Product Management Confabulation

The job search process is often unpredictable. How long will it take to hear back from a company? What questions will they ask you during your interview? Will you even enjoy working there?

While it’s not possible to remove all the uncertainty and ambiguity from the job search, Teeba Alkhudairi found a few ways to manage it. A big part of Teeba’s process involved putting her product skills to use throughout the job search, both in terms of identifying product-led companies and in terms of mapping out business and product outcomes for companies where she was interviewing. These are skills, by the way, that Teeba learned in the Product Talk Academy Master Class.

We caught up with Teeba to learn more about how she mapped out a product’s revenue model and then used that to derive the product’s outcomes and how she used this knowledge to inform her job interviews and ultimately land a new job.

Meet the Continuous Discovery Champion, Teeba

Teeba’s career so far has included four years in non-product roles, four years as a business owner, and four years working in fintech/banking product roles.

Teeba recently joined Lightspeed Commerce as a Senior Product Manager. But our story today is focused on the work that Teeba did before she started her current role. Teeba shared how she applied continuous discovery ideas and frameworks to her job search.

Why did she take this approach? “I’ve always been fascinated by the discovery aspect of product management,” says Teeba. “I soon noticed that while many companies have embraced agile execution, fewer have adopted a truly continuous approach to product discovery. It’s often more common to see project-based user research rather than an ongoing, iterative discovery process.”

I’ve always been fascinated by the discovery aspect of product management. While many companies have embraced agile execution, fewer have adopted a truly continuous approach to product discovery. – Tweet This

Teeba liked how Teresa focuses on continuous discovery, and she learned about the opportunity solution tree at a conference. “I realized that sometimes we engage in discovery without having a clear product outcome in mind, and when that happens, we end up going around in circles or wasting time on research that doesn’t address a meaningful problem,” she says.

I realized that sometimes we engage in discovery without having a clear product outcome in mind, and when that happens, we end up going around in circles. – Tweet This

But at other times, Teeba says it feels like business outcomes are very broad and hard to measure. She adds, “Ironically, when we focus on business outcomes as North Star metrics, like retention, we can overlook the many product outcomes that could drive those goals. Instead, we often zero in on the most obvious product outcomes, which can be limiting. Alternatively, we risk being too broad in our discovery, missing the opportunities that can truly move the needle. Lastly, I appreciate that product outcomes are within the control of the product team, unlike business outcomes, which often span multiple functions.”

Coming to these realizations led Teeba to sign up for the Continuous Discovery Master Class to gain clarity and focus. In this class, one of the skills Teeba learned was how to identify a product’s revenue model, make an educated guess about its business outcomes, and map product outcomes to these business outcomes.

Applying Continuous Discovery Concepts to the Job Search

When it was time for Teeba to look for her next role, she decided that it was important to identify candidate/market fit. “I quickly realized that what is most important to me is a company that has product-led thinking,” says Teeba. 

Once she’d decided that this was a priority, Teeba went through a few steps:

• She wrote a short introduction clarifying that she was looking for “a senior PM role focused on product-led growth with continuous discovery and experimentation.” While she had some preferences in terms of company size and the type of problem she’d be solving, product-led growth (and thinking) was non-negotiable.
• She realized that the best way to learn about a company was to put herself in the CPO’s shoes and try to understand which product outcomes or metrics they would care about. “If I had more clarity on the details of the role or team, I would focus on that part of the business and the outcomes my hiring manager would prioritize,” says Teeba.
• During interviews, Teeba followed the CARL (Context, Action, Result, Learning) method to answer behavioral questions like, “Tell me about the most complex project you’ve ever owned.” She explains, “I started by clearly defining the business outcomes quantitatively in the context. In the action phase, I demonstrated how I aligned the product outcomes, identified opportunities, and proposed solutions accordingly. Finally in the results phase, I presented the business and product outcomes delivered quantitatively.”
• And later, after going through a few interviews, she realized that—given the types of questions and case studies that she was often asked about in interviews—starting with business outcomes, then product outcomes, opportunities, and solutions was the best way to approach almost any type of question she was asked. And luckily, she’d had the chance to start mapping out business and product outcomes in the Master Class, so this was a skill she had already started building.

Teeba says that once she got an interview, she started thinking about mapping out the business outcomes and product outcomes. After each interview, she would get more nuggets to refine the tree accordingly and focus on the product outcomes she would be helping with.

If she had time, she would ask the recruiter: “What outcome is the business focusing on?” or “What challenges does the product leader/hiring manager want to solve?” Sometimes recruiters would have the answer and sometimes they would refer Teeba to the hiring manager.

Next time you’re interviewing for a job, try asking the recruiter, ‘What outcome is the business focusing on?’ or ‘What challenges does the product leader/hiring manager want to solve?’ – Tweet This

In conversations with hiring managers, Teeba would ask: “What is your product vision, and what product outcomes are you driving?” and “How many team members are there, and what product outcome is each one driving?”

“Generally, it worked really well for me,” says Teeba. “Actually, even when I got rejections, it was due to mismatch in industry, company stage, etc. I was always highly complimented for my product thinking.”

She had found a way to both stand out in the job search and identify potential employers that were likely to be a good fit. In addition, it actually made the job search fun for her since she enjoys the practice of product.

A Closer Look at Teeba’s Process for Defining Outcomes

What exactly did Teeba do? Let’s take a closer look at a few specific examples of how she defined outcomes for the companies she was interviewing with.

Example 1: A B2C tax software platform

One company Teeba interviewed with was a B2C tax software platform.

She started by focusing on revenue and identified three drivers:

1. Increasing the number of paid customers
2. How much each customer spends yearly (since tax happens annually)
3. How long someone is a customer for (lifetime value/retention)

For each of the three business outcomes, Teeba broke it down into product outcomes (human behavior) that could impact those business outcomes. “Here, I really thought about how the different elements of the products can contribute to the revenue of the business,” says Teeba. “For example, the yearly spend does not only include subscriptions and their upgrades, but also the take rate (commission fee).”

After that, Teeba broke the parent product outcomes into smaller child product outcomes. This is a bigger company and has multiple product teams who can each own more focused product outcomes. “I made sure to think about both the end customer experience and the tax expert experience,” says Teeba. “One thing I really appreciated is the emphasis on thinking about engagement and satisfaction together as there is no point in increasing engagement without increasing or at least maintaining satisfaction at a certain level.”

There is no point in increasing engagement without increasing or at least maintaining satisfaction at a certain level. – Tweet This

The screenshot below shows how Teeba mapped out these business and product outcomes.

Example 2:  An accounting software platform

Drilling down to the idea of increasing engagement and satisfaction in tandem, Teeba shared another tree she created for an accounting software platform. This one focuses on customer support within the platform.

In this case, one of the parent product outcomes is “increasing engagement along with satisfaction.” Under that, we can see that a good outcome is increasing the percentage of work that happens in the platform vs. just focusing on daily active users (DAU). Teeba explains, “This shifts the focus from simply ensuring users log in daily to enabling them to complete tasks seamlessly within the platform, aligning with their natural workflow. It’s about moving the jobs they need to do from outside the platform to within it, ensuring they accomplish what they set out to do rather than just driving logins.”

Moving further down the tree, Teeba wanted a sub outcome to be “increasing the percentage of customers who are satisfied with their understanding of their accounting/cash flow.” While it is important to measure the percentage of customers who have a reduction in their cash flow dips, it is also important to measure the understanding that this happens through the platform (and not somewhere else). This understanding can be measured through their satisfaction, and also through the percentage of search starts that lead to success (and not the number of searches, which would be a traction metric and not a good outcome to measure, since it can be misleading).

Example 3: A platform for buying houses and taking out mortgages

Finally, as Teeba became more comfortable building these trees, she found herself starting interviews with thought-provoking questions. For example, in an interview with a CPO, Teeba asked, “What metrics are on your mind or keep you up at night?” She says, “I already knew the answer from speaking to the hiring manager, understanding the business model and shift in priorities, and mapping out the revenue formula and outcomes (shown below).”

“Because of that preparation,” continues Teeba, “I was able to talk about what sub product outcomes I believed would have an influence on that high-level business metric (retention) that was top of mind for him. Moreover, at the end of the interview, he asked me what pain points I believe the customer segment would have. Again, because I knew what their focus outcome (retention) was, I was able to easily list a few opportunities the company could explore that would drive that specific outcome, and believe would be of high importance and satisfaction for the user.”

The Impact of Using Revenue Model Formulas in the Job Search

Reflecting on how this approach impacted her job search, Teeba says, “As I was getting better at revenue formulas, my conversations shifted from feeling like traditional interviews, to more authentic, curiosity-driven discussions. I found myself empathizing with the interviewer, putting myself in their shoes to better understand their goals and challenges. This shift allowed me to develop compassion and focus on how I could genuinely help them succeed, which reinforced my confidence in my ability to contribute meaningfully.” 

As I was getting better at revenue formulas, my conversations shifted from feeling like traditional interviews, to more authentic, curiosity-driven discussions. – Tweet This

Teeba says she felt like she could have magnetic confidence as opposed to grasping confidence. She referred to a quote by author and mindfulness coach Cory Muscara who writes, “Real confidence looks like humility. You no longer feel the need to advertise your value because it comes from a place that does not require the validation of others.” In Teeba’s case, she began to feel more relaxed and open to receiving what was being asked of her.

But the results didn’t just come across in terms of Teeba’s mindset—she also saw changes in the responses she received from hiring managers. “Every hiring manager was impressed and complimented my product thinking,” says Teeba. In one interview, a hiring manager asked Teeba, “If you were the CPO of company X, which metrics would you care about?” And while she was only expecting to be asked behavioral questions in that interview, Teeba says she still managed to respond very well in that situation.

“In the end, I believe this practice had a strong contribution to me getting a job as my last take-home case study was completely organized and presented using the continuous discovery method end to end,” says Teeba.

Key Learnings and Takeaways

Teeba says that her key learning from this process is clear: “I sharpened my product thinking. I learned how to truly put my CPO hat on and think not only of the customer but the business.” She also shared a few takeaways to keep in mind if you’re thinking of taking a similar approach to your own job search.

Remember to think both in terms of business and product outcomes.

“At the end of the day, these are all businesses, and so clearly articulating how a human behavior (product outcome) connects to the bottom line (business outcomes) is truly powerful,” says Teeba. “I am a big advocate for the customer (naturally) and now I have become able to truly tie that to business outcomes clearly (and not just theoretically).”

Teeba notes that product managers are always striving to advocate for the customer and be their voice. Many believe the only way to do this is through a constant push and pull with the business. “However, with this approach, you can clearly connect customer pain points to product outcomes that also drive business results. This way, you can advocate for both the business and the customer—it’s a win-win!”

When you clearly connect customer pain points to product outcomes that also drive business results, you can advocate for both the business and the customer—it’s a win-win! – Tweet This

It takes time and several iterations to build this skill.

Having gone through the process several times, Teeba says, “I became much better at it, and it became more innate. I became more confident and more secure in how I present myself.” So if you struggle to go through this exercise at first, don’t get discouraged. It will get easier over time!

It can be helpful to share your findings, even when you don’t end up getting the job.

Teeba started sending the trees to hiring managers even after she was rejected or chose not to move forward with a role, and she still got great feedback on them. You might want to try doing something similar and treat it like a learning opportunity. The feedback you get from one hiring manager or product leader can help shape your thinking and your ability to speak in terms that resonate with the people who are considering hiring you.

Interested in developing your own revenue modeling skills? You’ll get hands-on practice with live instructor support in the Product Talk Master Class. Come join us!

The post Product in Practice: Mapping Business and Product Outcomes to Stand Out in the Job Search appeared first on Product Talk.

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Product in Practice: Mapping Business and Product Outcomes to Stand Out in the Job Search was first posted on November 6, 2024 at 6:00 am.
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