Thoughts on leadership, startups, strategy, and getting things done.https://www.gsdun.com/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-value-of-variety/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-value-of-variety/Reflecting on how variety of experience helped shape my most recent career chapter.Mon, 06 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/im-back/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/im-back/A return after a long gap.Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/communicating-better-my-favourite-tips/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/communicating-better-my-favourite-tips/The listener pays, that should've been an email, get to the point, signpost and propose a strawman.Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/engineering-and-product-should-be-unified-not-separate/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/engineering-and-product-should-be-unified-not-separate/Splitting Engineering and Product into separate organisations creates friction, blame, and slow loops. Keep them together.Fri, 03 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/a-product-design-reading-list/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/a-product-design-reading-list/Four books that will sharpen your thinking on design — whether you're a designer or not.Sat, 27 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-cultural-web-is-the-menu-for-your-strategy-breakfast/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-cultural-web-is-the-menu-for-your-strategy-breakfast/Culture's important but what drives it? And can you really change it?Tue, 21 Jan 2020 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/brutal-prioritisation-how-small-product-teams-can-get-a-lot-done/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/brutal-prioritisation-how-small-product-teams-can-get-a-lot-done/Small teams get a lot done by saying no to good ideas. Pick the best and park the rest.Sat, 27 Jul 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/setting-up-a-team-of-teams/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/setting-up-a-team-of-teams/How to transition from a single team to a team of teams without losing speed, clarity, or accountability.Sun, 19 May 2019 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-key-to-your-product-development-capability-is-eliminating-friction-from-your-development-loops/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-key-to-your-product-development-capability-is-eliminating-friction-from-your-development-loops/Get more shots at success by keeping things frictionlessSun, 11 Nov 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-ultimate-crash-course-in-product-management/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-ultimate-crash-course-in-product-management/The best way to learn product management is to build and grow something real. Here's how to approach it.Tue, 14 Aug 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/what-does-a-product-manager-do/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/what-does-a-product-manager-do/Product management is fundamentally about prioritisation across multiple disciplines. You don't need to excel at all of them.Fri, 23 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/your-brand-marketing-needs-your-best-analytical-talent/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/your-brand-marketing-needs-your-best-analytical-talent/Brand marketing has big budgets, sparse data, and complex decisions. It deserves your best analytical people — not your worst.Tue, 17 Oct 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/how-to-settle-fights-for-development-time/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/how-to-settle-fights-for-development-time/Stop negotiating development time sprint by sprint. Allocate by quarter, let teams decide how to use it, and eliminate the arm wrestling.Tue, 06 Jun 2017 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/to-beat-the-odds-in-ramen-think-like-an-engineer/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/to-beat-the-odds-in-ramen-think-like-an-engineer/How a ramen restaurant in Singapore succeeds where most fail — by thinking like an engineer.Sun, 13 Nov 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/leaving-the-european-union-would-be-a-divorce-without-reason/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/leaving-the-european-union-would-be-a-divorce-without-reason/Written before the Brexit vote: why leaving the EU would be a mistake for the UK.Tue, 10 May 2016 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/hiring-your-first-techie/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/hiring-your-first-techie/Hiring your first technical person is one of the most consequential early decisions you'll make. Here's what to look for and what to avoid.Sun, 06 Dec 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-80-rule-summary-have-authority-and-responsibility-sit-together/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/the-80-rule-summary-have-authority-and-responsibility-sit-together/The 80% Rule in summary: authority and responsibility must sit together. Separating them is the root cause of most organisational dysfunction.Wed, 23 Sep 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/functional-organization-can-sometimes-be-good-for-you/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/functional-organization-can-sometimes-be-good-for-you/A counterpoint: sometimes functional organisation is the right call. Here's when centralising actually makes sense.Wed, 05 Aug 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/new-direction-for-gs-dun/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/new-direction-for-gs-dun/A brief note on GS Dun taking stock and heading in a new direction.Sun, 26 Jul 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/why-my-backpack-is-like-air-force-one-international-is-a-necessity/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/why-my-backpack-is-like-air-force-one-international-is-a-necessity/Why European companies need to expand internationally to compete at global scale — and how GS Dun approaches it.Sun, 17 May 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/international-expansion-get-on-the-ground-and-make-a-fool-of-yourself/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/international-expansion-get-on-the-ground-and-make-a-fool-of-yourself/The only way to understand a new market is to go there. Learn the language, hire great locals, and expect to get things wrong.Mon, 11 May 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/litmus-tests-are-your-teams-set-up-well-or-badly/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/litmus-tests-are-your-teams-set-up-well-or-badly/Three quick tests to tell if your teams are organised well or badly — before the problems become obvious.Thu, 05 Mar 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/organizing-by-function-creates-overhead-you-dont-need/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/organizing-by-function-creates-overhead-you-dont-need/Functional org structures look clean on paper. In practice they create bottlenecks, unclear ownership, and a lot of wasted meetings.Sat, 07 Feb 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/setting-up-teams-to-get-sh-done-the-80-rule/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/setting-up-teams-to-get-sh-done-the-80-rule/Introducing the 80% Rule: each team should be able to deliver 80% of its mission without depending on anyone else.Sun, 18 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/picking-a-name-for-your-business/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/picking-a-name-for-your-business/A practical guide to choosing a business name — what matters, what doesn't, and a checklist to avoid the obvious mistakes.Sun, 04 Jan 2015 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/my-favourite-hiring-tips/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/my-favourite-hiring-tips/Hiring for a new venture is different. Small teams need people who've done it before, can explain it clearly, and wear multiple hats without complaint.Sun, 21 Dec 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/six-easy-pieces-the-essentials-of-setting-up-a-new-venture/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/six-easy-pieces-the-essentials-of-setting-up-a-new-venture/Six principles for setting up a new venture properly: founders, autonomy, people, relationships, space, and governance.Sun, 21 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/org-for-new-ventures-matters-a-lot/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/org-for-new-ventures-matters-a-lot/Organisation is the most under-rated factor in new venture success. Get it wrong early and you're building on sand.Sun, 07 Sep 2014 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.gsdun.com/blog/this-blog-is-about-new-ventures/https://www.gsdun.com/blog/this-blog-is-about-new-ventures/What this blog is about, and why 'new ventures' is a more interesting problem than startups or scale-ups alone.Mon, 25 Aug 2014 00:00:00 GMT