Top 3 product management tips for startups in uncertain times

Running a startup is like being on a rollercoaster. One minute, you’re up; the next, you’re diving into the unknown.

In uncertain times, the ride only gets wilder. The world has seen recessions, supply chain crashes and a global pandemic. How in these times do you make sure your product doesn’t fly off the rails? The secret is smart product management.

This doesn’t mean doing more or being perfect. It’s a way to move fast, learn quick, and adapt to what’s happening around you. We sat down with seasoned product management expert, Claire Sawyers, for three product management strategies to help your startup stay grounded: user feedback loops, product tests, and sprints.

Whether you’re building a new app or launching a service, these will help you manage the chaos and keep moving forward.

1. Use feedback loops: Stay connected with your customers

Imagine you’re blindfolded in a room, trying to find the exit. Every time you bump into a wall, you get a bit closer to figuring out the layout of the room.

That’s what running a startup feels like—except instead of walls, you have users. And instead of guessing, you can just ask them where the exit is.

Funny thing is: many founders are reluctant to speak to their users. They think they can figure it out themselves. Why make it so difficult for yourself?

Your customers are the key to figuring out if you’re on the right path. Their feedback is your flashlight. It shows you what works, what’s broken, and what needs fixing.

But here’s the trick: you have to be ready to listen to the hard stuff. It’s easy to hear, “I love this product!” and feel good, but the most valuable feedback is the kind that stings. If your customers say, “This feature is useless,” it might hurt, but they’re giving you a gift—the truth.

Good founders know how important it is to stay connected to your users. In the early days, you likely had a direct line to them. As your startup grows, it gets harder to maintain that daily contact.

Without their advice, you risk developing a product that’s no longer useful for them.

The good news is that keeping a continuous feedback loop is easier than you think.

Claire emphasises to make it a habit to ask for feedback. Don’t just wait until the end of the year or after you’ve launched a major update.

Pro tip: Integrate feedback loops into every part of your product’s life cycle. Use tools like in-app surveys, or ask for feedback after a customer makes a purchase or uses a feature. You can even send automated emails asking, “How did we do?”

Don’t leave the feedback gathering to your support team alone. Get everyone involved. Create a Slack channel that collects real-time feedback and make sure your developers are paying attention. When the whole team listens to what customers say, they can come up with creative, often non-code, solutions faster.

2. Product tests: Do it early, fail faster

Founders often fall in love with their own ideas.

They keep adding features, making things more complicated, thinking it’ll make the product better. But in reality, more isn’t always better. The more you overbuild, the more you risk spending time and money on things your users don’t even care about.

Testing saves you from this trap. Before you invest too much in building the full product, test the simplest version. Claire explains product testing with a simple analogy:

“Think of building your product like building a car. Instead of aiming to perfect every detail of the final product, start by asking yourself, “What’s the simplest thing that gets the job done?”

If your users love the skateboard, maybe they’ll want the bike. But if they hate the skateboard, you just saved yourself the pain of building an entire car they don’t need.

The idea is to test these smaller, leaner versions—Minimum Viable Products (MVPs)—to see if you’re even heading in the right direction. Let’s look at an example: Neighborhood X, a startup that wanted to build a tool to analyse neighbourhood data.

Instead of diving straight into development, they tested the idea by manually collecting data and presenting it as a report to a property developer. The feedback was positive, which validated their idea without a huge investment.

With today’s no-code tools, testing has never been easier. You can create mockups, landing pages, or even run tests in spreadsheets. The goal is to get something in front of users as quickly as possible, then gather feedback. If they love it, you’re onto something. If they don’t, tweak it or move on.

Pro tip: Testing isn’t just about finding out what users like—it’s about discovering what they’ll actually pay for. Don’t be fooled by the “cheerleading effect,” where users say they like something just to be nice. Give them a stripped-down version of your product and see if they’re willing to put their money where their mouth is.

3. Sprints: Focus your action

You know that feeling when you have a million things to do, but you’re stuck in place? That’s the trap of the never-ending to-do list.

The truth is, time isn’t the problem—it’s focus. If you can zero in on the right tasks, you’ll move faster and accomplish more than you ever thought possible.

That’s where sprints come in. A sprint is a short, focused period—usually two weeks—where your team works on specific tasks. At the end of the sprint, you review what you did, what went wrong, and what you need to do next. It’s all about breaking big projects into bite-sized pieces and keeping everyone focused.

Claire stresses that poorly defined tasks and lack of deadlines are often the culprits behind long delays in product development.

When you’re running a startup, the temptation to do everything at once is real. But sprints force you to prioritise. You can’t squeeze an infinite number of tasks into a two-week sprint. If there’s more work than time, you have to make tough choices.

That’s the beauty of sprints: they create constraints. And constraints breed creativity. When you don’t have endless time, you’re forced to figure out what really matters. That’s when the best ideas come out.

As Claire puts it, "if there are more tasks in the to-do column than hours in the sprint, something has to give."

She recalls one startup that implemented sprints. At first, their backlog of tasks seemed endless. But once they started breaking it down into sprints, that backlog shrank from hundreds of tasks to just a handful.

Every week, they could see real progress. And when you see progress, it fuels motivation.

Sprints also help with communication. When your team knows exactly what needs to be done and by when, there’s less confusion. Everyone can see the finish line, and you’ll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish.

Pro tip: Keep your sprint goals clear and simple. If you’re trying to cram too many tasks into a sprint, you’ll end up overwhelmed and underproductive. The magic of sprints lies in their simplicity.

The way forward

There’s no magic formula for success. But there is a mindset that can help: embrace uncertainty.

Uncertainty is the one thing you can count on in a startup. You’ll never have perfect information or perfect timing. But that’s okay. The real power of a startup is its ability to move fast and adapt quickly.

If you wait for everything to be perfect, you’ll fall behind. The faster you ship, the faster you learn.

Use feedback loops to stay close to your customers. Test early and fail fast to avoid wasting resources. And use sprints to stay focused and get things done.

So, start small, test often, and keep listening. Your customers are telling you what they need—your job is to hear, adapt, and deliver.