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206. The Solopreneur’s Guide to Product Management Without a Team · The Life-First Solopreneur

• 0:00
  Carly Ries: Ever wish you had a cofounder to help bring your business ideas to life without giving up your solo status? Well, in this jam packed episode, we welcome not one, not two, but three brilliant minds behind the new book, Next Gen Product Management. Returning guest, Teresa Cain, is joined by her coauthors, Diana Stepner and Dr. Bart, to explore how solopreneurs can adopt modern product management practices, leverage AI as a co founder, and get their products out the door without a full team. From avoiding perfection paralysis to future proofing your one person business, this lively conversation is full of insights, laughs, and the occasional toast to solopreneur success.
• 0:39
  So if you've ever wondered what product management looks like when you're wearing all the hats, this is your episode. You're listening to the Aspiring Solopreneur, the podcast for those just taking the bold step or even just thinking about taking that step into the world of solo entrepreneurship. My name is Carly Ries and my cohost Joe Rando and I are your guides navigating this crazy but awesome journey as a company of one. We take pride in being part of LifeStarr, a digital hub dedicated to all aspects of solo solopreneurship that has empowered and educated countless solopreneurs looking to build a business that resonates with their life's ambitions. We help people work to live, not live to work.
• 1:21
  And if you're looking for a get rich quick scheme, this is not the show for you. So if you're eager to gain valuable insights from industry experts on running a business the right way the first time around or want to learn from the missteps of solopreneurs who paved the way before you, then stick around. We've got your back because flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. Joe, I can't tell if we're hosting a podcast or an event today. I feel like we have a full room.
• 1:47
  We have never had three interviewees on this show before, and I feel like we should all, like, just raise glass and celebrate that. This is so fun, you guys. Thank you all so much for being on the show today. Whoo. There you go.
• 2:01
  Well, Teresa, you are a repeat guest, and a popular episode at that that we had with you. Gosh, it was almost a year ago at this point, which is just insane to me. And you brought more coauthors of your new book that I want you to plug later in the show as well. But I kinda just wanna dive into the meat and potatoes of this interview. So solopreneurs, they wear all the hats.
• 2:27
  And that doesn't mean that certain jobs disappear. It just means they take everything on unless, of course, they outsource or use AI, which I think we're gonna chat about today as well. But for solopreneurs, they need to act as their own product managers. So how can they apply modern product management principles to build better offerings without a full team of employees? And Diana, why don't you answer that?
• 2:53
  Diana Stepner: Yeah. I would say if you'd asked me that question probably three years ago, I would have given you a different answer. I think we're in a space now where there's tools that are amazing to be able to have an idea, test an idea, riff on an idea, refine it, launch it, you know, keep on going through an iterative process in a very, AI agentic way. And so there are a number of tools now that are helping people be able to do things on their own that weren't possible. I think we've all probably heard the Sam Altman quote, you know, he's expecting the first single, person unicorn to appear shortly.
• 3:32
  I mean, there are a number that are already like just two people that are happening. So I believe now the tools that are in place really enable us to do that. But I would say there are downsides too. Working along someone else helps you get out of your head. It helps you to get out of that just my view is the right way and helps you expand and diversify your thinking.
• 3:56
  So that's one thing you'll probably hear from us throughout the talk is that even though AI is there, it's nice, but it's not the same as working alongside another person. You have a lot of opportunities for brainstorming and collaboration, but humans are weird. We say one thing and do another and we've got all these quirks. So it really helps to have someone human to be able to brainstorm alongside as well. Tools can help us, but still recommend bringing on another co founder just to accelerate and amplify the amazing things that happen when you're working alongside another human.
• 4:31
  Carly Ries: Well, we always say flying solo in business doesn't mean you're alone. And I agree like, I work with other contractors, work with other solopreneurs, but you guys do talk about, in your book, about AI being a co founder. So what does that look like? Because again, solopreneurs, they're solo. So if you bring on an AI co founder, what kind of roles, responsibilities, how do you use that in building a business quote unquote together?
• 5:00
  Teresa Cain: I can grab this one? You know, I was hold holding myself back talking about AI there. But, solopreneurs and product managers are really similar. And we do talk about AI being a cofounder because a lot of startups are using AI as their cofounder just as that. I do a lot of startup coaching, as does Diana and Dr. Bart.
• 5:23
  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 to have a tool, with some of these AI products to be able to type in your requirements like a product manager would as a solopreneur is really allowing companies to launch their products in as short as a week.
• 5:58
  And I've seen a lot of websites. I've seen a lot of products. Now is it the highest, we call in product management MVP, minimally viable product, or, anyone that played sports growing up, most valuable player. You know, there are a lot of, similarities there. But are we putting together the right products for product management?
• 6:20
  That's a big question mark. But from a solopreneur standpoint, the efficiency and time, that is being created and the time that is being saved is really advancing the capabilities for solopreneurs.
• 6:32
  Carly Ries: Well, so in terms of getting everything streamlined and just how quickly because Theresa, in our last one, we were talking about sprints and all of that. And it was like, people can get things done so quickly when they're focused. But Dr. Bart, how can solopreneurs be building systems to scale without employees using your guys' methodologies and frameworks?
• 6:54
  Dr. Bart Jaworski: I would say that if you look at the core of a product management, it's about communication to get your idea, your way of reaching the client to a group of people that will do the design for you, will make the tracking specifications, that will code the solution. But with having that AI cofounder or I'd be more comfortable saying AI assistant, you basically have that streamlined. This is sometimes a single person or a few websites that you just keep on talking to until you get the result you want. You basically have the same experience, but condensed and very productive. Of course, I don't think we are at the at the level where solid entrepreneurs can be their own development team.
• 7:54
  But they can push it to like 80-90% there over an EVP, struggle with some issues, some bugs, or AI doesn't quite get you at some point. But then grabbing, say, an expert from Fiverr to finish off the work, it really allows you to cut down the time to get any idea on the table. I myself have very little coding experience, and I've been to Vibe coding for a while to experience it myself to see what can be done and found out that really I was able to do any script I wanted to get my solo entrepreneurship journey easier with automating stuff that I couldn't automate in the past. Just by talking to ChatGPT, I could set up my own LLM to then look at my incoming messages to then read them, decide what to do with them, and only forward me those that, are worth my attention, which doesn't doesn't sound like a lot. But in fact, if you get pitches from people who don't really know what they want, they just wanna sit on a call to discover that you're not a great fit, if you can skip those, you can be better focused.
• 9:16
  You can work on the ideas that are worth your time and not blindly test different opportunities. Like in Scrum, you're trying different ideas to reach your goals, and some of them will be successful. Some of them will fail. And with the current age, the failure rate, I think, will drop and drop. And it will be both for big teams and solo entrepreneurs alike.
• 9:43
  Joe Rando: So I need to step back here.
• 9:46
  my job is to ask questions. And the stupid question, from the perspective of solopreneurs now, people that, they might be a life coach, and they might be all kinds of different things. Maybe they've, developed an app. But what do we mean by product management?
• 10:02
  What is the def I'm hearing a lot of stuff here, and I'm kinda going where's the box? what's the box that makes product management product management and not something else? And I don't care who answers.
• 10:15
  Diana Stepner: My question, I'm a coach. So part of me wants to know what do you think product management is? But product management is amazing in the sense that, it allows you to be involved from the start of an idea all the way through to its release and beyond. And what you're doing in all instances is you're putting the customer first.
• 10:39
  And so you're doing discovery to be able to identify, the actual pain point that the customer has. You're defining who that audience is that your product will most appeal to. I think Teresa mentioned, you know, the ideal customer profile or persona that might be interested in product. You've got to identify that. And then as Bart highlighted perfectly, you're working alongside a whole crew of people to be able to bring that product to life.
• 11:08
  And some of those, people quote maybe AI now, but when you get to that point of development, you're moving beyond something that's a prototype and actually coding behind it. And then when you go to market, you often work behind or alongside a product marketer or a marketer just to be able to, identify the channels, the outreach, and be able to capture customer feedback alongside that. So as you're highlighting exactly, Joe, there are all of these different facets that a product person is involved in, but they're the consistent thread from start to finish.
• 11:49
  Joe Rando: 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 roles and doing these jobs and all in one person, but different jobs. So okay. Thank you. I think that helps a lot. Appreciate it.
• 12:06
  Carly Ries: correct me if I'm wrong, but by default, solopreneurs are product managers because they are seeing their business idea from start to finish. Is that a naive thing to say?
• 12:17
  Diana Stepner: No. I mean, I think that's a good thing to say. You'll often see, like, I know when I was interviewing people in some of my jobs, you'd often see a person who had started a company, you know, describe that as product management. So Carly, I think you hit on something key.
• 12:32
  Carly Ries: Okay. So
• 12:34
  Dr. Bart, you were talking about, like, getting things to 90%. And just in terms of seeing something from start to finish, a lot of one person businesses and people where their product is their baby, they are not releasing it until it's a 100% ready for their audience. And that's just not gonna happen. So what do you say to those type of people that want to wait until it's a 100% ready knowing that day may not ever come?
• 13:03
  How do they get over that mental block of just releasing it when it's good enough and then iterating from there. Dr. Bart.
• 13:12
  Dr. Bart Jaworski: I think it's the LinkedIn's founder who said that released is better than perfect. And if he didn't say that, he I'm pretty sure he said that if you are not, what's the word, embarrassed by your first release, then you've released the light. And while those are a tad cringey, I'll admit. It really unravels the true focus that you have to have. That, as I think, Diana or Teresa mentioned, you don't know what's going to happen when you release.
• 13:52
  You don't know if your idea is sound, if you did all the prep work correctly in order to get a good product on the market. Or maybe your idea is good, but it needs some tweaking. No plan of attack has ever survived the actual, battle of the enemy. And then me being here a metaphor for client. But the sooner you can get feedback from the market, the sooner you get into the agile loop of feedback and experimentation, the earlier you will be able to actually craft product that will deepen its market fit or even create it because then it might not be there initially.
• 14:43
  It's a waste of time and opportunity if you delay too long. That said, I will admit that my career as a solo entrepreneur, started with a year of building my MVP course, which I would tell to anyone else that I took far too long, that I shouldn't have started so ambitiously. But at the same time, I remember my research. I remember what I thought, and I remember what I identified as the package that looks like the one that will give me an opportunity. And I'm proud to say that I think they identified my MVP correctly despite the long term.
• 15:26
  And I've correctly identified what I put to the second year of work where I polished my MVP to a point where I didn't touch my course for years now because there's no more feedback to address. Probably if I opened my ears a little more now, I would have heard that there's not enough AI and well, there isn't anyway. Though that the AI was not in the future for product managers. But at the same time, as a product manager, I know that updating it is not the best use of my time at the moment. And I need to focus on other ventures in order to optimize the value I can bring to my students and myself.
• 16:09
  Carly Ries: Great great points there. Well, so it's one thing to get the product out the door just to have it out there for people. But your book also focuses on future proofing your career and your products and services. So how what are some ways, Teresa, that solopreneurs can future proof their businesses just to set themselves up for the long term?
• 16:33
  Teresa Cain: Yeah. one of the things Bart touched on it a bit, you know, in addition to having a product management background, we are each solopreneurs and started our own businesses. And so, that's why we really believe in this podcast and, why we're all here today. And you know in terms of future proofing your career, whether you're you know a solopreneur or a product manager, it's all about upskilling. Right now the ability to be upskilling in AI is the highest theme right now as is the ability to figure out how to amplify what it is you are selling as a solopreneur.
• 17:12
  You know, in terms of whether you are a solopreneur of a product and that product is your baby, you know, whether it's a physical product or a software product or, a different type of business or even an influencer, which is a really big solopreneur route that a lot of folks are building and growing to incredible businesses. Yep. Dr. Bart being one of those, that is an incredible opportunity to interact with your audience and grow that brand. So those are really the two key things for future proofing is upskilling to make sure that you're interacting with AI, but also how are you connecting with your followers?
• 17:51
  How are you keeping your following? How are you building your business and revenue over time? And those two things together are how you ultimately future proof your future.
• 18:00
  Joe Rando: I totally agree with that. I just wanted to point out because I always make this point whenever anybody talks about being an influencer, that you don't want to leave your fortunes to social media alone. You want to collect those email addresses because I have heard too many times of people getting their account basically, canceled for some arbitrary, meaningless reason and losing a million followers and starting from scratch. so just always give that caveat of make sure you're still collecting those email addresses so you have those people under your direct control and contact.
• 18:41
  Carly Ries: No. That's a good point. Well, we wanted to have you guys on because I feel like when we talk about wearing so many hats as a solopreneur, people are like, oh, I have to crown my marketing hat, my sales hat, my this, my that. It's like you are a product manager. You have to wear that hat if you wanna get your idea out to the public.
• 19:00
  So I just think you guys really reinforce that, I really appreciate it. Teresa, you are off the hook because you have already given us your quote in a previous interview. But we ask all of our guests this question. Dr. Bart, I'm gonna have you go second because if you didn't know that we're gonna do this, you can have a second to think about it.
• 19:19
  But Diana, we ask all of our guests, what is your favorite quote about success?
• 19:24
  Diana Stepner: Yeah. I'm gonna give a quote from Connie Chung. I was reading her book and she says, for those of us who are driven, we perpetually see another mountain to climb and success is ephemeral. And so I really like that. It stuck out with me, especially as a solopreneur.
• 19:42
  I mean, even though there may be people, you know, alongside us in some capacity cheering us on, we do need to find that path that we wanna lead. And I think that is most exciting when you're a solopreneur because there often is no path. You get to be the one who designs it. And so I think that's part of the excitement.
• 20:03
  Carly Ries: Love that. Doctor Bart, are you ready?
• 20:07
  Dr. Bart Jaworski: Oh, for the moment there, I wanted to ask GPT to help me out with some quote. But I decided to be a little bit more myself here. And I don't have any business leader or an author that, gave me an inspiring quote about being successful in business. But I really did like what my wife once told me, that I am a bloody, lucky person with so much good luck that really shaped what happened with me over my life. However, the difference between luck and skill is that she said that she can observe that whenever I see an opportunity that's super lucky, I can take the most of it.
• 21:04
  And I was like, okay. So like, put value to all the good luck I had in my life that it's not just luck, but it's also the ability to act on the opportunity, the skills.
• 21:20
  Carly Ries: No. I love that one. It doesn't have to be a famous person. It could absolutely be your wife.
• 21:23
  Great. So if you have one, I didn't mean to leave you out. But you do not have to give one if you don't have one.
• 21:30
  Teresa Cain: 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 said it as well. But it's fall in love with the problem and not the solution. And I think that's so true as a solopreneur because sometimes I think we get so fix it fixated on, what the end product is or what our goals are that we're forgetting, you know, what we're solving, which is something that's truly foundational to product management and solving for the customer.
• 22:03
  So just staying true to that is really important and good advice.
• 22:08
  Carly Ries: Love it. Well, you guys, your book, Next Gen Product Management is out. Where can people find it if they want to learn more and purchase it?
• 22:17
  Teresa Cain: Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble, Kobo. It's all over the globe. So they can find it pretty much anywhere.
• 22:24
  Carly Ries: Awesome. Well, thank you all so so much for coming on the show today. We so appreciate it. And listeners, thank you so much for tuning in. As always, please leave that five star review.
• 22:34
  Share this episode with a friend. Subscribe on your favorite platform, including YouTube. And we will see you next time on The Aspiring Solopreneur. You may be going solo in business, but that doesn't mean you're alone. In fact, millions of people are in your shoes, running a one person business and figuring it out as they go.
• 22:52
  So why not connect with them and learn from each other's successes and failures? At LifeStarr, we're creating a one person business community where you can go to meet and get advice from other solopreneurs. Be sure to join in on the conversations at community.lifestarr.com.