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From the category archives:

The PM Profession

CRANKY CARTOONS: THE GENERIC PRODUCT MANAGEMENT INTERVIEW (PART 3)

December 2, 2010

 NOW…. the LONG awaited Part 3 of the World’s Most Generic Product Management Interview.  In Video!  In Cartoons!  With monotone voices! WITNESS as the Cranky VP of Product Management asks Clueless PM Job Candidate some lazy-ass interview questions.  Questions she read on some boring product management blog (maybe this one) two minutes before the interview [...]

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Cranky Cartoons: The Generic Product Management Interview (parts 1 & 2)

November 15, 2010

Watch (and groan at) the world’s most generic product management interview.  Observe as the Cranky VP of Product Management interviews an exceedingly typical product manager for a thoroughly generic product management position. Today, you get parts 1 & 2.  The Cranky Product Manager expects that there will be six parts by the time she finishes, [...]

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From the Archives: That “All the Responsibility, None of the Authority” Saying

November 5, 2010

One benefit from posting nearly 200 articles over the years is that republishing an old post gives the Cranky Product Manager the opportunity to laze about in her PJs and eat bon bons while watching the latest episode of Hoarders.   Here’s an oldie (but hopefully a goodie), from November 2006.  (Interesting to see how the writing [...]

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How to Be a Jackass Product Manager in Nine Easy Steps

October 27, 2010

1. Don’t visit customers. If customers want to talk to you, ask that instead they put their list of enhancement requests in an email or a spreadsheet. Take said list and cut/paste it into Bugzilla. Don’t bother to find out WHY the customer wants any of this stuff.  If the Execs pressure you to do [...]

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Sexism in the Software Industry, as Encountered by the Cranky Product Manager

October 18, 2010

Following up on the previous post about the deepening dearth of women in the software industry, here are some incidents of outright sexism that the Cranky Product Manager has encountered in this industry. Admittedly, most of these are pretty mild.  After all, she doesn’t feel she was every denied a promotion or made less salary [...]

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Biz of Software 2010, Women In Software & Frat House “Culture”

October 13, 2010

The Cranky Product Manager had the pleasure of attending Business of Software 2010 last week.  Yes, she was there, but incognito.  It was a fascinating conference, chock full of interesting speakers and lots of learning.  Seth Godin was there.  He’s wicked awesome! The attendees were mostly technical founders of small software companies.  Many were pre-venture [...]

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Why the USP for Every Technical Product Sounds the Same

August 25, 2010

Every time the Cranky Product Manager reads about a new B2B startup or product, she gets a sense of déjà vu. Alas, it’s not a glitch in the Matrix. It’s because pretty much every single product pitch sounds exactly the same.  Watered down, generic, and 100% free of taste.  A grinder is at work at almost [...]

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B-School and the Missing Product

August 17, 2010

The Cranky Product Manager was just thinking back — oh so nostalgically — on her MBA years. Ah yes, what a joy it was to devote herself full-time to the study of BUSINESS…. so different than her undergrad years as an Engineering major at a random institute of technology. No more studying seven days and [...]

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No Excuses Product Management (Part 3): I Have No Market Data

August 12, 2010

Please excuse the Cranky Product Manager with a long overdue post, to continue her “No Excuses Product Management” series. ============= LAME-ASS PRODUCT MANAGEMENT EXCUSE #3: “I have no market data.  I don’t know the market size (or market share, competitor share, market growth, competitor features, or other relevant facts about the market) because there is [...]

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Product Management, Czech Style

June 21, 2010

Ah, Prague.  How fondly the Cranky Product Manager remembers you.  Such a beautiful city. Such wonderful espresso. Such fantastic Czech beer. Plus amazing architecture. *sigh* And even better, Prague is where the Cranky Product Manager first learned the wicked awesome English word defenestration, as in “the defenestration of hotshot engineers is tempting for most product [...]

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