We attended Turing Fest last week to connect with amazing product people and gain insights from experts like Matt LeMay, Petra Wille, Gopika M, and many others. Here's a quick roundup of our key takeaways!
One of the first talks from day one was by Megan Caywood, CEO at Caywood. Based on her vast experience in various product roles, such as CPO at Barclays Bank, ClearBank, and Starling Bank, she shared her key lessons on building a billion-dollar business. She emphasised finding that WOW moment - “Understand those pain points with the status quo,” Megan said. Additionally, she highlighted the importance of:
Product Leader, Author, and Consultant Matt LeMay led an engaging and practical session on connecting product strategy to business strategy. “The business is your business,” he stressed. He explained how, for so long, product has borne the consequences of low-impact work. He urged the audience to set team-level goals connected to the business to create high-impact outcomes for product teams.
Up next was Matt Lerner, founder of Systm, who spoke about product growth. He encouraged us to follow the 80:20 rule to activate the right 10% of customers. Matt also stressed the importance of pushing teams to 'zoom out' and spot big opportunities. “Things are going to fail. Failing will teach you something valuable,” he said.
Amidst all the great keynote sessions at Turing Fest were some engaging panels spanning topics from product and AI, to business growth. One that we attended focused on building products during current economic pressures. The panel, moderated by Arne Kittler and featuring Megan Caywood, Matt LeMay, and Gopika M, discussed the importance of focusing on profitability while balancing customer needs.
It was noted that having the foresight to pivot and prepare for what’s to come is crucial. Keeping the lens of profitability from day one is something product teams often neglect, focusing too much on growth dreams, which can lead to rounds of layoffs. The panel encouraged leaders to focus on profitability and ensure that teams collaborate cross-functionally to challenge one another.
Following this great panel was a keynote session by Gopika M, Product Director at BestSecret, who delved further into dealing with uncertainty in business. She explained how, historically, there have been cycles of booms and plummets, but eventually, there is growth.
To deal with unpredictability, Gopika offered a clear and concise guide: Prepare, simulate, diversify, and conduct a post-mortem.
In one of the morning sessions on day two, Andy Budd, Product Coach, Designer, and Investor, led a practical session on achieving product-market fit (PMF). He explained how even the most viral products need a good PMF. Everyone looks for a silver bullet and a complex answer; however, the solutions are simple: Find the right beachhead customer, nail the proposition, pick the right channel, align positioning, nail user onboarding, embed usage loops, and remove friction.
Day two also included the amazing Petra Wille, Product Leadership Coach, who led a great session on storytelling in product. A good story, she explained, is well-defined and structured, ensuring it is easy for stakeholders to understand and navigate. It paints a picture of a future, portrays a clear why, details potential difficulties, and suggests a common goal.
To get started with storytelling, Petra explained to:
Todd Olson, CEO and Co-Founder of Pendo, led a practical session on how AI can supercharge PLG. He shared insights into the importance of PLG, with Todd citing that PLG companies have a growth rate of 29%. AI is a key tool to help product teams and businesses grow exponentially.
His takeaways were clear:
We had an amazing two days in Edinburgh, gathering valuable product insights for Turing Fest. We've got some really exciting interviews being released in the coming weeks with Meri Williams, Matt LeMay, Mike McQuaid, and others. Stay tuned!
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