Influence starts with clarity. That’s the throughline I return to when I’m coaching founders and product leaders, and it’s why I keep revisiting the frameworks that sharpen how we communicate, persuade, and lead under pressure. Recently, I synthesized several powerful ideas that map directly to the realities of startup execution and product management leadership—ideas I’ve seen transform how teams align, how roadmaps get prioritized, and how outcomes (not outputs) become the default.
Wes Kao is an executive coach, advisor, and instructor, best known for her newsletter on high-impact communication, and for co-founding course platform Maven and the AltMBA with Seth Godin. Across her career, Wes has helped leaders communicate with clarity and conviction, whether it’s rallying a team, pitching investors, or influencing stakeholders.
From a founder’s seat, or in a VP of Product role, the question is always the same: How do I become more persuasive, play to my strengths, and raise the bar for myself and my team? Here’s how I’ve put these principles into practice—and what I recommend.
First, I rely on a “personality-message fit” mindset. The goal isn’t to copy someone else’s style; it’s to package your message so it amplifies your natural strengths. If you’re analytical, use structure and crisp logic. If you’re a storyteller, build vivid narrative arcs around data. In product reviews, I’ve seen the same idea land (or fall flat) entirely based on whether the delivery aligned with the speaker’s authentic style.
Charisma is often misunderstood. It’s not about volume or showmanship—it’s about presence, intent, and calibration. Authenticity isn’t performative; it’s the consistency between your values and your behavior. In practice, that looks like stating trade-offs plainly, owning uncertainty, and being consistent in how you make decisions. Teams don’t need theatrics; they need reliability and conviction.
Clarity in communication is the single highest ROI skill in leadership. Start with your ideal outcome: what do you want your audience to think, feel, and do? Then reverse-engineer your message. I frame every major communication around outcomes vs output, just as I would with OKRs. This shifts the discussion from activity (“we shipped”) to impact (“we moved this metric”). When the outcome is explicit, the argument becomes self-reinforcing—and far more persuasive.
Power dynamics shape how your message is received. Different stakeholders hear the same words through very different lenses. In board updates and investor pitches, calibrate not just content but posture: what decision are you asking for, what risks are you proactively naming, and what constraints are you strategically acknowledging? Influence often hinges less on brilliance and more on aligning incentives and expectations.
On the perennial question—should you work on weaknesses or double down on strengths?—I’ve found the most durable gains come from role-strength fit. Eliminate spiky weaknesses that are career-limiting (for example, unreliable follow-through), but invest disproportionately in the strengths that create asymmetric value. This is how leaders move from competent generalists to compelling, irreplaceable operators.
Effective self-reflection is a force multiplier. A deceptively powerful prompt I use with teams is: What do you resent? Resentment often points to violated boundaries, unclear roles, or recurring misalignments. Surface it, re-contract responsibilities, and redesign rituals. This isn’t soft work; it’s operational hygiene that protects focus and velocity.
When someone tells you to “be more strategic,” they’re rarely asking for more slideware. They want clearer time horizons, sharper prioritization, and better sequencing. I lean on stack ranking to make trade-offs explicit. If everything is a priority, nothing is. Show what’s first, what’s second, and what you’re explicitly saying no to—and why. Strategy is the discipline of exclusion.
Two ideas I return to often: how formative programs start and how craft gets defined. The origin story behind community-driven learning like the AltMBA reminds me that great products are built with a point of view and a tight feedback loop. Defining your craft—naming it, practicing it, and holding a higher standard for it—creates a culture where excellence becomes normal, not exceptional.
If you’re a founder or product leader, a practical way to apply all of this next week is simple: decide the outcome, tailor the message to your natural style, acknowledge power dynamics up front, and stack rank your asks. Then, debrief with the team: What landed? What didn’t? What will we do differently next time? Communication is a craft, and like any craft, standards rise with deliberate practice.
AltMBA: https://altmba.com/
Maven: https://maven.com/
Seth Godin: https://www.sethgodin.com/
Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/
Where to find Wes:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/weskao
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