Why (and how) PMs are ditching PRDs for AI prototypes
AI prototyping to replace traditional PRDs, how to make product profitable by reframing metrics around customer problems, and helping customers adopt AI without compromising stability.
Happy Friday, readers!
Welcome to the first roundup edition of Product: Behind the Craft.
This week, Omar Mousa, former VP of Product at Ventricle Health and Founder and President of Ethereal Advisory, a product advisory firm for early-stage startups, shares how AI prototypes are replacing the clunky PRD of old.
We’ve also got leader spotlights from product leaders covering everything from how to make a product profitable by reframing metrics around customer problems, to balancing innovation with trust in high-stakes industries like cybersecurity.
Finally, from the PM forums: what does it really mean to be an “AI Product Manager"? And tips on how to build effective leadership update decks to share your team’s progress.
Happy reading,
Imane Rharbi
How we replaced PRDs with AI prototypes (with our prompts)
Omar Mousa, former VP of Product at Ventricle Health, explains how traditional PRDs are becoming obsolete in today's AI-powered product environment, and how AI prototypes are more useful, including AI prompts he uses with his team.
In this post:
Why traditional PRDs are failing PMs
How AI is revolutionizing prototypes by creating testable prototypes in minutes
A recommended prototyping stack for PMs, including chat-based assistants, image generation tools, and interactive mockup tools
How Omar is reimagining the PRD and what he recommends for actionable steps to get started
AI prompts Omar uses to drive AI prototyping at his organization
Automating PRDs and Beyond: AI for Product Teams | Roman Gun, VP (Zeta Global) | LaunchPod AI
Roman Gun, VP of Product at Zeta Global, visits LaunchPod AI to talk about:
The prompting and workflow orchestrations he created to automate writing PRDs, one of the most disliked tasks of product managers, and how he has made them into living, breathing documents that initiate collaboration
The AI communities and platforms he uses, including Reddit and Discord, to stay ahead, learn new tricks, and gain early access to the best new tools
His side-project centered around Magic: The Gathering, and how he built tools to prototype new decks and beat players with far more experience
Leader Spotlight Roundup
Leader Spotlight: Owning the P&L as a product leader, with Mayank Kumar
Mayank Kumar was most recently Head of Product at Policygenius (acquired by Zinnia), where he led teams focused on insurance marketplace strategy, distribution, and AI-driven customer support...
Mayank Kumar joins to cover how:
He helped lead Policygenius to profitability for the first time in 10 years by reframing core metrics and grounding business goals in customer problems
He uses clear goals and transparent metrics to align teams, and applies financial context to prioritize work
He runs customer advisory boards that surface real problems behind feature requests, and uses roadmaps and $100 prioritization exercises to focus on high-value work
Read more Leader Spotlights:
🔥Hot🔥 discussions in PM this week
7 things I’ve noticed after helping build over 60 startup MVPs
This post shares hard-earned lessons from building startup MVPs, including promoting early and focusing on fewer (but stronger) features per release.Hype around "AI Product Manager". What does this role actually mean?
A debate on whether “AI PM” is a distinct role, a traditional PM using AI tools, or just a rebrand riding the AI wave.Steal my product updates to my leadership, I've been told they are great! (example deck included.)
A product manager's guide to efficient slide decks for board and leadership updates, including an example deck to use in your reporting.Best PRD Al Tool: Projects, ChatPRD, Reforge, etc.
A roundup of AI tools for creating PRDs, from Perplexity Spaces to ChatGPT and Claude Projects.
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