Hi, I'm Nicu.
I like to build products.
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Weekly Activities
2026What i've been up to each week.
Latest
2025 Was a Solid Year for Connecting with People
2025 was a solid year for connecting with people. I attended 27 in-person events and had 48 virtual coffee chats. I even started hosting events myself for VetsinTech!
Why did I feel some shame and guilt when listening to music created by AI?
Nothing like starting the day with a bit of shame and guilt after realizing how much you were vibing to AI music, then questioning AI’s role in that feeling.
4 Common Mistakes that junior Product Managers (including myself) make
1. Not Saying No Enough
This isn't just saying no to meetings; it is saying no to stakeholders' requests, timelines, or customer feature requests. This can be hard, especially if you want to please everyone but its critical in order to prioritize the product vision and strategy.
2. Starting with solutions instead of problems
Another common mistake is to become too feature-focused. For example, wanting to incorporate AI into the product and directly focusing on getting buy-in without clearly defining the problem and why AI would solve it.
3. Relying Solely on Data
Data is essential for making decisions but is not the only factor. Junior PMs must move from data-driven to data-informed decisions, which factor in market trends, business objectives, intuition, and context.
4. Choosing complex solutions over simpler ones
It may be tempting to create complex solutions to problems so that you can incorporate a specific technology. This can result in longer development time and increased costs. Keep it simple and lean.
10 Year Career in Tech with No Degree (Product, Engineering and Operations)
"From July 2024. My first YouTube Video. Covering my 10 year journey into tech with no degree. Pivoting from the military to operations, then software engineering, and now product management. "
Writing is thinking on paper.
Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly—about any subject at all.
-- William Zinsser
A quote from "Writing to Learn"
2025 Was a Solid Year for Connecting with People
2025 was a solid year for connecting with people. I attended 27 in-person events and had 48 virtual coffee chats. I even started hosting events myself for VetsinTech!
Why did I feel some shame and guilt when listening to music created by AI?
Nothing like starting the day with a bit of shame and guilt after realizing how much you were vibing to AI music, then questioning AI’s role in that feeling.
4 Common Mistakes that junior Product Managers (including myself) make
1. Not Saying No Enough
This isn't just saying no to meetings; it is saying no to stakeholders' requests, timelines, or customer feature requests. This can be hard, especially if you want to please everyone but its critical in order to prioritize the product vision and strategy.
2. Starting with solutions instead of problems
Another common mistake is to become too feature-focused. For example, wanting to incorporate AI into the product and directly focusing on getting buy-in without clearly defining the problem and why AI would solve it.
3. Relying Solely on Data
Data is essential for making decisions but is not the only factor. Junior PMs must move from data-driven to data-informed decisions, which factor in market trends, business objectives, intuition, and context.
4. Choosing complex solutions over simpler ones
It may be tempting to create complex solutions to problems so that you can incorporate a specific technology. This can result in longer development time and increased costs. Keep it simple and lean.
10 Year Career in Tech with No Degree (Product, Engineering and Operations)
"From July 2024. My first YouTube Video. Covering my 10 year journey into tech with no degree. Pivoting from the military to operations, then software engineering, and now product management. "
Writing is thinking on paper.
Anyone who thinks clearly should be able to write clearly—about any subject at all.
-- William Zinsser
A quote from "Writing to Learn"
Building and Learning in Public
See what i'm active tinkering and learning about.
What I'm Actively Building
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nicuparente.com
A personal website to capture all the project, resources and learnings.
Resources I'm Currently Learning From
Thinking in Visual Metaphors
Turn your ideas into visual metaphors
Brief Box
8 Week Design Course
Lenny's Podcast
A world-class masterclass in product, growth, and career strategy, delivered through deep-dive interviews and actionable tactical advice from the tech industry’s top builders.
Thinking in Visual Metaphors
Turn your ideas into visual metaphors
Brief Box
8 Week Design Course
Lenny's Podcast
A world-class masterclass in product, growth, and career strategy, delivered through deep-dive interviews and actionable tactical advice from the tech industry’s top builders.