In 2023, I formed a partnership with IFTL, Institute for Training in Technology and Leadership, to create CPO Mentoring similar to the CTO Mentoring that they already offered with great success. This would help CTOs be more strategic and consequently increase the impact that these leaders can have on their teams and their companies.

CPO Mentoring was born with the same purpose: to help product leaders be more strategic and generate more impact for their companies. In CPO Mentoring, I teach three classes: Team Structure, Business Models, and Creating the Vision and Strategy of your Product.

Defining, communicating, and reviewing the product vision is the most important responsibility of a person leading a product development team. Without the product vision, working on any other topic is very difficult. Once you have the product vision, the next step is to build the product strategy, which defines the path to be followed to reach the product vision.

For this reason, I have already talked about this topic a few times:

• What is and how to create the product vision and strategy?
• When to define, revise and communicate your product vision and strategy?
• Putting it all together – vision, strategy, roadmap and OKRs
• Process to create a product vision
• Process to create a product strategy
• Visiontype, a day in the life of your user

Another way to show the product vision: a letter from the client

During a class in one of the CPO Mentoring classes on how to create a product vision and strategy, we talked about the different ways of presenting a product vision, which could be a text, a text with an image of the value exchange map, a storyboard or a visiontype video.

Robert Suman, head of product at Nextar, shared that they used another way using the press release technique of the future. This technique, created by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, consists of carrying out an exercise in describing in a future press release how the product improves the lives of its customers.

Nextar developed a product called Nex, which helps commerce companies in their day, and to build the vision, they used the future press release technique, going one step further. Instead of being a press release made by the company to tell how their customers’ lives are better because of the product, they chose to make a letter sent by the customer herself to the Nextar team. After developing the letter, they made a video with one of the company’s people reading the letter as if they were the client to bring the story to life (the video is in Portuguese, below there’s an English translation):

Here is the transcript of the client’s letter:

Hello Nextar Wonderful Team,

I hope this letter reaches you brimming with the same joy and gratitude that I am feeling right now! I need to say how excited I am with the incredible new feature you brought with the complete web version, with all the features I was already used to using on the computer!

Now, with the new online version of Nex, my life as a trader has become much easier and more exciting! I really want to highlight how much this has made a difference in my day-to-day life. With this more complete and fully online web version, I can access all my store information from anywhere, at any time, even when I’m away from the store. This has been fundamental in helping me make faster decisions and better serve my clients.

Together with my daughter and my greatest partner, Estevão (yes, my husband with the name of a soap opera star!), we opened Biju de Ouro in 2018, and it was in that first year that we met Nex. Since then, the journey has been incredible! And the coolest thing is that we have been closely following the entire evolution of Nex over the years.

Our trajectory, of course, was not just made of flowers. When the pandemic came it messed everything up, affected our sales and left us a bit lost. But what kept us standing, firm and strong, without losing the organization necessary to get through this moment, was certainly the incredible partnership we have with you. I clearly remember when you launched the Digital Catalog. Wow, it was like a light at the end of the tunnel. This way we were able to continue selling our products even when we had to close the physical store due to the lockdown. Look, this was a real blessing!

And the most incredible thing is that, during the pandemic, when money was tight, you went beyond the usual service and even gave discounts on the system’s monthly fee. This moved us all and made all the difference in keeping us from using Nex. It showed how much you truly care about your customers and are willing to help, especially in difficult times like the pandemic.

Oh, and there’s more: I always talk to Estevão about how Nextar’s people really understand the trader’s routine. He is also a big fan, like me, and always praises all the facilities that Nex has brought to our store. Our friends and relatives are also tired of hearing us talk about how easy it is to use and understand all of Nex’s features, from inventory control to accounts payable. You guys are awesome!

Taking advantage, I also wanted to say how much your customer service has super sweet people! They have a lot of patience and actually put themselves in the trader’s shoes. Whenever I needed it, I received excellent care, and I want to express my deep gratitude for all the support and welcome I received.

Anyway, I want to really praise the entire NEX team for their excellent work in creating this new web version. The transition was smooth, and whenever I needed help, you were there to guide me, even when I had beginner’s questions. You can be sure that you are part of the Biju de Ouro family!

I’m excited to continue using NEX and see how it will help us grow our Biju de Ouro even further. Please convey my “thank you very much” and all my gratitude to the entire team, who are more than special to us.

Once again, thank you for creating such an incredible, easy and increasingly beautiful system and for being such a partner team. I can’t wait for what our future together holds!

With all my heart, a hug
Marilia dos Santos Lopes, from Biju de Ouro

September 25, 2024

As you can see (and hear or read), it is a very effective way to help illustrate the product vision, giving more clarity about the product you want to build and how this product will positively impact the day-to-day lives of your customers. users. Furthermore, it is a cheaper and simpler way to build than a visiontype.

Here’s a tip from Robert Suman and the Nextar team. This is one of the advantages of synchronous courses: the exchange between participants, who can share how concepts, principles, and tools are used in their companies.

Workshops, coaching, and advisory services

I’ve been helping companies and their leaders (CPOs, heads of product, CTOs, CEOs, tech founders, and heads of digital transformation) bridge the gap between business and technology through workshops, coaching, and advisory services on product management and digital transformation.

Digital Product Management Books

Do you work with digital products? Do you want to know more about managing a digital product to increase its chances of success, solve its user’s problems, and achieve the company objectives? Check out my Digital Product Management books, where I share what I learned during my 30+ years of experience in creating and managing digital products:

• Digital transformation and product culture: How to put technology at the center of your company’s strategy
• Leading Product Development: The art and science of managing product teams
• Product Management: How to increase the chances of success of your digital product
• Startup Guide: How startups and established companies can create profitable digital products