John Cutler | Thinking big, working small | ep.05

In this episode of the Product People Podcast (recorded live on May 21, 2022), John Cutler, former Product Evangelist at Amplitude, discusses the problems around product development and introduces his concept of "Thinking Big and Working Small". He outlines the four key components of Thinking Big: a compelling strategy, a persistent model, opportunity-focused bets, and teams with the freedom to work small. Cutler emphasizes the importance of defining your North Star and understanding who should own the connection between strategy and execution. He also discusses how to apply Thinking Big in big corporate companies and the difference between "define big" and "think big" approaches.

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Timestamps:

(1:42) The problems around Product development

(7:06) Intro to Thinking Big

(7:54) 1 - A Compelling Strategy

(8:50) 2 - Persistent model

(10:34) 3 - Opportunity-focused Bets

(12:15) 4 - Teams with the freedom to work small

(14:29) Thinking Big and Working Small summary

(15:37) How to define your North Star

(18:46) Who should own the connection between strategy and execution

(24:31) When there is no strategy

(28:12) Thinking big and working small at big corporate companies

(31:09) Define big vs think big

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