Wearing Two Hats
Wearing Two Hats
Wearing Two Hats
Wearing Two Hats
(and why I wouldn't have it any other way)
(and why I wouldn't have it any other way)
(and why I wouldn't have it any other way)
Most people pause when I tell them I lead both Product and Customer Success at Continu. The usual response is a half-joke: “Do you sleep?”
But the real question is underneath that: Why would you combine those two functions at all?
Here’s my answer. The disconnect between Product and CS is where most customer pain begins—and nobody owns it. I do.
Product works in quarters. CS works in hours. One is thinking about frameworks, scalability, and scale. The other is deep in the weeds, fixing blockers and protecting trust.
When they’re siloed, things slip. Signals get lost. Customers feel it.
When they’re aligned, you don’t just build features. You build outcomes.
At Continu, we didn’t start with a roadmap. We started with real customers and real problems. The product followed the problems. That mindset hasn’t changed.
And neither has this: discovery never ends. Whether I’m on a customer call or reviewing usage data, I’m still asking the same questions:
What’s the actual problem? Are we solving it well? What’s getting in the way?
When Product and CS sit under one roof, those questions get sharper. Feedback loops close faster. Tradeoffs become more intentional. You stop reacting and start anticipating.
“At Continu, we didn’t start with a roadmap. We started with real customers and real problems. The product followed the problems. That mindset hasn’t changed.”
Most people pause when I tell them I lead both Product and Customer Success at Continu. The usual response is a half-joke: “Do you sleep?”
But the real question is underneath that: Why would you combine those two functions at all?
Here’s my answer. The disconnect between Product and CS is where most customer pain begins—and nobody owns it. I do.
Product works in quarters. CS works in hours. One is thinking about frameworks, scalability, and scale. The other is deep in the weeds, fixing blockers and protecting trust.
When they’re siloed, things slip. Signals get lost. Customers feel it.
When they’re aligned, you don’t just build features. You build outcomes.
At Continu, we didn’t start with a roadmap. We started with real customers and real problems. The product followed the problems. That mindset hasn’t changed.
And neither has this: discovery never ends. Whether I’m on a customer call or reviewing usage data, I’m still asking the same questions:
What’s the actual problem? Are we solving it well? What’s getting in the way?
When Product and CS sit under one roof, those questions get sharper. Feedback loops close faster. Tradeoffs become more intentional. You stop reacting and start anticipating.
“At Continu, we didn’t start with a roadmap. We started with real customers and real problems. The product followed the problems. That mindset hasn’t changed.”
Most people pause when I tell them I lead both Product and Customer Success at Continu. The usual response is a half-joke: “Do you sleep?”
But the real question is underneath that: Why would you combine those two functions at all?
Here’s my answer. The disconnect between Product and CS is where most customer pain begins—and nobody owns it. I do.
Product works in quarters. CS works in hours. One is thinking about frameworks, scalability, and scale. The other is deep in the weeds, fixing blockers and protecting trust.
When they’re siloed, things slip. Signals get lost. Customers feel it.
When they’re aligned, you don’t just build features. You build outcomes.
At Continu, we didn’t start with a roadmap. We started with real customers and real problems. The product followed the problems. That mindset hasn’t changed.
And neither has this: discovery never ends. Whether I’m on a customer call or reviewing usage data, I’m still asking the same questions:
What’s the actual problem? Are we solving it well? What’s getting in the way?
When Product and CS sit under one roof, those questions get sharper. Feedback loops close faster. Tradeoffs become more intentional. You stop reacting and start anticipating.
“At Continu, we didn’t start with a roadmap. We started with real customers and real problems. The product followed the problems. That mindset hasn’t changed.”
If you're trying to align Product and CS, here’s what’s worked for me:
Align incentives across teams to reduce friction and prioritize the right work.
When CS is focused on renewals and Product is focused on speed, both teams end up frustrated, and the customer feels it. At Continu, we align both around shared outcomes like activation milestones and customer-defined goals. That gives everyone a reason to row in the same direction.Define value early, then revisit it to stay relevant and reduce churn risk.
Customers evolve. If your definition of success doesn’t, you’ll drift without realizing it. We anchor around their goals in onboarding, then pressure-test those goals again at key lifecycle points. This lets us adjust strategy long before renewal becomes reactive.Treat every customer conversation as a source of product signal.
Some of the best roadmap decisions we’ve made started with an offhand comment in a support thread. At Continu, we treat friction, click paths, confusion, and repeated workarounds as discovery moments. When we solve the pattern, we increase usability across the board.Close the loop to build trust and drive advocacy.
Customers don’t need everything they ask for. But they do need to know they were heard. Even when the answer is "not now," explaining why builds credibility. At Continu, transparency wins not just as a value but as a retention strategy.Say no with clarity to protect long-term outcomes. Mismanaged expectations are harder to clean up than an honest no. We don’t commit to everything. We commit to solving the right problems. Saying no clearly and early lets us deliver what actually matters.
“When Product and CS sit under one roof, those questions get sharper. Feedback loops close faster. Tradeoffs become more intentional. You stop reacting and start anticipating.”
If you're trying to align Product and CS, here’s what’s worked for me:
Align incentives across teams to reduce friction and prioritize the right work.
When CS is focused on renewals and Product is focused on speed, both teams end up frustrated, and the customer feels it. At Continu, we align both around shared outcomes like activation milestones and customer-defined goals. That gives everyone a reason to row in the same direction.Define value early, then revisit it to stay relevant and reduce churn risk.
Customers evolve. If your definition of success doesn’t, you’ll drift without realizing it. We anchor around their goals in onboarding, then pressure-test those goals again at key lifecycle points. This lets us adjust strategy long before renewal becomes reactive.Treat every customer conversation as a source of product signal.
Some of the best roadmap decisions we’ve made started with an offhand comment in a support thread. At Continu, we treat friction, click paths, confusion, and repeated workarounds as discovery moments. When we solve the pattern, we increase usability across the board.Close the loop to build trust and drive advocacy.
Customers don’t need everything they ask for. But they do need to know they were heard. Even when the answer is "not now," explaining why builds credibility. At Continu, transparency wins not just as a value but as a retention strategy.Say no with clarity to protect long-term outcomes. Mismanaged expectations are harder to clean up than an honest no. We don’t commit to everything. We commit to solving the right problems. Saying no clearly and early lets us deliver what actually matters.
“When Product and CS sit under one roof, those questions get sharper. Feedback loops close faster. Tradeoffs become more intentional. You stop reacting and start anticipating.”
If you're trying to align Product and CS, here’s what’s worked for me:
Align incentives across teams to reduce friction and prioritize the right work.
When CS is focused on renewals and Product is focused on speed, both teams end up frustrated, and the customer feels it. At Continu, we align both around shared outcomes like activation milestones and customer-defined goals. That gives everyone a reason to row in the same direction.Define value early, then revisit it to stay relevant and reduce churn risk.
Customers evolve. If your definition of success doesn’t, you’ll drift without realizing it. We anchor around their goals in onboarding, then pressure-test those goals again at key lifecycle points. This lets us adjust strategy long before renewal becomes reactive.Treat every customer conversation as a source of product signal.
Some of the best roadmap decisions we’ve made started with an offhand comment in a support thread. At Continu, we treat friction, click paths, confusion, and repeated workarounds as discovery moments. When we solve the pattern, we increase usability across the board.Close the loop to build trust and drive advocacy.
Customers don’t need everything they ask for. But they do need to know they were heard. Even when the answer is "not now," explaining why builds credibility. At Continu, transparency wins not just as a value but as a retention strategy.Say no with clarity to protect long-term outcomes. Mismanaged expectations are harder to clean up than an honest no. We don’t commit to everything. We commit to solving the right problems. Saying no clearly and early lets us deliver what actually matters.
“When Product and CS sit under one roof, those questions get sharper. Feedback loops close faster. Tradeoffs become more intentional. You stop reacting and start anticipating.”
I don’t see Product and CS as separate hats. They’re two lenses on the same problem: how do we create real value, consistently, and at scale.
When they work together, you don’t just ship. You make better decisions. You earn trust. And you build a company that customers want to stay with.
I don’t see Product and CS as separate hats. They’re two lenses on the same problem: how do we create real value, consistently, and at scale.
When they work together, you don’t just ship. You make better decisions. You earn trust. And you build a company that customers want to stay with.
I don’t see Product and CS as separate hats. They’re two lenses on the same problem: how do we create real value, consistently, and at scale.
When they work together, you don’t just ship. You make better decisions. You earn trust. And you build a company that customers want to stay with.
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© 2025 Planhat AB
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© 2025 Planhat AB
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© 2025 Planhat AB
Customers
© 2025 Planhat AB