What product and business leaders are saying about Groundwork
GINNY LEE
President & COO, Khan Academy
Groundwork is a must read. Dinamani and Samarin do an excellent job of outlining in very practical and easy-to-read stories what are the foundational elements of building any product with clarity and purpose … and why they are critical to the success of any company!
GIBSON BIDDLE
Former VP/CPO at Netflix/Chegg
As a product leader, your job is to build products that delight customers. To do this, you need efficient decision-making, a committed team, and a healthy dose of customer obsession. Groundwork provides the framework you need to consistently delight customers in ways that energize teams and build a great business.
BRENT TWORETZKY
COO Parsley Health, Organizer of NY Product Conference
Vidya and Heather brings their tremendous experience leading and teaching the world’s best product builders to the page in this roll-up-your sleeves guide. Recommended for product executives who are dedicated to helping their teams make better products.
BILL LUCCHINI
CEO at Dealer-FX Group, Inc
My son plays football and while everyone wants to work on the “read option” or the “wildcat” or all these fancy concepts, 90% of the game is about blocking and tackling. The simple or basic stuff… and consistent execution of those things… do more to define success than any of the fancy concepts that people spend so much time thinking about. In other words, I think the concept of your book is fantastic. In many ways it’s an explanation of why we (our industry) are so far into our journey of building software and we still pump out more failures and mediocre results than winners.
STEVEN COX
Founder & CEO TakeLessons.com
Over the years, I’ve collaborated directly with Vidya and Heather on difficult product challenges at my company. Let me tell you, they know their stuff! This book helps product teams and executives create lifelong customers by delivering a successful product to the market. My product team is better because we took the best practices found in this book and applied them to our business. Two thumbs up!
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ALLISON LONG
President, Crescent Ridge Partners
This is a must read for any leader, manager, or entrepreneur who desires to develop products that delight their customers. These two industry veterans provide practical, actionable solutions to overcome the most common issues that plague product teams. Groundwork lays the foundation to unlock true innovation.
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JASON AMUNWA
Product Management & Growth Executive
Groundwork is like a loving parent that doesn’t just tell you to eat your damn vegetables, it tells you which vegetables to eat, and how to start enjoying them, so your products have a shot at growing up big and strong. In an age where many product leaders myopically focus on growth hacking their way into rocket-powered unicorn status (which typically fizzles as quickly as it launches), Groundwork calmly and clearly lays out the hard, foundational work upon which are built robust, sustainable, and beloved products that thrive, whether the market is up or down..
RICK JENSEN
Chief People & Places Officer at Headspace
Having worked closely with Heather and Vidya, I am excited to see them bring the true craft of great product leadership to others. Their obsession with falling in love with the customer problem truly differentiates them from others. A must-read for product leaders.
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JASON KNAPP
Founder Strategic Data Corp, former CPO at Myspace and Product Executive at Viasat
This book gives you the practical details you need to quickly ensure you and your product teams understand customers’ needs and have organizational commitment much earlier, saving critical design and development time and allowing you to deliver more successful products. Most other product management books’ proposals add complexity and process—Ms. Dinamani and Ms. Samarin refreshingly propose approaches that yield results in days and require few to no additional resources. I’ve immediately improved my teams’ practices and only wish this book had been around in time for some of my past projects!
MICHELLE MAKOWSKI
Head of Experience Curation at Blueboard Inc
Groundwork uncovers the simple, yet powerful pillars and practices every product leader ‘should’ know and use, but often miss when overwhelmed with endless backlogs, roadmap debates, and delayed launches. Heather and Vidya have distilled their collective 40 years of hands-on product experience into a methodology that will produce actionable insights, organizational alignment, and delightful products your customers will love!
STEVE COOK
Chief Product Officer at Hydrostasis, former SVP Product at Entertainment Partners
Building a great product IS so much based on the groundwork you lay… starting with deep customer intimacy and a true understanding of their problems. Now finally, here’s a book that serves as a practical guide with actionable advice you can use to build this foundation. Well done!
ANNIE BROWN
FOUNDER & CEO, LIPS
As a startup founder building a tech product, I found the insights in this book incredibly helpful.
Honestly, when you are building a product you NEED to start by reading this book. It will help you build a better and more successful product in the long run!