Francis Potter

A customer with a team of several dozen developers mentioned they are not satisfied with the current development speed and are struggling to find good hires despite job postings. This is a common issue that remains unresolved for many. While outsourcing to freelancers or external partners is an option, they prefer full-time employees to avoid wasted training costs. In this context, they subscribed to GitAuto, seeing it as a potential interim solution with its AI coding agent capabilities.

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Ever found yourself staring blankly at your 🖥, unsure where to start on a creative work project? Recently I shared a new Copilot tip with my fellow Customer Experience PMs at MSFT: using Copilot to develop an adoption asset for a new feature. The results were so impressive that I'm excited to share them with you! Copilot wasn’t just a time-saver (it shaved four hours off my usual workflow)— it was a creativity booster. Here's how I leveraged Copilot to elevate my ✍: ✅ 1. Groundwork: I began by gathering relevant content to ensure Copilot stayed true to our product's branding & facts. Prompt: Help me find documents (files, emails & chats) that contain information about <specific topic> that could be used as sources of input for an <adoption asset> I need to create ✅ 2. Brainstorming: Copilot helped me brainstorm compelling subject lines that connect emotionally with the audience. - Start by giving Copilot a specific role in your prompt - Define role at beginning of prompt, Copilot executes instructions in order.   Prompt: Act as a marketing copywriter and generate a list of 5 headlines for an <adoption asset > to help <e.g., announce the launch of new product>. The headline should compel <target audience > to read on, so they <how you want to appeal to reader emotionally>. ✅ 3. Drafting: I set specific guidelines for the output, from structure to style, ensuring the content was impactful and precise. - Be specific about the elements you want included in the asset - Specify information sources. Type ‘/’ in the text input area to quickly reference files and/or people. -  Check for accuracy Prompt: Act as a marketing copywriter and help me draft an engaging and informative <adoption asset > targeted at <audience>. The goal is to <e.g., announce the launch of new product>. The adoption asset should catch the reader's attention, inform them about <e.g., the availability of new feature/product>, and inspire them to <e.g., start using it today>. Include the following elements: ·      An introduction that captures attention and introduces <new product> ·      An overview of key features and benefits. ·      Instructions on how users can get started ·      A call to action that <e.g., encourages use> Use the information from </name of file> to help you write the email. The tone should be <e.g., professional yet inviting>. ✅ 4. Refining: We then simplified technical jargon and explored various tones and headings to better resonate with our audience. Prompt: Condense this complex information into a succinct, engaging summary focusing on [specific aspect] ✅ 5. Final review: Promoting Copilot to 'editor-in-chief', I ensured the final draft was inclusive, engaging, and polished. Prompt: As a copy editor, please review this text and provide suggestions for making it more inclusive and engaging.  Provide feedback on how to enhance its impact. Imagine what you could achieve with the extra time gained!

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How insights data revolutionizes B2B sales prospecting Stuck chasing marketing's bad leads? Data finds ideal accounts and connects you to decision-makers. Boost sales, ditch frustration. Learn more.

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Your buyers are on a journey that starts long before they reach out to you. Most buyers have already researched potential solutions to their unique problems. They want social proof, and they know where to get it. Sites like G2 exist to strengthen the confidence a buyer can have by seeing actual reviews for software from actual customers. So, by adding interactive demos to your G2 profile, you have an additional leg up on the competition and more evidence for your future champion to take back to their buying team. Take 5 minutes to learn how to let customer see your fantastic product through G2! #buyerenablement #consensus #demoautomation #testimonial #voiceofthecustomer

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This last month was bittersweet. I've celebrated multiple achievements. We rebranded KYT to Canopy in just 3 weeks, launched our iOS app, and shipped our AI Assistant. But, last week was also my last one full-time at Canopy. Going after the ambitious goal of helping people become better managers at scale with a bootstrapped small team required a lot of effort, and I am so proud of what we accomplished. For a long time after I joined, it was just Claire and me, bootstrapping our way through. We grew it into a business making 7-figures in annual revenue, an amazing team of 8 people, and reached tens of thousands of users. Working with Claire and the team has been amazing. But after seven years, it’s time for something new. So I’m moving into a technical advisor role at Canopy. I’m not exactly sure what comes next. One thing I am sure about is that I want to work with LLMs a bit more. My last full-time project at Canopy was our AI assistant. It was a blast to work on, and I learned a lot. This project is something I've been working on and off since GPT-3, and now it’s up and running beautifully. There's so much potential. For now, I’ll focus on learning more about similar applications. I learn best by doing and I have several ideas involving LLMs—some more personal, others with maybe business potential. I’ve set aside three months to work on these projects. If I like the direction, I might try to extend for another 3 and see from there. I'm going to try to share my learnings on Substack (https://lnkd.in/g9nBsQ9B) / Twitter (https://lnkd.in/gsZpSxqp) and here. This is my first time since moving to the US that I change roles without something lined up. It feels weird but also exciting.

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I love this interview with Erica Brescia. I completely agree with her, that when it comes to building a developer tool, product quality and how you tell your story will be some of your biggest competitive differentiators. Here’s why: (1) Organizations invest a lot of time and money in making developers happier and more productive and devs often have a lot of autonomy when selecting the tools they want to use. They will inevitably opt for solutions that give them the most frictionless user experience. (2) The explosion of open source and SaaS means there are hundreds of solutions on the market across all the different layers of the stack. Finding a way to rise above the noise requires purpose and hard work. I always have to remind myself that building community, and maintaining it, requires a significant amount of sustained focus, but the rewards - to us and our community - are rich. 👉 https://lnkd.in/edJCHemX

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🚨🎟 Countdown to Pavilion’s Montreal Event: Only 10 Spots Left! 🎟🚨 #Montreal’s GTM leaders, the clock is ticking!⏰ We're just days away from what promises to be one of the standout professional gatherings of the year, right here in our own city! 🌟🍁 📆 Event Details: Date: Thursday, May 30th - 5@7 Location: Stay22 Offices, Montreal Join us as we dive into the cutting-edge topic of "#GenerativeAI in GTM Content" with peers, notably with my Co-Chapter Heads Vyara Ndejuru & Sylvain Bergeron! It's your chance to explore what’s working, uncover new strategies, and participate in rich discussions with peers who are shaping the future of our field. 🤖💼 DM or email me at frederic@stay22.com to RSVP 🔥 Why You Can’t Miss This:👇 - Exclusive #Networking: Connect with top GTM professionals and broaden your industry contacts. - Insightful Discussions: Bring back valuable #insights that could change how you approach your strategies. - Complimentary Refreshments: Enjoy snacks and drinks on us—perfect for casual chats between the engaging sessions. (if the weather cooperates, we'll hit the terrasse!!) ☀️ 👥 This event is designed for GTM leaders looking to push the boundaries of what's possible in their careers and organizations. Whether you're a Pavilion member or not, this is your opportunity to be part of an elite community focused on networking, learning, and excelling together. 🚀 Spaces are filling fast, and with only 10 spots left, now’s the time to claim your seat. Don’t miss out on the chance to be part of this dynamic gathering. Secure your spot and be ready to get inspired! #PavilionMontreal #GTMLeaders #GenerativeAI #NetworkingEvent #MontrealProfessionals #Stay22 #BusinessGrowth #TechInnovation

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RevOps vs Chief of Staff work "I think RevOps is like a right hand to CRO of an organization. So a Chief of Staff is essentially like an extension of an executive member on any team. I think if you're smaller, than you have your hands in a lot of different pots." - Ravi Neppalli from our new Chief of Staff Podcast episode 🎧 Key takeaway: the size of company and who you report to impacts the work you do!

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I can’t believe it’s been almost been 5 years since I lost my sister to Rett Syndrome. This is genuinely really tough for me to talk about, especially in a public forum. I miss my sister, Ashley, dearly, and wish I could see her again. Please consider signing up for our 5th annual virtual 5K (walk, wheel, or run) we hold in her honor, and make any donation you can! All proceeds will go to the Rett Syndrome Research Trust (RSRT) to accelerate research for a cure. With this annual event, we hope to spread awareness and raise funding for research to finally cure this thing once and for all. I hope that with accelerated research we can help the families that still have time. Please repost to share with you network! For those who aren’t aware, Rett syndrome is a rare genetic disorder that primarily affects girls. It causes severe impairments in brain development, leading to difficulties in movement, communication, and cognitive abilities. Imagine a condition where a child gradually loses abilities they once had, such as hand skills and speech, and faces challenges in everyday activities like walking and interacting with others. It's like a puzzle where pieces of development are missing, making life more challenging for both the affected individual and their caregivers. #rettsyndrome #rsrt #5k #researchforacure #rettsyndromeresearchtrust #donateforacause #virtual5k

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I’m skeptical about measuring open-source package quality with metrics alone.    •   Low commit/update cadence: Doesn’t indicate low quality. It might signal a stable, well-functioning package that needs minimal maintenance.    •   High number of historical CVEs: Not a sign of low quality. It could show that the package has undergone thorough security scrutiny.    •   Many open issues: Not a reliable indicator. Many issues are more like support tickets, and there are often many duplicates. Quality assessment requires more than just metrics!

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The good, the bad and the ugly. How to win or grind to a halt. It's not the tech - it's the operating model. We had a great session yesterday in Toronto 🇨🇦 with COOs and Heads of Operations on how to really deliver with automation projects. The graph shows two Duco customers. One implemented a best-in-class, federated, self-service operating model driven by lines of business. The other was constrained by staying on an old model with responsibility scattered between the business, change and IT, and a data lake in the middle. 705 processes automated in year one, versus 47. Stark difference. "Best in class" on Duco means automating over 500 processes in year one, if you're a large bank. It all starts with getting the model and stakeholders right on day one, however.

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We've all heard the horrifying tales of software projects spiraling out of control - bloated budgets, missed deadlines, lackluster products. What if you could wake up from these nightmares for good? My new guide covers everything you need to know about the key approaches for building software: 💻 Do it yourself (you're a product developer) 💻 Outsource it 💻 Build an in-house team 💻 Use a combination approach I break down the pros and cons of each option, so you can choose the right path for your product vision and avoid common pitfalls. No more sleepless nights wondering if you're on track. No more cold sweats thinking about looming disasters. Read the guide today and ensure your software build is a developer's dream, not a nightmare on Dev Street: https://lnkd.in/ehDG_JsN

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The more senior you are, the less likely you are to attend professional events. So where do senior tech professionals find community? I was sad to learn about #IxDA's shutdown. IxDA was a big part of my professional identity as a junior- to mid-level UX researcher. At the same time, it’s also been 8 years since I attended an Interaction-style conference, and nearly a decade since I attended an official IxDA event. There’s been a lot of talk lately about how #UX as a discipline has changed. But I’ve found myself thinking more about professional community, and how the needs of senior practitioners are so different from when we are earlier in our career. Way back in 2011 and 2012, Vitorio Miliano and I collaborated on large-scale surveys of the Austin UX community, and we noticed this trend: the more senior you are, the less likely you are to attend professional events. This is not because senior practitioners don’t need community, but because the kind of community you need is so much harder to get. When I was a junior researcher, IxDA gave me two things I needed: 🤝 Professional connections 📈 New professional skills Senior professionals need these things too, but as you become more experienced, the bar gets higher: 🤝 You have less time and more people wanting it, so it’s more important for each new connection to be meaningful. 📈 When you’ve been working in industry for years, it gets harder to find skills training at your level (or that is even relevant when you’re no longer executing, but directing). It’s an interesting coincidence, then, that IxDA is folding at a time when the original audience it served in 2005 is now in senior roles, with needs that are much harder to address. But the need for professional community is still there; senior professionals just have to address it in different ways. I’ll talk more about what the research says about this in a future post, but for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts.  If you’ve been in the tech industry for 10+ years: ❓ What human connections do you value most at this point in your career? ❓ Are there professional organizations you’re still active in? ❓ Where do you turn for help and support?

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Had a great convo with Emma Cimolini 🍎 on building out RevOps systems for product-led growth (PLG) SaaS companies. I asked her what the core components of a marketing and RevOps system architecture need to be for these types of companies. Here's what she said: - Your SaaS app itself (obviously) - A billing system ( eg. Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly) - A CRM (eg. HubSpot, Salesforce) - Customer support/success (eg. Intercom, Zendesk, HubSpot, Salesforce) - In-app analytics (eg. Mixpanel, Amplitude, Heap | by Contentsquare) - Web analytics (eg. GA4, HubSpot, or even Mixpanel) As the company gets larger and more mature, it will probably also set up a data warehouse and some ETL/middleware tools to sit at the center of all of this and route data traffic through as well. But it might be overkill at the beginning of the company, and might be best added in later. Even without the data warehouse, this can seem like a lot to set up! It certainly requires more technology systems than some other types of businesses like professional services or home services or real estate. Emma recommends starting with choosing what questions you want answered first off, and then setting up the tools and data to answer that question. That's a much better approach than the other way around: spending your time first setting up large amounts of systems and instrumentation, and then after that deciding what sort of questions you're looking for answers for. You'll be setting yourself up for multiple rounds of redoing all your setup work over and over if you approach it that way. 😱 Check out this clip where Emma and I talk about all this. And be sure to check out the full episode from our podcast as well! I'll post the link in the comments.

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It's now increasingly possible for founders who are technically capable - and smart enough to realize that experience is a more important differentiator than ever - to pull back some of their tech stack. People are going to continue to move away from Shopify to consider the alternatives - especially as Shopify does away with third-party integrations - or they're going to push Shopify to its limits by focusing on building a custom front-end that better serves their needs. Even though Shopify is technically "built for CRO," it's also a lowest-common denominator scenario, because there's simply no way they can address all the potential use cases in play. Therefore, if a differentiated experience is a premium for your brand, gravitating toward no-code builders and a headless CMS as an alterative as Shopify is a reasonable way to maintain greater control. What are your thoughts about Shopify and its alternatives as no-code improves and technical founders want to take more control back? Tell me about it in the comments below. --- 💎 Hi, I'm Jonathan, the CEO of Boom Labs. 💎 We're an outsourced solution for those sticky Growth Marketing problems that need an experienced resource. 💎 I write about accelerating the growth of your eCommerce business through testing, optimization, and a measured approach to incremental wins. 💎 Follow me for more!

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It's now increasingly possible for founders who are technically capable - and smart enough to realize that experience is a more important differentiator than ever - to pull back some of their tech stack. People are going to continue to move away from Shopify to consider the alternatives - especially as Shopify does away with third-party integrations - or they're going to push Shopify to its limits by focusing on building a custom front-end that better serves their needs. Even though Shopify is technically "built for CRO," it's also a lowest-common denominator scenario, because there's simply no way they can address all the potential use cases in play. Therefore, if a differentiated experience is a premium for your brand, gravitating toward no-code builders and a headless CMS as an alterative as Shopify is a reasonable way to maintain greater control. What are your thoughts about Shopify and its alternatives as no-code improves and technical founders want to take more control back? Tell me about it in the comments below. --- 💎 Hi, I'm Jonathan, the CEO of Boom Labs. 💎 We're an outsourced solution for those sticky Growth Marketing problems that need an experienced resource. 💎 I write about accelerating the growth of your eCommerce business through testing, optimization, and a measured approach to incremental wins. 💎 Follow me for more!

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