Justin Anovick

Husband | Father | Optimizely Chief Product Officer | Swag Creator | Can you just do what you said you’d do?

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@aakashgupta +1

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

This entire journey - the most important aspect of what we’ve done - the focus on the customer. We are a product org and a product company but customers drive everything.

It’s easy to lose focus on that as you grow - it’s been a constant reminder - to the whole team. CUSTOMERS

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

I keep getting asked about the journey I’ve been on over the past 6 years.

I started in April of 2016 and we had 17 people on the team - PM, design, DevRel and general evangelists.

Fast forward to 2022 and we have roughly 80 people on the team.

1/

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

After we were acquired by Insight - we added resources to focus more on TAM dev and vertical focus. This became important as it continued the trend of specialists over generalists.

After the next 2 acquisitions we realized the complexity of communicating the solutions set

4/

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

2022 is about scale, delivering value and an extreme focus on NDR.

This journey has been like 5 different resets - history will show whether it works, but the need for constant improvement creates constant change.

6/

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

So we added a team to help focus attention of getting things done and coordinating with the rest of the org.

2021 saw the biggest growth of all teams. I added a trusted colleague to run product ops. But focused on “being a grown up product org”, communication was key

5/

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

We went from PM doing full strategy to needing dedicated strategists - due to the increase in analyst relations but also complexity of products. After the first 2 acquisitions we went from generalists to specialists. In 2018 budget was limited for PM as it was needed for sales 3/

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@mde_cms Once in a decade for Canada seems like once in a lifetime for Charlotte :)

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@kevonil This "highlight" is the single most important aspect of running a successful meeting - pre-reads need to be sent out 24 hours in advance and need to be clear. Especially if you're trying to make a decision.

[Netcel @Netcel]

Did you miss the event? Don’t panic…watch the engaging and thought provoking presentation from Dom Graveson, Director of Strategy at Netcel and Joey Moore, Senior Director of Product at @Optimizely on demand here: https://t.co/6FYCdOIfSk

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

Experimentation is not only a process, but a mindset that helps brands to continuously test and iterate on different hypotheses https://t.co/CxVqm2wgBO

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

Nice one Tim! Although this is the 2nd time this week you beat me to the punch on a topic :)

I just finished delivering the product keynote to SKO and it’s about trust and confidence - that’s what promotes excitement.

Another good suggestion on working with sales - synthesize!

[Tim Russo @TdotRusso]

My most important product for the first half of 2022 is not the global platform, or unique feature capabilities to drive demand - it's trust.

Sales /Account teams need to believe that we will deliver a sellable product. How will we meet Trust as a deliverable to drive sales? 🧵

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@TdotRusso It’s always good to be proactive than reactive

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

Love this! I’ve done this for the past 10 years but haven’t updated recently. Thanks for the reminder! I also include my strengthfinders results - I feel that’s equally as important.

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@PMDiegoGranados Reach out to everyone on your team, leaders, folks in Eng and don’t worry about asking them anything. I love helping new hires figure out things faster. You’ll also quickly find out who you can count on in the future.

[Shaughnessy @imshaughnessyok]

Thinking about making this a longer form post, but here's what I think a product manager should do when they realize they've landed in a company that's not doing product "right" or at all. 🧵

[Aakash Gupta @aakashgupta]

Twitter is an amazing place to learn.

But learning on Twitter is different than school. The best source is growing creators who are still delivering, not resting on the past.

Today, I went through 2K profiles from 10a-4p. Here are the top 15 not resting on their laurels 🧵

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@AlmeidaInsights Good luck! You got this!!!

[Justin Anovick @jranovick]

@theadilriaz Wow, I was just talking to my team about this the other day. They wondered why I asked what seem to be the same question 9 different ways. Not everyone reacts to a question the same way - you need to see what gets the right reaction. But it’s all about the line of questioning!!