Joel Polanco Senior product leader with experience in B2B, enterprise IoT, edge computing, and analytics. Joel specializes in customer discovery for tech companies. He is currently a segment manager at Intel and is a product management advisor at two startups. He lives in Chandler, AZ with his wife and son.

Stories by Joel Polanco

Mastering the art of cross-selling to boost sales

Product Management

Cross-selling is the process of introducing complementary products or services that add additional value to a current sale or post sale.

Joel Polanco
Jul 22, 2024 ⋅ 5 min read
Using BLUF Acronym to Improve Communication

Using the BLUF acronym to improve communication

Product Management

As a product manager, you wield significant influence through your communication. Using BLUF in your emails will save time for you and those you work with.

Joel Polanco
Jul 3, 2024 ⋅ 3 min read
How To Use But Not Abuse Frameworks

How to use — but not abuse — frameworks

Product Management

While frameworks have clear benefits, it’s important to understand how and when to use them, as they are often overused or used in the wrong context or setting.

Joel Polanco
Jun 4, 2024 ⋅ 5 min read

Charting the product manager career path

Product Management

The product management career path has opened up new opportunities for IC product managers and companies have begun hiring again.

Joel Polanco
May 27, 2024 ⋅ 8 min read
How To Develop Active Listening Skills For Better Communication

How to develop active listening skills for better communication

Product Management

Active listening is the act of listening to what someone is saying while observing their non-verbal cues, intonations, and intent.

Joel Polanco
May 7, 2024 ⋅ 6 min read
How To Leverage Customer Discovery Techniques In A Large Company

How to leverage customer discovery techniques in a large company

Product Management

Most customer discovery articles are tied to startups, but customer discovery is heavily applicable to established, mature companies as well.

Joel Polanco
Apr 8, 2024 ⋅ 6 min read
What Is Customer Discovery

What is customer discovery?

Product Management

Customer discovery helps you ensure you’re focused and prioritizing the right problem for the right customer before development.

Joel Polanco
Mar 6, 2024 ⋅ 6 min read
Understanding The Value of New User Acquisition Vs. Retention

Understanding the value of new user acquisition vs. retention

Product Management

This article will go over the basics of growth and where and when to place focus when building a new product or feature.

Joel Polanco
Nov 8, 2023 ⋅ 8 min read
What Is Secondment

What is secondment and how can it help your career?

Product Management

Secondment is a neat way to pilot a specific role or career without having to go all-in to it right away.

Joel Polanco
Sep 6, 2023 ⋅ 8 min read
Product Partners: Creating A Minimum Viable Ecosystem

Product partners and creating a minimum viable ecosystem

Product Management

Like an MVP, an MVE aims to be the best representation of the final product or solution but in a compact and lightweight package.

Joel Polanco
Aug 23, 2023 ⋅ 7 min read
From Rides To Riches: How Uber Masters The Product Profit Game

From rides to riches: How Uber masters the product profit game

Product Management

2023 has been the “year of efficiency.” Interest rates are rising and tech companies have retrenched and focused on core products.

Joel Polanco
Aug 17, 2023 ⋅ 5 min read
First Impressions Of Twitter's New Competitor Threads By Meta

Can Threads overtake Twitter? First impressions of Twitter’s new competitor

Product Management

This past Wednesday, Meta released Threads, a Twitter-like service that allows the more than three billion Instagram users to sign up.

Joel Polanco
Jul 7, 2023 ⋅ 5 min read