Detan Oyedele

How to Stop Saying “Yes” to Everything as a Product Manager

Detan — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 14:00:00 GMT

As a product manager, it can feel like everyone wants a piece of your roadmap—and saying yes seems like the safest way to stay collaborative and helpful. But every yes is a hidden trade-off, and over time those invisible compromises can erode focus, frustrate users, and quietly damage your credibility.

In this video, I unpack a high-profile app redesign gone wrong and show how saying yes to “more, faster” ended up trading away the simple, reliable core experience users actually valued. You’ll learn three practical lessons: measure every request against your north star metric, make trade-offs visible when you commit, and redefine your value as protecting focus—not shipping every request.

If your roadmap feels like a grocery list written by ten people, this video will help you pause, say no with confidence, and rebuild trust by keeping the promises that truly matter.

Chapters

00:00 When everything is “top priority” on your roadmap
00:36 The Sonos app redesign and what went wrong
01:52 The real cost of saying yes to everything
02:16 Lesson 1 – Measure against your north star
03:10 Lesson 2 – Make your trade-offs visible
04:06 Lesson 3 – Redefine your value
04:59 Closing mindset shift: saying no as stewardship
05:15 A simple roadmap exercise to stop overcommitting
05:34 Final reminder

→ Subscribe to my Substack: https://detanoyedele.substack.com/Who am I? 👩🏾 I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help mid-level Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.Let's connect 📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin 💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com🤗 Subscribe for new videos → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC23U4er8-7r_GFbc9xXebZA?sub_confirmation=1💌 For business inquiries, partnerships or questions → savvywithin@gmail.com#productmanagement #savvywithin #detanoyedele

Do This to Rebuild Trust After a Failed Product Launch

Detan — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 14:00:00 GMT

When a product launch underdelivers, it doesn’t just dent your metrics—it dents your credibility as a product manager. In this video, I walk through a real story of a failed reporting feature launch, how trust started to quietly erode, and what it actually takes to rebuild it with your team, stakeholders, and leadership.You’ll learn why defending the outcome or disappearing after a miss makes things worse, and how to instead own the results, separate decision quality from outcomes, and make your learning highly visible. I’ll also share five practical moves: framing the failure clearly, revisiting assumptions, changing your behavior (not just the story), and taking a smaller, sharper follow‑up bet that restores confidence over time.If you’ve ever shipped something that “kind of worked, but not really,” this video will help you metabolize that failure and turn it into durable trust and better product decisions.

Chapters

00:00 Story of a failed reporting feature launch
01:02 How quiet failures erode trust in PMs
02:20 Common reactions after failed launches
03:21 Step 1 – Own outcome
04:15 Step 2 – Decision minus results
05:20 Step 3 – Explicit and visible learning
07:00 Step 4 – Change your behavior, not just narrative
08:04 Step 5 – Smaller, sharper follow‑up bet
08:53 The real source of trust in product managers
09:35 Final takeaway and viewer reflection prompt

Product Discovery With Busy Users: 5 Tricks That Actually Work

Detan — Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Your busiest users—the operators, managers, and leaders—won't give you 60-minute interviews. Their calendars are Tetris on hard mode, and they paid to use your product, not co-create it. So how do you run effective product discovery when they ghost your outreach? This video shares 5 battle-tested principles I learned the hard way: shorten your asks to micro-moments, go where their pain already lives (support tickets, sales calls), use prototypes as instant reaction tests, design async feedback loops, and assemble truth from signal fragments instead of waiting for perfect stories. Real-world examples from Slack and Shopify show how top PMs extract insights without stealing user time.Stop fighting for "ideal" discovery. Learn to design lightweight systems that fit their workflow and capture honest behaviors over polished opinions. If your users are too busy to talk, this 8-minute guide changes how you discover without interrupting their day.

Chapters

00:00 The discovery roadblock
01:06 Myth busted: long interviews aren't real-world discovery
01:45 Mindset shift
02:55 Principle 1: Micro-asks
03:40 Principle 2: Go where pain lives
04:22 Principle 3: Prototypes
05:17 Principle 4: Async discovery
05:56 Principle 5: Assemble truth
06:32 What changed
07:03 Antipatterns to avoid in busy-user discovery
08:06 Listen

A Product Manager’s Secret to Always Being Right

Detan — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Every product manager has had that one idea they were sure would be a game-changer… until it quietly flopped after launch. In this video, I share the story of a feature I was convinced would be a massive win—and the uncomfortable lesson it taught me about what it really means to “be right” as a PM.You’ll learn why the best product managers aren’t the ones with the strongest vision, but the ones who become experts at proving themselves wrong. We’ll break down how ego, attachment to ideas, and confirmation bias quietly derail product decisions, and how to replace them with a scientist mindset that makes better outcomes almost inevitable.I’ll walk through a practical three-step system you can start using today: framing everything as a hypothesis, becoming your own devil’s advocate, and building processes that actively seek the truth through data, customers, and cross-functional input. If you’ve ever felt pressure to always have the answers, this video will help you reframe your role—and build products that actually work in the real world

Chapters
00:00 The failed “sure thing” feature
01:00 The dangerous pressure to always be right
02:10 When your ideas become your identity
03:20 Redefining what it means to be right
05:00 Step 1 – Think like a scientist, not a visionary
06:40 Step 2 – Become your own devil’s advocate
08:20 Step 3 – Build a system for finding the truth
10:15 Why embracing being wrong makes you a better PM
11:05 The real secret to “always” being right

I Onboarded Into Two PM Jobs in One Year — The Playbook I Wish I Had

Detan — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 15:00:00 GMT

Onboarding into a new product manager role can look completely different from one company to the next—especially when you switch from an in‑person team to a fully remote one. In this video, I break down the five biggest ways my onboarding changed across two PM roles in one year, and how that reshaped my approach to the first 30, 60, and 90 days in any new product role.You’ll learn how to navigate structured vs unstructured onboarding plans, build a learning log, practice intentional visibility in remote environments, and decide whether to spend more of your time with engineering or with go‑to‑market teams. We’ll also dig into measuring your progress by clarity instead of just outcomes, and why documentation becomes your superpower when you’re onboarding remotely.If you’re about to start a new PM role—or want to get more intentional about your next 90 days—this video will give you practical tactics, questions to ask, and mindset shifts you can apply right away.

Chapters:

00:00 Why two PM onboardings in one year
00:45 Following a set onboarding plan vs designing your own
01:40 How to build a learning log and over‑communicate with your manager
02:35 Join as many calls as possible during onboarding
03:10 In‑person vs remote: proximity vs intentional visibility
04:00 Tactics for staying visible in remote roles (Slack, notes, listening in)
04:55 Measuring progress by outcomes vs clarity in your first 90 days
05:50 What to focus on at 30, 60, and 90 days
06:45 Where product problems live: delivery, discovery, or go‑to‑market
07:35 When to spend more time with engineering vs GTM teams
08:30 Shadowing calls and looping insights back to engineering
09:15 Why remote onboarding demands more documentation
10:05 Writing as proof of thinking: PRDs, briefs, decision logs
11:05 Key onboarding mindset: adapt your 30/60/90, don’t chase perfect
11:45 Final advice: clarity, relationships, and context over quick wins

The perks and pitfalls of being the ideal user for your product

Detan — Tue, 30 Sep 2025 16:23:54 GMT

… they said

Build what you need. Scratch your own itch.

But should I, though?

For a long time, I believed the easiest way to build products was simple: be your own user and solve your own problem. The logic was clear. You face problems in your daily life, and if you have the ability, why not solve them? When you’re building for yourself, you feel the pain points deeply.

You can trust your instincts.
You don’t need endless discovery cycles because your own experience could become the compass.
The vision is clearer
and you’re even more passionate about the product

But lately, I’ve found myself drawn to the opposite challenge: building products for markets that I don’t represent. When I’m not the user, I can’t pretend to know. I can’t rely on my gut. I can’t assume. I can’t shortcut the process. Instead, I’m forced to create systems that bring me closer to reality and unbiased success.

And, crucially, I stop trying to prove myself right and instead work to prove myself wrong.

I believe this shift makes you a stronger builder and helps sharpen your global skills beyond leveraging your lived experience.

A Story from the field

A couple of years ago, I was working at eHealth Systems on a product for a customer segment I knew very little about. The users were frontline healthcare workers delivering services to vulnerable and underserved communities across Northern Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Niger.

Some of these users commuted for days in boats and buses, while others slept in open fields, all while relying on the software my team built, along with hand-drawn maps, to complete their jobs. Their daily routines, tools, and even vocabulary were completely different from my lived or told experience.

My first instinct was to translate their world into mine: “If I were them, I would want it this way.” Each time I thought I had a good idea, sitting with actual users proved me wrong. They revealed realities and workarounds I never could have imagined. They highlighted pain points I had overlooked or dismissed as simple, only to learn they were anything but.

At first, the experience was deeply frustrating. Over time, however, I found it liberating, especially when I traveled to see firsthand how my users lived and worked. (Spoiler: I couldn’t survive for a month in their shoes without running back to the life I was familiar with).

That’s when it clicked: my job was not to be right. My job was to solve the right problems the right way for the people who lived the problems every day.

The greater the distance I felt from the market, the more committed I became to closing that gap and staying close to the user.

The trap of building for yourself

Let’s start with the seemingly “easy” side. When you are the user, you get the benefit of empathy and intuition. You know what “good” feels like. You can dogfood your product daily.

But some risks often go unspoken:

You are a sample size of one - your use case may not match the broader market.
You may over-index on personal preference - what delights you may confuse others.
You can stop listening because you assume you already know.

If you are building for yourself, here are three ways to keep perspective:

Actively seek the “non-you” users. Identify where their needs diverge from yours, and prioritize those insights.
Don’t rely on dogfooding alone. It’s valuable, but it can create blind spots. Prioritize external discovery and research.
Check your ego. Being the user doesn’t mean you’re the average user. Keep reminding yourself of that.

The discipline of building for others

Now, the harder side: building for markets you don’t belong to.

Here, you don’t have the luxury of instinct. And that can feel uncomfortable until you realize it’s actually an advantage.

Why? Because it forces you to build better product muscles:

Humility. You accept you don’t know, and let the user’s behavior guide you.
Curiosity. You spend more time listening, observing, and asking the right questions in the right way (Refer to Teressa Torres on all the ways to ask product questions)
Proximity. You stay closer to your users and partners because you have no other choice.

If you are building for a market you’re not part of, here are three practices that help:

Aim to prove yourself wrong. Go into research not to validate ideas, but to find their cracks and find the best patterns
Borrow perspectives. Hire, partner, or consult with people who represent the market. This not only enriches your product but also your personal network
Stay in the field. Replace assumptions with first-hand observation. Shadow, test, iterate.

The irony is that, by being outside the market, you often end up closer to the user than if you were inside it.

The juxtaposition

So here’s the paradox I’ve come to believe:

When you are the user, the risk is overconfidence.
When you are not the user, the risk is ignorance.

Both are dangerous, but only one leaves you with no choice but curiosity, humility, and discipline, or else you don’t survive. That’s why, increasingly, I find myself preferring the latter.

And maybe that’s the real takeaway:
It’s less about whether you are the user or not.
It’s about how you choose to approach the work.

👉 I’d love to hear from you:

Have you found yourself preferring one side or the other?
What habits keep you from falling into the traps of your own perspective?

How to build growth loops that actually work (Plus a FREE tool to design yours in minutes)

Detan — Thu, 21 Aug 2025 17:10:47 GMT

Many product and marketing teams talk about funnels. Funnels are fine if you’re teaching Marketing 101. But when you’re building a product, a growth loop is where the magic happens.

Unlike funnels, loops are self-reinforcing systems where a user’s action triggers value, which drives more of that same action feeding your growth without burning through Ad budgets.

Why This Matters

Growth loops aren’t just for social networks. Any product can design a loop that:

Leverages what’s already working.
Turns one user’s actions into more value for others.
Scales without spending linearly on acquisition.

📺 Prefer to watch instead?

I walk through everything in detail (with real examples and a live demo of my Growth Loop GPT) in this video.

Case Study: LinkedIn’s Hidden Growth Engine

Here’s what happens when you sign up for LinkedIn:

You join and LinkedIn prompts you to connect your contacts.
If you say yes, LinkedIn suggests connections you already know.
You send invites some to existing LinkedIn users, some to new prospects.
New users join to accept your invite… and the cycle repeats.

The brilliance? LinkedIn isn’t paying to find these people—you’re doing the work for them. And you’re happy to, because you want a richer network.

Designing a growth loop: The growth PM’s checklist

Step 1 - Assess the opportunity

Before you design anything, define what you’re trying to grow, what’s in the way, and what you already have to work with.

Example: LinkedIn’s “Sync Contacts” Loop

Goal / Growth Outcome: e.g Get new users and increase active connections.
User Hurdle: New users may not already have people to connect with
Existing Resources and the value they unlock: User’s phone contact list, LinkedIn’s recommendation engine, and invitation system.

This step ensures you’re solving for a real opportunity not just building what is possibly

Step 2 - Brainstorm features & prioritize

Once you know the opportunity, brainstorm features that could enable the loop. When you design a growth loop, think flows and steps, not just features. Instead of saying, “Let’s add invites,” you’re mapping Input → Action → Output. Where each step has a hypothesis and the riskiest step becomes your experiment focus.

To brainstorm here is the key question to ask

How might we leverage [existing resources] and the [value] it unlocks to overcome [hurdles] and achieve our [goal]?" in the action

For LinkedIn, growth loop options might include:

Loop 1 - Warm contact import

Step 1: New user imports email/phone contacts
Step 2: Matches show high-relevance connections
Step 3: User sends invites → high acceptance rate
Step 4: Larger network triggers more “People You May Know” suggestions
Step 5: User sends more invites

Why it works: Low friction, high trust, strong early acceptance feedback

Loop 2 - Mutual connections social proof

Step 1: New user connects with 3–5 initial people (workplace, school)
Step 2: Profile appears in “People You May Know” for their network
Step 3: Those mutual connections send invites back
Step 4: User sees connection notifications → sends more invites to secondary connections

Why it works: Mutual connections lower invite rejection fear and increase trust

Loop 3 - Profile completeness magnet

Step 1: User completes profile (photo, headline, experience)
Step 2: LinkedIn boosts profile in search and recommendations
Step 3: More inbound connection requests arrive
Step 4: User reciprocates by sending invites back

Why it works: High-quality profiles attract both inbound and outbound connections

Then prioritize based on what’s most likely to hit your growth outcome, in this case Loop 1 - Warm contact import

Step 3 - Identify the riskiest step / assumption

Every growth loop has assumptions. Some will break the loop instantly if they’re wrong.

Will users sync their contacts?
Do they actually want to connect with the suggested people?
Will they send invites to non-LinkedIn contacts?

For LinkedIn, the riskiest could be:

Will a new user sync their contacts right after joining?

If the answer’s no, the loop fails before it starts.
That’s the step you test first.

Step 4 - Experiment & test riskiest assumption

Design an experiment that isolates the riskiest step.

LinkedIn example:

Experiment → Prompt new users to sync contacts immediately after their first connection.
Measure → % of new users who sync + % who make connections within 7 days.
Success Criteria → Contact sync leads to a measurable uplift in connections.

If it works, you scale the loop. If not, you adjust and retest.

A Shortcut: A GPT that designs growth loops for you

Here’s where it gets fun. I’ve built a Growth Loop GPT that walks you through:

Defining your product’s growth goal.
Identifying your biggest user hurdles.
Mapping your existing resources.
Generating multiple growth loop options.
Prioritizing the loop most likely to succeed.
Outlining an experiment + metrics in under a minute.

For example, I fed it:

“A productivity app for Gen Z with task tracking, calendar sync, and collaboration. Goal: improve user retention.”

It gave me three (3) growth loop options, prioritized the most promising (calendar sync → daily planning → repeat visits), and even designed the experiment:

Hypothesis: If users receive a “What’s on Today?” notification after syncing their calendar, they’ll open the app daily.
Metric: % of users returning on consecutive days.

💡 I will continue to improve the GPT, refine it and train it with more context but please give it a try and provide some feedback. Search “Growth Loop GPT” in ChatGPT, give it your product context, and let it design loops you can ship today. Then go run the experiment. Measure, iterate, scale and watch your product start compounding growth on its own.

I created a Growth Loop GPT

Detan — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 14:02:54 GMT

If you're a product manager or startup founder trying to grow your product, you know how tough it is to cut through the noise and focus on the right growth experiments.

That’s why I built something: a customized GPT that acts like a growth strategist. One that thinks from first principles, uses AARRR frameworks, helps you design smart growth loops and prioritizes experiments to validate those growth loops

Check out Growth Loop GPT

Why I built it

To codify my thinking: I’ve been developing sharp mental models for product growth over time. Building this GPT was a way to externalize and scale how I think about growth. It’s like turning my brain into a tool others can use. I hope to do more of this with other areas I know well - GPTs, automations, tools, and more.
To scale my impact: I can’t be in every product growth conversation, but my frameworks and approach can give people a head start by answering, “How would Detan think about this?” This GPT allows me to help more people without being in the room. Again, I hope to replicate this in other areas of expertise.
To get going: Interestingly, this is my first (of hopefully many) GPTs. It took about three hours, squeezed between work, from “create” to “share.” Like they say: get going → get good → get smart. This was about checking the “get going” box, and I did.
I wanted a faster way to go from “we need to grow” to “here’s our growth hypothesis, loop, and top experiments.” This GPT gets me and hopefully you there in minutes.

What Growth Loop GPT does

This GPT helps you:

Design growth loops that match your product’s mission
Identify experiments tied to key growth outcomes
Prioritize experiments based on impact and influence

It acts like a strategic thought partner - not just throwing ideas, but helping you define outcomes, surface friction, and leverage existing assets to move the needle.

How it works

It asks you four key questions:

What’s your product, and why does it matter?
What growth outcome are you targeting?
What’s getting in the way?
What resources do you already have working well?

Then it maps out loops, experiments, and a clear growth path.

Let me know how it works for you and if you want me to evolve it further. I’m using it daily on my projects and refining it based on real feedback.

Cheer friends!

App Teardown: What Amazon Prime Video gets wrong (and right) — with Jumoke Ajidahun

Detan — Fri, 01 Aug 2025 14:03:03 GMT

Hey friends,

A few nights ago, Jumoke Ajidahun and I sat down to do what friends in tech love to do - overanalyze a streaming app like it owes us royalties. This time, we picked Amazon Prime Video and walked through Jumoke’s subjective opinion of it. We found great reach, decent originals, and somehow... a UI that feels like it was designed during a board meeting.

Here’s what we uncovered in our teardown: the good, the bad, and the “how did this get shipped?”

Watch the teardown here:

Teardown notes

Discovery seems Broken

Jumoke’s take:
They (series) are hard to find! In fact, it's the last place that I go to search for something to watch. . I only come here to watch what I have been told can only be found here.

Prime Video buries gems under layers of visual complexity and clutter. Rows of recommendations feel algorithmically generic. Top 10 label? but where is the full list?

What we’d fix:

Clean up the categories. Less noise, more intent.
Give us an actual Top 10 section, not just a badge.
Surface the “Continue Watching” row up top. It’s 2025—don’t make me dig for it.
Make search work for non-English titles
Accurate tagging of movies for better and more up-to-date discovery of similar movies

The skip slider controls — clunky, not clever

Jumoke’s take:
Wow! skip controls feels... stiff on TV! Sometimes I tap once and it jumps a minute, other times, it ignores me completely.How can I fast-forward and reverse with precision using the TV remote and slider?

In 2025, we expect better skip controls options. Scrubbing through content should feel intuitive and smooth especially when you’re rewatching or trying to find that scene. But here? It’s trial and error every time.

What we’d add:

Responsive, fine-tuned skip gestures on TV
Better frame previews while scrubbing (Netflix has had this for years).

Audio & subtitles: Why so complicated?

Switching audio or subtitles on Prime Video feels like solving a Rubik’s Cube mid-episode. The options exist—but understanding the toggles them takes way more steps than it should.

Both’s take:
"It shouldn’t take this much brainpower just to change the language I want to watch my movie in."

Accessibility shouldn’t feel like a hidden feature.

What we’d fix:

Fewer taps to toggle subtitles or change audio.
Visual cues that actually show what's currently selected and what it does for the user’s watch experience

What Prime Video does well

Let’s give credit where it’s due.

Global catalog: Surprisingly deep in international content, if you’re patient enough to dig.
Multiple user profiles: Relatively recent but essential addition, to let households personalize experiences without blending watch histories.

Final thoughts

Amazon Prime Video isn’t the top streaming platform because of content, it’s one of the popular streaming platforms despite content.

For Jumoke, if they focused on catalog classification and quality of UX they could do better. But for now, it feels like a product optimized for Amazon’s priorities of competing within that space with something that just works ok, not the user's viewing pleasure.

Truth or Myth? Everything you’ve heard about PMF - Part 2

Detan — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 15:00:00 GMT

Think you know everything about Product Market Fit (PMF)? Think again! In Part 2 of "Truth or Myth? Everything you’ve heard about PMF," we break down some of the most common myths and truths circulating in the product world right now. Discover why PMF isn't just for B2C companies, why customer satisfaction doesn't always equal true market fit, and how metrics like churn rate and focusing on niche markets really matter. Whether you're a product manager, founder, or curious about scaling successful products, this episode will challenge your assumptions and give you actionable insights to sharpen your product strategy. Watch now to separate reality from fiction and take your understanding of PMF to the next level!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: Apple vs. Android & illustration of PMF

00:21 PMF only matters for B2C businesses?

01:02 Customer satisfaction and PMF

02:10 Prioritizing customer feature requests after achieving PMF

02:59 Churn Rate and it's relationship to Product Market Fit

04:12 Focusing on a Niche Market Helps Achieve PMF

05:57 Achieving PMF Means Guaranteed Growth

06:47 Final Thoughts & Takeaways

WHO AM I? 👩🏾 I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help mid-level Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET’S GET SOCIAL

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC23U4er8-7r_GFbc9xXebZA?sub_confirmation=1 ⬅️

LET'S CONNECT 😉

Consider subscribing if you like what you see and hear. For enquiries, partnership opportunities or If you want to go more in-depth and have a bigger question, feel free to email me at savvywithin@gmail.com. 😉

#productmanagement #savvywithin #detanoyedele

Truth or Myth? Everything you’ve heard about PMF - Part 1

Detan — Fri, 18 Jul 2025 14:00:00 GMT

Unlock the real secrets behind Product Market Fit (PMF) in Part 1 of this eye-opening series! Is everything you’ve heard about PMF true, or just a myth? In this video, we break down popular claims, debunk common misconceptions, and clarify what PMF really means for startups and established companies alike. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, product manager, or just curious about building products people love, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Get ready to separate fact from fiction, and take your understanding of PMF to the next level!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Product Market Fit (PMF)

01:07 The Pillars of PMF

02:31 Spectrum vs. Binary: Is PMF All or Nothing?**

04:19 PMF beyond startups

05:30 PMF as a one-time achievement

06:31 Metrics for measuring PMF

07:33 The "Perfect Product"

08:24 About user growth and PMF

09:51 Superior product for PMF

WHO AM I? 👩🏾 I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help mid-level Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET’S GET SOCIAL

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC23U4er8-7r_GFbc9xXebZA?sub_confirmation=1 ⬅️

LET'S CONNECT 😉

#productmanagement #savvywithin #detanoyedele

OKRs: How to align initiatives with business value? 🤔

Detan — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 14:00:00 GMT

Unlock the secrets to aligning your team's initiatives with real business value! In this video, we break down the art of translating high-level OKRs (Objectives and Key Results) into actionable strategies that truly move the needle. Discover the four essential value buckets every organization should focus on—increasing revenue, protecting revenue, reducing costs, and avoiding future costs. With practical examples and clear frameworks, you'll learn how to categorize your initiatives, justify their impact, and drive meaningful results for your business. Perfect for product managers, team leads, and anyone looking to make their work count!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction: The Challenge of Aligning OKRs

01:49 Understanding Business Value: The Four Value Buckets

02:54 Value Bucket 1

04:44 Strategies for Value Bucket 1

07:05 Value Bucket 2

08:13 Strategies for Value Bucket 2

11:05 Value Bucket 3

12:47 Strategies for Value Bucket 3

14:13 Value Bucket 4

15:46 Strategies for Value Bucket 4

17:31 Recap: Applying the Value Buckets

18:11 Closing Thoughts & Next Steps

WHO AM I? 👩🏾 I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help mid-level Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET’S GET SOCIAL

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS → https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC23U4er8-7r_GFbc9xXebZA?sub_confirmation=1 ⬅️

LET'S CONNECT 😉

#productmanagement #savvywithin #detanoyedele

Understanding user needs on a spectrum

Detan — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 13:35:48 GMT

User needs are the expectations and desires users have when interacting with a product. These needs can be functional (what the product does), aesthetic (how it looks and feels), or emotional (how it makes users feel).

Understanding users’ needs is the foundation of any meaningful product research. One step to arriving at user needs, though, is to segment users into groups based on shared characteristics or behaviours, to better understand their needs and target them.

For example, the Strong workout app could segment its users into psychographic segmentation of Lifestyle, values, interests, and personality

Segment 1 - athletes
Segment 2 - weight-loss seekers
Segment 3 - mindfulness enthusiasts

One way to view functional needs by Segment

Segment 1 – Athletes

Advanced workout logging (sets, reps, weights)
Progress tracking (graphs, PRs)
Custom workout plans
Data export and app integrations

Segment 2 – Weight-Loss Seekers

Guided, beginner-friendly workouts
Calorie/macro tracking or integrations
Weight and progress photo logs
Workout reminders

Segment 3 – Mindfulness Enthusiasts

Workout journaling (mood, notes)
Mindful rest timers or prompts
Gentle routines (yoga, mobility)
Integration with wellness apps

Another way to view user needs as a spectrum, not binary

I’ve learned that user needs don’t simply fall into strict buckets. Instead, they exist on a spectrum:

All segments need workouts, but the intensity and type vary.
All segments need workout logging, but the timing and frequency may vary.
All segments want tracking, but the focus and depth of tracking differ.

What does this mean for product development?

Segment thoughtfully, but also consider the spectrum within and across segments for richer insights.
Step back into the user journey to categorize user needs into clear themes that are common across the board, but vary in intensity and timing
Avoid one-size-fits-all assumptions. User needs often overlap but differ in degree and nuance.
Prioritize based on impact: Focus first on the most critical needs per segment, then explore cross-segment commonalities.

I joined Nautical Commerce

Detan — Sun, 22 Jun 2025 21:36:31 GMT

I recently joined Nautical Commerce's product team.

Nautical Commerce is not just a marketplace software - it’s an end-to-end platform that democratizes access to the technology required to launch, manage and scale your marketplace. They make it possible for anyone, especially niche specialists, to own a marketplace that brings together many sellers and buyers without requiring them to know how to code. Isn’t that great?

Niche experts are already building bold, revenue-generating marketplaces with Nautical Commerce. Here are some cool ideas that have been created by the vibrant community:

Full-Scale SaaS marketplaces

Indie foods - A full-featured marketplace connecting local food makers directly to curious eaters
Indie Wholesale - Ontario’s own wholesale farmers market
GFM - wholesale marketplace for specialty food, fully integrated with in-house fulfillment.

Creator-marketplace

Canvvs - empowering artists to tell stories through footwear

Investor-ready MVPs

Love Sportie - connecting fashion-forward women who love sports with local fashionable activewear brands.

It’s no surprise that I joined Nautical Commerce, because wherever you have software that democratizes access to technology, I’m sat!

I’m a few months in Nautical Commerce - maybe more months in to consider myself new, but honestly, I always consider myself as onboarding until I hit the year 1 mark in any company. My recent urge to go back into writing and making videos about product management and my work typically means I have a lot of questions and thoughts I need to unpack. I think that’s a good sign.

Remember, writing is proof of work for thinking

I’ll be exploring a lot of those questions here. A few of them are:

What qualifies as a marketplace, and why is it so hard to miss that several apps and services we engage with are marketplaces
Why are so many people initially confused about what a marketplace is and how it is different from Shopify or an online store? (I have an analogy I use here that works pretty much every time I have to explain this to people)
Why is user activation (set up, aha, habit building) tricky for a software that has a naturally long sales cycle
Why team ownership and buy-in on the vision is still bae - any day, any time
Why, sometimes, you need to build it and “they” will come
and lots more… so be on the lookout. Subscribe for free to know when I post more

Other things top of mind for me outside of work, but career-wise, are

Authenticity is the real flex when building a personal brand. In a loud, always-on, always-scripted, always-celebrating LinkedIn era, my voice and personality feel refreshingly rare.
Startups are the bane of my existence — and somehow, also where I do my best work.
Competence will always make you lovable (or maybe lovable :D )

For now, I still hope my writings will be primarily punchy and leave you with one thing - just 1 one thing is enough.

Speak soon!

7 Reasons why retention & frequency are better metrics than daily active use

Detan — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 14:00:00 GMT

Chapters

00:00 - Intro

00:17:21 - What is Retention & Frequency?

00:35:15 - What is DAU , WAU, MAU?

00:57:02 - What is important in measuring Retention?

01:56:26 - Intent and Habit

02:57:05 - Growth Indicators

04:16:26 - Correlation with Key Business metrics

05:40:14 - Actionable Insights for Product

06:36:16 - In Context?

07:53:23 - Measuring important retention metrics

LET’S GET SOCIAL:

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

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🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

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WHO I AM : I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET'S CONNECT 😉:

#savvywithin #detanoyedele #productmanagement

Music by: https://www.bensound.com/free-music-for-videos License code: IXQPVVUXGP3RUYHL

The ultimate guide to crafting a winning product strategy

Detan — Tue, 23 Jan 2024 15:00:00 GMT

Chapter

00:00 - Introduction to Product Strategy

01:28 - The Fallacy of Prioritization Frameworks

05:42 - Techniques for Better Product Strategy

07:52 - Key Principles for Defining Product Strategy

10:11 - Organizing Teams for Strategic Success

12:02 - The Role of Product Leadership in Bringing Clarity

LET’S GET SOCIAL:

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS:

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WHO I AM : I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET'S CONNECT 😉:

#savvywithin #detanoyedele #productmanagement

A guide to product-led growth

Detan — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 15:00:00 GMT

In this insightful episode, I break down the key principles and strategies that drive successful Product-Led Growth, a revolutionary approach transforming the way businesses attract, convert, and retain customers.

What you'l learn:

- Introduction to Product-Led Growth

- Limitations of funnels and the excellence of growth loops

- 6 Principles of PLG

- Examples of companies adopting these principles

- Recommendations to start adopting PLG

- How to know that you have achieved PMF?

Chapters

00:00 - Intro

00:26 - What is PLG?

01:28 - growth

02:11 - essence of growth hacking

02:32 - comparative discussion PLG vs Pre-PLG

04:16 - Principles of PLG

04:17 - Principle 1 - PMF, Data, then growth

08:36 - Principle 1 - Examples of companies adopting Principle 1

10:04 - Principle 2 - Build Loops, Not Funnels

10:19 - how do funnels work?

11:10 - how do growth loops work?

11:24 - limitations of funnels + growth loops excellence

12:38 - Growth loops solution

13:14 - Key Characteristics of growth loops

15:55 - Principle 2 - Examples of companies adopting Principle 2

18:10 - Principle 3 - Create Value First

19:23 - Principle 3 - Examples of companies adopting Principle 3

20:46 - Principle 4 - Speedy Time-to-Value vs. pre-Qualification

22:59 - Principle 4 - Examples of companies adopting Principle 4

23:54 - Principle 5 - PLG is pro-Evolution, Not pro-Revolution

26:11 - Principle 5 - Examples of companies adopting Principle 5

26:51 - Principle 6 - Failure as Learning not Wastage

28:28 - Principle 6 - Examples of companies adopting Principle 6

29:23 - Recommendations to start adopting PLG

29:49 - How do you know you have achieved PMF?

LET’S GET SOCIAL:

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS:

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WHO I AM : I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET'S CONNECT 😉:

#savvywithin #detanoyedele #productmanagement

How to become a PRO at using product frameworks

Detan — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 14:00:00 GMT

In product management, the concept of frameworks holds paramount significance. They provide the structure that underpins a well-functioning, organized, and efficient process. However, like any powerful tool, the effectiveness of product frameworks lies in their proper implementation. Failing to harness them correctly can lead to suboptimal outcomes. Today, we delve into the pitfalls to avoid and the best practices to embrace in order to excel in using product frameworks.

Chapters:

00:15 - Importance of Product Frameworks

01:04 - Frameworks vs. Methodologies vs. Approaches

03:41 - Common Frameworks / Methodologies / Approaches

07:29 - Why do we suck at using Product Frameworks?

08:45 - How not to suck at using Product Frameworks

08:49 - Grasp the core and essence

09:41 - Adopting a one-sized fit-all to frameworks

10:05 - Not understanding outcomes before choosing frameworks

11:03 - Know when to stop or adapt

13:09 - Logic & Common sense

15:13 - Where Product frameworks went wrong

24:02 - Conclusion

LET’S GET SOCIAL:

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

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WHO I AM : I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET'S CONNECT 😉:

#savvywithin #detanoyedele #productmanagement

The untold realities about the product management career

Detan — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 19:12:00 GMT

Product Management is not all rainbows and sunshine. Here are some not-so-glamorous side of being a product manager.

Chapters

0:00 - The Uncool Realities of Product Management

1:52 - Full scope of value not recognized

4:49 - Navigating Politics and Cross-Functional Collaboration

7:21 - Operations, Logistics and Mundane things vs Creative and Intellectual work

9:41 - Who calls the shots?

12:33 - Under-utilized knowledge

14:13 - Confusion about areas of expertise & Dissatisfaction about area of focus

17:54 - Conclusion

LET’S GET SOCIAL:

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS:

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WHO I AM : I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET'S CONNECT 😉:

#savvywithin #detanoyedele #productmanagement

Should product managers be jack-of-all-skills or masters of one?

Detan — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 21:20:56 GMT

Explore the evolving career paths for product managers in this insightful video. Learn about the dual-track system, its parallels with software engineering careers, and the challenges it presents in the product management field. Discover the nuances of Individual Contributor and Managerial Paths for Product Managers - the unique opportunities in cross-functional roles. Hear why I think it’s ineffective and confusing for product managers to choose a career path or specialization path given the current options we have. Happy to hear your thoughts!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Product Manager Career Paths

02:21 Six Step Career Paths for Software Engineers

06:16 Dual-Track Product Management Path

08:48 Specialist and Coaching Path for Product Managers

09:36 People Management Path for Product Managers

10:39 Underlying Reasons for Dual-Track System

12:32 Challenges with Dual-Track System for Product Management

14:03 Effectiveness Varies Across Organizations

Attribution

Video by Mikhail Nilov: https://www. pexels.com/video/two-men-discussing-exercise-pilates-6740167/

Video by Theo Decker: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-guy-discussing-work-with-a-woman-in-front-of-a-laptop-5941107/

Video by Kindel Media: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-group-of-business-people-working-in-unity-6774847/

Video by Tima Miroshnichenko: https://www.pexels.com/video/woman-in-black-hoodie-doing-a-high-five-with-another-person-5377270/

Video by Ketut Subiyanto: https://www.pexels.com/video/video-of-man-discussing-in-front-of-people-4629797/

Video by cottonbro studio: https://www.pexels.com/video/a-female-coder-busy-with-her-work-5473806/Nighttime Stroll By Artificial.

Music is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

🤗 SUBSCRIBE FOR NEW VIDEOS:

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WHO I AM : I'm Detan! I'm a Product Manager in Canada. I help Product Managers gain clarity and distinction in their work and career journey.

LET’S GET SOCIAL:

📸 Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/savvywithin

▶️ Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/savvywithin

🐦 Twitter → https://www.twitter.com/savvywithin

💻 Website & Blog → https://www.detanoyedele.com

LET'S CONNECT 😉:

#savvywithin #detanoyedele #productmanagement