In this Ferris Wheel episode, I speak with Dan Olsen, the author of the Lean Product Playbook and a Lean Product Consultant about lack of problem-space thinking, divergent thinking and other mistakes product teams make.
Who is Dan Olsen?
Dan Olsen is a product management and Lean startup consultant, speaker, and author based in Silicon Valley. At Olsen Solutions, he works with CEOs and product leaders to build great products and strong product teams, often as interim VP of Product. His clients include Facebook, Box, Microsoft, Medallia, and One Medical Group.
Dan is the author of the bestseller The Lean Product Playbook. Prior to consulting, Dan worked at Intuit, where he led the Quicken product team. He also led product management at Friendster. Dan was also cofounder and CEO of TechCrunch award winner YourVersion, a personalized news startup.
He earned engineering degrees from Northwestern and Virginia Tech and an MBA from Stanford. Dan is founder of the Lean Product & Lean UX Silicon Valley Meetup, the largest product-focused meetup in the San Francisco Bay Area with over 5,300 members.
What you will learn – Mistakes Product Teams Make and more!
- What are the biggest mistakes you see these product makers and startups make in their pursuit of making products people love?
- How have you seen the best product teams approach the making of products?
- What are your favorite books & other resources on product management?
- If people had to teach themselves to make awesome products, what do you suggest they do?
- If you had to coach me for 4 weeks to make and launch a successful product, and you had a million dollars in the line, what would the coaching look like?
- What would it look like in 8 weeks?
Useful Links
- Dan Olsen on the interweb
- leanproductplaybook.com
- Twitter @danolsen
- Dan’s book
- The Lean Product Playbook (click here to buy on Amazon)
- Lean Product & Lean UX Meetup, Palo Alto (click here to join)
- Books Dan Recommends
- Inspired: How To Create Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan (click here to buy on Amazon)
- What Customers Want: Using Outcome-Driven Innovation to Create Breakthrough Products and Services by Anthony Ulwick (click here to buy on Amazon)
- Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works by Ash Maurya (click here to buy on Amazon)
- UX for Lean Startups: Faster, Smarter User Experience Research and Design by Laura Klein (click here to buy on Amazon)
- Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers by Geoffrey Moore (click here to buy on Amazon)
Getting Started & Resources
- Tiny Book Of Triggers for actionable triggers to learn fresh new Product Management & Design skills & more. (click here to download)
- Get Started with Design Your Thinking (click here)
- Handpicked Resources (click here)
