Product Brief - Proudly
Leaders gain leverage through inspiring and motivating others to join their cause and build with them. However, all too often, they are left to do this on their own[a][b] or worse, it doesn’t happen at all. Companies focus on driving hard metrics measuring operational and financial performance, with hard-to-measure soft skills like motivation receiving less attention. However the impact of these human-centered skills are real including:
While the rise of professional coaches in the workplace and leaderships training have helped bridge the gap, they are expensive and difficult to scale. Perhaps most importantly, there is a significant gap between the moment of coaching and the moment where the manager or leader will implement or use suggested improvements[c]. Enter Proudly.
Introducing Proudly: AI-Powered Coaching for Ambitious Leaders[f][g]
Paris, France – 1 Jan 2025 - Proudly, a virtual AI-driven coach, launches today to help managers unlock their full potential in people leadership. Designed for startup founders, CxOs, and those aspiring to these roles - Proudly offers real-time, practical guidance and micro-exercises to help leaders navigate daily challenges and foster high-performing teams.
"Coaching and motivating people takes tremendous energy," said Artus de Longuemar, Proudly's CEO. "Our goal is to provide leaders with a pragmatic, caring copilot to empower their teams and achieve peak performance."
Proudly’s AI uses a unique, human-centered approach. Its AI models draw from decades of psychological literature on leadership as well as interviews, guidance, and best practices from real, successful entrepreneurs and c-suite executives. Guidance is delivered in clear, actionable conversations with the Proudly coach, which can be seamlessly accessed via common enterprise communication tools like slack. While Proudly is “always-on”, users are prompted when preparing for 1:1s, other meetings, as well at the start and end of each day. The platform emphasizes consistent & deliberate practice, encouraging leaders to build confidence and practice leadership as a daily habit.
As leadership becomes a key factor in employee retention and engagement, Proudly offers a timely solution. "True leadership is about empowering others, and Proudly helps leaders do just that," added Mr de Longuemar.
Initial Focus - Startup Founders / CEOs with businesses in growth phase[h][i], when managers need to switch from being “makers’ to “leaders” (e.g. hiring and building teams) - we believe this is the right segment to focus on because:
Other Segments Considered[j][k]
[To be added]
TO VALIDATE
More on job stories vs. user stories here.[l][m]
Below table assumes user has authority and access rights to purchase and install Proudly. Enterprise setup and purchase flow not considered.
P0 - Must have for MVP (launch blocker)
P1 - Nice to have for MVP
Priority[p] | Job Story | Hypothesis / Validation Plan | Notes |
INSTALLATION | |||
P2 | When I’ve decided to download Proudly, I want to clearly and quickly understand how to download and install, so I can proceed efficiently with installation. | ||
P2 | When I’m on the download page, I want to be reminded of value proposition, so that I can be assured I’ve made a smart decision. | ||
P0 | When I’m on the download page, I want to be able to download and install Proudly with one click from app store, so I can start testing/using immediately. | ||
P1 | When I finish installing app I want confirmation that installation has been completed successfully and to be directed to the setup flow, so that I can quickly start using the app. | ||
SETUP & CONFIG | |||
P0 | When I complete download, I want to be be able to setup account so that I can start using Proudly immediately. | ||
P1 | When I’ve setup my account, I want to be able to customize the type of questions / content Proudly will show me so that I receive relevant content / feedback. | User should be able to come back to this and update after setup Will need to break this down further as this can have more or less detail and will likely be delivered in multiple releases. | |
P2 | When I’ve setup my account, I want to feed Proudly information about myself, psychology, work style, etc so that content can be tailored to my needs. | User should be able to come back to this and update after setup Will need to break this down further as this can have more or less detail and will likely be delivered in multiple releases. | |
DAILY USAGE[q] | |||
P1 | When I’m using slack [or other comms platform], I want proudly to be available in one click so that I can get quick feedback without interrupting my workflow | ||
P0 | When I’m preparing for a meeting I want proudly to be available in one-click so that I can have support in preparation with minimal disruption to my existing workflow | Meeting prep “content” can be broken down further, grouped into releases. | |
P1 | When I need quick guidance during a meeting or task, I want Proudly’s AI to suggest small actions or behaviors, so that I can manage the situation in real-time. | ||
P0 | When I’m starting my day/week, I want Proudly to help me structure my daily activities so that I ensure that I’m focusing on the highest impact tasks | Daily/Weekly Planning “content” can be broken down further, grouped into releases. | |
P0 | When I start my day, I want to check Proudly for micro-exercises or leadership inspirations, so that I can prepare myself mentally for leading my team. | Daily/Weekly Planning “content” can be broken down further, grouped into releases. | |
P1 | When I’m finishing my day/week, I want Proudly to help me reflect on my work and suggest improvements so that I can do better tomorrow/next week | Daily/Weekly Planning “content” can be broken down further, grouped into releases. | |
P1 | When using Proudly, I want Proudly to remember previous input so that it can provide better / more targeted information over time and point out trends in my behavior | ||
P2 | When using Proudly, I want to be able to dismiss/close the app in one click so that it does not distract at times when I do not need coaching | ||
P2 | When using Proudly, I want to easily be able to access references or data that back-up statements or suggestions Proudly makes, so I can be confident in the advice provided | ||
P1 | When receiving actionable insights from Proudly, I want to be able to enter feedback on advice given so that Proudly can understand and adjust based on my likes/dislikes | ||
P1 | When using Proudly I want to see progress/points (gamification) so that I can be reminded of progress made and continue to feel engaged by the app | Need to be careful with this - can also become annoying. Gamification needs to truly “work” for user, and not rely on addictive features. | |
P1 | When I face a difficult leadership decision, I want Proudly to provide quick, actionable suggestions, so that I can make informed choices without delay. | ||
MID / LONG TERM COACHING - e.g. Progress Tracking, Team Impact & Collaboration | |||
P2 | When I improve my leadership skills, I want to see the impact on my team’s performance, so that I can understand how my growth benefits the organization. | ||
P2 | When I get feedback from my team, I want Proudly to provide insights on how to respond constructively, so that I can continuously adapt and improve my leadership style. | ||
P2 | When I have been using Proudly for a while, I want to review my leadership growth, so that I can understand my progress and areas for improvement. | ||
P2 | When I successfully complete leadership exercises, I want Proudly to celebrate my achievements and suggest next steps, so that I feel encouraged to keep growing. | ||
Data Requirements | |||
P0 | Track basic user usage (TBD) | ||
TBD - once customer journey and job stories validated and prioritized above.
[a]Or they don't feel comfortable expressing such leadership - the work culture does not empower them for doing so
[b]Yes great point, often it just doesn't happen!
[c]Yes ! often need to act is immediate !
[e]Yes, the fake "PR" was made famous in product development by Amazon as part of their work backwards method - you start with the launch press release as the vision and then work backwards to define what steps you need to get there. I don't still use everything I learned at Amazon, but this one I like ;)
[f]One important open question :
Is Proudly a virutal coach for leaders or a virtual manager for their teams.
As we discussed, maybe founders do not want to do any effort, even if that just involves micro coaching.
Instead they may want to buy a software that does the "soft skill work" for them. Some form of Management as a Servie (MaaS)
And thus the virtual manager would integrate into each employee's workflow and provide "micro empoverements" that sum up to optimum team performance.
And in that case the micro coaching to founder would just be a demo / hook feature to build enough trust so they are happy to test our tech with their entire team...
[g]Totally up to test that. My gut tells me we are a long way from human managers being cut out from doing the soft work. Even if AI managers get very good, human direct reports are still going to want their actual manager's attention and authenticity.
... but that is just my hypothesis for now, and should be validated.
[h]Another way to pu it is : the point when Founders must switch from being "makers" to "leaders"
[i]I love that, added.
[j]Would be good to map these and do some rough sizing.
[k]Got it 👍
[l]Very inspiring and love the job stories method 👍👍
[m]😃
[n]I very much like this methodology too, it helps prioritize / step back from what's important to focus on vs keep for later.
Maybe add hypothesis to it. For each PO what hypothesis does it serve (how does it help test an hypothesis we are making for product-market fit)
[o]That makes sense - I'll add that in plus space to list validation plan.
[p]For the moment these are just my best guesses - to be validated.
[q]This is probably the most interesting and important part in my opinion - could do with mapping user daily workflows to better understand daily "triggers" that can drive users to Proudly.