July 1, 2025 • 23 mins
What happens when three product experts walk into a solopreneur podcast? You get an episode packed with game-changing insights from the co-authors of Next Gen Product Management.
In this rare group interview, Carly and Joe are joined by returning guest Teresa Cain and her co-authors Diana Stepner and Dr. Bart to explore how solopreneurs can build smarter, faster, and more future-proof businesses—without hiring a team.
From treating AI like a co-founder to building minimum viable products in record time, they reveal how to apply modern product management principles (yes, solopreneurs—you are product managers!) to scale without the overwhelm. If you're ready to work smarter, not harder, this one's for you.
Being a solopreneur is awesome but it’s not easy. It's hard to get noticed. Most business advice is for bigger companies, and you're all alone...until now. LifeStarr Intro gives you free education, community, and tools to build a thriving one-person business. So, if you are lacking direction, having a hard time generating leads, or are having trouble keeping up with everything you have to do, or even just lonely running a company of one, be sure to check out LifeStarr Intro!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carly Ries (00:00):
Ever wish you had a cofounder to help bring your
business ideas to life withoutgiving up your solo status?
Well, in this jam packedepisode, we welcome not one, not
two, but three brilliant mindsbehind the new book, Next Gen
Product Management. Returningguest, Teresa Cain, is joined by
her coauthors, Diana Stepner andDr. Bart, to explore how
(00:21):
solopreneurs can adopt modernproduct management practices,
leverage AI as a co founder, andget their products out the door
without a full team. Fromavoiding perfection paralysis to
future proofing your one personbusiness, this lively
conversation is full ofinsights, laughs, and the
occasional toast to solopreneursuccess.
So if you've ever wondered whatproduct management looks like
(00:42):
when you're wearing all thehats, this is your episode.
You're listening to the AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
those just taking the bold stepor even just thinking about
taking that step into the worldof solo entrepreneurship. My
name is Carly Ries and my cohostJoe Rando and I are your guides
navigating this crazy butawesome journey as a company of
(01:04):
one. We take pride in being partof LifeStarr, a digital hub
dedicated to all aspects of solosolopreneurship that has
empowered and educated countlesssolopreneurs looking to build a
business that resonates withtheir life's ambitions. We help
people work to live, not live towork.
And if you're looking for a getrich quick scheme, this is not
the show for you. So if you'reeager to gain valuable insights
(01:27):
from industry experts on runninga business the right way the
first time around or want tolearn from the missteps of
solopreneurs who paved the waybefore you, then stick around.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Joe, I can'ttell if we're hosting a podcast
or an event today. I feel likewe have a full room.
(01:47):
We have never had threeinterviewees on this show
before, and I feel like weshould all, like, just raise
glass and celebrate that. Thisis so fun, you guys. Thank you
all so much for being on theshow today. Whoo. There you go.
Well, Teresa, you are a repeatguest, and a popular episode at
that that we had with you. Gosh,it was almost a year ago at this
(02:10):
point, which is just insane tome. And you brought more
coauthors of your new book thatI want you to plug later in the
show as well. But I kinda justwanna dive into the meat and
potatoes of this interview. Sosolopreneurs, they wear all the
hats.
And that doesn't mean thatcertain jobs disappear. It just
means they take everything onunless, of course, they
(02:32):
outsource or use AI, which Ithink we're gonna chat about
today as well. But forsolopreneurs, they need to act
as their own product managers.So how can they apply modern
product management principles tobuild better offerings without a
full team of employees? AndDiana, why don't you answer
that?
Diana Stepner (02:53):
Yeah. I would say if you'd asked me that question
probably three years ago, Iwould have given you a different
answer. I think we're in a spacenow where there's tools that are
amazing to be able to have anidea, test an idea, riff on an
idea, refine it, launch it, youknow, keep on going through an
iterative process in a very, AIagentic way. And so there are a
(03:17):
number of tools now that arehelping people be able to do
things on their own that weren'tpossible. I think we've all
probably heard the Sam Altmanquote, you know, he's expecting
the first single, person unicornto appear shortly.
I mean, there are a number thatare already like just two people
that are happening. So I believenow the tools that are in place
(03:39):
really enable us to do that. ButI would say there are downsides
too. Working along someone elsehelps you get out of your head.
It helps you to get out of thatjust my view is the right way
and helps you expand anddiversify your thinking.
So that's one thing you'llprobably hear from us throughout
(03:59):
the talk is that even though AIis there, it's nice, but it's
not the same as workingalongside another person. You
have a lot of opportunities forbrainstorming and collaboration,
but humans are weird. We say onething and do another and we've
got all these quirks. So itreally helps to have someone
human to be able to brainstormalongside as well. Tools can
(04:21):
help us, but still recommendbringing on another co founder
just to accelerate and amplifythe amazing things that happen
when you're working alongsideanother human.
Carly Ries (04:31):
Well, we always say flying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. And I agreelike, I work with other
contractors, work with othersolopreneurs, but you guys do
talk about, in your book, aboutAI being a co founder. So what
does that look like? Becauseagain, solopreneurs, they're
solo. So if you bring on an AIco founder, what kind of roles,
(04:54):
responsibilities, how do you usethat in building a business
quote unquote together?
Teresa Cain (05:00):
I can grab this one? You know, I was hold
holding myself back talkingabout AI there. But,
solopreneurs and productmanagers are really similar. And
we do talk about AI being acofounder because a lot of
startups are using AI as theircofounder just as that. I do a
lot of startup coaching, as doesDiana and Dr. Bart.
(05:23):
And, as part of that, you know,I'm learning that these teams
are replacing, other roles,using AI. They're replacing
product managers, using ChatGPT.They're replacing developers,
using Claude and other tools.They're replacing designers,
using Lovable. So the ability tohave a tool, with some of these
(05:47):
AI products to be able to typein your requirements like a
product manager would as asolopreneur is really allowing
companies to launch theirproducts in as short as a week.
And I've seen a lot of websites.I've seen a lot of products. Now
is it the highest, we call inproduct management MVP,
minimally viable product, or,anyone that played sports
(06:10):
growing up, most valuableplayer. You know, there are a
lot of, similarities there. Butare we putting together the
right products for productmanagement?
That's a big question mark. Butfrom a solopreneur standpoint,
the efficiency and time, that isbeing created and the time that
is being saved is reallyadvancing the capabilities for
(06:31):
solopreneurs.
Carly Ries (06:32):
Well, so in terms of getting everything streamlined
and just how quickly becauseTheresa, in our last one, we
were talking about sprints andall of that. And it was like,
people can get things done soquickly when they're focused.
But Dr. Bart, how cansolopreneurs be building systems
to scale without employees usingyour guys' methodologies and
(06:53):
frameworks?
Dr. Bart Jaworski (06:54):
I would say that if you look at the core of
a product management, it's aboutcommunication to get your idea,
your way of reaching the clientto a group of people that will
do the design for you, will makethe tracking specifications,
that will code the solution. Butwith having that AI cofounder or
(07:16):
I'd be more comfortable sayingAI assistant, you basically have
that streamlined. This issometimes a single person or a
few websites that you just keepon talking to until you get the
result you want. You basicallyhave the same experience, but
(07:39):
condensed and very productive.Of course, I don't think we are
at the at the level where solidentrepreneurs can be their own
development team.
But they can push it to like80-90% there over an EVP,
(07:59):
struggle with some issues, somebugs, or AI doesn't quite get
you at some point. But thengrabbing, say, an expert from
Fiverr to finish off the work,it really allows you to cut down
the time to get any idea on thetable. I myself have very little
coding experience, and I've beento Vibe coding for a while to
(08:23):
experience it myself to see whatcan be done and found out that
really I was able to do anyscript I wanted to get my solo
entrepreneurship journey easierwith automating stuff that I
couldn't automate in the past.Just by talking to ChatGPT, I
(08:43):
could set up my own LLM to thenlook at my incoming messages to
then read them, decide what todo with them, and only forward
me those that, are worth myattention, which doesn't doesn't
sound like a lot. But in fact,if you get pitches from people
(09:04):
who don't really know what theywant, they just wanna sit on a
call to discover that you're nota great fit, if you can skip
those, you can be betterfocused.
You can work on the ideas thatare worth your time and not
blindly test differentopportunities. Like in Scrum,
(09:25):
you're trying different ideas toreach your goals, and some of
them will be successful. Some ofthem will fail. And with the
current age, the failure rate, Ithink, will drop and drop. And
it will be both for big teamsand solo entrepreneurs alike.
Joe Rando (09:43):
So I need to step back here.
my job is to ask questions. Andthe stupid question, from the
perspective of solopreneurs now,people that, they might be a
life coach, and they might beall kinds of different things.
Maybe they've, developed an app.But what do we mean by product
management?
What is the def I'm hearing alot of stuff here, and I'm kinda
(10:05):
going where's the box? what'sthe box that makes product
management product managementand not something else? And I
don't care who answers.
Diana Stepner (10:15):
My question, I'm a coach. So part of me wants to
know what do you think productmanagement is? But product
management is amazing in thesense that, it allows you to be
involved from the start of anidea all the way through to its
release and beyond. And whatyou're doing in all instances is
(10:36):
you're putting the customerfirst.
And so you're doing discovery tobe able to identify, the actual
pain point that the customerhas. You're defining who that
audience is that your productwill most appeal to. I think
Teresa mentioned, you know, theideal customer profile or
persona that might be interestedin product. You've got to
(10:58):
identify that. And then as Barthighlighted perfectly, you're
working alongside a whole crewof people to be able to bring
that product to life.
And some of those, people quotemaybe AI now, but when you get
to that point of development,you're moving beyond something
(11:18):
that's a prototype and actuallycoding behind it. And then when
you go to market, you often workbehind or alongside a product
marketer or a marketer just tobe able to, identify the
channels, the outreach, and beable to capture customer
feedback alongside that. So asyou're highlighting exactly,
(11:39):
Joe, there are all of thesedifferent facets that a product
person is involved in, butthey're the consistent thread
from start to finish.
Joe Rando (11:49):
OK. so the product manager is interacting with
these other people if need be.Or if you're a solopreneur, you
might be playing different rolesand doing these jobs and all in
one person, but different jobs.So okay. Thank you. I think that
helps a lot. Appreciate it.
Carly Ries (12:06):
correct me if I'm wrong, but by default,
solopreneurs are productmanagers because they are seeing
their business idea from startto finish. Is that a naive thing
to say?
Diana Stepner (12:17):
No. I mean, I think that's a good thing to
say. You'll often see, like, Iknow when I was interviewing
people in some of my jobs, you'doften see a person who had
started a company, you know,describe that as product
management. So Carly, I thinkyou hit on something key.
Carly Ries (12:32):
Okay. So
Dr. Bart, you were talkingabout, like, getting things to
90%. And just in terms of seeingsomething from start to finish,
a lot of one person businessesand people where their product
is their baby, they are notreleasing it until it's a 100%
ready for their audience. Andthat's just not gonna happen. So
(12:53):
what do you say to those type ofpeople that want to wait until
it's a 100% ready knowing thatday may not ever come?
How do they get over that mentalblock of just releasing it when
it's good enough and theniterating from there. Dr. Bart.
Dr. Bart Jaworski (13:12):
I think it's the LinkedIn's founder who said
that released is better thanperfect. And if he didn't say
that, he I'm pretty sure he saidthat if you are not, what's the
word, embarrassed by your firstrelease, then you've released
the light. And while those are atad cringey, I'll admit. It
(13:35):
really unravels the true focusthat you have to have. That, as
I think, Diana or Teresamentioned, you don't know what's
going to happen when yourelease.
You don't know if your idea issound, if you did all the prep
(13:56):
work correctly in order to get agood product on the market. Or
maybe your idea is good, but itneeds some tweaking. No plan of
attack has ever survived theactual, battle of the enemy. And
then me being here a metaphorfor client. But the sooner you
(14:19):
can get feedback from themarket, the sooner you get into
the agile loop of feedback andexperimentation, the earlier you
will be able to actually craftproduct that will deepen its
market fit or even create itbecause then it might not be
(14:41):
there initially.
It's a waste of time andopportunity if you delay too
long. That said, I will admitthat my career as a solo
entrepreneur, started with ayear of building my MVP course,
which I would tell to anyoneelse that I took far too long,
(15:02):
that I shouldn't have started soambitiously. But at the same
time, I remember my research. Iremember what I thought, and I
remember what I identified asthe package that looks like the
one that will give me anopportunity. And I'm proud to
say that I think they identifiedmy MVP correctly despite the
(15:25):
long term.
And I've correctly identifiedwhat I put to the second year of
work where I polished my MVP toa point where I didn't touch my
course for years now becausethere's no more feedback to
address. Probably if I opened myears a little more now, I would
(15:46):
have heard that there's notenough AI and well, there isn't
anyway. Though that the AI wasnot in the future for product
managers. But at the same time,as a product manager, I know
that updating it is not the bestuse of my time at the moment.
And I need to focus on otherventures in order to optimize
the value I can bring to mystudents and myself.
Carly Ries (16:09):
Great great points there. Well, so it's one thing
to get the product out the doorjust to have it out there for
people. But your book alsofocuses on future proofing your
career and your products andservices. So how what are some
ways, Teresa, that solopreneurscan future proof their
businesses just to setthemselves up for the long term?
Teresa Cain (16:33):
Yeah. one of the things Bart touched on it a bit,
you know, in addition to havinga product management background,
we are each solopreneurs andstarted our own businesses. And
so, that's why we really believein this podcast and, why we're
all here today. And you know interms of future proofing your
career, whether you're you knowa solopreneur or a product
(16:54):
manager, it's all aboutupskilling. Right now the
ability to be upskilling in AIis the highest theme right now
as is the ability to figure outhow to amplify what it is you
are selling as a solopreneur.
You know, in terms of whetheryou are a solopreneur of a
(17:16):
product and that product is yourbaby, you know, whether it's a
physical product or a softwareproduct or, a different type of
business or even an influencer,which is a really big
solopreneur route that a lot offolks are building and growing
to incredible businesses. Yep.Dr. Bart being one of those,
that is an incredibleopportunity to interact with
(17:39):
your audience and grow thatbrand. So those are really the
two key things for futureproofing is upskilling to make
sure that you're interactingwith AI, but also how are you
connecting with your followers?
How are you keeping yourfollowing? How are you building
your business and revenue overtime? And those two things
together are how you ultimatelyfuture proof your future.
Joe Rando (18:00):
I totally agree with that. I just wanted to point out
because I always make this pointwhenever anybody talks about
being an influencer, that youdon't want to leave your
fortunes to social media alone.You want to collect those email
addresses because I have heardtoo many times of people getting
(18:21):
their account basically,canceled for some arbitrary,
meaningless reason and losing amillion followers and starting
from scratch. so just alwaysgive that caveat of make sure
you're still collecting thoseemail addresses so you have
those people under your directcontrol and contact.
Carly Ries (18:41):
No. That's a good point. Well, we wanted to have
you guys on because I feel likewhen we talk about wearing so
many hats as a solopreneur,people are like, oh, I have to
crown my marketing hat, my saleshat, my this, my that. It's like
you are a product manager. Youhave to wear that hat if you
wanna get your idea out to thepublic.
So I just think you guys reallyreinforce that, I really
(19:03):
appreciate it. Teresa, you areoff the hook because you have
already given us your quote in aprevious interview. But we ask
all of our guests this question.Dr. Bart, I'm gonna have you go
second because if you didn'tknow that we're gonna do this,
you can have a second to thinkabout it.
But Diana, we ask all of ourguests, what is your favorite
quote about success?
Diana Stepner (19:24):
Yeah. I'm gonna give a quote from Connie Chung.
I was reading her book and shesays, for those of us who are
driven, we perpetually seeanother mountain to climb and
success is ephemeral. And so Ireally like that. It stuck out
with me, especially as asolopreneur.
I mean, even though there may bepeople, you know, alongside us
(19:45):
in some capacity cheering us on,we do need to find that path
that we wanna lead. And I thinkthat is most exciting when
you're a solopreneur becausethere often is no path. You get
to be the one who designs it.And so I think that's part of
the excitement.
Carly Ries (20:03):
Love that. Doctor Bart, are you ready?
Dr. Bart Jaworski (20:07):
Oh, for the moment there, I wanted to ask
GPT to help me out with somequote. But I decided to be a
little bit more myself here. AndI don't have any business leader
or an author that, gave me aninspiring quote about being
(20:29):
successful in business. But Ireally did like what my wife
once told me, that I am abloody, lucky person with so
much good luck that reallyshaped what happened with me
over my life. However, thedifference between luck and
(20:53):
skill is that she said that shecan observe that whenever I see
an opportunity that's superlucky, I can take the most of
it.
And I was like, okay. So like,put value to all the good luck I
had in my life that it's notjust luck, but it's also the
(21:15):
ability to act on theopportunity, the skills.
Carly Ries (21:20):
No. I love that one. It doesn't have to be a famous
person. It could absolutely beyour wife.
Great. So if you have one, Ididn't mean to leave you out.
But you do not have to give oneif you don't have one.
Teresa Cain (21:30):
No. I had one, ready to go. You know, I'm not
quite sure who started this one,because I know Marty Kagan has
quoted it, but others have saidit as well. But it's fall in
love with the problem and notthe solution. And I think that's
so true as a solopreneur becausesometimes I think we get so fix
(21:51):
it fixated on, what the endproduct is or what our goals are
that we're forgetting, you know,what we're solving, which is
something that's trulyfoundational to product
management and solving for thecustomer.
So just staying true to that isreally important and good
advice.
Carly Ries (22:08):
Love it. Well, you guys, your book, Next Gen
Product Management is out. Wherecan people find it if they want
to learn more and purchase it?
Teresa Cain (22:17):
Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble, Kobo. It's all
over the globe. So they can findit pretty much anywhere.
Carly Ries (22:24):
Awesome. Well, thank you all so so much for coming on
the show today. We so appreciateit. And listeners, thank you so
much for tuning in. As always,please leave that five star
review.
Share this episode with afriend. Subscribe on your
favorite platform, includingYouTube. And we will see you
next time on The AspiringSolopreneur. You may be going
(22:44):
solo in business, but thatdoesn't mean you're alone. In
fact, millions of people are inyour shoes, running a one person
business and figuring it out asthey go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
Ever wish you had a cofounder to help bring your
business ideas to life withoutgiving up your solo status?
Well, in this jam packedepisode, we welcome not one, not
two, but three brilliant mindsbehind the new book, Next Gen
Product Management. Returningguest, Teresa Cain, is joined by
her coauthors, Diana Stepner andDr. Bart, to explore how
(00:21):
solopreneurs can adopt modernproduct management practices,
leverage AI as a co founder, andget their products out the door
without a full team. Fromavoiding perfection paralysis to
future proofing your one personbusiness, this lively
conversation is full ofinsights, laughs, and the
occasional toast to solopreneursuccess.
So if you've ever wondered whatproduct management looks like
(00:42):
when you're wearing all thehats, this is your episode.
You're listening to the AspiringSolopreneur, the podcast for
those just taking the bold stepor even just thinking about
taking that step into the worldof solo entrepreneurship. My
name is Carly Ries and my cohostJoe Rando and I are your guides
navigating this crazy butawesome journey as a company of
(01:04):
one. We take pride in being partof LifeStarr, a digital hub
dedicated to all aspects of solosolopreneurship that has
empowered and educated countlesssolopreneurs looking to build a
business that resonates withtheir life's ambitions. We help
people work to live, not live towork.
And if you're looking for a getrich quick scheme, this is not
the show for you. So if you'reeager to gain valuable insights
(01:27):
from industry experts on runninga business the right way the
first time around or want tolearn from the missteps of
solopreneurs who paved the waybefore you, then stick around.
We've got your back becauseflying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. Joe, I can'ttell if we're hosting a podcast
or an event today. I feel likewe have a full room.
(01:47):
We have never had threeinterviewees on this show
before, and I feel like weshould all, like, just raise
glass and celebrate that. Thisis so fun, you guys. Thank you
all so much for being on theshow today. Whoo. There you go.
Well, Teresa, you are a repeatguest, and a popular episode at
that that we had with you. Gosh,it was almost a year ago at this
(02:10):
point, which is just insane tome. And you brought more
coauthors of your new book thatI want you to plug later in the
show as well. But I kinda justwanna dive into the meat and
potatoes of this interview. Sosolopreneurs, they wear all the
hats.
And that doesn't mean thatcertain jobs disappear. It just
means they take everything onunless, of course, they
(02:32):
outsource or use AI, which Ithink we're gonna chat about
today as well. But forsolopreneurs, they need to act
as their own product managers.So how can they apply modern
product management principles tobuild better offerings without a
full team of employees? AndDiana, why don't you answer
that?
Diana Stepner (02:53):
Yeah. I would say if you'd asked me that question
probably three years ago, Iwould have given you a different
answer. I think we're in a spacenow where there's tools that are
amazing to be able to have anidea, test an idea, riff on an
idea, refine it, launch it, youknow, keep on going through an
iterative process in a very, AIagentic way. And so there are a
(03:17):
number of tools now that arehelping people be able to do
things on their own that weren'tpossible. I think we've all
probably heard the Sam Altmanquote, you know, he's expecting
the first single, person unicornto appear shortly.
I mean, there are a number thatare already like just two people
that are happening. So I believenow the tools that are in place
(03:39):
really enable us to do that. ButI would say there are downsides
too. Working along someone elsehelps you get out of your head.
It helps you to get out of thatjust my view is the right way
and helps you expand anddiversify your thinking.
So that's one thing you'llprobably hear from us throughout
(03:59):
the talk is that even though AIis there, it's nice, but it's
not the same as workingalongside another person. You
have a lot of opportunities forbrainstorming and collaboration,
but humans are weird. We say onething and do another and we've
got all these quirks. So itreally helps to have someone
human to be able to brainstormalongside as well. Tools can
(04:21):
help us, but still recommendbringing on another co founder
just to accelerate and amplifythe amazing things that happen
when you're working alongsideanother human.
Carly Ries (04:31):
Well, we always say flying solo in business doesn't
mean you're alone. And I agreelike, I work with other
contractors, work with othersolopreneurs, but you guys do
talk about, in your book, aboutAI being a co founder. So what
does that look like? Becauseagain, solopreneurs, they're
solo. So if you bring on an AIco founder, what kind of roles,
(04:54):
responsibilities, how do you usethat in building a business
quote unquote together?
Teresa Cain (05:00):
I can grab this one? You know, I was hold
holding myself back talkingabout AI there. But,
solopreneurs and productmanagers are really similar. And
we do talk about AI being acofounder because a lot of
startups are using AI as theircofounder just as that. I do a
lot of startup coaching, as doesDiana and Dr. Bart.
(05:23):
And, as part of that, you know,I'm learning that these teams
are replacing, other roles,using AI. They're replacing
product managers, using ChatGPT.They're replacing developers,
using Claude and other tools.They're replacing designers,
using Lovable. So the ability tohave a tool, with some of these
(05:47):
AI products to be able to typein your requirements like a
product manager would as asolopreneur is really allowing
companies to launch theirproducts in as short as a week.
And I've seen a lot of websites.I've seen a lot of products. Now
is it the highest, we call inproduct management MVP,
minimally viable product, or,anyone that played sports
(06:10):
growing up, most valuableplayer. You know, there are a
lot of, similarities there. Butare we putting together the
right products for productmanagement?
That's a big question mark. Butfrom a solopreneur standpoint,
the efficiency and time, that isbeing created and the time that
is being saved is reallyadvancing the capabilities for
(06:31):
solopreneurs.
Carly Ries (06:32):
Well, so in terms of getting everything streamlined
and just how quickly becauseTheresa, in our last one, we
were talking about sprints andall of that. And it was like,
people can get things done soquickly when they're focused.
But Dr. Bart, how cansolopreneurs be building systems
to scale without employees usingyour guys' methodologies and
(06:53):
frameworks?
Dr. Bart Jaworski (06:54):
I would say that if you look at the core of
a product management, it's aboutcommunication to get your idea,
your way of reaching the clientto a group of people that will
do the design for you, will makethe tracking specifications,
that will code the solution. Butwith having that AI cofounder or
(07:16):
I'd be more comfortable sayingAI assistant, you basically have
that streamlined. This issometimes a single person or a
few websites that you just keepon talking to until you get the
result you want. You basicallyhave the same experience, but
(07:39):
condensed and very productive.Of course, I don't think we are
at the at the level where solidentrepreneurs can be their own
development team.
But they can push it to like80-90% there over an EVP,
(07:59):
struggle with some issues, somebugs, or AI doesn't quite get
you at some point. But thengrabbing, say, an expert from
Fiverr to finish off the work,it really allows you to cut down
the time to get any idea on thetable. I myself have very little
coding experience, and I've beento Vibe coding for a while to
(08:23):
experience it myself to see whatcan be done and found out that
really I was able to do anyscript I wanted to get my solo
entrepreneurship journey easierwith automating stuff that I
couldn't automate in the past.Just by talking to ChatGPT, I
(08:43):
could set up my own LLM to thenlook at my incoming messages to
then read them, decide what todo with them, and only forward
me those that, are worth myattention, which doesn't doesn't
sound like a lot. But in fact,if you get pitches from people
(09:04):
who don't really know what theywant, they just wanna sit on a
call to discover that you're nota great fit, if you can skip
those, you can be betterfocused.
You can work on the ideas thatare worth your time and not
blindly test differentopportunities. Like in Scrum,
(09:25):
you're trying different ideas toreach your goals, and some of
them will be successful. Some ofthem will fail. And with the
current age, the failure rate, Ithink, will drop and drop. And
it will be both for big teamsand solo entrepreneurs alike.
Joe Rando (09:43):
So I need to step back here.
my job is to ask questions. Andthe stupid question, from the
perspective of solopreneurs now,people that, they might be a
life coach, and they might beall kinds of different things.
Maybe they've, developed an app.But what do we mean by product
management?
What is the def I'm hearing alot of stuff here, and I'm kinda
(10:05):
going where's the box? what'sthe box that makes product
management product managementand not something else? And I
don't care who answers.
Diana Stepner (10:15):
My question, I'm a coach. So part of me wants to
know what do you think productmanagement is? But product
management is amazing in thesense that, it allows you to be
involved from the start of anidea all the way through to its
release and beyond. And whatyou're doing in all instances is
(10:36):
you're putting the customerfirst.
And so you're doing discovery tobe able to identify, the actual
pain point that the customerhas. You're defining who that
audience is that your productwill most appeal to. I think
Teresa mentioned, you know, theideal customer profile or
persona that might be interestedin product. You've got to
(10:58):
identify that. And then as Barthighlighted perfectly, you're
working alongside a whole crewof people to be able to bring
that product to life.
And some of those, people quotemaybe AI now, but when you get
to that point of development,you're moving beyond something
(11:18):
that's a prototype and actuallycoding behind it. And then when
you go to market, you often workbehind or alongside a product
marketer or a marketer just tobe able to, identify the
channels, the outreach, and beable to capture customer
feedback alongside that. So asyou're highlighting exactly,
(11:39):
Joe, there are all of thesedifferent facets that a product
person is involved in, butthey're the consistent thread
from start to finish.
Joe Rando (11:49):
OK. so the product manager is interacting with
these other people if need be.Or if you're a solopreneur, you
might be playing different rolesand doing these jobs and all in
one person, but different jobs.So okay. Thank you. I think that
helps a lot. Appreciate it.
Carly Ries (12:06):
correct me if I'm wrong, but by default,
solopreneurs are productmanagers because they are seeing
their business idea from startto finish. Is that a naive thing
to say?
Diana Stepner (12:17):
No. I mean, I think that's a good thing to
say. You'll often see, like, Iknow when I was interviewing
people in some of my jobs, you'doften see a person who had
started a company, you know,describe that as product
management. So Carly, I thinkyou hit on something key.
Carly Ries (12:32):
Okay. So
Dr. Bart, you were talkingabout, like, getting things to
90%. And just in terms of seeingsomething from start to finish,
a lot of one person businessesand people where their product
is their baby, they are notreleasing it until it's a 100%
ready for their audience. Andthat's just not gonna happen. So
(12:53):
what do you say to those type ofpeople that want to wait until
it's a 100% ready knowing thatday may not ever come?
How do they get over that mentalblock of just releasing it when
it's good enough and theniterating from there. Dr. Bart.
Dr. Bart Jaworski (13:12):
I think it's the LinkedIn's founder who said
that released is better thanperfect. And if he didn't say
that, he I'm pretty sure he saidthat if you are not, what's the
word, embarrassed by your firstrelease, then you've released
the light. And while those are atad cringey, I'll admit. It
(13:35):
really unravels the true focusthat you have to have. That, as
I think, Diana or Teresamentioned, you don't know what's
going to happen when yourelease.
You don't know if your idea issound, if you did all the prep
(13:56):
work correctly in order to get agood product on the market. Or
maybe your idea is good, but itneeds some tweaking. No plan of
attack has ever survived theactual, battle of the enemy. And
then me being here a metaphorfor client. But the sooner you
(14:19):
can get feedback from themarket, the sooner you get into
the agile loop of feedback andexperimentation, the earlier you
will be able to actually craftproduct that will deepen its
market fit or even create itbecause then it might not be
(14:41):
there initially.
It's a waste of time andopportunity if you delay too
long. That said, I will admitthat my career as a solo
entrepreneur, started with ayear of building my MVP course,
which I would tell to anyoneelse that I took far too long,
(15:02):
that I shouldn't have started soambitiously. But at the same
time, I remember my research. Iremember what I thought, and I
remember what I identified asthe package that looks like the
one that will give me anopportunity. And I'm proud to
say that I think they identifiedmy MVP correctly despite the
(15:25):
long term.
And I've correctly identifiedwhat I put to the second year of
work where I polished my MVP toa point where I didn't touch my
course for years now becausethere's no more feedback to
address. Probably if I opened myears a little more now, I would
(15:46):
have heard that there's notenough AI and well, there isn't
anyway. Though that the AI wasnot in the future for product
managers. But at the same time,as a product manager, I know
that updating it is not the bestuse of my time at the moment.
And I need to focus on otherventures in order to optimize
the value I can bring to mystudents and myself.
Carly Ries (16:09):
Great great points there. Well, so it's one thing
to get the product out the doorjust to have it out there for
people. But your book alsofocuses on future proofing your
career and your products andservices. So how what are some
ways, Teresa, that solopreneurscan future proof their
businesses just to setthemselves up for the long term?
Teresa Cain (16:33):
Yeah. one of the things Bart touched on it a bit,
you know, in addition to havinga product management background,
we are each solopreneurs andstarted our own businesses. And
so, that's why we really believein this podcast and, why we're
all here today. And you know interms of future proofing your
career, whether you're you knowa solopreneur or a product
(16:54):
manager, it's all aboutupskilling. Right now the
ability to be upskilling in AIis the highest theme right now
as is the ability to figure outhow to amplify what it is you
are selling as a solopreneur.
You know, in terms of whetheryou are a solopreneur of a
(17:16):
product and that product is yourbaby, you know, whether it's a
physical product or a softwareproduct or, a different type of
business or even an influencer,which is a really big
solopreneur route that a lot offolks are building and growing
to incredible businesses. Yep.Dr. Bart being one of those,
that is an incredibleopportunity to interact with
(17:39):
your audience and grow thatbrand. So those are really the
two key things for futureproofing is upskilling to make
sure that you're interactingwith AI, but also how are you
connecting with your followers?
How are you keeping yourfollowing? How are you building
your business and revenue overtime? And those two things
together are how you ultimatelyfuture proof your future.
Joe Rando (18:00):
I totally agree with that. I just wanted to point out
because I always make this pointwhenever anybody talks about
being an influencer, that youdon't want to leave your
fortunes to social media alone.You want to collect those email
addresses because I have heardtoo many times of people getting
(18:21):
their account basically,canceled for some arbitrary,
meaningless reason and losing amillion followers and starting
from scratch. so just alwaysgive that caveat of make sure
you're still collecting thoseemail addresses so you have
those people under your directcontrol and contact.
Carly Ries (18:41):
No. That's a good point. Well, we wanted to have
you guys on because I feel likewhen we talk about wearing so
many hats as a solopreneur,people are like, oh, I have to
crown my marketing hat, my saleshat, my this, my that. It's like
you are a product manager. Youhave to wear that hat if you
wanna get your idea out to thepublic.
So I just think you guys reallyreinforce that, I really
(19:03):
appreciate it. Teresa, you areoff the hook because you have
already given us your quote in aprevious interview. But we ask
all of our guests this question.Dr. Bart, I'm gonna have you go
second because if you didn'tknow that we're gonna do this,
you can have a second to thinkabout it.
But Diana, we ask all of ourguests, what is your favorite
quote about success?
Diana Stepner (19:24):
Yeah. I'm gonna give a quote from Connie Chung.
I was reading her book and shesays, for those of us who are
driven, we perpetually seeanother mountain to climb and
success is ephemeral. And so Ireally like that. It stuck out
with me, especially as asolopreneur.
I mean, even though there may bepeople, you know, alongside us
(19:45):
in some capacity cheering us on,we do need to find that path
that we wanna lead. And I thinkthat is most exciting when
you're a solopreneur becausethere often is no path. You get
to be the one who designs it.And so I think that's part of
the excitement.
Carly Ries (20:03):
Love that. Doctor Bart, are you ready?
Dr. Bart Jaworski (20:07):
Oh, for the moment there, I wanted to ask
GPT to help me out with somequote. But I decided to be a
little bit more myself here. AndI don't have any business leader
or an author that, gave me aninspiring quote about being
(20:29):
successful in business. But Ireally did like what my wife
once told me, that I am abloody, lucky person with so
much good luck that reallyshaped what happened with me
over my life. However, thedifference between luck and
(20:53):
skill is that she said that shecan observe that whenever I see
an opportunity that's superlucky, I can take the most of
it.
And I was like, okay. So like,put value to all the good luck I
had in my life that it's notjust luck, but it's also the
(21:15):
ability to act on theopportunity, the skills.
Carly Ries (21:20):
No. I love that one. It doesn't have to be a famous
person. It could absolutely beyour wife.
Great. So if you have one, Ididn't mean to leave you out.
But you do not have to give oneif you don't have one.
Teresa Cain (21:30):
No. I had one, ready to go. You know, I'm not
quite sure who started this one,because I know Marty Kagan has
quoted it, but others have saidit as well. But it's fall in
love with the problem and notthe solution. And I think that's
so true as a solopreneur becausesometimes I think we get so fix
(21:51):
it fixated on, what the endproduct is or what our goals are
that we're forgetting, you know,what we're solving, which is
something that's trulyfoundational to product
management and solving for thecustomer.
So just staying true to that isreally important and good
advice.
Carly Ries (22:08):
Love it. Well, you guys, your book, Next Gen
Product Management is out. Wherecan people find it if they want
to learn more and purchase it?
Teresa Cain (22:17):
Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble, Kobo. It's all
over the globe. So they can findit pretty much anywhere.
Carly Ries (22:24):
Awesome. Well, thank you all so so much for coming on
the show today. We so appreciateit. And listeners, thank you so
much for tuning in. As always,please leave that five star
review.
Share this episode with afriend. Subscribe on your
favorite platform, includingYouTube. And we will see you
next time on The AspiringSolopreneur. You may be going
(22:44):
solo in business, but thatdoesn't mean you're alone. In
fact, millions of people are inyour shoes, running a one person
business and figuring it out asthey go.
So why not connect with them andlearn from each other's
successes and failures? AtLifeStarr, we're creating a one
person business community whereyou can go to meet and get
advice from other solopreneurs.Be sure to join in on the
conversations atcommunity.lifestarr.com.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.