3 Step Guide to Successful Product Management

By Firas Raouf April 11, 2013 1 Response

This high-level guide will help you understand the role of product management and walk you through the steps required to successfully recruit, align, and leverage a dedicated product management team.

In the early stages of most software companies, product development tends to go something like this: a company’s founders identify a pain point or need, assemble a small engineering team to build a solution that addresses it, and proceed to go through a number of quick iterations to tweak the product to better meet the market’s needs.

It’s a system that relies on innovation, flexibility, and customization to fuel growth. And, in that early (often unstructured) environment, it’s a perfectly acceptable product strategy.

photo by: wilhei55

Infographic: Do You Have a High-Impact Board of Directors?

By Firas Raouf April 10, 2013 No Responses

OpenView recently surveyed an array of expansion-stage CEOs and board members to find out what it takes to create a value-adding board. The results are presented in this board of directors infographic, offering real insight into what makes high-performing boards tick.

Does your board add value to your company or do more harm than good? Does it suffer from bad board dynamics or is it a cohesive, high-performance team? No matter how you answer these questions, chances are that your board isn’t doing everything that it should be and providing your company with the kind of strategic support it needs to succeed.

3 Paths for Founding CEOs: Adapt, Assemble, or Move On

By Firas Raouf March 6, 2013 1 Response

As companies grow from the startup to the expansion stage, founding CEOs are faced with three potential developmental paths.

The roles of startup CEOs and expansion-stage CEOs differ greatly. They require completely different skill sets, and the majority of founders end up recruiting replacements to take over the companies they created.

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Labcast: How to Run Effective Board Meetings

By Firas Raouf February 21, 2013 No Responses

This week’s Labcast features Part II of the discussion between OpenView Venture Partner, Firas Raouf, and Pascal Levensohn, Managing Partner at Levensohn Venture Partners, on the keys to building and managing effective boards of directors.

According to a recent OpenView survey of expansion-stage CEOs and board members, the ability to run effective board meetings is among the greatest factors that will determine the success or failure of a board of directors.

Transcript

photo by: || UggBoy♥UggGirl || PHOTO || WORLD || TRAVEL ||

Labcast: All About Boards of Directors: Building a High-Performance Team

Featuring Pascal Levensohn February 14, 2013 No Responses

In this week’s Labcast, OpenView Venture Partner, Firas Raouf, discusses the keys to building effective boards of directors with Pascal Levensohn, Managing Partner at Levensohn Venture Partners.

Great boards of directors are high-performance teams capable of helping companies by bringing critical corporate guidance, industry knowledge, access to important networks, and much-needed executive experience.

Transcript

photo by: therichardlife

Ask the Experts: What is Great Design?

By Firas Raouf May 18, 2012 2 Responses

In this conclusion of a three-part series, four user experience and product design experts weigh in on what makes great design.

This week, in conjunction with a workshop OpenView hosted on user experience process and product design, we’ve gathered a panel of industry experts who each know a thing or two about designing successful products.

photos by: Robert Swier & SOCIALisBETTER

Ask the Experts: Common UX Challenges Facing Expansion-stage Companies

By Firas Raouf May 17, 2012 No Responses

In this second post of a three-part series (see Part I and Part III), four user experience and product design experts share solutions for UX challenges facing expansion-stage companies.

This week, in conjunction with a workshop OpenView is hosting on user experience process and product design, we’ve gathered a panel of four industry experts who each know a thing or two about designing successful products.

photo by: a r b o

Ask the Experts: Best Practices in Product Design

By Firas Raouf May 16, 2012 No Responses

Four user experience and product design experts share best practices for designing products customers will love.

In conjunction with a workshop OpenView hosted on user experience process and product design, we’ve gathered a panel of four industry experts who each know a thing or two about designing successful products.

photo by: Ing. Jose Herrera

Is Venture Debt a Part of Your Financial Strategy?

By Firas Raouf January 18, 2012 No Responses

For some companies, there are lots of financial considerations out there that make more sense than venture capital.

How Do You Measure Up to the Best CEOs?

By Firas Raouf December 19, 2011 No Responses

While many CEOs have a handful of these important traits, very few possess the entire package.

Helping companies grow

Posts by Firas Raouf