PMs and the global economy 🌎, OKR theatre 🎭, avoiding blows when releasing features 😮‍💨

Product leaders must understand the global economy, as it influences planning and risk management. Economic indicators offer insights ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Sign Up |Advertise|View Online TLDR Together With TLDR Product Management 2025-04-15 The retention framework that grew real products (Sponsor) Social media tactics. Drip campaigns. Push notifications. The internet is rife with "growth hacks" for increasing retention—but these are just short-term fixes that may or may not work for your company at a given point in time. Instead of random tactics, you should start with a solid framework that covers the entire user lifecycle—which is exactly what you'll find in this 90+ page ebook by Amplitude: Understanding your critical event and product usage interval Building your retention lifecycle framework (plus how to choose the right method) Analyzing new user retention, current user retention, and resurrected user retention Get your free copy here 📱 News & Trends Why should I worry about what's happening in the economy? (7 minute read) Product leaders must understand the global economy, as it influences planning and risk management. Economic indicators offer insights into market trends, while recognizing the effects of recessions on B2B SaaS - such as slowing sales and increased churn - is essential for adapting strategies and demonstrating ROI. OpenAI's CPO on how AI changes must-have skills, moats, coding, startup playbooks, and more (90 minute podcast) This post covers OpenAI's agile, bottom-up approach to product development, emphasizing "model maximalism" and the iterative deployment of AI. It underscores the increasing importance of writing effective AI evaluation tests and the lasting value of chat interfaces while predicting the rise of fine-tuned models and the emergence of "vibe coding" within product teams. 🚀 Opinions & Tutorials Escape OKR Theatre (9 minute read) Key traits of effective OKRs include focus, measurability, realism, cohesion, and alignment with strategy, rather than rigid cascading structures. The framework warns against common pitfalls, such as overloading objectives, relying solely on lagging indicators, or setting vague and obvious goals - advocating instead for clear, strategic OKRs that foster direction, learning, and meaningful progress. Why your Users don't care about your Product Strategy (4 minute read) Product strategy should be treated as a product itself by clearly defining its audience, the problem it solves, and how success is measured - focusing on enabling teams and stakeholders to make intentional decisions. Rather than simply completing templates, the value lies in aligning team efforts with strategic priorities and confidently rejecting misaligned opportunities. 🧑‍💻 Resources & Tools How to Avoid Massive Blows When Releasing New Features (5 minute read) Smoke testing is crucial for ensuring new software features don't break existing core functionalities, preventing customer dissatisfaction and trust erosion. Starting with manual testing to define core components and then automating the process within the build pipeline is recommended to maintain product quality and avoid costly errors. Designing Snapchat and the future of music (61 minute video) In this video, Jack Brody, former Head of Product at Snap and current CPO at Suno dives into designing in the age of AI and what the future of music looks like. Brody explores how AI is flipping design on its head and how it has the capacity to change music forever, making music creation more accessible than ever before and empowering newbies and professionals alike. 🎁 Miscellaneous From Zero to Hundreds of Millions: Lessons in Courageous Marketing (6 minute read) Udi Ledergor's book, "Courageous Marketing," champions bold, unconventional B2B strategies, advocating for calculated risks such as regional Super Bowl ads and creative use of offline channels. It emphasizes "punching above your weight" to create the perception of a larger company and driving growth through memorable and impactful campaigns. Every marketing channel sucks right now (5 minute read) With traditional marketing channels saturated, startups should focus on little channels for higher engagement and novelty, leveraging new technologies and unique product aspects. While product quality is key, innovative and initially unscalable marketing strategies can drive significant early growth. ⚡ Quick Links Go take risks (3 minute read) Asymmetric risk is where rewards greatly outweigh downsides. What Investing at 100x ARR Really Means (2 minute read) Raising capital at 100x ARR risks unrealistic revenue growth, setting operators up for failure despite building great companies. Love TLDR? Tell your friends and get rewards! Share your referral link below with friends to get free TLDR swag! https://refer.tldr.tech/b3142ada/9 Track your referrals here. Want to advertise in TLDR? 📰 If your company is interested in reaching an audience of product management professionals and decision makers, you may want to advertise with us. Want to work at TLDR? 💼 Apply here or send a friend's resume to jobs@tldr.tech and get $1k if we hire them! If you have any comments or feedback, just respond to this email! Thanks for reading, Ellen Le & Sinan Zhang Manage your subscriptions to our other newsletters on tech, startups, and programming. Or if TLDR Product Management isn't for you, please unsubscribe.