Suggestions
Amara Nwaigwe
Early-stage Product & GTM Strategist | Startup Advisor | Alum: Meta/Facebook, GitLab, Microsoft
Amara Nwaigwe is a seasoned early-stage Product and Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategist with over 12 years of experience in product marketing.1 She specializes in helping early-stage companies define and grow their product's unique value, from market research to go-to-market strategy.1
Career Highlights
- Current Role: Product Marketing Consultant (Self-employed since January 2023)1
- Previous Positions:
Expertise
Amara has a proven track record in:
- Market research
- Product feedback loops
- Positioning
- Go-to-market strategy
- Growth planning1
She has experience working across various industries, including enterprise SaaS, gaming, ad tech, and social media.
Education
- Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance and Marketing from the University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business1
In 2023, Amara embraced a dual role as an operator and founder, focusing on consulting, mentorship, and writing while also exploring new product ideas.1 Her LinkedIn profile (username: amara-nwaigwe-23b76942) showcases her thought leadership in product marketing and strategy.2
Highlights
Early-stage PMMs please stop waiting to do a “big reveal” of your user research.
I understand the desire to build a perfectly packaged deck. But it’s rarely worth waiting weeks for.
If you’ve ever felt like your insights deck has fallen flat, then read on to try a different approach on how you can use research to influence product decisions.
Here’s my process:
- 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼, 𝗵𝗼𝘄, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. Identify the decision makers. For each decision maker, know what information sways them as well as what setting/timeline works best to have conversations about product direction.
- 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗵. Before you start doing any analysis, outline your point of view on what decision you're looking for the team to make and what information is necessary for the team to make that decision.
- 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗶𝗻 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁. After a couple interviews, meet with your key stakeholder and share your initial findings with the caveat that it’s only been two interviews.
- 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗼. Pick 1-2 things that you think the team should pay attention to in each interview and call out that insight in a short post after each interview.
- 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘇𝗲, 𝗱𝗼𝗻'𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲. Keep the team focused. Prioritize the key insights that support your desired change and push other insights to the appendix.
- 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻. Plan on communicating to each of your stakeholders in the way that works best for them.
- 𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳-𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁. After you’ve communicated your recommendations, ask specific questions to learn what worked and where/how you can improve in the future.
I made this change in my approach and it drastically improved my collaboration with and influence on product decisions.
Ongoing communication seems like a small change but it can have a huge impact.
P.S. I wrote a longer version of this post along with a picture of how I take notes in Excel vs. Docs. The spreadsheet makes it much easier to spot patterns!
