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Welcome to 2025! As we kick off a new year, it’s time for my annual letter.
For the past several years, I’ve used my annual letters to reflect on the past year, share where I intend to focus during the upcoming year, and provide a guide for folks who might be interested in working with us.
I started the year feeling burnt out. I had spent the previous three years writing and promoting my book. I was doing several speaking events and podcast interviews each week. We grew the Product Talk blog to weekly articles. I was recording short-form videos every weekday. And of course, I was still teaching, designing courses, running our community, and managing the business. It was a lot and I was tired.
I was also feeling down about the state of the world: the impact of the pandemic, the layoffs across the tech industry, the political divisiveness in the United States, and around the world.
For the second time in 20 years, I wasn’t particularly motivated to set business goals. I couldn’t get excited about growth. Nothing sounded appealing to me. I was bouncing between far too many things that could come next (a new book, a new course, something completely different). I was swirling.
So I set a simple goal for 2024: to re-find joy in my work. I’m happy to report I have mostly done that. And a little bit more.
I set a simple goal for 2024: to re-find joy in my work. I’m happy to report I have mostly done that. And a little bit more. – Tweet This
Here are some of my 2024 highlights:
I’ve been experimenting relentlessly with how to provide more value on social media while also growing our business. The social media landscape is changing quickly. – Tweet This
As I’ve written about several times in the past, my North Star metric at Product Talk is to increase the number of product teams who adopt continuous discovery. While this is difficult to measure, it’s a strong directional goal that guides everything that I do.
In 2025, I’ll be focusing on two key themes to support this goal: accessibility and genuine connection.
In 2025, I’ll be focusing on two key themes to support my goal of increasing the number of teams who adopt continuous discovery: accessibility and genuine connection. – Tweet This
I could have framed this theme as scale or growth, but I’m struggling with our collective obsession with growth. I’m not trying to build an empire. I simply want to help people who want to work this way. I’m not interested in growth for growth’s sake.
I’m struggling with our collective obsession with growth. I’m not trying to build an empire. I simply want to help people who want to adopt continuous discovery. I’m not interested in growth for growth’s sake. – Tweet This
After wrestling with this for a couple of years, I’ve settled on accessibility as a better framing for this type of work. Here’s why I think this distinction matters: When I frame it as scale or growth, I start to get itchy about having to proselytize. I don’t want to convince people that this is what they should be doing. We all work in a wide variety of environments and continuous discovery isn’t for everyone.
But if instead, I frame it as accessibility, I can focus on the people who already want to work this way and help more of them unlock the ability to do so. That feels much better to me.
As part of this theme, I’ll be focusing on a few initiatives:
More self-paced courses: I resisted self-paced courses for many years, because I was worried about their impact. Too many people purchase self-paced courses, but never complete them. And for the ones who do complete them, they often serve more as edutainment, rather than real learning. But this TED talk helped me reframe self-paced learning. I realized that my objections were simply design constraints that I could work with. So I started to work on a self-paced course framework that was built around deliberate practice, completion rates, and measurable learning objectives.
In the fall of 2024, I launched my first self-paced course: Customer Recruiting for Continuous Discovery. Throughout the year, I’ll be working on offering more self-paced course options, starting with the content from our Continuous Interviewing and Opportunity Mapping courses.
This falls under the accessibility theme for me as it allows people from all over the world to engage with our content, whereas right now, we only reach folks who live in the time zones where we can offer live cohorts. It also allows me to offer courses at a lower price point in a more sustainable way.
Add subtitles to all of our course videos. I’m embarrassed to admit that not all of our course videos have subtitles. But I’m slowly fixing this. I know that generative AI can now do this effectively for free, but the output doesn’t meet my standards. So I’m still relying on real human transcribers. This takes time and money. So I’m tackling this iteratively, course by course.
As of this writing, both Assumption Testing and Customer Recruiting courses have 100% subtitle coverage. My hope is by the end of 2025, we’ll be able to say the same for all of our courses.
Support more learning styles. All of our courses include a mix of videos, articles, live lecture, hands-on practice sessions, and discussion. But we could do a better job of providing the same content in different formats (e.g. the same lesson in video, audio, text, and a checklist takeaway). As I work to offer all of our course content in both live-taught cohorts and self-paced options, I’ll also be creating content that supports more diverse learning styles. I’m also looking into offering Product Talk blog posts in podcast form. I’m hoping this is something I can start offering at some point this year.
Offer our content in more languages. This is a stretch goal for 2025. But I do plan to offer Continuous Discovery Habits in more languages, offer language-specific practice groups in our live-cohort courses, and eventually translate all of our course content into other languages. This is going to be a huge undertaking and my current plan is to roll out one language at a time. For example, if we were to start with Spanish, I’ll release a Spanish translation of the book, offer Spanish practice groups in our live-cohort courses, and do a Spanish translation of our course content, before moving on to the next language. I suspect this will be a multi-year project, but I’d like to at least have a solid plan in place for the first language before the end of the year. If this is something you can help with, please get in touch.
Write more about “Something is better than nothing.” This was a strong theme of my Y Oslo talk and fireside chat and it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot. Too many people assume that if you can’t adopt all of the discovery habits then there’s no benefit to doing any of the habits. But that’s simply not true. I included “habits” in the title of my book for a reason. This way of working is a collection of habits. We can work on one habit at a time. I realize I can do more to help teams and individuals find their first steps.
Too many people assume that if you can’t adopt all of the discovery habits then there’s no benefit to doing any of the habits. But that’s simply not true. – Tweet This
Over the last couple of years as I struggled with burnout, I realized that a big driver of this is the fact that I am bombarded all day with a lot of low-quality interactions. Now, I’m reluctant to use that term because I’m going to get a lot of flak for it. But let me give a couple of examples of what I mean.
Every day when I log in to LinkedIn, I get about two dozen notifications about new comments on my posts. At least half of those new comments are AI-generated comments that simply re-summarize what I wrote. Here’s an example:
On the face of it, these both look like reasonable comments. But these two people comment on everything that I post. The first person always says they are curious about something that is already answered in both the post and the linked article, making it clear they never read either. The second person has experience with everything I post. And her “experience” is always a regurgitated word salad from the article itself.
Notice how they are both coaches. They are doing this to build their brand. But it contributes absolutely nothing to the conversation. Every day, one or two more people pop up who do the same thing. It’s not always easy to tell that these aren’t genuine comments right away. But after a while, I realize they are commenting on everything the exact same way.
This may not seem like a big deal. But it’s exhausting. I want to genuinely engage with the people who want to learn, who have read the content and have real questions, or have something to contribute to the conversation. But to do so, I have to filter out a lot of noise.
I also get several emails, Slack messages, LinkedIn messages, tweets, etc. with what I call lazy questions. Again, some of you might cringe at that term. So let me explain. A lazy question is a question that is impossible to answer either because it’s too broad or it’s missing necessary context.
For example, “How do I find customers to interview?” is a lazy question. There isn’t one answer to this question. It depends on who your customers are, what you’ve tried to do to reach them, what has worked, and what hasn’t.
But people who write lazy questions don’t want to put in the work to provide this necessary context. Oftentimes, it’s because they haven’t tried anything. They haven’t read the introductory resources. They haven’t taken the first step.
Trying to help these people is exhausting. In 2024, I realized I spent way too much time trying to help the wrong people. And so in 2025, I’m going to be much more deliberate about only engaging with people who are doing the work.
Let me give you another example.
Craig and Amanda, two product managers at Convo, are working hard to adopt the discovery habits. They’ve enrolled in several of our Deep Dive courses and they are active participants in our CDH Slack community. They ask questions on a weekly basis. They attend almost all of our community calls and Office Hours sessions and regularly seek input on their work. But they don’t ask lazy questions.
They recently engaged their senior stakeholders to discuss their business outcomes and product outcomes for the upcoming year. They interview customers every week and have shared with the community how they have automated their interviewing process (we even feature them in our Customer Recruiting course). They regularly share their latest assumption tests and ask for feedback on how to interpret their results. You might remember we featured some of their assumption tests in this post.
Here’s what Amanda and Craig do well: They share context. They provide details. They communicate what they’ve tried, what has worked, where they are struggling, and they do the work to enumerate specific questions for the community to weigh in on.
They make it easy and delightful to help them. Engaging with them gives me joy. This is how I want to spend my time.
My genuine connection theme for 2025 is about finding more Amandas and Craigs. I have several ideas for how to do this.
Continue hosting monthly product leader discussion sessions. These conversations have evolved into exactly what I hoped—a safe place for senior leaders to share their real challenges with managing continuous discovery teams. Each month, we dive deep into a single leader’s organizational context. That leader shares their biggest challenge and the rest of the group advises. It’s a lot of fun. If you are a senior leader (think C-level executive, SVP, or VP), you can apply to join the next one here.
Double down on the CDH Slack community and Product Talk Daily. These are two community spaces where I can cultivate deeper connections with product teams who are working the habits. The Slack community allows people to get real-time help with what they are experiencing at work right now. The Product Talk Daily email is an easy way to read and discuss one or two meaningful articles and one short video every day. It’s all about taking tiny steps to get a little better every day. If you haven’t checked out either of these communities, you can learn about our Slack community here and find the latest issues of Product Talk Daily here.
Keep experimenting with how to drive authentic conversation on social media. Even though social media is the primary driver of my burnout, I’m not ready to give up. For every troll or AI-generated comment, I also get amazing feedback, good questions, and insightful comments that I learn from every day. But I am going to continue to experiment with how to do less broadcasting and more conversing. If you’d like to come along for the ride, you can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, and YouTube. I’ve decided to discontinue my Instagram and TikTok channels.
Even though social media is the primary driver of my burnout, I’m not ready to give up. For every troll or AI-generated comment, I also get amazing feedback, good questions, and insightful comments. – Tweet This
At Product Talk, we strive to be the best place to help product teams invest in their product discovery skills. We do this through a combination of speaking engagements, courses (both live cohort-based and self-paced), and coaching.
If you are interested in having me speak at your company, you can learn about my speaking engagements here. Please note, I am no longer traveling for speaking engagements and am only doing virtual events. The economic cost (in lost days to travel), the personal cost (as an introvert this type of travel takes a huge toll on me), and the sustainability cost (it no longer makes sense to fly around the world for a one-hour event) are too much for me to justify doing in-person engagements.
If you are interested in our courses, you can find the full lineup here.
We have recently rebranded our Master Class: Continuous Discovery Habits. It is now our Product Discovery Fundamentals course. This course has always been our introductory course and the course name caused a lot of confusion. If you or your teams are new to discovery, this is the course for you.
If, on the other hand, you’ve read the book and are already starting to put some of the habits into place, our Deep Dive courses are a better fit. These courses are designed to build skill quickly in a single habit.
We offer all of our courses in two formats:
1) public cohorts are open to the public and are offered throughout the year.
2) corporate cohorts are private to a single company and can be scheduled on days/times that work best for your team.
If you are interested in a private cohort of any of our courses, get in touch.
For larger organizations, we are also working on a “train the trainers” program to help you scale our training across your organization.
If you are interested in coaching, we offer both product trio coaching and organization-wide group coaching options. However, due to demand, we limit our coaching to alumni of our course programs. Our courses are a more effective way to teach the basics and allow us to go much deeper in coaching. So if you are interested in coaching, please start with our courses.
Due to high demand and limited working hours, we don’t offer bespoke consulting or trainings other than our listed courses.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to our paths crossing in 2025!
The post Let’s Connect in 2025: A Look at the Year Ahead appeared first on Product Talk.
Product Unplugged is a virtual video interview series that goes behind the scenes of product innovation. Each episode features an in-depth case study of a product or feature launch, told by the people who built it. Hosted by Mike Belsito, this series explores the entire journey—from the early spark of an idea to overcoming roadblocks Read more »
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Product Unplugged is a virtual video interview series that goes behind the scenes of product innovation. Each episode features an in-depth case study of a product or feature launch, told by the people who built it. Hosted by Mike Belsito, this series explores the entire journey—from the early spark of an idea to overcoming roadblocks Read more »
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Product Unplugged is a virtual video interview series that goes behind the scenes of product innovation. Each episode features an in-depth case study of a product or feature launch, told by the people who built it. Hosted by Mike Belsito, this series explores the entire journey—from the early spark of an idea to overcoming roadblocks Read more »
The post Product Unplugged – Episode 1 with Thor Mitchell appeared first on Mind the Product.
As a product manager or leader, your ability to manage stakeholder relationships is as critical as your strategy and execution skills. In fact, those relationships have a real chance to make or break a project whether it’s a new product launch, product strategy planning process, or any other project your product team is working on. Read more »
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In our latest podcast episode on The Product Experience, Glenn Block, Founder and CEO of ProdSense, discusses the concept of product equity. He emphasizes the importance of creating fair and equitable products in the tech industry, especially amid advances in AI. He shares his journey from a software developer to a product leader and the Read more »
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The product mindset is often seen as the secret sauce behind great software and innovative gadgets, but its potential reaches far beyond the world of products. It’s a way of thinking that can transform how we approach challenges in our daily lives. By focusing on understanding real needs, prioritizing effectively, and iterating on solutions, we can use this mindset to navigate everything from personal growth to community improvement.
Understanding the Real Problem
At the core of the product mindset is uncovering the real problem. Instead of reacting to surface-level issues, we dig deeper to find the root cause. For example, consider your morning routine. If it leaves you rushed and stressed, the problem might not be a lack of time but an ineffective structure—like tackling tasks in the wrong order or not preparing in advance. By identifying the true issue, you can start designing a better solution.
Similarly, in relationships, arguments often stem from misunderstandings. Applying a product mindset means listening actively and asking, “What’s really causing this tension?” Maybe it’s unmet expectations or a lack of quality time. Identifying the deeper issue allows for more meaningful resolutions.
Prioritizing What Matters Most
In product management, we prioritize features that deliver the most value. In life, this means focusing our energy on what truly matters. Ask yourself: What’s the one change that could make the biggest impact right now? Perhaps it’s dedicating more time to your family, setting boundaries for work, or addressing a long-overdue health concern. By narrowing your focus to high-impact areas, you create momentum and meaningful progress.
For example, consider someone aiming to improve their health. Instead of overhauling their diet and fitness routines simultaneously, they might prioritize one actionable step—like walking 20 minutes a day. This small, focused effort builds confidence and encourages further improvements over time.
Iterating Toward Better Solutions
No solution is perfect on the first try—and that’s okay. Iteration is about experimenting, learning, and improving. A community aiming to boost park engagement might begin with a simple event like a picnic. Feedback from attendees could reveal additional needs, such as shaded seating or better signage. Similarly, a neighborhood addressing food insecurity might start with a pilot program for community fridges. Initial feedback might highlight gaps in accessibility or replenishment timing. Using this input, organizers can refine their processes—such as partnering with local businesses for donations or implementing a scheduling system—to make the initiative more impactful and sustainable.
Aligning Reflection with Action
Reflection is the first step toward action in the product mindset. Begin by identifying what truly matters to you and turning those insights into practical steps. For instance, if fostering connections is important, you might start by dedicating time to reconnecting with a specific friend or family member. Small, deliberate actions—like sending a thoughtful message or scheduling a quick call—can build momentum. If personal growth excites you, dedicate part of your day to reading or practicing a skill you’ve always wanted to learn.
Progress doesn’t require giant leaps—it thrives on small, deliberate actions. What does progress look like today? It might mean tackling a task you’ve been avoiding, experimenting with a new routine, or adjusting how you allocate your time. Any of these could serve as a personal experiment in prioritization and iteration. Progress doesn’t require giant leaps—it thrives on consistent, small steps aligned with your values, creating a foundation for meaningful growth.
Reflection and iteration often go hand in hand. For example, a team leader aiming to improve collaboration might identify key pain points like unclear communication or uneven workload distribution. By testing changes—such as establishing daily check-ins or implementing improved workflow tools—they can measure outcomes, adjust strategies, and refine their approach. These deliberate refinements build trust, enhance team dynamics, and create sustainable progress.
Turning Ideas Into Action
Success is personal, but it thrives on actionable steps. The product mindset turns ideas into meaningful progress by encouraging experimentation and learning. For example, if you’re aiming to improve time management, you might try time-blocking or prioritizing tasks based on energy levels. Reflect on what works, adapt, and iterate. Each attempt, whether successful or not, offers valuable insights to guide your next step.
Building momentum starts with small, achievable wins. Reorganizing a cluttered workspace, dedicating 15 minutes to learning a new skill, or reaching out to someone in your network can generate the confidence to keep moving forward. As you build momentum, you may notice your progress inspiring those around you. Transparency and openness about your journey invite collaboration and encourage others to approach their challenges with a product mindset.
Expanding Your Impact
Personal growth doesn’t happen in isolation—it naturally influences those around you. For example, a parent experimenting with new ways to streamline a family’s morning routine might inspire neighbors to adopt similar strategies, fostering a culture of shared tips and solutions. A manager simplifying their time management might inspire their team to adopt similar strategies, like time-blocking or prioritizing tasks. Similarly, a community member piloting an initiative for local cleanups might encourage others to participate, creating a ripple effect that builds a more engaged and supportive neighborhood. These examples show how even small, individual changes can spark collective improvement.
Bridging Personal and Professional Growth
As you embrace the product mindset, the habits you cultivate in your personal life naturally influence your professional interactions. Reflecting on challenges, experimenting with solutions, and iterating on your approach builds resilience and adaptability—skills that are invaluable in the workplace. For example, refining how you manage your time at home might lead to improved productivity at work, or enhancing communication in personal relationships could make you a more empathetic leader.
When you share how you reflect, adapt, and improve, you inspire colleagues and teams to adopt similar approaches. Sharing your growth journey creates trust, fosters collaboration, and helps build an environment where innovation thrives. Ultimately, personal growth fuels professional influence, proving that every small improvement you make contributes to a culture of continuous improvement that benefits everyone.
A Journey We Share
Your life is the most important project you’ll ever design, and the product mindset provides a powerful foundation for continuous improvement. By focusing on real problems, taking small, actionable steps, and iterating on your approach, you can turn challenges into opportunities for growth.
The impact of the product mindset doesn’t end with you—it creates ripples that inspire those around you. A parent streamlining their family’s daily routine might inspire others in their community to adopt similar practices, like shared carpooling or coordinated meal prep. Every time you share your progress, collaborate with others, or commit to making things better, you contribute to a culture of innovation and collective progress. The beauty of this mindset lies in its simplicity: small steps lead to meaningful change, and meaningful change motivates others to take action.
For leaders, this mindset is especially transformative. By modeling curiosity, iteration, and collaboration, leaders empower their teams to tackle challenges with creativity and purpose. Whether solving personal challenges, strengthening professional relationships, or driving community initiatives, every small action builds momentum. Sharing progress fosters a culture of innovation that uplifts everyone.
So, here’s the challenge: Pick one area of your life or community to improve this week. Reflect on the real problem, take a small step to address it, and share what you learn with someone else.
The question is simple: What could be better? The call to action is clear: Let’s make it better. Start today, and see how far the mindset of progress can take you—and those around you.
This article is the second in a four-part series exploring how the product mindset can transform our work, communities, and personal lives. Stay tuned for Article 3: The Ripple Effect of Asking Better Questions, coming next week. If you’d like full access to the entire series today, join us on Patreon for just $5/month to unlock all four articles, plus exclusive insights, strategies, and real-world case studies to elevate your product management skills: https://patreon.com/TheProductWay.
The product model is all about helping companies successfully respond to the best new opportunities, and to the most serious threats. The pandemic was a very visible test of which companies had the skills necessary to respond to major challenges and opportunities. In the new book TRANSFORMED we highlighted several companies that had recently transformed...
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Learn strategies to overcome operational overload, delegate effectively, and refocus on strategic goals for greater productivity and team success. Read more »
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