There are no shortcuts to developing product sense for a new domain, but you can accelerate it. A fractional CPO quickly onboarded by taking a 'grindy' approach: systematically reading through a massive volume of individual feature requests and support tickets. This immersive process of internalizing customer language and problems is the fastest way to build intuition.
Counterintuitively, adding a seemingly random and required question to a signup form, like "Do you like tacos?", can increase conversions. This technique, learned from Noah Kagan, challenges the conventional wisdom that all friction is bad. It suggests that minor, unexpected interactions can sometimes improve engagement, warranting testing even odd ideas.
Product leadership for founders boils down to two separate skills. The first is prioritizing what to build from countless feature requests and ideas. The second, equally crucial skill is the UX and design sense for how to build it elegantly and intuitively. People are often strong in one but not the other, and a successful product requires both.
For products where users feel anxiety or uncertainty (like proposal software), adding friction via educational nurturing can increase conversions. This contrasts with transactional products (like e-signatures) where users are in a hurry and require a frictionless, fast path to value. The right level of friction depends on the user's mindset and the product's complexity.
A common tactic to improve lead quality is blocking personal email signups (e.g., Gmail). However, for SignWell, this test resulted in a 30% drop in signups that directly correlated with a 30% drop in paid conversions. This shows that such friction doesn't just filter out low-quality leads; it can remove a large number of legitimate, paying customers.
Founders with low trial volume often mistakenly try to A/B test small changes. With insufficient data, such tests are meaningless. Instead, they should focus on making big, obvious improvements based on gut feel and qualitative feedback. At this stage, the goal isn't optimization; it's finding significant wins that don't require statistical validation.
When prioritizing features, don't just ask what percentage of your current customers will use it. Sometimes, it's strategic to build features that very few existing users need, specifically because those features will attract a new, more desirable customer segment. This is a risk, but it's a calculated bet on moving your business upmarket or into a new vertical.
Being great at product for one SaaS doesn't guarantee success at another. Product sense is highly context-specific, developed by training your 'internal LLM' on a particular set of customers and use cases. When moving to a new product or market, even experienced product leaders must go through a significant learning curve to rebuild this intuition from scratch.