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Agile for Executives

March 31, 2014 By Nathan Dintenfass

Often when we work with product and engineering teams to improve their processes we also end up talking with executives that aren’t directly involved in building the product. Of course, products are not built in a black box — you cannot adopt the good thinking that has gone into Agile practices without having organizational buy-in. But many product teams struggle to get executives to see Agile thinking as more than just an engineering practice.

We put together a short presentation hitting some of the key tenets of Agile specifically for a non-engineering, non-product audience. The presentation has been well received, so we’re sharing it here in case it’s helpful for your organization.


Deconstructing Agile Part 1: The Language of Agile is Broken

March 19, 2014 By Nathan Dintenfass

The vocabulary of Agile does more harm than good. In helping companies adopt Agile methods we find we need to correct mistaken impressions people have gotten from Agile literature. Our first task is often to help them unlearn unhelpful language so that they can set the right goals and get buy-in … [Continue Reading]

Thank you, Melbourne

November 18, 2013 By Abie Hadjitarkhani

Fade out on Products Are Hard Melbourne 2013 Dear Melbourne, you were an amazing audience and an integral part of making the conference the wonderful day that it was. We are forever grateful for your support, attention, and engagement. Life is short and days are precious. Thank you for spending … [Continue Reading]

Products Are Hard visits Triple R 102.7’s Byte Into It

Products Are Hard visits Triple R 102.7’s Byte Into It

October 26, 2013 By Abie Hadjitarkhani

Keren, Vanessa, and Warren of  Triple R 102.7’s Byte Into It interview us about the lineup for the Products Are Hard Melbourne conference, our take on the Melbourne startup scene, and where that catchy name came from. Listen to a stream of the interview (requires Flash player). Our segment runs … [Continue Reading]

The age of holistic product development

September 9, 2013 By Nathan Dintenfass

Over the last decade a few major themes have dominated the evolution of product development, particularly software development: a shift towards agile practices, customer-centric decision-making, and better integration and collaboration across disciplines. The last of those – the increasing … [Continue Reading]

Beyond Lean and Agile

Beyond Lean and Agile

August 28, 2013 By Abie Hadjitarkhani

Rose Powell of Australia's StartupSmart interviews us on situating Agile and Lean in a holistic product practice. Beyond lean and agile: Finding a more holistic approach to start-up creation You need to step right out of it and remember no one’s … [Continue Reading]

Sprint is a four-letter word

Sprint is a four-letter word

August 21, 2013 By Abie Hadjitarkhani

I’ve always been uncomfortable with the term sprint. It’s a short word, easy to say and quick to type, but the connotations can be misleading, especially for people new to Scrum. I used to run track in high school, and I have a pretty vivid body … [Continue Reading]

G+ identity follies

G+ identity follies

July 23, 2013 By Abie Hadjitarkhani

Google wants real identities on G+. No pseudonyms. (After enduring enough protest, they relented for those with established pseudonymous public personae.) And yet, Google also gently but persistently harasses you to setup a G+ identity for every … [Continue Reading]

Text trumps video for remote teams

Text trumps video for remote teams

June 7, 2013 By Nathan Dintenfass

Over the last few years we've done a fair amount of work with remote development teams. One of our current clients is going through a company-wide transition from waterfall to agile, and they use remote contractors extensively. A primary goal of the … [Continue Reading]

Products Are Hard is a blog, a conference series, and a simple truth. The humans behind this endeavor are Abie and Nathan, principals of Product House.

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Greatest Hits

Agile for Executives

Deconstructing Agile Part 1: The Language of Agile is Broken

The five pillars of product management

The age of holistic product development

Choosing a technology is choosing a culture

Get in touch

415.683.6936
@productsarehard

Nathan Dintenfass

Nathan brings over fifteen years of technical and business experience with a focus on Internet technologies, product management, and brand positioning.

View My Blog Posts

Abie Hadjitarkhani

Abie has over fifteen years of experience in software development, user experience, psychology, education, and the arts.

View My Blog Posts
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