About Tamer:

Tamer El-Hawari is the CPO at Project A Ventures and has been with the company for 11 years. He has a background in information systems, studying computer science and business. After founding his own company and gaining valuable experience, Tamer went on to work at Rocket Internet GmbH, where he helped scale up e-commerce companies worldwide. However, he felt that the emphasis on product management and customer centricity was lacking. So, when the opportunity arose to join Project A, Tamer was eager to be part of the journey. Over the past 11 years, he has worked with around 50 different ventures across various industries, and he finds it fascinating to see how these companies operate.

Synopsis:

In this episode of The Technology Leadership Podcast, Tamer discusses product management and leadership. He outlines six key areas to consider when working with early-stage startups, such as problem-solution fit and the competitive landscape, and emphasizes the importance of understanding user needs and motivations. He stresses the importance of having a solid product manager who can focus on user research, strategy, and product development and highlight the challenges of shifting from growth to profitability. To build a successful company, companies must give importance to being close to the customer, having a strong product vision, and the need for caution when adopting methodologies and frameworks.

Key Takeaways:

• To develop a successful value proposition and marketing strategy, it's crucial to understand the user's needs and motivations.
• Tamer's six key areas to consider when working with early-stage companies are: problem-solution fit, customer/user profiles, product capabilities and strategy, competitive landscape, and commercialization approach.
• When starting a company, focus on the problem solution and uniqueness of your product. Conduct user research and customer research to gain a deep understanding of their needs and "jobs to be done". Understand your competition and where your product can make a difference in the market.
• Follow a four-step product management framework: generate insights, give direction, design collaboration, and create the product. Within each step, there are various elements that a product manager needs to get right to be successful.
• Collaboration is essential, as product managers work with a variety of stakeholders and need to design effective communication channels.
• A solid product manager is essential for successful product development, and they should focus on user research and strategy.
• The changing market dynamics and advancements in AI present challenges for product managers.
• Product managers need to be close to the customer and have a strong product vision.
• Going from growth to profitability requires a change in strategy and evaluating the roadmap.
• It's important to focus on solving small problems and cleaning up the product.
• Understanding the underlying principles behind every framework is crucial.

Episode Outline:

[03:08 ] Understanding product venture capital
[05:55 ] How to look at early stage companies and the role of their product managers.
[11:44 ] Understanding customer needs and value propositions.
[14:45 ] Product development: how to start with a problem, figure out the differentiation factor, and carry out product management
[20:15 ] Four main areas for product managers to focus on + how to give direction to product managers.
[22:55 ] The process of creating and integrating a product and solving customer problems.
[25:00 ] How do you create a product strategy?
[29:05 ] The importance of understanding the market and product managers.
[31:21 ] The importance of understanding the underlying business principles.