Hard Problem Clubs

Hard Problem Clubs run in parallel to each other and to the session talks. While the three session talks happen one after the other on the main stage, all four Hard Problem Clubs run at the same time in separate locations. Each club is capped at 25 people and requires separate sign-up. No slides, no lectures - just a facilitator who knows the space and a room full of people wrestling with the same challenge.

Martin Eriksson: Principles: How do we make the right choices?

Principles are the level of the Decision Stack most often missing in organizational strategy. Most teams fill this space with values, processes, or ways of working — but good principles do something different. Good principles empower teams by crystallising the inherent tradeoffs in your strategy and pushing decision-making authority to the edges — so the hundreds of small choices made every day add up to something coherent. In this session, we'll work together to surface the principles your organisation is already implicitly making — and pressure-test the language that turns them into something teams can use to make better decisions, faster.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martineriksson/

Rich Mironov: Founder-Led Organizations: When Founders Are De Facto Product Leaders

Coping strategies for product leaders/managers when founders make most of your product decisions.

I (we) often try to pitch product recommendations to startup founders based on product processes, our own previous experience, and stories about famous companies. That’s consistently FAILED for me and my CPO coachees.

So we’ll talk about the hard problem of founder/PM dynamics, unpack what’s happening, and share some approaches. No magic answers, no BS.

Core audience: product leaders and battle-hardened product managers.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richmironov/

Mathieu Ritter: Your Next PM Job: From Wanting It to Getting It

You've been a product manager for a while. You're good at what you do. And yet, when it comes to landing your next role, you feel stuck - endlessly scrolling job boards, tailoring CVs, hearing nothing back. The job market has shifted, and the playbook that worked three years ago doesn't anymore. Most candidates underestimate how much of the process happens before a job is even posted - and how differently hiring managers and recruiters actually evaluate candidates. In this session, we'll unpack what's really going on on the other side of the table and figure out together what you can do about it.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathieuritter/

Kai Stevens: Hardware Discovery: When the Usual Playbook Doesn't Apply

Modern hardware product teams are encouraged to operate agile, yet find themselves stuck in hardware development cycles where decisions about materials, components and tooling lock them in for months and mistakes are expensive to reverse. They are balancing pressure to move fast against the reality that physical products demand certainty before commitment. The standard agile playbook assumes rapid iteration and reversible decisions, while hardware product teams often face the exact opposite. In this session, we will explore together how hardware product teams can navigate that tension and decide when to validate upfront and when to learn along the way.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaistevens/