Playbook 7: How to build lean products

Ever wonder how some products go from a vague idea to a fully-fledged, must-have tool in record time? In this episode, Liz Pouya takes us through her no-nonsense approach to building from scratch, leaning on customer feedback, and avoiding the trap of premature optimizations. Whether you’re just sketching out ideas or launching your MVP, Liz’s insights will show you how to focus on what actually moves the needle—without sweating the small stuff. Spoiler: you don’t need to reinvent the wheel (just make it cooler).

Meet Liz Pouya, Lead Product Manager at Chili Piper. With over 5 years of experience at Chili Piper, Liz has taken products from zero to hero, and her approach is all about listening to customers, building what matters, and skipping unnecessary bells and whistles. Liz knows how to balance ambition with reality—no fluff, just killer products.

Launching a new product can feel like you’re staring at a buffet—everything looks tempting. But Liz’s approach is clear: “Scope out what’s going to make the most impact immediately. Just get an MVP out ASAP, validate it, and keep building from there.”

This isn’t the time to get lost in features no one will use. Cut through the noise and go for the game-changers. Release early, gather feedback, and don’t sweat the small stuff (yet).

Yes, there are chat tools out there. But that didn’t stop Chili Piper from building its own, based on the pain points their customers actually had. Liz stresses the importance of listening to your audience and asking, “Where can we add value?”

Market research is your best friend, but just because something exists doesn’t mean you can’t make it better. Think about what your customers need and what the market is missing—then innovate from there.

Liz’s secret weapon? Customers. She’s constantly checking in with them, getting real-time feedback, and even throwing out ideas on calls. Every suggestion or reaction helps shape the product. You don’t need a huge focus group—just a handful of excited users willing to be your sounding board.

Not every request is urgent (even if your customers think it is). Liz’s team prioritizes by focusing on their core audience—B2B sales and marketing teams. Anything outside of that? It gets shelved for later. The result? They build features that make a real difference to their main users, rather than chasing every shiny new request.

We’ve all been there—tinkering with features that don’t really matter while ignoring the bigger picture. Liz says it’s easy to fall into the trap of premature optimizations when you’re trying to build quickly. Her rule? If it works and it’s not core to the daily user experience, it can wait. Perfecting minor details is a luxury—get the MVP out first.

When launching a new product, Liz doesn’t believe in starting small. Instead, she focuses on landing big customers right out of the gate, even if it’s more challenging. This “bullseye strategy” means partnering with major players like Facebook from the start, using their feedback to push the product to be better and build fast.

This playbook is packed with Liz’s no-nonsense approach to product management, proving that you can build great things without getting bogged down by perfectionism or distractions. It’s all about staying laser-focused on what truly matters, validating with real users, and keeping the momentum going.