#70: Thanks for the Amazing TOOLTIME event, this Community year, and we are coming back on the...
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Letter to the Community
Where We Are, What Surprised Us Most, and What’s Next
2025 wasn’t easy. We worked all year for a conference without any previous experience, making mistakes along the way: pricing, speaker lineup, naming, number of workshops. Yet people loved it. They connected with the honest, heroic journey of building something as hard as a conference, where most pour marketing money just to justify the losses.
We also started the year on shaky ground. Some community speaker and topic selections missed the mark, forcing us to confront hard questions: What can we really do? How do we make it better?
Often, the most exciting events are the small ones. Like BEAM, where founders test market and problem-solution fit, or last Thursday at ToolTime, where their payment feature launch wasn’t an overnight success until a pivot made it work. Those moments feel like real learning, from people in the product space. Maybe that’s our story too.
Looking Ahead
Conference 2026 will be better, bigger, and centered around Experience, a word that in the AI space blends with Design and Branding craft to help new tools stand out from competitors and empower users who can build for themselves. If this year was about Agency and the choices we make, next year will ride that wave while navigating a possible AI burst that makes our lives faster (as technology always has), but not on autopilot.
This is also the year I’m genuinely happy to see companies like Parloa, n8n, and PeecAI paving the route for a new generation, alongside Bela Wiertz bringing the builder community to Berlin and the EU. Even Intercom and Perplexity are looking for office space to join the city.
Hard Truths
This year taught me that community building means accepting that not every connection deepens, and not every early relationship survives growth. Some doors close as new ones open. The hard part isn’t the change itself, it’s learning to invest energy where it multiplies rather than where it drains. What remains are the beautiful relationships with Product Heroes, PMF in Zurich, Product Masterclass in Munich, Hatch conference, Talent Crunch, Product Voyagers, Led by Community, the inner ProductLab Community, and others who show up with the same belief: We rise by lifting others. Thank you!
The most frequently asked question: “How do you get such a committed team?”
Despite some feedback that it’s hard working with ProductLab’s founder, I believe we simply hold a high bar for commitment and fun, filtering out those joining for FOMO or pure personal agenda. In reality, sometimes we just do good operations and take care of people. But the most important thing is the commitment and compounding effect that makes us who we are: Being part of a bootstrapped company, going after conferences, and soon, ProductLab Studio, a growing career path for product leaders.
Thank You
For 2025, I want to thank everyone who believed in this journey: the team, friends, and two exceptional leaders like Wafaey and Francesca, who brought the mindset and quality needed for a first-time conference.
2026 seems easier with a conference advisory board any company would envy. But with such luxury comes hard requirements and a new bar for quality and expectations. We’ll take a break, reflect, and be ready for next year.
Thanks for supporting us! Have a great break and see you on Monday, 12.01.2026!
Warmly,
Daniele
💚 ToolTime recap from our Community
Thanks, Anastaiia Kostrub
📰 Product Leaders’ Wisdom
Brought to you weekly by Leila Montazeri
Ravi Mehta and Tim Herbig argue that the real job of product strategy isn’t alignment or storytelling, it’s decisiveness. A good strategy makes it obvious what not to build, even when requests sound reasonable. In a world where AI removes delivery constraints, this piece is a timely reminder: focus comes from choices, not frameworks.
Read the full article on Ravi on Product
Intercom’s updated CX Score shows what traditional CSAT misses by analyzing real customer conversations instead of asking questions after the fact. With more context around effort, emotion, and product feedback, it turns CX measurement into something teams can finally act on.
By Christine Zdelar - Intercom BlogThis Figma report steps back from the hype and asks a harder question: If AI makes building easier, what truly differentiates products now? Across voices from Figma, Google, Stripe, and Perplexity, one theme stands out—design, judgment, and human intent matter more than ever. A thoughtful read for product leaders navigating speed without losing craft.
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Senior Product Manager - Next-Gen Experience Creation @ Contentful
Senior Product Manager - Commercial Partnerships and Growth @ Clue
🎶 Song of the Newsletter
From our DJ Marco D’Avila
Brilliant. What if that focus on 'Experience' for AI tools means we can finally move beyond just feature lists and into, like, real parnership with tech? That's the dream, no?