Ryan Jafari

so what is your move gaes

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When engineers say "no," it reveals flaws in your pitch or opportunity, helping refine your approach Here are a few common mistakes 👉 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 - 1. Not including basics things like work location, comp range, and tech stack 2. Not highlighting what makes the role/company relevant for them 3. Targeting the wrong (or not enough) people 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 - 4. Jumping right into technical questions before creating buy-in 5. Not pitching your company's vision 6. Not understanding why the candidate is interviewing and what they're looking for in their next role 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 - 7. Assuming candidates are interested, without understanding their decision framework 8. Not debriefing and addressing concerns after every interview 9. Extending offers without pre-closing Good recruitment involves a lot more than just finding top talent Have a great weekend!

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The best use case for overseas development I've heard: We have customers in the eastern hemisphere. To support those customers better, we're standing up product, dev, and support teams to help serve those customers needs. Two key ingredients in making that successful: commensurate pay and the same level of performance and accountability as US peers. #software #international #teammanagement #overseasdevelopment #startup #leadership #coaching

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Happy New Year! I put together a list of things product people should invest in for their career in 2025. Head over to my Substack (link in comments) to see the top courses I recommend, plus 3-4 AI tools you should invest in for yourself if your company isn't already paying for them. Two hints: I rarely write tickets anymore without AI, and I'm increasingly using AI for prototyping. Lastly, Jumpstart Your AI Career is back Feb 24! Link to register in the comments along with my latest Substack article and video. #ProductManagement #AI #ProductLeadership

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One of the best ways to get a dev team stuck in analysis or design paralysis is to make them believe they're only getting one shot at it. Because then they'll pack for all contingencies.

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James Stanier has a good argument for why deadline-driven development is so… difficult → https://lnkd.in/gz3rvj2s “Given that non-technical people don’t understand why software is hard, dates become the stick that they beat you with when you don’t deliver on time. Don’t ask me why, it’s just human behavior. I’m sure you’ve done it when roadworks have taken longer than were specified on the sign, or if a delivery of a package was late. Dates mean something to people, so handle them with care. In fact, perhaps we could do something entirely different instead.” What’s the “something different”? “So, instead, you should take a forecasting approach that follows the uncertainty curve that we outlined above. You start wide, and you taper in. At the beginning of a given project, you might even just have the year that you’re aiming to ship. Then, as you progress, you can start to narrow it down to a quarter, then a month, and finally a specific date.” This is why I will always advocate for time horizon roadmaps → https://lnkd.in/gN8VSYZc

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"Great managers provide stability for their teams, even when the larger organization is experiencing uncertainty." I wrote about this topic for LeadDev: https://lnkd.in/gTt6tN2t Have you ever been caught in the middle of an organizational whirlwind, where constant change seems to be the only constant? It’s in these moments that the value of great managers truly stands out. So, how do these exceptional leaders create stability for their teams amidst chaos? Here are a few key strategies: 1️⃣ Clear communication: Great managers cut through the noise, delivering clear and concise information. They make sure their teams understand objectives and expectations, even when the bigger picture is unclear. While uncertainty can’t always be eliminated, you can often provide valuable context and direction. 2️⃣ Foster trust: By being transparent and approachable, exceptional managers build trust within their teams. This trust creates an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing concerns, asking questions, and seeking guidance, knowing they’ll be met with support. 3️⃣ Agility and adaptability: Outstanding managers embrace change and help their teams do the same. They guide their teams in navigating challenges, turning potential roadblocks into opportunities for growth. 4️⃣ Empower decision-making: Great leaders give their teams the autonomy to make decisions and take ownership of their work. This sense of agency helps teams stay motivated and engaged, even during uncertain times. 5️⃣ Prioritize well-being: In the midst of organizational turbulence, it’s essential for managers to prioritize their team’s well-being. By encouraging work-life balance and addressing burnout, they create a more resilient, focused team. 6️⃣ Celebrate successes: Exceptional managers recognize and celebrate team achievements, no matter how small. This helps boost morale and maintain a sense of stability, even when things are in flux. By using these strategies, great managers act as anchors, providing their teams with steadiness during times of change. The next time you find yourself in a challenging situation, remember the impact that strong leadership can have in creating a sense of stability. I'm lucky to work at Google, where our leadership provides us with that stability, and I enjoy sharing these insights to help others do the same. Illustration credit: Liz Fosslien #management #leadership #teamwork #softwareengineering

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“Codegen tools are broken.” They churn out boilerplate, need endless fixes, and rarely feel… smart. So when I asked Codebuff to create a browser-based Minecraft game, I wasn’t sure what to expect as I just told it: 👉 “generate a basic minecraft clone that runs in my browser that lets me move around in the world, explore it, and mine blocks. keep going until it's very recognizable as a minecraft game.” And here’s what happened: ✅ Hover effects to show where blocks drop. ✅ Particle effects when blocks are destroyed. ✅ An instruction overlay showing block types. Codebuff uses two agents: 👨‍💻 A Developer agent to write features. 🕵️‍♂️ A Product Manager agent to critique and refine. The best part? The game actually works. We showed a basic version to a dozen people, and each added their own ideas and features to our project. Check out the demo video for the final version. Check out our Substack post for more information: https://lnkd.in/gVFp4H69

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Software folks: Product people are not the enemy. The often adversarial relationship between Engineering and Product (or really any two departments) has been a continual source of frustration throughout my career. The amount of time I’ve spent reminding people with different roles that they work for the same company borders on the absurd. I understand why this happens, but it’s still troubling. For example, I recently listened to an engineering leadership podcast where the host asked the guest about an engineering manager negotiating priorities with a business leader. Negotiation is generally a good thing. Groups make better decisions when they take multiple perspectives into account. However, the host talked about “winning” and “losing” the debate. At the point where you frame a decision-making process as an argument, you have already lost. The goal in a process like this is to make the best decision possible, not to win or lose. One of my litmus tests for a healthy product development team has long been, “Do the engineers consider the Product Manager part of the team? Are they willing to go to bat for the PM?” When we remember our shared mission and all pull together, we can do amazing things.

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The more senior you are, the less likely you are to attend professional events. So where do senior tech professionals find community? I was sad to learn about #IxDA's shutdown. IxDA was a big part of my professional identity as a junior- to mid-level UX researcher. At the same time, it’s also been 8 years since I attended an Interaction-style conference, and nearly a decade since I attended an official IxDA event. There’s been a lot of talk lately about how #UX as a discipline has changed. But I’ve found myself thinking more about professional community, and how the needs of senior practitioners are so different from when we are earlier in our career. Way back in 2011 and 2012, Vitorio Miliano and I collaborated on large-scale surveys of the Austin UX community, and we noticed this trend: the more senior you are, the less likely you are to attend professional events. This is not because senior practitioners don’t need community, but because the kind of community you need is so much harder to get. When I was a junior researcher, IxDA gave me two things I needed: 🤝 Professional connections 📈 New professional skills Senior professionals need these things too, but as you become more experienced, the bar gets higher: 🤝 You have less time and more people wanting it, so it’s more important for each new connection to be meaningful. 📈 When you’ve been working in industry for years, it gets harder to find skills training at your level (or that is even relevant when you’re no longer executing, but directing). It’s an interesting coincidence, then, that IxDA is folding at a time when the original audience it served in 2005 is now in senior roles, with needs that are much harder to address. But the need for professional community is still there; senior professionals just have to address it in different ways. I’ll talk more about what the research says about this in a future post, but for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  If you’ve been in the tech industry for 10+ years: ❓ What human connections do you value most at this point in your career? ❓ Are there professional organizations you’re still active in? ❓ Where do you turn for help and support?

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You don't need to be an engineer to be a super effective in product management. Many (of the best founder) excel without super deep technical expertise, despite common misconceptions that suggest otherwise The biggest mistake non technical people "assume" is you hand a developer an idea and they magically create the next Facebook. These are the same people who have no idea what a requirement is or who your customers are. what 90% of engineers do is over-engineer. (for engineer purposes like performance, scalability of platform, optimisations and 100's of other things and lastly about customer outcomes) In startups, you have to flip this script and focus 90% of customer outcomes. ^ This is why Startups really need a "senior, amazing" engineering person. (so you don't go down 1000 engineering rabbit holes) The hardest challenge here and Jason Lemkin agree on is finding that super technical, super customer and team focused startup VP of engineering / CTO / Principal level Dev. NO matter the cost ^

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To all my fellow dev leaders, what's something you've learned through your growth that you didn't realize early on? For me, it's been empathy and simplicity. As a dev leader, you're often asked to provide simple answers to complex problems and give estimates of when they'll be ready. This makes up a significant part of the job. To build trust and clarity, you need to empathize with your clients' needs (both internal and external), fully understand the customer need, and platform or service you're delivering on. This ensures you're delivering value and maintaining trust. I've learned to say "I understand" more than I've uttered "are you crazy?!". When I was a junior developer, I tended to overcomplicate problems to justify my expertise. But as I grew and learned from mentors, I realized most people want to know three things: Can it be fixed? When can it be done? What do I need to do? Like a car repair, they want clear, straightforward answers, not technical jargon. With that, rather than outright reject a new feature or revision simply because I didn't want to fix the problem or undo work I've done — I've learned to see every bit of feedback as an opportunity to enhance features and bring things closer to the customer's expectation — a valuable insight in building great products. In delivering, I'm not always perfect (I've learned to be imperfect) and often rethink my approach, but to me this represents growth and persistence. It's about striving to deliver the best results and meeting expectations. Sometimes we have answers right away, but I find my trust goes further when I thoroughly think through the process, even if it means rethinking within reason to ensure we're meeting every expectation above and beyond. This isn't about inefficiency or indecisiveness; it's about delivering the best possible results. So, what's something you've learned on your journey in dev leadership?

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Quite proud of this unintentional crypto x AI collab laptop sticker. I bought the llama sticker from a local Seattle artist and it was right around when llama 3.1 was launching. She didn’t know what an LLM was. I didn’t want to rob her of the bliss of not needing to keep up with the AI madness. The ETH sticker was from ETHAmsterdam 2022 where I have fond memories of attending Modular Summit, writing early Starkware (pre Cairo 1.0) zk code, exploring ZKSync and generally being around so much new tech that’s now reaching scale. Approaches to zkSNARK and ML seem to be maturing alongside growth in block size and data availability solutions. Same with FHE in certain domains. I feel like we’re right at the cusp of these two fields merging into a truly killer application in next 2 years.

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What's the real cost of not involving developers early? ...Yes, involving developers early means more meeting hours. But the cost of NOT involving them? ↔ Constant back-and-forth clarifications ⏳ Rework and delays ⛓ Team disconnection 😑 Frustration ❓ Anything you'd add? Question for you Product Leaders out there: What's the costliest 'hidden' expense you've seen from leaving developers out of early product discussions? Do you agree that we should involve developers early on? What positive examples have you seen from involving developers early in the product process? Thank you so much to Eric Cussen for enriching our recent webinar. #ProductManagement #Agile #Leadership #ProductDevelopment #EngineeringCulture #ProductStrategy

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