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Olga Shavrina
I help impact-driven startups gain clarity on the “why, what, and how,” and build products that create real change as fast as possible.

What you’ll find here:
  • Insights and frameworks from 15 years in SaaS (B2B, B2C) and marketplace startups
  • Practical stories covering product strategy, prioritizing roadmaps, UX, teamwork, and execution
  • Inspiration for doing work that aligns with values, with nature at the core 🌍

Why this matters:
I’ve seen great ideas lose momentum when the story isn’t clear or execution is weak. My goal is to shorten your path to what works – and to impact.
Product Leader & Startup Builder
How I help startups
Contact me
My personal impactful projects
Explore the projects that fuel my passion and contribute to positive change in our world.

  • My first book "What's the Shark's Job?" is LIVE
    Learn more
  • "Planet-Friendly Choices" - a platform inspiring sustainable daily choices
    Learn more
  • Reviews on books for product managers and a wider audience
    Learn more

Latest essays on product management

Product management
A/B testing
UX/UI, product design
Book recommendations
August 31, 2024
Say No more: How mastering "No" empowers Product Managers
One of the most difficult parts of a Product Manager's job is saying "No" to various requests from stakeholders, users, customer support, the CEO, etc. There's no way around it...
March 17, 2024
Product Manager's start guide: 10 Key Questions to ask to make an impact fast
After 15 years since co-founding my first startup, working with multiple teams and wearing many hats, I've developed a 10-question framework for PMs to start making an impact fast.
February 7, 2024
Unlocking your superpower: a guide for Product Managers
Do you have a superpower? 100% yes! Wait, don't think that I'm crazy, hear me out. I'm not talking about supernatural powers like shooting lasers from your eyes or the ability to fly. I'm talking about your unique strength...
Updated on: October 3, 2025
Diversity is key: what product teams can learn from microbes
The deeper I delve into understanding how ecosystems function and thrive, from microbes to human communities, the more I realize the profound impact of diversity.
January 28, 2023
Does the product team need consensus?
The word "consensus" sounds like a positive thing, doesn't it? However, chasing consensus can hurt a product team in many ways.
December 29, 2022
The power of a point of view for a Product Manager
Under any product decision, there is a point of view. It's either yours or someone else's.
October 11, 2022
How do I deal with my fear of authority?
I recently discovered that I have a fear of authority. Frankly, this revelation frustrated me a lot. I - a person, who lives by the mantra “do things my way”, “rebel”, and “be different”...
September 18, 2022
Not every feature is A/B test worthy
A/B testing is a great tool and I myself am a strong A/B test believer. But as with any tool, it is not a one-size-fits-all instrument, hence it has to be used carefully and not to be relied on in 100% of cases.
June 5, 2022
Growth Product Management course takeaways
In February-March 2022, I completed a 6-week Growth Product Management course at Epic Growth. I can not say that all my expectations were exactly met, but I got what I did not expect to receive.
November 23, 2021
The dark side of story points
I recently hung out with developers from my previous job and the conversation turned to how we evaluate tasks. I was surprised to hear how much they focus on it.
Before joining Job Today, I was a product manager at nautal.com, a boat rental marketplace, for about 3 years. The essays below refer to that period of my life.
October 4, 2020
True Agile or what we have learned struggling with COVID
This story tells how the boat rental marketplace struggled with COVID. Product team learned how to be agile, implemented anti-covid measures earlier than competitors and survived.
January 23, 2020
A/B testing the whole funnel: visit, lead, payment with analytics in Tableau
We have started to save "A" and "B" values to the database, integrated the analytics system Tableau, learned how to track all the funnel...
December 9, 2019
Task prioritisation: how I balance between bugs and features
What is the most important thing in the product manager's job?
September 29, 2019
How and why I document processes
When I came to Nautal, everything seemed pretty simple. Airbnb-type marketplace but for boats. What can be complicated?
February 10, 2019
A/B testing in Google Optimize. Demigod level.
In the last couple of months I have been learning a lot about marketplace A/B testing in Google Optimize.
October 3, 2018
How I became an A/B-testing addict
Every product manager says "You must A/B test!". But do you know somebody who really does it constantly?
Before Nautal I worked in convead.com – marketing automation platform. It was extremely fun – lots of data visualization, emails delivery issues, visual interfaces, API integrations and marketing reports.
May 27, 2018
Case study: how a fail, a survey and prototyping helped us to make a great report
This story will tell you how we've broken a Convead weekly report, learned many interesting things, made a user research and...
January 18, 2018
UX case study. How to clean up technical pages once and for all
August 2, 2017
Customer development issues or early adopters side effect
July 7, 2017
UX case study. Five lives of one single list
In addition to my main job I have a startup speekify.com with two friends. It's an online service for practicing spoken languages. We have a desktop and mobile web-version and an iOS app.
April 2, 2018
How I created a UI-kit in Sketch
February, 2018
Speekify – iOS app for practicing languages
“
– Olga, why are you blogging about product management and UX?

– Hmm ... I can name four reasons. The first is the benefit to myself. When you put thoughts into a readable form, you inevitably clarify knowledge in your head. The second – the benefit for junior managers and designers. It's nice that you can help someone by sharing your mistakes. The third – world fame, of course :) And the fourth – the ability to share my work and get feedback from the community, to be in good shape.
May 1, 2018
Case study: how I use Storyboards in a design process
March 15, 2018
Looking for 80% of interface features nobody uses
October 26, 2017
14 awesome services that do not hesitate to use illustrations in the interface
September 6, 2017
Are tooltips useful? 15 successful examples
Olga Shavrina
Olga Shavrina: Product Leader & Startup Builder
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