The Chief Excellence Officer™️ Academy

I teach and coach frontline managers to how to build an operating system that transforms strategy into excellence through their team.


ACCOMPLISHMENTS
---

1
―
Invented the OKR Quality Matrix, a tool used by managers in hundreds of companies to craft OKRs that measure what really matters.

2
―
Invented the OKR Activation Canvas, a tool used by managers in hundreds of companies to create operational clarity and link it to the strategic clarity brought by OKRs.

3
―
Creator of the following online programs:

• Questexcellence: The OKR Accelerator for Managers.
• Zero⭕️ → 🟢OKR Playbook for Managers

4
―
Author of "How to Activate OKRs - The 3 Step Uplift Protocol That Determines OKRs That Get Accomplished From Those That Languish"

Founder

AFRINIC

Scale and integrate AFRINIC's training offerings into a capacity development and professional services program from strategy development to execution and quality control.


ACCOMPLISHMENTS
---

1
―
Built afrinic.academy, a bilingual e-learning platform used by 4700+ engineers from over 80 countries with a median course Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 47 by developing all the required skills in-house, saving the company $250,000/annum.

2
―
Designed & launched the company's cohort-based course (“Zero to IPv6 Certified in 21 days”), which has received a median NPs of 57 from 2500+ engineers from 61 countries by implementing Agile Instructional Design.

3
―
Invented the Deployathon, which helps 150+ network operators to achieve 400+ IPv6 & RPKI deployment milestones yearly.


4
―
Launched certi6.io, the only bilingual IPv6 Forum Gold Certified certification with a 3-person team by implementing 4DX (the 4 Disciplines of Execution) creating a 500-question bank covering all 6 Bloom levels within 1 year.

5
―
Built my team into the company’s model for operational excellence by implementing 11 ISO 9001:2015-certified processes to a median maturity level of 7 on a 10-point scale.

6
―
Drove adoption of OKRs as the company's strategy execution framework across 80% of teams by facilitating a 5-day leadership retreat.

7
―
Designed the U-Connect partnership program and onboarded 17 universities in 3 countries to train 250 post-graduate students.

8
―
Earned an induction into the global IPv6 Forum Hall of Fame as an evangelist by training and advocacy of 7000+ engineers in 70+ countries.

Head of Capacity Building

Research, design and develop training courses to promote next generation (IPv6) Internet technology development in Africa. Targeting network engineers, governments and business executives.


ACCOMPLISHMENTS


1
―
Created the IPv6 Forum Certified Systems Engineer program by analysing gaps in the current certification offerings with respect to systems engineer’s job requirements. 

2
―
Developed a program which trained at least 600 engineers across 16 countries with a median NPS of 70 each year by designing curricula, building a team and standardising processes.

3
―
Grew demand 550% and participants’ satisfaction 60%(from 2010 levels) through systematic analysis and implementation of workshop feedback in key areas of trainers’ delivery, content and event logistics. 

4
―
Designed a testbed that's been used by over 50,000 engineers through 15 labs on 4 continents by standardising an architecture that integrates virtual machines to physical routers.

5
―
Secured $150K from the European Commission (6Deploy project) by showcasing the excellent ratings (median NPS of 70) we were consistently getting from 600+ engineers each year.

6
―
Cut per workshop costs by 60% ($65k p.a) while increasing duration from 3 to 4 days by creating a course experience for which all partners were willing to sponsor all fixed costs and 25% of travel costs each year.

7
―
Created the world’s first IPv6 Strategy & Planning course, which has been taken by 500 executives with a median NPS of 82 by analysing the implications of IPv4 exhaustion and IPv6 through the lenses of the business and mission model canvas.

8
―
Delivered a keynote presentation to 500 tech leaders, including 7 gov't ministers, at the African Development Bank's first Ministerial Forum on ICT Integration in Education (2013).

9
―
Rated “Excellent” on all KPIs for trainers by at least 90% of all course participants by continuously adapting my delivery based on course feedback.

Training Manager

UNDP

During this brief stint, I developed the agency's IT strategic plan to leverage IT in medical records management, improving interest in and access to education in order to support the MDGs.

ICT Coordinator

Ahmadu Bello University - Zaria

Manage the development evolution of a 7000+ node  IP network.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
---

1
―
Cut network outages by 80%  by redesigning the internal network to replace multiple levels of internal address sharing (NAT) with dynamic routing using OSPF.

2
―
Created the university’s Standards for Networking & Documentation policy which improved IT contract sustainability by ≥ 50% and was adopted by 20 other universities.

3
―
Increased project post-handoff success by 50% by creating standardised templates for documenting the work done by contractors.

4
―
Designed and implemented the university’s first traffic monitoring system, increasing networking traffic visibility by 95% using free open-source software.

5
―
Wrote “The Ntop User’s Guide”, which was used by 4000+ engineers worldwide to get started with free open-source traffic monitoring using the ntop utility. 

6
―
Designed and installed a 75 access-point enterprise WiFi network which served 1,500 nodes on time and on budget as proof of concept of my undergraduate project.

7
―
Initiated and co-taught the Effective IT-management track for ≥ 150 ICT Directors at the annual Nigerian Network Operators’ Group.

8
―
Led the development of the first network services strategic plan by facilitating SWOT & goal-setting brainstorming sessions. 

9
―
Increased adoption of Linux on the desktop by 100% within the team by modelling Ubuntu’s functional & aesthetic elegance. 

10
―
Implemented eGroupware to enhance internal collaboration, resulting in a 60% decrease in email reliance and a 57% increase in productivity.

Systems Analst/Network Engineer

Nigerian Network Operators' Group (ngNOG)

Objective: promote effectiveness use of ICTs in the Nigerian universities through training.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

1
―
Co-authored (with Prof. Len Liverpool and Geraldine Daloengg) “Guide to ICT Policy & Strategy for African Higher Educational Institutions” to help ≥ 500 universities in Africa develop effective IT strategies. 

2
―
Initiated and co-taught the Effective IT-management track for ≥ 150 ICT Directors at the annual Nigerian Network Operators’ Group.

3
―
Selected as one of 7 trainers in Nigeria that reviewed the curriculum and strategic plan of Nigerian Network Operators’ Group. I introduced mind mapping to the group and led its use in brainstorming sessions.

Instructor (volunteer)

Kaduna Business School

Led organization´s IT development and general innovation, developed and taught IT-Business Integration, Six Sigma & Project Management executive development courses and consulting jobs.


ACCOMPLISHMENTS
---

1
―
Designed and implemented an engagement campaign across 5 states, which would later become the Nigerian Research & Education Network, by recruiting and leading a 5 team of former bosses & professors.

2
―
Rated “Excellent” on all KPIs  by at least 60% of ≥1000 executives in Project Management & Lean Six Sigma executive education courses by experimenting with different delivery methods.

3
―
Mapped 7 core processes at the military ordnance factory in Kaduna, setting the stage for Six Sigma implementation, which doubled factory output without increasing CAPEX.  

4
―
Delivered the inaugural presentation (“Internet Business Intelligence”) at the school’s launch, attracting an “Excellent” rating from 90% of the 25 participants.

5
―
Raised the median score of presentation quality for executive education content from 40% to 91% by pioneering the use of movie clips within slides & case studies.

6
―
Raised the quality of the school’s presentations by 60% by designing standard presentation templates & modelling engaging presentations to the other instructors.

7
―
Developed the proposal that won the school its first in-house training contract for 75 senior staff of the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology.

Management Consultant & IT Coordinator

WWL Ltd

Responsible for developing proposals to client solutions, managed a 25 node CyberCafe network and providing technical support to clients. 


ACCOMPLISHMENTS
---

1
―
Raised equipment uptime by 60% by implementing a rigorous Friday night maintenance schedule.

2
―
Implemented an email system that served 500 staff of the Energy Commission of Nigeria by using Sendmail deployed on RedHat Linux. 

3
―
Boosted cybercafe revenue by $10,000/month by using  Windows Registry hacks to prevent bypass of the billing software to steal Internet services. 

4
―
Performed routine maintenance of 120 PCs in three cities (Jos, Gombe & Yola) over 3 days for First Bank of Nigeria.

Junior IT Consulting & Support Engineer [Internship]

Do you believe the best way to motivate a team is to get them to experience #excellence? then you'd love working with and for me. 

I created certi6.io (with a team of two) - the world's only bilingual IPv6 certification platform. I have trained over 3000 executives, managers and engineers in over 40 countries.

I design and implement systems that:

💎 Inspire people to do work that fills them with pride, producing services that clients adore.

💎 Produce learning experiences that captivate and drive people to flourish.

💎 Take the guesswork out of strategy execution.

Check https://www.perfexcellence.com for my resources and services.

Mukom Tamon

Increasing Product Manager impact through Strategy, Continuous Discovery, & OKRs

I am a Certified Strategy Professional, ICAgile Certified Lean Portfolio Manager and Certified Professional in Business Agility Foundations (BAF), Certified OKR Coach, Senior Agile Leader, Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), as well as a Certified Scrum Master (CSM), with over 15 years of experience in coaching, innovating, executing, and delivering end-to-end digital and mobile solutions for Fortune 200 clients in the banking and financial services industry. 

I'm currently Principal Design Enablement Manager, Design Excellence & Operations (DeXOps) – KeyXD Team at KeyBank, where we centralize and support KeyBank's world-class design function. 

My core competencies include Strategy, Product Management, Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), Continuous Discovery, solution development and delivery, Agile leadership, solution innovation, PMO leadership, SDLC management, information architecture, iOS and Android application development, delivery management, program and project management, budget and resource management, user experience enhancement, client engagement leadership, client relationship management, and technology team leadership. 

I am passionate about building great products that leverage Lean and UX-driven, Design Thinking-centered approaches to deliver measurable client-focused business outcomes. I am also an author and public speaker, sharing my insights and best practices on Product, Strategy, OKRs, and Agile delivery.

All views expressed are my own.

Michael Goitein

RICE scored your feature at 1,200. You shipped it. Four months later: 3% adoption.
You ran the numbers:
Reach: 1,000 users per quarter
Impact: 3 (massive)
Confidence: 80%
Effort: 2 person-weeks

RICE Score: (1,000 × 3 × 0.8) / 2 = 1,200
Highest on the list. You built it. Celebrated the launch.
Then crickets. Zero retention impact. Wasted Product, UX, and Engineering time, effort & capacity.

What happened?
You wasted time prioritizing features in the solution space. 

What to do instead? 
Focus on how customer opportunities in the problem space connect to overarching strategy.

RICE can never answer:
 - Which customers are we choosing to serve?
 - What distinctive value are we delivering?
 - How does this connect to winning?

RICE gives you the illusion of scientific rigor and objectivity while you build and ship random things that are, at best, random and duplicative, and at worst, actively cancel each other out. 

Because prioritization frameworks are bandaids trying to fix the problems created when leadership either can’t, or won’t, make clear strategic choices.

See the image. Great product teams don't score features. They make strategic choices at the team and product level about which customer opportunities to pursue that deliver against overarching strategy.

Stop ignoring the problem. Start closing The Strategy Gap.

Enterprise Product, Strategy & Continuous Discovery

Y Combinator partners ripped first-time founders Alexander Danilowicz & Teddy Ni for having "the silliest startup idea they'd ever heard."

Two years later, Magic Patterns hit $1M Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) with two founders and zero employees.

And they did it by doing something most AI startups refuse to do:
𝗥𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀. 𝗟𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.

That decision explains why they're now generating $500K in ARR per employee, while competitors burn through venture capital in a vain attempt to serve larger Total Addressable Markets (“TAMs”).

Magic Patterns users are obsessed with its ability not only to speed up design, but for something that sounds impossible until you see it happen.

In this week's Product Strategy Decoded, I break down the strategic choices two frontend engineers made to build what VCs now value at over $6M:
→ The critical capability most AI design tools completely miss 
→ Why saying no to a larger user base created a compounding competitive advantage 
→ The metrics they track to nurture free users into 50-seat enterprise accounts

Read the full story & subscribe here:

Open article: How Magic Patterns Hit $1M ARR By Turning Away Most Of Their Potential Customers by michaelgoitein.substack.com

How Magic Patterns Hit $1M ARR By Turning Away Most Of Their Potential Customers

The $200M Product Strategy Lovable Uses To Become The Last Piece of Software You’ll Ever Need

Lovable.dev’s Co-Founder & CEO Anton Osika Reverse-engineering the choices powering Europe’s most successful startup ever in its quest to remove the final barrier to startup success Saving lives and generating $500,000 in funding—without writing a single line of code. Brazilian growth marketer Sabrine Matos was devastated by the tragic story of a woman murdered by her partner, a man with a violent criminal record she never knew about....

Open article: The $200M Product Strategy Lovable Uses To Become The Last Piece of Software You’ll Ever Need by michaelgoitein.com

The $200M Product Strategy Lovable Uses To Become The Last Piece of Software You’ll Ever Need

Don't be fooled: Strategy and Planning are NOT same thing.

Why? Just think about the difference between Product Management and Project Management:

Project Management works with planning to manage WHAT WE CONTROL
• Focuses only on inward-facing work
• Uses 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴 to see what's happened in the past
• Uses Planning to orchestrate our own people and resources
• To deliver features

Product Management works with strategy to influence WHAT WE DON'T CONTROL:
• Client behavior
• Uses 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 to imagine a different future 
• Design a set of strategic choices to compel clients to change what they do
• These successful changes achieve outcomes

The hard truth? 
The most perfectly-planned and executed projects mean nothing if they don't change how our customers behave

You always need both – Strategy AND Planning.
But don't confuse them, and never start with planning

Start by understanding whose behavior needs to change.

I break both down here in this clip from my podcast interview with Jay Stansell via Product Coalition

Is your product strategy nothing more than a jumble of random features?

Or are you achieving outcomes to move the needle against your company's overarching strategy?
#ProductStrategy #LeadershipInsights #BusinessSuccess

Gamma’s Genius Strategic Shift
Too many companies adopting AI tend to think in terms of binary, either/or options.

Either build expensive proprietary AI stacks, or connect to existing LLMs to bolt superficial AI functionality onto existing products.

Gamma discovered a third path. They built a genuine competitive moat by developing a sophisticated AI orchestration capability that no one thought could be a differentiator.

Gamma is proving you don’t have to be first-to-market or best-funded to succeed. 

You just need to make smarter strategic choices around AI integration while mastering the product-led growth basics of viral loops and community development.

Can competitors copy your best features? Yup. Who cares? Let them.

But can they replicate your entire ecosystem's interconnected success? Much harder.

Building an ecosystem requires fundamental business model and process changes most companies simply can't or won't make.

It's like trying to rebuild Amazon's delivery network in your garage. Theoretically possible, practically impossible.

While you're busy A/B testing features to optimize tiny gains, your smartest competitors are thinking differently, building enabling structures and processes, and striking key partnerships.

Which approach are you taking?

As an author and creator, I've learned the hard way how incredibly time-consuming Infographics can be to create.

When done well, they show complex concepts at a glance.

When done poorly, they overwhelm or confuse, rather than add value. 

In my latest article on Magic Patterns revolutionary AI-driven design approach, I needed to quickly sketch out the concept of "shift-left" for product teams.

This is a tale of three images.
1. 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟭: 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲'𝘀 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗼 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼: Nails it out of the gate, but oddly throws in "cite" everywhere, and inexplicably places it against an 1849 gold rush-era map background
2. 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟮: 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗲 "𝗙𝗶𝘅𝗲𝘀" 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗽𝘂𝘁: Anthropic's Claude is great at so many things, especially editorial feedback. But this is so comical it's embarrassing.
3. 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝟯: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: Bringing the first version into Affinity Photo, cleaning up the "cite" references, and adding the correct Magic Patterns logo.

This is the final version that appears in the article, linked in the comments below.

Google's Nano Banana first pass on the article infographic

The final version, taking the Nano Banana version and cleaning it up in Affinity Photo

AI is making us mentally "obese," and nobody's talking about it. The closest parallel? Walking.

In some parts of America, you literally can't do anything without getting in a car. No walking. No biking. Just cars to go anywhere and do literally everything.

And it's turned America into a hotbed of obesity, triggering a nationwide health crisis.

And the same thing is happening in slow-motion with AI right now.

When we outsource every mental task to AI, from writing a simple email to brainstorming and creative thinking, we're creating mental "suburbs" where our brain cells start to shrivel and die from lack of use.

The solution isn't avoiding AI. It's being strategic and finding balance.

Figure out the places to use AI to "drive" to destinations that would waste your time. 

But make sure you're still taking regular mental "walks" and solving problems yourself.

Our brains, like our bodies, need regular exercise to stay strong.

What's one mental task you've committed to doing without AI assistance? 

Comment below.

Failed founders obsessed with their product "Vision" spend more time perfecting their logo than understanding customer needs.

Here's a brutal quiz question that reveals if you're trapped in abstract product vision-thinking:
1. Can you name your 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 and the 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺 your product solves 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮? 
2. Or do you only talk about why users 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 want your product instead?

If you're struggling with the first part, you're doing product research to “validate,” not discover. 

You're looking for confirmation, not truth.

The most dangerous phrase in startups: 
"Users just don't understand our vision yet."

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁?

Atlassian’s $975 million acquisition of Loom happened not because of Loom’s original, official strategy. 

It happened because of the revealed strategy, overwhelmingly driven by user behavior.

Loom originally started as a set of connected developer tools. 

You could share chunks of code, do pull request reviews, really integrate collaboration for engineering teams. Video was one small part of it.

But what Atlassian ended up acquiring them for was solving the problem of meetings.

What Loom became, and what Atlassian acquired, was async video messaging updates. 

Now woven into the fabric of every Atlassian product, whether Jira, Confluence, or anything else, you can find a little video icon, record a short clip, and that gives context. You don’t have to be great at writing. You record a short Loom clip that travels with that work unit, giving people context without you having to be there.

That’s been hugely successful for Atlassian in its drive to build a suite of “connected workplace” tools. 

Listen to Chris Tottman and I discuss this and many other pivot stories in this week's "Product Strategy Decoded" conversation.

There's always a hidden strategy controlling your organization– whether you like it or not.
Whatever bold transformation move you want to make, hidden gravity will pull everything back into the same old patterns.
It's the hidden habits of daily company life.
One way out?
Reverse-engineer your current strategic choices using the Strategy Choice Cascade.

Most SaaS companies are building products for the wrong person. And with AI, they’re taking off faster in the wrong direction, leaving millions on the table because of it.

AI and ML pioneer Gong figured this out in 2016. 

Their competitors still haven't.

Subscribe to Product Strategy Decoded this week, and learn how Gong:
→ Created an entirely new category with its product
→ Spotted the strategy choice mistake killing too many products’ value ceilings
→ Unlocked 50 percentage points of hidden growth for Demandbase
→ Continuously builds compounding advantages competitors can't replicate

Today, I’m showing 1146 people why optimizing AI for "user productivity" is a huge mistake, and what to do instead. 

Read the full story for free & subscribe here:

Open article: How Gong Created a $7.25B Opportunity By Realizing Sales Software Optimized For The Wrong Person Entirely by michaelgoitein.substack.com

How Gong Created a $7.25B Opportunity By Realizing Sales Software Optimized For The Wrong Person Entirely

SWOTs are totally worthless anyway, so you may as well let 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗺𝗮 do the heavy lifting instead of paying $$$

RIP Mckinsey.

Use these prompts to replace $500/hr consultants:

1. Go to gamma .app
2. Click on "Create with AI".
3. Paste the prompt you need:

✦ SWOT Analysis
Create a 10–12 slide deck titled ‘SWOT for [BUSINESS/PROJECT]’. Include: brief overview, goals, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats, top 5 priorities, 30-day action list.

✦ Competitor Comparison
Make a 10–12 slide deck ‘Competitor Snapshot: [INDUSTRY/REGION]’. Include: who the competitors are, price/features table, pros/cons, where we’re better/worse, and 3 moves to win in 90 days.

✦ Customer Persona
Build an 8–10 slide deck ‘Who We Serve’. Include: 2–3 personas with photo/quote, pains, goals, buying triggers, channels they use, and what message works for each.

✦ Value Proposition & Message House
Create a 8–10 slide deck ‘Why Choose [PRODUCT/BRAND]’. Include: problem in one line, promise in one line, 3 proof points, before/after example, short tagline options, and website hero copy.

✦ Go-to-Market Launch Plan
Produce a 12–14 slide deck ‘Launch Plan for [PRODUCT]’. Include: target customer, simple message, channels (email/social/partners), 4-week content calendar, small budget split, and launch checklist.

✦ Pricing Options
Create a 8–10 slide deck ‘Pricing for [PRODUCT/SERVICE]’. Include: good/better/best packages, what’s included, who each package is for, simple discount rules, and a clear recommendation.

✦ KPI Scorecard
Make a 8–10 slide deck ‘Scorecard for [TEAM/BUSINESS]’. Include: 6–8 must-have metrics, what each metric means, target vs current, how often to check, and who owns each metric.

✦ 30-60-90 Day Plan
Build a 10–12 slide deck ‘First 90 Days for [ROLE/PROJECT]’. Include: goals, quick wins, weekly rhythm, stakeholders, risks, and checklists for day 30, 60, and 90.

✦ Budget & Break-Even
Create a 8–10 slide deck ‘Simple Budget for [PROJECT/STORE/APP]’. Include: costs list, expected sales, break-even point, best/base/worst case, and money-saving ideas.

✦ Risks & Mitigations
Produce a 8–10 slide deck ‘What Could Go Wrong (and Plan B)’. Include: top risks in plain words, how likely/impactful each is (red/yellow/green), owner, and the backup plan.

In whatever you "create," what’s the “story” behind the value the person on the other side gets from it?

What benefits will your ideal customers receive from you?

How will your offer take them from darkness and despair, to light & future promise?

What’s their “hero’s journey?”

In other words, you may not need to invest in another guru, course, or certification.

Invest your time refining the "story" that helps the right people understand the transformational value you, your products, and services provide.

That’s something AI won’t easily copy anytime soon.

At noon ET today, I'll be hosting noted UK VC Chris Tottman as he shares his insights into "The Art and Science of the Pivot"  - join us if you can at 17:00 UK time, at 12:00 pm noon during your lunch hour here on the East Coast, or 9 am West Coast time:

Open article: LIVE SOON: Chris Tottman - Mike Goitein - Pivot Strategies Livestream by open.substack.com

LIVE SOON: Chris Tottman - Mike Goitein - Pivot Strategies Livestream

Want to finish December with a new level of AI skills?
Come join Elena Calvillo's "AI Advent Calendar Challenge," a fun daily series of AI prompts to up-level your game with a stellar lineup of AI thought leaders.
Join us!
https://lnkd.in/eRBH-SxR

AI Product Manager | Building AI Products at WTW | Newsletter Writer Helping 1,000+ PMs Navigate AI at productreleasenotes.com

🎄 Big announcement 🎄

AI Advent Challenge is LIVE! 

300+ people already signed up.
25 days of practical AI skills.
30+ incredible contributors.

Thank you to everyone who made this possible: 
Sam Illingworth Wyndo Mitra Buwana Mike Watson Raghav Mehra Maria-Cristina Muntean Mike X Cohen, PhD Jose Antonio Morales Michael Goitein Sharyph M Nicola de Vera Dennis Berry Dinah Davis James Presbitero Cristina Oliva Patrick Camilo I. Zambrano Juan Salas-Romer Katie Barnes 🤫 Dominik Gmeiner Toni Dos Santos Karo Zieminski Benedikt Kantus Joel Salinas Frencia Anfernee Tan Dheeraj Sharma Shamim Rajani

And thanks the tools that made this possible too Lovable Supabase Cursor Resend

One door unlocks every day at midnight starting Dec 1.

Join us: https://lnkd.in/eaiK_pzp

Don't forget to support us on Product Hunt: https://lnkd.in/eMMRSEde

Who's learning AI this December? 🙋

Open article: AI Advent Calendar: Learn AI in 24 days with 3-min daily lessons | Product Hunt by producthunt.com

AI Advent Calendar: Learn AI in 24 days with 3-min daily lessons | Product Hunt

Adobe just paid a hefty price premium to acquire Semrush and integrate “Generative Engine Optimization” (“GEO”) into its products.
But the odds are against it ever seeing a dime of return on that investment.
Read the full story in this week's "Product Strategy Decoded" & subscribe here:
https://lnkd.in/e33Pnv5q

Google, Anthropic, Microsoft, and Cursor all made big moves as we wind down 2025 

See the strategic choices underlying these moves as they position for competitive advantage into the next year, and the agentic AI feature that’s already here.

Open article: This Week In The Autonomous Agent Race by michaelgoitein.substack.com

Your company doesn't lack a strategy. You just aren’t clear about what it is.

Leadership says, "We can’t have a strategy. Things are moving too fast."

Wrong.

Every choice your company makes IS strategy.:
 – Which customers you serve (pricing, features, support model)
 – Which problems you solve (product roadmap priorities)
 – How you position (marketing, sales, product design)

You always have a strategy. It's just hidden.

Reverse-engineering reveals it:
Look at your product's actual choices: 
 – What features exist? Who do they serve? 
 – What's intentionally missing? Who are you not serving? 
 – What does pricing signal about your target customers? 
 – What tradeoffs have you made in design and architecture? What are you optimizing for?

These choices reveal your Where to Play and How to Win.

Most teams don’t know what to do because they've never taken the time to reverse-engineer their strategy. So they push to build and release faster, much of which directly contradicts their “hidden strategy.”

Strategy isn't what leadership says in all-hands meetings; it’s hidden inside what you’re already doing.

How much more could your teams achieve if you made those choices clear and consistent?

When should a startup pivot? To what, exactly?
Yesterday, I had the good fortune to speak with Notion Capital VC Chris Tottman
He laid out a set of brilliant, hard-won lessons gained over his successful career.

Listen and learn how to:
• Find problems worth solving
• Discover what's working vs. trying to prove your original idea was right
• Define the right market segment
• Reveal the strategy really driving your product's success

Read the full story & subscribe here:
https://lnkd.in/eVgNPfHN

Open video: The Art and Science of Pivots – Livestream with VC Chris Tottman on michaelgoitein.substack.com

The Art and Science of Pivots – Livestream with VC Chris Tottman

taplio

The Battle

Mukom Tamon

Michael Goitein

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMichael Goitein's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Mukom Tamon

Michael Goitein

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Michael Goitein's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMichael Goitein's LinkedIn Performance