The Hardest Part Of Being The First Product Person In A Start-Up - Rachel Folz, Cerkl

Product Innovation Series with Aram Melkoumov

How do you make sure you’re building product processes that scale? Can a new product manager easily pick up where you left off? Find out why hiring her first associate PM shook our guest today.
About Rachel Folz
Rachel Folz is the Director of Product at Cerkl. In fact, she was team member #3 there - right after the two co-founders. They started working together after Rachel took great interest in the product as an active and invested user. Being a pioneer at Cerkl, she helped form the product team and all the processes that come with the territory. In a previous life, Rachel was a journalist for over five years.

Links we mentioned:
Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug: https://www.amazon.ca/Dont-Make-Me-Think-Usability/dp/0321344758
INSPIRED: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love by Marty Cagan: https://www.amazon.ca/INSPIRED-Create-Tech-Products-Customers-ebook/dp/B077NRB36N
Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your
Humanity by Kim Scott: https://www.amazon.ca/Radical-Candor-Revised-Kick-Ass-Humanity/dp/1250235375
Ego Is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday:
https://www.amazon.ca/Ego-Enemy-Ryan-Holiday/dp/1591847818

SHOW NOTES:
00:00 | Who is Rachel Folz
00:28 | What’s exciting about product management?
02:18 | What is Cerkl?
04:19 | First things a new project manager must do
07:29 | Product growth tipping point
08:40 | How to have a great relationship with your principal designer
10:31 | The secret to managing roles between designers and developers
11:46 | User testing process at Cerkl
15:46 | How to filter out bad advice
17:39 | Bad product advice on Reddit
18:19 | Hiring the first associate product manager (wake up moment)
21:28 | Don’t let great get in the way of good
22:24 | Passionless products
23:13 | Fireside: practice, rephrasing, listening, execution vs. strategy, it’s not always fun

QUOTES:
(06:56) “My favourite question in user testing is: if you could wave a magic wand and change three things about your work inside [product] every day, what would you change?”
(10:02) “A designer is more than just a person who can move the pixels around for you. What they are is another creative partner who has a different kind of mind than you do - that can help you see around corners.”
(23:51) “You don’t want a product full of buttons, toggles, and switches - you want one that makes an impact.”

Follow Rachel Folz
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelfolz/

Work with Crowdlinker:
https://www.crowdlinker.com/contact