#58. Nero’s Weekly - Week 3 - 08/05/24
Dear Reader,
Here is the curated newsletter of the articles, books, and resources, I’ve read in the past week. Enjoy😊. Last issue.
Nero’s Pick - I enjoyed writing about the product thinking behind Figma’s latest product: Dev Mode last week. I like how it builds on the previous two on the business, and technology of Figma.
Business
Fashion ecommerce acquisition gone wrong - From Luxury Leader to Loss-Maker: What Went Wrong for Yoox Net-a-Porter? - In 2018 the Swiss luxury goods group; Richemont acquired Yoox Net-a-Porter (“YNAP”) in a headline-making deal were YNAP was valued at €5.3 billion ($5.9 billion) and had sizable revenue growth and profitability. YNAP has not grown since then, and today Richemont is selling YNAP for next to nothing. What went wrong? The article argues that ‘a lack of tech strategy, poor planning at YNAP and distractions from a failed deal with Farfetch’ were responsible.
The Hard Part about Growth - The goal of a “strategy” is to change our own team’s behaviour – Ami Vora (Ex-VP Product & Design at WhatsApp) explains that 'customers don’t care about our strategies – they care about their experience with the product. That means that to be effective, a strategy should help every person on the team make better decisions day-to-day – because that’s what yields better products for customers. This was a short but very insightful read. Check it out!
Technology & Product Management
Rafayel Mkrtchyan – Why do we need Product Managers? - Rafayel explains that unlike engineers or designers, the impact of a Product Manager could only be seen in months. He recommends that the key value proposition of great product managers is having and sharing deep knowledge of their – Users, Market, Business, Industry, and Data with the team. I agree.
I believe Product Managers can also add value to their team by being – keepers of quality. By going beyond testing and ensuring the released feature not only meets the acceptance criteria, but exceeds expectation and delights the user.The Hard Part about Growth - The 3 key jobs of a product manager – Ami Vora (Ex-VP Product & Design at WhatsApp) says that the 3 key jobs of a product manager are to: Recognize the problem, Structure a solution, and Execute on the solution. They recognize the problem by deeply understanding the user and their pain points. They structure a problem by clarifying and testing hypothesis for why the problem might occur, and what success could look like. Finally, they execute on the solution by identifying all the steps to ship this solution, and ensuring they are all completed – holding themselves and the team accountable.
Paul Buchheit (Gmail inventor) - If your product is Great, it doesn't need to be Good - He argues that the ‘more features = better’ mindset is at the root of bad product design. He recommends selecting 3 key attributes/features that offer the most value – and ‘get those very, very, right, then forget about everything else’. For example, the original iPod was: (1) small enough to fit in your pocket, (2) had enough storage to hold many hours of music and (3) easy to sync with your Mac.
Africa
Africa - AI in Africa opens up new battlefront for China, US – It appears the US and China are in a new race to influence the development, use and governance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Africa. This is towards securing a global position, even as African countries aim to devise their own AI policies. The challenge for Africa (and the rest of the world) would be to implement regulations that are adequate but not premature, so as not to limit innovation since the technology is still in the early days. Research suggests AI could add $1.5 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2030 if the continent can capture 10% of the market.
Egypt - Signs deal for 8-Gigawatt wind farm projects – The two projects with FDI investment estimated at US$9 billion, will be developed in multiple stages with a Build-Own-Operate (BOO) model, and will increase Egypt’s share of renewable energy sources. The investment was initially agreed upon at the COP27 conference in Nov. 2022, so it’s good to see it materialize.
West Africa – Better Cotton moves to scale up sustainable production in Africa - The Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) is partnering with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and FIFA on an initiative to increase the production and processing of Cotton in West Africa. Burkina Faso, Benin, Chad and Mali – known as the Cotton Four (C4) – in the textile value chain. The goal is to identify opportunities to support small holder cotton farmers and connect them with processors so they can earn more. For example, Togo’s PIA, a textile-focussed industrial park/Special Economic Zone (SEZ).
Career Development
Grammarly – Writing With Impact: A Manager’s Guide to Targeting Your Intended Audience - ‘The purpose of workplace communication is to inform and prompt action. Writing with impact means understanding your audience’s needs and motivations and communicating in a way that resonates with them, aligns with shared goals, and proposes a clear next step’. This guide shows you how to identify, write for, and engage your target audience through personalisation.
Shane Mac - The One Question That Almost Killed Our Biggest Launch With Apple – This article teaches a powerful lesson in business communication. Shane Mac, the CEO of Assist is about to do a product launch with Apple. Everything is going well, he is away on lunch, when he receives a text message from the project lead saying there is a problem. Not to spoil the surprise, but the way he asks a question gives him a response that everything is fine. He calls back and asks the question a different way and… 😊The lesson: avoid asking binary questions, rather, frame questions as a request for information.
“I think one thing that is a really important thing to strive for is being internally driven, being driven to compete with yourself, not with other people. If you compete with other people, you end up in this mimetic trap, and you sort of play this tournament, and if you win, you lose. But if you’re competing with yourself, and all you’re trying to do is — for the own self-satisfaction and for also the impact you have on the world and the duty you feel to do that — be the best possible version you can, there is no limit to how far that can drive someone to perform.”
There you have it.
How did you like this article on a scale 0-5? How could it be better? Let me know. You can message me questions or feedback at notesbynero@gmail.com.
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Thanks for reading and bye for now.
Nero
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