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Francesca Cortesi
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Francesca Cortesi
All posts
Product in Practice
Talks & Interviews
Books Reviews
Product Leadership
Book
Podcast
Talks
Work with me
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All posts
Product in Practice
Talks & Interviews
Books Reviews
Product Leadership
Book
Podcast
Talks
Work with me
To drive real change, I needed a different seat at the table
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 2/26/26 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 2/26/26

To drive real change, I needed a different seat at the table

My journey to become a certified board member.

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Follow the incentives, and find where your organizational friction really comes from
Product Leadership, Latest Francesca Cortesi 1/29/26 Product Leadership, Latest Francesca Cortesi 1/29/26

Follow the incentives, and find where your organizational friction really comes from

Frustrated by friction bubbling? The answer is probably sitting in how people are actually rewarded.  

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Why even smart people need to be told what to do (sometimes)
Product Leadership, Latest Francesca Cortesi 1/20/26 Product Leadership, Latest Francesca Cortesi 1/20/26

Why even smart people need to be told what to do (sometimes)

…and why "never micromanage" is creating leaders who are failing their teams

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On labels and self beliefs
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 12/8/25 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 12/8/25

On labels and self beliefs

Are all the roles you play still serving you?

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AI is eating the world, but where is the value created?
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 11/26/25 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 11/26/25

AI is eating the world, but where is the value created?

My main takeaways from Benedicts Evans bi-yearly strategic analysis.

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How to think about strategy in the AI era
Product Leadership, strategy Francesca Cortesi 6/2/25 Product Leadership, strategy Francesca Cortesi 6/2/25

How to think about strategy in the AI era

With AI companies eating everyone’s lunch, how should you approach your strategy?

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What If Your Weaknesses Don’t Matter? How to Focus on What Counts
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 2/20/25 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 2/20/25

What If Your Weaknesses Don’t Matter? How to Focus on What Counts

Should I double down on my strengths or improve my weaknesses?

This is one of the development questions I get the most, and one that I used to torment myself with as well.

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Mindfulness for product people: gain perspective, make better decisions
Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 6/20/24 Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 6/20/24

Mindfulness for product people: gain perspective, make better decisions

Observing and then acting intentionally, instead of reacting, is the key to good decision-making. How do you get there? Through mindfulness.

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Setting a product organization up for success - Scandinavian Product Newsletter
Latest, Product Leadership, Talks & Interviews Francesca Cortesi 3/15/24 Latest, Product Leadership, Talks & Interviews Francesca Cortesi 3/15/24

Setting a product organization up for success - Scandinavian Product Newsletter

Excited to have joined Afonso Malo Franco in his "Product In Practice" series where he highlights the best product leaders in Scandinavia.

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Lessons learned by building a successful product organization - A conversation with Egon Zehnder
Latest, Product Leadership, Talks & Interviews Francesca Cortesi 10/30/23 Latest, Product Leadership, Talks & Interviews Francesca Cortesi 10/30/23

Lessons learned by building a successful product organization - A conversation with Egon Zehnder

In a conversation with Sara Najafi from Egon Zehnder, I went through three key factors to building thriving product organizations.

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Four Years as CPO: my 4 Key Lessons
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 9/25/23 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 9/25/23

Four Years as CPO: my 4 Key Lessons

4 years as a CPO taught me some lessons on trust, teamwork, communication, and setting boundaries. Dive into my insights.

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The dark side of fast delivery
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 4/3/23 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 4/3/23

The dark side of fast delivery

Don’t let speed blindside you, some procrastination will make your final product better.

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Concrete tips to start your product-lead transformation
Latest, Product Leadership, Product In Practice Francesca Cortesi 1/31/23 Latest, Product Leadership, Product In Practice Francesca Cortesi 1/31/23

Concrete tips to start your product-lead transformation

The key enablers for our product-led journey, and some hands-on examples of how you can start yours.

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Driving product change - how to choose evolution or revolution?
Latest, Product In Practice, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 11/9/22 Latest, Product In Practice, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 11/9/22

Driving product change - how to choose evolution or revolution?

How do you drive change in product organization? Do you tend to approach it as an evolution or a revolution? These are my pros and cons, I would love to hear yours.

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How to decide on what to decide
Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 9/6/22 Latest, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 9/6/22

How to decide on what to decide

The hard truth is that you can’t constantly be choosing. So how do you choose what to choose?

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On workplace expectations in a  polarized world
Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 3/29/22 Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 3/29/22

On workplace expectations in a polarized world

What do you do when polarized views affect the expectations of the workplace and ways of working?

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My main takeaways from Empowered
Latest, Books reviews, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 5/5/21 Latest, Books reviews, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 5/5/21

My main takeaways from Empowered

In Empowered Marty Cagan and Chris Jones describe the characteristics of product leaders of the most successful organizations in the world. Their description of product leadership is both fantastic and daunting to me. Here are my takeaways

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Product strategy: Unlearning how to communicate in a remote setting
Product In Practice, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 3/23/21 Product In Practice, Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 3/23/21

Product strategy: Unlearning how to communicate in a remote setting

I believe that when working on a product strategy one key element for its success is communication. But how do you do it when a global pandemic has changed the rules of the game? I summarized my unlearning approach in this post.

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My journey to becoming a woman in tech
Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 3/8/21 Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 3/8/21

My journey to becoming a woman in tech

Today is international women’s day, the perfect occasion to reflect on what it means and what it takes to be a woman in tech. These are my story and my learnings. If I did it, you can too!

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The best tips from legendary sport coaches applied to product
Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 2/9/21 Product Leadership Francesca Cortesi 2/9/21

The best tips from legendary sport coaches applied to product

What can product people learn from the most legendary sports coach out there? Watching The playbook, a new Netflix tv series, made me reflect on the rules to lead a successful team.

Bonus content: some extra series tip at the end, we all need some good entertainment time :)

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