Emma Townley-Smith

If you’re a product/engineering person, your focus is generally to build something people want. Presumably, if you do, you’ll be able to get customers. It’s easy to forget that’s necessary but not sufficient. Ways you can be stymied even after building something people want👇

@thauburger @nadavwiz @burkenstocks @sbadalich ack, the egad kind. Means a lot coming from you!

@nadavwiz Growth: @burkenstocks Trust/Safety/Privacy: @sbadalich Early, early: @emmat_s

Who are the best female product leaders you've ever worked with?

@kushaanshah Filling out every survey because you know how much they wanna hear your feedback 🥲

Weirdly enough, even if I’m not interested in a product, I still get excited when I get emails trying to nudge my interest. Just knowing a lifecycle/retention team somewhere is on their game 🥲

@ellenchisa I get “you’re pounding your fist on the standing desk” too 😂

Tom often texts me to tell me that I am shouting during a meeting (always enthusiasm, not anger). Today I unlocked a new achievement... I woke him up. This is particularly impressive because our bedroom is down a hallway, up some stairs, and down another hallway 😳

The US Labor Market is absolutely crazy. 4M+ people are quitting their job every month. We have 11M openings vs 6.5M unemployed! How can companies keep their roles filled? Surprisingly, the answer isn't recruiting...

@ScottHickle I have one of these too! We call it “Dadvice” :)

My dad is my best friend. We talk every day, often multiple times. Occasionally he says things that are so insightful I write them down. I've got a note on my phone called "Lessons from Dad". These are those lessons, in full color.

Mine in this week’s New Yorker

Wishing you all a happy 2022.

21 thoughts from 2021 I'd like to take into 2022:

@kushaanshah @DianaVilic @kleto @annetgriffin @HeyitsAllyssa Always happy to help! 👋🏻

@DianaVilic @kleto @annetgriffin @HeyitsAllyssa may be able to help! Also @emmat_s has a ton of resources here: medium.com/pathtoproduct

@kushaanshah @vincelawco One of my fav evergreen pieces!

To back up, one of my favorite definitions of strategy comes from @vincelawco - strategy bridges the gap between what you aspire to be and what you are doing. Most companies have a larger mission and then a subsequent roadmap. Strategy connects the two. hackernoon.com/wtf-is-a-strat…

I've seen over the past few months people posting about the "best strategy" for marketing with one-word hooks - consistency, empathy, kindness etc. Not wrong - but these can be confusing for people newer to marketing to know how to start thinking about strategy.

Perhaps one of my favorite @juliahoffman tweets of all time 😂

So excited that our open role is on @lennysan’s list! Come find us, mission-driven always-learning product people: pallet.xyz/job/6069f30d-2…

How can we add value when designing for people managing chronic conditions? 1. Provide structure 2. Allow for personalization 3. Integrate clinical guidance - Insights from @emmat_s & @BrightNeutral from @TeladocHealth #HXD2021

I often get asked, "Are you having fun building @reforge?" Honestly, no. It's not "fun." Vaca with my college buddies is fun. This use to make me feel something was wrong. I then realized I do it because it is challenging + fulfilling which is what fills my bucket.

Never seen a curation of Dilbert I liked more medium.com/swlh/10-dilber…

@kushaanshah @heyimemmareed @emmashader I knew there were other millennial Emmas out there... way before it became a #1 baby name

@heyimemmareed @emmashader But while I'm looking, you all should connect with @emmat_s who is cool and also an Emma 😂 #EmmaArmy

one thing I miss the most is camping, I just want to be sitting around a fire with friends on a chilly night rn 😔

Staying true to my resolution to write every month with 3 hours to spare! No shortage of #prodmgmt learning this year... medium.com/pathtoproduct/…

It's been two week since I left Google and I keep getting asked “why did I leave now”? I think the better question is “why did I stay for so long”? When Waze was acquired by Google, most of the people who know me did not believe I would las... 280/16,532 paygo.media/p/25171

@sukheshmiryala I have a secret with finding mentors. I treat everyone as my mentor. That way, I don't need permission. No matter who I meet or work with, I ask myself what I can learn from this person. I can usually find at least one thing (and often more than one thing). It is beautiful.