Getting Product(ive)
A few months ago I left SimpleGeo, a company I co-founded, to take some time off, relax, as well as explore my own new ideas in addition to advising a number of startups. In this time I’ve discovered many ways that startups can get help in various areas to better their companies. There’s design consultants, brand consultants, development outsourcing, management consultants, etc, etc. One thing that I realized is that there’s really not a lot of people helping out with the single most important thing - the product.
It’s been fun recently to advise some startups in a number of areas but the thing I always get most excited about is talking product. I consider “talking product” to be a fairly broad phrase, but that’s on purpose. “Product” itself is an all-encompasing term. To me it means conceptualizing, designing, branding, implementing, iterating, launching and maintaining an idea; seeing it through to something real.
Where I thought I’d originally jump right into planning another startup, I’ve decided to spend the next few months consulting with companies on their products. For me, it will be an opportunity to meet some awesome people and expose myself to intriguing new ideas. But for those that I’m consulting with, I’m there to listen, distill ideas, create and build some kick-ass products.
Now, I’m not looking to take on any and every project. I know what I’m best at, where I’m not great, as well as ideas that I might and might not get excited about. I’m simply doing this because I want to hopefully make an impact and help create awesome products. The areas that I’m most interested in these days are mobile, social, local, health, and education. In the past I’ve been deeply involved in product design & strategy, user interaction & experience, branding, and launching.
With all this in mind, I’m opening myself up to doing product consulting with projects that I may provide a real value to. So if you’re interested in chatting feel free to send me an email to matt.galligan [at] gmail [dot] com.
If you’d like, you can also check out my LinkedIn or tweet me.
