Takeaways: List 3 audience takeaways from your proposed session. How to be vulnerable with people you supervise without losing authority. How to encourage your team to critique you in a positive way. Why sometimes you need to lose in order to do the right thing by your team.

This session will aim to provide guidance and insights for individuals who aspire to become successful product managers with little to no experience. As someone who transitioned into tech from a completely different industry, I have first hand knowledge of the challenges, pitfalls, and overall tribulations that a person may face in this position. I will take the audience through the process of acquiring the necessary skills, building a strong foundation, and ultimately, breaking into the industry. The speech is informative and engaging, with practical tips and real-life examples shared to help the audience understand what it takes to succeed as a product manager. Strategies for networking, developing a portfolio, and acing job interviews are discussed, making the speech a valuable resource for anyone looking to start a career as a product manager. I am also releasing a book on the subject.

According to Layoffs.fyi, more than 350,000 employees have been laid off in the past six months, with some sources suggesting the number exceeds 500,000. As of February of last year, job vacancies had decreased by 10%, and salary rates had also seen a significant reduction. The impact of the pandemic on the tech market is evident even without statistical evidence, as LinkedIn is filled with job search posts and profile photos adorned with green "Open to work" badges. Job seekers are facing challenges such as low interview conversion rates, few responses to resumes, and overall difficulty in finding employment in the tech industry. How can individuals avoid burning out during these times and maintain a positive attitude? How should job search strategies change? What options are available for those with little to no savings? And when can we expect this situation to improve?

LEGO, Play-Doh, and Post-Its aren't standard issue gear in the U.S. Army. But the Army Software Factory isn't a standard division. Today's Army emphasizes agile and lean methodologies and human-centered design in developing effective software solutions for the battlefield and beyond - by soldiers, for soldiers. Through our product management and design program, we help these competitive high-achievers internalize the importance of empathy and understanding user needs, the value of prototyping and testing, and the critical role of collaboration and communication in developing successful products. In this session, attendees will learn about the unique challenges and constraints of PM and design in high-stress environments, and how these lessons can be translated to other industries. We'll discuss techniques to help successful professionals and executives to think in new ways about iteration, failures, and deadlines and to maximize the role of collaboration in delivering better business outcomes and more effective solutions.

Let's dive far deeper than "important" skills or tools for a product manager, focusing on flourish-level mastery "how to" do the most sensational stuff. You'll walk away with a greater knowledge of the standard to meet to do more than simply fulfill PM job requirements. Instead. you want to blow people away with how you add value to every stakeholder.

In a hybrid and remote working world, you business network matters more than ever. The relationship you have in your company and industry are your secret weapon to career success. Thom Singer has been speaking about the power of human connections for more than 15 years. In addition to speaking, he is now CEO of the Austin Technology Council. In this role he is working to help people see the value of being engaged in community groups. If you want more opportunities in your career, you cannot sit home and think that your connections in social media will bring you your next job. You have to invest in people. This session will inspire you to start treating people differently.

ChatGPT is a compelling tool for product managers and marketers, and its usefulness will only grow. But, like all ML models, it can confidently lie. Let's see examples that teach us how to spot the signs that GPT is wrong or possibly on digital drugs, in the context of product management. Time permitting, we can try to trap it in fresh lies in real time.

As a B2B Product Manager, you know that talking to users is the key to building successful products. But you are probably tired of useless B2C advice, like ""just park your team at a Starbucks and show them your app."" In B2B, you are trying to reach very specialized people. And every second they spend with you, it's a second they are not tending to their business. Not to mention the challenges of getting around Sales not wanting you to ""talk to their customers."" So, how do you do it? After this session, you'll walk away with proven techniques included in my bestselling book, The B2B Innovator's Map, to find and engage with the right people. Plus, I'll share essential advice for working with Sales and winning their trust. This is a session that no B2B PM should miss!

There are probably more like 200 tips to become a Product Professional! I'll TRY to get that down to 20 for this special session at PCA28!

"Oh yay! Another tool. Now we're using what, 7? Great." If this quote resonates, you'll want to attend this session on cutting through the tool-stack noise and getting straight to what matters: clarity. Together we will walk through the framework and tool scorecard you need to succeed. That is, unless you would like to set up yet another Excel spreadsheet with supporting PowerPoint.

Game Thinking is a product development methodology that combines game design principles with product development processes to create highly engaging and successful products. It focuses on three core elements: 1) Understanding your players. Knowing who your target audience is, what motivates them, and their goals and challenges. 2) Designing for engagement. Creating a product that is not just functional but also enjoyable and rewarding to use. 3) Playtesting your ideas. Test and iterate early in rough form. General Motor's Corporate Innovation Lead, Ian Brand, will share how he has successfully leveraged this methodology, dive into some of its key tactics, and why it is useful to Product Managers and Designers for nearly all product applications.

Tips & tricks to help start, restart or continue your career in the tech world. With tech lay-offs and a huge slew of similar job seekers in the market, how do YOU stand out? We will discuss how to rethink your career strategy and ultimately work for a company you can believe in.

As business environments and market ecosystems grow increasingly complex and unpredictable, product leaders face mounting challenges in decision-making, compounded by relentless time-to-market pressures. In this talk, we'll examine how the Cynefin Framework can equip Product Managers with the ability to make better decisions and enhance product development effectiveness. The Cynefin Framework assists leaders, managers, and decision-makers in navigating the intricacies of various problem-solving and decision-making scenarios, stressing the importance of grasping the context and nature of the situation to select appropriate methods, tools, and leadership styles. Through real-life examples, practical insights, and an engaging hands-on exercise, we'll delve into the Cynefin Framework, illustrating how Product Managers can harness this framework to make sense of the context of challenges they encounter. Product Managers will learn how to adapt their leadership styles, problem-solving methods, and risk management strategies to suit the specific situation, ultimately leading to more effective outcomes.

"Almost every part of global GDP is up for disruption." - Vinod Khosla - Founder + Managing Director - Khosla Ventures Generative AI is real…and here to stay. 1. How should Product Managers be thinking about this wave? 2. What does this mean for our current products? 3. How should we be thinking about our new products? 4. The power of the Persona and revisiting User Problems 5. How do we differentiate and create a mote around our products? Get the insights gained from Silicon Valley's Startup Grind speakers: Tomer Cohen - LinkedIn Chief Product Officer Andrew Reed - Sequoia Andrew Powell - OAK'S LAB Barr Moses - Monte Carlo Steve Loughlin - Accel Christina Cacioppo - Vanta Joanna Lord - Reforge Caryn Marooney - Coatue General Partner Laura Behrens Wu - Shippo CEO Connie Chan - Andreessen Horowitz

Hi, I'm Nick, a senior product leader at Amazon who finds interesting use cases and problems to tackle. In this session, we'll discover how to pitch product strategies effectively, how to quantify opportunities, and build financial models to prove ROI for your product. My goal is to help convince your management team of your product strategy by helping you showcase a clear understanding of the problem you're trying to solve, your target segments, value proposition, competition and channels. Get ready to take your leadership by storm with a compelling product strategy and a solid financial model to back it up!

As AI technologies rapidly advance, it is imperative for product managers to understand and leverage AI in their product development processes. Join me to discover the role of AI in product innovation and introduction to "AI-First" approach in design thinking and launching AI-driven products. Discover how AI can be integrated into the entire process, from ideation to validation and iteration. Gain insights on the potential impact of AI on creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making in product development. Get practical examples and case studies showcasing the use of AI in design thinking across industries and business outcomes. Understand the opportunities such as improved product performance, as well as challenges related to data privacy, ethical considerations, and skills gap. Leave with actionable insights and real-world tips for effectively integrating AI in design thinking, and be prepared for an engaging and informative session on harnessing the power of AI in product innovation.

18 months ago, I had to learn how to walk again. The first time was only 10 feet. Then 20, then 30, and eventually 70 feet before I left the hospital. It was hard, but it forced me to view the world through a new lens. Now Google is making everyone learn how to walk again with Google Analytics 4. As it's forced me to look through a new lens, I've discovered amazing powers hidden in GA4. Walk this journey with me. You'll gaze through the GA4 lens of events. Come close. Look and you'll see growth gears churning out insights that will drive your business to new heights.

Negotiation is part of every product manager's life. We'll discuss how to approach interactions with team(s), stakeholders, leadership, and even third parties, through this lens, using both our own experiences and applying some tips from the leading books on the topic of negotiation. You'll come away from this session with some actionable tactics for better listening, using the leverage that only a product person has, asking the right calibrated questions, and compelling others to internalize the PM perspective and thereby empathize with product decisions.

Product Management takes so many forms from more project management, to product owner, to 'theoretical' product manager. This talk explores how to forge the path that helps you develop professionally in the direction you want to. There's no theoretical non-sensical not helpful advice, this talk gives practical advice you can take away and enact on day one.

Considering taking on a leadership role in your product organization? Seen successful product managers transition into not-so-successful people leaders? In this session we'll discuss: - the major differences between being a product manager and managing product managers - key skills sets which will set you up for success in a people leadership role - how to develop these skill sets while you're in an individual contributor role I'll share first-hand experiences from my first year leading PMs and what I wished I'd known a year ago.

Product-Led Growth is a go-to-market strategy that relies on using your product as the main vehicle to acquire, activate, and retain customers. - Open View Partners Our most beloved brands are PLG. PLG forces B2B brands to hear their customer rather than relying on assumptions & intuition of what the client needs. In this session learn about building a village around creating a PLG motion anchored in trust.

The City of Austin is at a cross roads. "Austin 4.0" has been driven by technology startups and investment theses for the last 10 years, yet its clear with the looming downturn, layoffs, financial uncertainty, rising disruptive technology to white collar jobs, and rising costs, Austin is at a crossroads in figuring who it will be in the new world that is coming. As much as any startup or team member needing to find itself in this new reality, its time to chart next steps, and the "product community" has a place to play in this. What's the history that got us here, and where will we choose to go? In this talk, Kevin Koym, long-term OG of the entrepreneurial ecosystem will chart some of the history, and suggest a vision for the future, but most importantly, to know what you think we should create our city to be.

Align business partners, users, product, engineering, data, support, and ops team members using a simple business process framework and operational maturity model. Improve understanding and execution in current state, identify areas for product improvements, and show how product improvements drive business metrics. Outcomes of using this model: * align operational goals and metrics * increase efficiency and quality of business processes * improve product feature launches and market expansions * decrease issues and identify and resolve them quickly when they do occur * ensure disaster readiness You're in the target audience if you: * manage products used by internal customers (CS, Sales, etc.) * work on GTM readiness and enablement * want to learn more about process management

We're told to be data driven and to experiment more to improve our product experiences, but we can become quickly overwhelmed with so many ideas and experiments that we can't see a clear path forward. How do we decide? Teresa Torres created the Opportunity Solution Tree to help product managers effectively guide their continuous discovery work. When used properly, it'll reward you with more productive and efficient discovery efforts that will feed your product delivery with new features and capabilities that truly drive success. In this session, we'll show you how to most effectively navigate the Opportunity Solution Tree to achieve greater product success for your customers and organization.

Sales skills are not just for salespeople. Anyone can gain from learning and using sales skills at work, no matter what they do for a living. At its core, sales is about knowing what people want and finding ways to give them what they want in a way that works for both parties. You can use these strategies at work and in life. Developing these skills will assist you in getting better results in the long run. We'll discuss how to build trust, find out what people need, and find different ways to gain agreement and arrive at a resolution. It involves understanding others' positions as well as your own.  Knowing what people want and finding ways to give it to them can build better relationships, get better results, and provide more life satisfaction - for you and those you collaborate with.

Growing pains will be all too familiar for many PMs as they experience hypergrowth that often can derail previous effective tactics and team structures. Explore some essential tactics and strategies you can employ today to prevent your team from burning out (or breaking down) when experiencing hypergrowth.

If your career was your product, how would you manage it? There's a lot to learn and many choices to make as you advance in your product career. Why not borrow what works from agile methodology and product best practices when charting your career roadmap? In the session we'll explore how you can use product concepts to drive your career and skill development. -Product vision, Product market fit -Strategic thinking models for key decisions -Building a team -Getting user and stakeholder feedback -Planning your roadmap for capacity -MVP and iteration, adapt and improve -Handling blockers, risks and dependencies We'll also look at some practical avenues for getting the training you need, look at certifications that might make a difference, and relationships worth cultivating.