About
Products, people, and opportunity
A short account of the work I do and why it matters to me.
My work sits where three things meet: building products that matter, developing the people who build them, and widening who gets the chance to do this work.
As a partner at Silicon Valley Product Group, I work with executives and product teams on strategy, discovery, and the changes an organization has to make to build products well. I helped write TRANSFORMED with my SVPG colleagues, and I host Product Therapy, where we talk about the human side of product work.
I care a lot about how product leaders are developed. Skills can be taught, but judgment and trust are built over time, through coaching and through real responsibility.
I founded Innovate Africa Foundation to expand access to product education, leadership development, and opportunity across Africa. I also established the Inspire Africa Conference as a place for the product community to gather.
Approach
Understand the problem first
Good products start with a clear view of the customer's problem and the constraints of the business. Teams that skip this step tend to build the wrong thing well.
Learn before you scale
Test ideas cheaply and quickly. Put real effort behind an idea once there is evidence it is valuable, usable, feasible, and viable.
Develop judgment
Process helps, but judgment is what holds up when the situation is new. Coaching is how people build it.
Give teams real responsibility
Teams grow when they own problems, not just tasks. Leaders provide context and support, then trust the team to solve.
Biography
Christian Idiodi is a product leader, executive coach, and partner at Silicon Valley Product Group (SVPG), where he works with executives and product teams on product strategy, discovery, and organizational transformation.
He is a co-author of TRANSFORMED: Moving to the Product Operating Model and host of Product Therapy, a podcast exploring the human and organizational side of building products.
Before joining SVPG, Christian held product leadership roles at CareerBuilder, Snagajob, IdentityForce, and Merrill Corporation.
He is CEO of The Dodi Group and founded Innovate Africa Foundation to expand access to product education, leadership development, and opportunity across Africa. He also established the Inspire Africa Conference.
His work connects the craft of building products with the responsibility of developing people.
Current affiliations
- Partner, Silicon Valley Product GroupSVPG profile
- CEO, The Dodi GroupThe Dodi Group
- Founder, Innovate Africa FoundationImpact
Earlier experience
- CareerBuilderProduct leadership
- SnagajobProduct leadership
- IdentityForceProduct leadership
- Merrill CorporationProduct leadership