Usually, in the first months as a Product Manager in a startup,  you start receiving lots of info from internal and external stakeholders, management, legal, HR... and it's very usual to feel overwhelmed.

That's why, as soon as you land the job start working under a framework, a structure that keeps what you need to know in place and guides you through well-established steps without stealing your time. 

What works for me is the CIRCLES Method 🔗

C - Clarify the Situation -> Ask WHAT, WHY x 5 , HOW and WHEN 

I - Identify the Customer -> Do we have User Personas defined? Empathy maps? User flows? Basic data like AARRR Metrics?

R - Report Customer's Needs -> Don't make assumptions, solve Customer's pain points. Customer needs are extracted from the previous work with interviews, focus groups, UX analysis, and data behavior...

C- Cut through | Prioritization -> What works better for me here is the RICE framework from Intercomm

L - List Solutions -> These shouldn't be features, just a list of things your users need to be solved by your digital product. Later we will work on translating these solutions into potential features.

E - Evaluate the trade-offs -> 

S - Summarize your recommendation -> Make the information easy to be consumed through Canvas templates or interactive decks. It also gives you the chance to structure your own conclusions. 

👷‍♂️ Work in progress...