Chris Kincanon on Process, Standards & AI in Product Development (Part 2)
Episode Summary
In this episode of Grown Up Product, host Brian continues his conversation with Chris Kincanon, fractional CTO and co-founder of Ready Steady. Part two dives deeper into the practical realities of AI in product development, the dangers of firefighting culture, and how leaders can translate technical problems into language that resonates with executives.
Key Topics Discussed:
The "World's Best Prompt" Fallacy
- Why "act as the world's best [role]" prompts don't deliver expert-level output
- AI-generated UI/UX yields decent starting points, but not differentiation
- The 90% problem: AI handles the easy part, but the last 10% is where products succeed or fail
- Mark Cuban's "trillion dollar solo founder" prediction and why it doesn't match reality
Knowing What Good Looks Like
- If your product is simple enough to build entirely with AI, expect immediate competition
- AI moves toward average: fine for some apps, but average won't command premium pricing
- Users need easy, usable, flexible products; AI struggles to deliver the nuance that earns loyalty
- The litmus test: "Is this what you really want to launch with?"
The 1% Better Framework
- Why perfectionism kills momentum: aim to beat current state, not achieve 100%
- Incremental investment: be 1% better, then raise the bar over time
- Agile "the good parts": continuous improvement without analysis paralysis
- Founders often have a perfect image but no roadmap to get there
The KPI Trap
- Why round-number targets (90%, 95%) are often arbitrary and misleading
- The real work: finding the actual breakeven point (92.76%, not "about 90%")
- AI creates false confidence in determinism: people assume 100% accuracy is achievable
- The chatbot accuracy test: "If someone was wrong 1 out of 8 times, would you keep them?"
B2B Feedback and the Product Mindset
- Business partners come with solutions; product leaders dig for problems
- The danger of knee-jerk feature requests that create duct-tape architectures
- Reversing conversations: asking questions, driving downward to specifics
- Sometimes the answer is a new product, not an augmented feature
Firefighting as a False Positive
- Firefighting looks productive and responsive but erodes roadmaps
- Two red flags: bypass (moving around process) and constant firefighting
- Everything becomes a priority when it's a fire...which means nothing is
- The electrical socket metaphor: putting out fires without fixing the wiring
Translating Problems for Leadership
- Match your message to what leadership already cares about: cost, quality, or speed
- Quantify impact: "This is consuming one full-time resource, are we okay with that?"
- Come with multiple solutions, not just the one you pre-filtered
- Sometimes the answer is dedicating someone to fires; sometimes it's fixing the process
Standards as a Secret Unlock
- Clear goals and roadmaps let teams make decisions without escalating everything
- Codifying priorities stops the constant "what do we think about this?" loop
- Standards aren't rigidity, they're permission to move without approval
- The goal: row together, pull the same direction
Talent Retention and Reactionary Culture
- Firefighting elevates reactionary people and frustrates builders
- You lose the people who want to fix foundational problems
- Paint the picture: "Every decision will have to go up to you" is unsustainable
- Hyperreactionary companies can't compete
About the Guest:
Chris Kincanon is a fractional CTO and co-founder of Ready Steady, bringing experience from Accenture, various startups, and major corporations like Kohl's and Unity. He specializes in helping early-stage companies build the right processes and standards for sustainable growth.
About Grown Up Product:
The podcast for founders, CEOs, and operators curious about building successful product organizations in a post-product market fit environment.
