Mike Hudack

It was a fun project. I think that it was very cool, like in many, many ways. But yeah, I don't think I would build it again.

No, I think that my prioritization was, well, a little bit of both. But I think that at the time I probably had a less brutal attitude towards nice to have things. I think that I've learned over the years that everything which is nice to have has a higher cost than you anticipate and a lower value returned.

No, I think that my prioritization was, well, a little bit of both. But I think that at the time I probably had a less brutal attitude towards nice to have things. I think that I've learned over the years that everything which is nice to have has a higher cost than you anticipate and a lower value returned.

No, I think that my prioritization was, well, a little bit of both. But I think that at the time I probably had a less brutal attitude towards nice to have things. I think that I've learned over the years that everything which is nice to have has a higher cost than you anticipate and a lower value returned.

I don't really feel like those are the choices as I would frame them. First of all, I think it's very important to have quantitative, objective measures of success. So when you're having a debate about something, about what you should do, you need to ground that somehow and you need to have goals. I think goals are just unbelievably important.

I don't really feel like those are the choices as I would frame them. First of all, I think it's very important to have quantitative, objective measures of success. So when you're having a debate about something, about what you should do, you need to ground that somehow and you need to have goals. I think goals are just unbelievably important.

I don't really feel like those are the choices as I would frame them. First of all, I think it's very important to have quantitative, objective measures of success. So when you're having a debate about something, about what you should do, you need to ground that somehow and you need to have goals. I think goals are just unbelievably important.

So if somebody is saying, and this is where nice to haves become difficult, right? So if Spotify's goal is to increase listening hours by 10% this quarter or whatever, I'm totally making up what that is. and you say, we're going to build this thing, which is nice to have. The correct question is, well, how much is it going to increase listening hours this quarter?

So if somebody is saying, and this is where nice to haves become difficult, right? So if Spotify's goal is to increase listening hours by 10% this quarter or whatever, I'm totally making up what that is. and you say, we're going to build this thing, which is nice to have. The correct question is, well, how much is it going to increase listening hours this quarter?

So if somebody is saying, and this is where nice to haves become difficult, right? So if Spotify's goal is to increase listening hours by 10% this quarter or whatever, I'm totally making up what that is. and you say, we're going to build this thing, which is nice to have. The correct question is, well, how much is it going to increase listening hours this quarter?

And if the answer is 5% and the team that is arguing for it is like really believes that is really making the case and they have credibility, then I think that as a product leader, depending on how large the organization is, if you're at a really big company, you might say, OK, great, set that goal. You're going to hit half of our time spent listening goal for the quarter with this project.

And if the answer is 5% and the team that is arguing for it is like really believes that is really making the case and they have credibility, then I think that as a product leader, depending on how large the organization is, if you're at a really big company, you might say, OK, great, set that goal. You're going to hit half of our time spent listening goal for the quarter with this project.

And if the answer is 5% and the team that is arguing for it is like really believes that is really making the case and they have credibility, then I think that as a product leader, depending on how large the organization is, if you're at a really big company, you might say, OK, great, set that goal. You're going to hit half of our time spent listening goal for the quarter with this project.

Let's go build it. Let's see if it works. And sometimes people will back down and say, oh, it's actually 1% or half a point. And sometimes they'll say, great, thank you. And sometimes they're right. And sometimes you're wrong. And you need to make a lot of room for that. I think intellectual humility in this kind of situation is so important.

Let's go build it. Let's see if it works. And sometimes people will back down and say, oh, it's actually 1% or half a point. And sometimes they'll say, great, thank you. And sometimes they're right. And sometimes you're wrong. And you need to make a lot of room for that. I think intellectual humility in this kind of situation is so important.

Let's go build it. Let's see if it works. And sometimes people will back down and say, oh, it's actually 1% or half a point. And sometimes they'll say, great, thank you. And sometimes they're right. And sometimes you're wrong. And you need to make a lot of room for that. I think intellectual humility in this kind of situation is so important.

But you bring it back to the numbers, and I think that that is the way that you almost avoid the talk. You know, you might then say, okay, well, you believe it's going to be 5%. Convince me that it's true. But now you're grounded in a thing. You're like, okay, well, I still don't believe that, or I believe that, or that's plausible, or whatever. And then you just think about how you stack rank it.

But you bring it back to the numbers, and I think that that is the way that you almost avoid the talk. You know, you might then say, okay, well, you believe it's going to be 5%. Convince me that it's true. But now you're grounded in a thing. You're like, okay, well, I still don't believe that, or I believe that, or that's plausible, or whatever. And then you just think about how you stack rank it.

But you bring it back to the numbers, and I think that that is the way that you almost avoid the talk. You know, you might then say, okay, well, you believe it's going to be 5%. Convince me that it's true. But now you're grounded in a thing. You're like, okay, well, I still don't believe that, or I believe that, or that's plausible, or whatever. And then you just think about how you stack rank it.

Yeah, I really believe that product is more art than science, but has to be managed through data. What I mean by that is you need to make a lot of room, and I think organizations, especially the larger they get, truly struggle with this. You need to make a lot of room for people saying,