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Firas Raouf is a mentor to our Portfolio, an engaged board member and plays an active role in investments.
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Articles by Firas Raouf
Product Management Advice From the Trenches (Part 2)
In 2005, product management expert Marty Cagan (one of my heroes, who hosted a workshop for our portfolio companies last year) wrote one of the defining papers on Product Management’s role and responsibilities for the consultancy he founded, Silicon Valley Product Group. In it, he had this to say about the way in which technology…
Read Full Article about Product Management Advice From the Trenches (Part 2)Product Management Advice From the Trenches
If you’ve read my blog for the last two months, you’ve probably noticed a pretty consistent theme: I’m a big believer in the strategic importance of product management in an early stage software company. If you’ve missed out on my previous posts, don’t worry. You can click here to catch up. In that series, I also broke down the key roles and components of…
Read Full Article about Product Management Advice From the TrenchesRaise More Debt Before You Raise More Venture Capital
Did you have to re-read that headline a few times? I admit, it might seem a bit confusing coming from a venture capitalist. But here’s the truth: there are plenty of expansion stage financing alternatives to VC money. In fact, there are myriad sources of capital that — depending on time, how it’s used, and…
Read Full Article about Raise More Debt Before You Raise More Venture CapitalProduct Management Implementation: A Real World Case Study (Part 3)
This is the third post in a series about developing an expansion stage product management team. To read the intro to the series, click here. To read the first and second posts, click here and here. Throughout this series, I’ve talked about how creating and implementing a formal product management function into an expansion stage…
Read Full Article about Product Management Implementation: A Real World Case Study (Part 3)Product Management Implementation: A Real World Case Study (Part 2)
This is the second post in a series about developing an expansion stage product management team. To read the intro to the series, click here. To read the first post, click here. In the previous two posts in this series, I’ve laid out why, when, and how expansion stage software companies need to transition their…
Read Full Article about Product Management Implementation: A Real World Case Study (Part 2)What Made Alex Ferguson a Great Manager
For those of you who know me, you would know that I’m a bit obsessed with Manchester United. I’ve been a fan of the team since my boyhood when the team was no where near the global phenomena it is today. Alex Ferguson has been in charge since 1986. His tenure has seen the club…
Read Full Article about What Made Alex Ferguson a Great ManagerWhat is the Best Way to Introduce Yourself to an Angel Investor? Part I
Raising from angels has historically been much different than raising from VCs. Angels have tended to be as inexperienced in early stage tech investing as the entrepreneur who’s raising the money. In recent years, there has been a resurgence of institutionalized angel groups that are very experienced in VC fundraising or VC investing. That has…
Read Full Article about What is the Best Way to Introduce Yourself to an Angel Investor? Part ILack of Trust is the Biggest Barrier to Progress
One of our portfolio company senior execs called me up the other day. He was looking for advice on how to handle a situation with one of his senior managers. Turns out that the manager was resisting a new process that the exec was looking to implement within their department. As the exec described the…
Read Full Article about Lack of Trust is the Biggest Barrier to ProgressHas Your Product Pricing Formula Gone Bad?
Your sales are going up and up. Customers are thrilled with your product, and you’re making lots of money. The company starts to grow, and expectations get higher and higher. Then something changes. Maybe your products aren’t selling as fast. Maybe your customers are not buying more or are not renewing. Maybe they’re taking longer…
Read Full Article about Has Your Product Pricing Formula Gone Bad?Product Management Implementation: Creating and Developing a True PM Function
This is the first post in a series about developing an expansion stage product management team. To read the intro to the series, click here. In the startup phase of most software companies, product development tends to go something like this: ‘X’ company identifies a pain point or need, assembles a small engineering team to build…
Read Full Article about Product Management Implementation: Creating and Developing a True PM Function
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