DNA Insights blog

When the LINK 300 was introduced, I was working as a young Account Manager relatively new to sales. At the time, I did not think of it as a textbook example of product strategy. I experienced it almost as a disruption. We suddenly had less to offer than before, and it felt as if…

I often say that I grew up professionally at TomTom. I joined the company at age 24 in an internal sales role just before the IPO, and in those early years I saw from close range how much energy people across the organisation put into bringing the consumer product to life. There were strong…

I have always worked in international settings, surrounded by colleagues from different backgrounds and cultures. One of the more memorable team building exercises I organised involved a personality assessment, guided by an external coach. When we shared our results, it turned out that almost everyone had the same profile. It was quite eye opening.…

I have always experienced mentoring as a two‑way street. Whether the mentee reported directly to me, indirectly, or came from another company, the dynamic was the same. Each time there was something to learn and something to teach. A recurring theme was the frustration that comes with stakeholder politics. I often heard variations such…

When I was promoted to a product leadership position, someone told me that this was because “I did not have a strong opinion”. At the time I was puzzled by the comment, and when I shared it at home with my wife and with my brothers it led to quite some hilarity. I am,…

Once, due to circumstance, I had the opportunity to coach eight new joiners to the product team at the same time. They were spread across different locations, came from varied backgrounds and brought different levels of experience. Some were new to the role, others new to the company. Rather than train them individually, I…

I have spent a lot of time trying to find the right product management candidates. As the company grew, the team expanded with it, and each new role brought a fresh wave of applications. On paper, many looked like a great fit. But in conversation, I often discovered they were used to doing product…

I tried to launch a specific product concept not once, not twice, but three times. It was a diversification of our core product, aimed at an adjacent customer segment. The first time, we assumed that customers in this new segment faced similar challenges or at least had comparable needs. Fortunately, we discovered early on…

When I was new to the role, or when I stepped up to lead a larger, more complex product, the responsibility could feel overwhelming at times. I remember running in circles with questions like: Where do I start? How am I going to pull this off? Will we be able to deliver on time?…

In my first job, working in internal sales, I learned a valuable lesson about automation. Part of my training involved activating SIM cards and flashing a secret PIN code onto each one of the SIM cards to prevent misuse. It was a simple, repetitive task, and my initial reaction was that this probably was…