If You Can’t Kill Projects, You Can’t Innovate

From Developer to Engineer: The Mindset Shift That Separates Good from Great with Dr. Milan Milanović

“Senior software engineers remove more code than they add.” When I read this quote from Dr. Milan Milanović [https://www.linkedin.com/in/milanmilanovic/] a few months ago, I knew he had powerful ideas that product people needed to listen to. When I first approached hi , I was surprised by how humble he is, despite having such a huge following (400K+ across platforms). He shared with me about his new book, Laws of Software Engineering [https://lawsofsoftwareengineering.com/], which I had the pleasure of reading to it. I couldn’t hold myself, but invite him for a Podcast. This episode is highly valuable for product folks who want to better understand how to transform the collaboration with engineers. It’s also refreshing hearing from a CTO the differences between developers and engineers, and what makes someone really senior. Listen to it, roughly 40 minutes that’ll give you insights on what’s happening with software engineering now, and how to leverage that. Here are a 7 topics we covered. 1. Developers jump into code; engineers stop to ask why “People who I consider to be primary developers, they are mostly focused on code... But software engineers don’t jump into code. They first stop and start to understand the why’s behind it. They ask questions first.” 2. AI makes low-quality code faster and more dangerous “In the AI world, this is even more visible because it’s easy to produce code and it’s just easy to produce a large amount of code in short time, which is much, much more dangerous than it was before.” 3. Knowing the business is an engineering superpower “Knowing the business, especially in today’s AI world and the domain very well, is a big big advantage to you. If you don’t know that, you will get into problems.” 4. High agency is the defining trait of great engineers “They will figure it out because they know they’re part of business and this is their strength. Not only how to implement this, but also on the product side, working closely to product people and with the business people.” 5. Starting complex is a trap teams walk into repeatedly “Always start simple. Start in the simplest way possible and then build up complexity from there if needed. Maybe it will never be needed, you know, and you will stay simple, which is a great thing.” 6. Parkinson’s Law: work expands to fill the time you give it “If you give people two-hour meetings they will fill this meeting up with discussions, but if you give them 45 minutes they will use those 45 minutes and maybe have the same or even better decisions.” 7. YAGNI: don’t build what no one asked for “I saw many, many times things which were built without need. Not only without the need, but without anyone asking that. They were just there, they were just built much more complex because maybe one day we will need it and that day never came. So we just needed to maintain this complex thing. — How do you move faster than everybody from idea to value? I talk to dozens of product folks every week, from IC to CxO, and one thing stand out to me. Most of them operate with an outdated system, to a point that they continuously need to fight the status quo to drive value. It doesn’t have to be that way. If you want to know how a modern operating system to drive value looks like, apply for our upcoming 100XPM [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm], it will take place in August. Here’s a recommendation from our last cohort. What a great three weeks! David's insights definitely shed light on the true role of a PM, going far beyond business cards and deliverables. He empowered me to be a professional who aspires to more and has a holistic view of the problem. It also helped me improve personally. Without a doubt, these three weeks helped me become a better professional and a better person. His experience and industry connections are also very relevant for understanding where we are and where things are headed, especially in AI. - Domingo Echenique [https://www.linkedin.com/in/domingo-echenique-o-shea-29a92a148/] This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dpereira.substack.com/subscribe [https://dpereira.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

If You Can’t Kill Projects, You Can’t Innovate

AI is changing many things, not everything.Yet, many teams are jumping on the curve without knowing why. I sat down with Alexander Osterwalder, Strategyzer CEO, whom I respect a lot given his great books, especially the Invincible Company. We talked about what’s happening now. What changes? What doesn’t change? We went on discussing controversial topics like innovation is not the goal. With AI, many CEOs believe they’re forced to innovate. But that’s not true all the time. The goal remains the same. Create value for customers while collecting value for the business. To do that, you’ve got to talk to REAL people, and do something they’re ready to pay. The challenge now is another: Protecting your moats. As everyone can build stuff, copying successful models becomes easier. Companies’ll thrive for long when managing to differentiate from the crowds. Listen to this episode to gain applicable insights directly from Alex. This is a 45 minutes conversation that’ll inspire you a lot. Here are some of our key takeaways: 1. Innovation Is Not the Goal “The goal is not to innovate. The goal is the strategic goal that you define.” 2. AI ≠ Strategy “AI changes everything and it changes nothing.” 3. Synthetic Users Don’t Replace Reality “Today it does not replace talking to real customers.” 4. Explore and Exploit Are Different Games “Explore is about creating the future. Exploit is managing the existing.” 5. Kill Projects, Not Just Ideas “Killing ideas is easy… You kill projects.” 6. Evidence Beats Forecasts “That’s much stronger than the spreadsheet.” 7. Scaling Is Earned, Not Switched On “Scaling is not a light turned on.” Let’s keep untrapping the product world together. David PereiraProduct advisor & coach [http://d-pereira.com] Do You Want to Become the Achiever PM Impossible to Ignore? It’s your choice to level up your game and become the Achiever PM who’s unignorable. And I can help you get there with my 100XPM Mastermind [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]. We will run - most probably the last one for this year - in Summer. You can already apply for it. 3 weeks, 9 sessions, 1 transformation. We will equip you to operate at your next promotion level. You’ll have clarity on how to increase your visibility, gain influence, and ultimately get the deserved rewards. Apply now. [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm] PS: If you still have any questions, drop me a message and I will reply to you. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dpereira.substack.com/subscribe [https://dpereira.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

“B******g ain’t switching.” So what is?

Hey, how’s the product world been for you? Before we jump into this amazing episode. I’ve got an invitation for you. I’m running a free webinar on The Bulletproof PM: How to Get Your Career Unstuck in the AI Era. [https://www.linkedin.com/events/7445123178588450816?viewAsMember=true] I decided to do that because there’s too much apocalyptic messages out there, and many are missing on key things that unlock growth. Join us, 1 hour of insights to grow. [https://www.linkedin.com/events/7445123178588450816?viewAsMember=true] Last year I attended 17 conferences. And the magic doesn’t happen on stage. It happens when you have honest conversations with people. I got the chance to meet, Bob Moesta [https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobmoesta/], first in Munich. You probably heard about Jobs to be Done, which Bob was behind it. But he’s much more than that. He’s a humble, inspiring, and caring person. Throughout the whole conference, Bob spend his time talking to people, listening to them, and sharing perspectives. And I’m one of these people. I learned so much from him, that I felt it was unfair to hold it only to myself. I got him to our podcast. This episode is a mixture of career, Job Moves [https://www.jobmoves.com] (his latest book), and life stories. You will enjoy this chat if you want unfiltered coming out through an open and unstructured conversation. This is not marketing, that’s how we recorded this episode. During our warm up chat, Bob asked me, who will listen to us, what you care about, and what keeps you up at night. And within that, we kicked it off. No scripts, no rehearsed answers, just honest and rough thoughts. It’s close to an hour of thoughts that can help you reflect about your career, and what matters to you. Here are some insights you’re going to get from it. 1. Energy is your compass, not your title. “Where did you get energy? … Those hints of energy are there throughout your entire life.” 2. Switching starts when progress becomes explicit. “B******g ain’t switching. The question is: what progress are you trying to make?” 3. Questions create room for answers. “Questions create spaces in the brain for solutions to fall into.” 4. Stuck is the trigger: progress is the fuel. “The moment they feel stuck…” 5. Before quitting, do the self-diagnosis. “Before you say I quit… it’s you learning about yourself.” 6. There is no ideal job, only trade-offs. “Every job has trade-offs.” 7. Most “strategy” complaints hide avoidance. “Nine times out of 10… excuse, I don’t have a strategy.” 8. Do not ‘fix’ yourself into mediocrity. Protect your superpowers. “My superpowers went away.” 9. Use process as a crutch for what drains you, not what fuels you. “When I actually hate to do it… build a process around it.” 10. Sometimes the best move is sideways to recover. “Find a jobcation… rebalance themselves.” Let’s keep Untrapping the Product World, Together. Talk soon, David Pereira Do you feel stuck in your product journey? Here are a few ways I can help you unstuck your career. * 100X PM Mastermind [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]: If you want to move from PM to Product Leader, this 3-week program will supercharge your growth. People from 15+ countries attended it already, and the feedback is inspiring. Join our upcoming program in January [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]. * Private Coaching: When you have specific challenges like strategy, career growth, positioning, or simply defeating BS management. I offer 30-min [https://calendly.com/untrapping/30-min-session] or 60-min [https://calendly.com/untrapping/60-minute-session]sessions. You bring the problem, and we sort it out together. * Product Leadership Advisory: If you’re looking for more in-depth collaboration, I can be your advisor. I’ve helped 50+ organisations so far, and I’m confident I can help your business grow. Reach out to contact@d-pereira.com * Product Workshops: If you want to level-up your teams’ expertise, I offer practicable remote and in-person workshops. Check it out here [https://www.d-pereira.com/workshops]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dpereira.substack.com/subscribe [https://dpereira.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Impact-First Product: The Shift Teams Can’t Avoid Anymore with Matt LeMay

Are you done with the framework madness? Companes use, misuse, and abuse frameworks. The result is often anything but nice. A few examples:Discuss how to do discovery with ScrumHow to properly run Scrum EventsHow to deploy the perfect Spotify model Guess what? None of that really matters.What matters is having clarity on what impact you want to achieve.Then, work towards that. To spice it up. I got Matt LeMay [https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlemay/], author of Impact-First Product Teams, to share his wisdom on how to truly move the needle and ditch what doesn’t really matter. Matt’s core idea is simple and uncomfortable: product teams can’t hide behind process anymore. If you cannot explain how your work drives business impact, the rest doesn’t matter. And no, nobody keeps paying you because you “did Scrum correctly.” The key insight is: No matter your situation, you always have a move. Listen, if you want sharper thinking, fewer excuses, and a practical path to becoming an impact-first team without burning your org chart to the ground. Here are 7 insights you’re getting from this down-to-earth podcast: 1. Impact is not optional anymore “It is ultimately essential, and I think unavoidable for product teams to be able to understand and articulate how their work is influencing the business at large.” 2. Most ‘best practices’ come from rare conditions “These best practices… come from these unique and very rare and irreproducible commercial circumstances.” 3. The real cost is learned helplessness “There’s this learned helplessness throughout the product world where it’s like we can’t do anything.” 4. If you cannot define success, you are taking unacceptable risk “People don’t know what success looks like… that feels like such an unacceptable amount of risk to take on both organizationally and personally.” 5. Impact-first teams keep goals alive, not quarterly theatre “Teams that keep their goals front and center tend to be impact-first teams.” 6. You do not become impact-first by declaring a revolution “Most of the stories I have to tell are incremental stories… you’re often not going to get there by ripping up organizational processes and starting over again.” 7. There is always a move “You can always do something. There’s always a move… 90% of product management is just not letting yourself get trapped.” Let’s keep Untrapping the Product World Together Talk soon, David Pereirad-pereira product advisory & coaching Are you ready to step up your game? I’ve coached 100+ product folks and can guide you through your transformation. Here are a few ways: * 100X PM Mastermind [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]: If you want to move from PM to Product Leader, this 3-week program will supercharge your growth. People from 15+ countries attended it already, and the feedback is inspiring. Join our upcoming program in January [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]. * Private Coaching: When you have specific challenges like strategy, career growth, positioning, or simply defeating BS management. I offer 30-min [https://calendly.com/untrapping/30-min-session] or 60-min [https://calendly.com/untrapping/60-minute-session]sessions. You bring the problem, and we sort it out together. * Product Leadership Advisory: If you’re looking for more in-depth collaboration, I can be your advisor. I’ve helped 50+ organisations so far, and I’m confident I can help your business grow. Reach out to contact@d-pereira.com * Product Workshops: If you want to level-up your teams’ expertise, I offer practicable remote and in-person workshops. Check it out here [https://www.d-pereira.com/workshops]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dpereira.substack.com/subscribe [https://dpereira.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

John Cutler: Multi-Lens Thinking, Model Building, and the Copy-Paste Trap

How many times did you hear about the feature factory? Maybe you feel that in your bones today - I feel that with the teams I coach. John Cutler coined this term 9 years ago, when he wrote a blog post, 12 Signs You’re Working on a Feature Factory. [https://medium.com/@johnpcutler/12-signs-youre-working-in-a-feature-factory-44a5b938d6a2] But there’s more to it than you imagine. The popularity of the feature factory term is undeniable, but John had a different goal when he wrote about it. He was talking to a researcher from Medium and wanted to make the point that even when he’d ticked all the engagement boxes, the post wouldn’t fly. The effect was completely different. Millions of reads. If you don’t know John Cutler, follow his work. Not because he will tell you what you should do differently, but because his ideas will help you broaden your perspectives. I don’t know anyone who’s written more consistently about product than John. It’s 10 years of sharing insights. And I had the pleasure of recording this amazing podcast with him. You will gain insights into product operating models, the power of looking from different lenses, overlooked realities of Silicon Valley, and why great leaders act as game designers and storytellers. Listen to it to amplify your perspectives. Here are the top 7 insights from our chat. 1. Leaders Are Model Builders (Not Framework Implementers) You’re a storyteller and game designer. Your job isn’t picking the right framework - it’s building models that stick in your company and trigger better decisions. 2. The Justs, Buts, and Cans Everyone has their “justs” (you just need A-players) and their “buts” (but you don’t understand our culture). The real question: what CAN we do today without oversimplifying reality or going in circles? 3. Dragonfly Thinking Move between multiple lenses - behavioral design, anthropology, politics, culture. The ability to shift perspectives is more valuable than having one “correct” view. 4. Frameworks Must Be Accessible AND Powerful Accessible-only frameworks are shallow. Powerful-only frameworks only nerds understand. You need both: easy entry point, deep layers to peel back when challenged. 5. Internal Product-Market Fit Your models and frameworks need PMF inside your company. The test: does the CEO ask to see that slide again? If people don’t pull for it, it’s dead. 6. Minimal Viable Consistency What’s the least amount of consistency you need across the enterprise so teams can make decisions? Every consistency choice has a cost. 7. The Big Bang Refactoring Reality Successful companies didn’t just adopt best practices. They swung between centralization/decentralization, project/product mode. Getting there requires messy transformation, not copying the end state. Do you feel you need any help in 2026? Here are a few ways I can be your guide to help you make the best of 2026. * 100X PM Mastermind [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]: If you want to move from PM to Product Leader, this 3-week program will supercharge your growth. People from 15+ countries attended it already, and the feedback is inspiring. Join our upcoming program in January [https://www.d-pereira.com/100x-pm]. * Private Coaching: When you have specific challenges like strategy, career growth, positioning, or simply defeating BS management. I offer 30-min [https://calendly.com/untrapping/30-min-session] or 60-min [https://calendly.com/untrapping/60-minute-session] sessions. You bring the problem, and we sort it out together. * Product Leadership Advisory: If you’re looking for more in-depth collaboration, I can be your advisor. I’ve helped 50+ organisations so far, and I’m confident I can help your business grow. Reach out to contact@d-pereira.com * Product Workshops: If you want to level-up your teams’ expertise, I offer practicable remote and in-person workshops. Check it out here [https://www.d-pereira.com/workshops]. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dpereira.substack.com/subscribe [https://dpereira.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]