A few years ago, I found myself trying to convince an entire company to build something I personally wanted (ever been there?).

I was deep in research at Kajabi, studying how B2B creators launched digital products. A clear pattern emerged: newsletters were often the first thing they built. Before the courses, the communities, the coaching — it all started with an email list.

There was just one problem: Kajabi didn’t support newsletters.

As a product marketer, I saw the signal. But as a creator myself, I felt it. I had just launched my own newsletter and needed to use Beehiiv instead.

I started pushing hard for us to build the feature. But somewhere along the way, I had to ask myself: Was this what our market needed? Or was I just projecting?

It was the first time I realized that proximity to the customer isn’t always a superpower. Sometimes, it’s a source of bias.

In today’s edition, we’re digging into what happens when PMMs get too invested in the product rather than the customer problem — and how to stay clear-eyed when your conviction and the data don’t match.

When Your Proximity Becomes a Problem

Product marketers are prized for their closeness to the customer. We run research, spot patterns, and “think like the user.”

But what happens when you are the target customer? Or when you’ve spent so much time embedded in the product strategy that you’ve started to want it to be right? Or when you’ve worked at a company for years and are known as “the expert”?

That’s when bias creeps in, and the PMM superpower becomes a blind spot.

You might ignore conflicting signals because they threaten the story you’ve already told. You might push for a feature because it solves your problem — even if it’s not a priority for the broader market. You might dismiss research not because it’s wrong, but because it’s not what you’ve heard from customers historically.

None of this makes you a bad PMM. It just makes you human.

The more senior you get, the more your job becomes about influencing product direction — not just translating it. That’s where the danger lies.

Because if you’re not careful, your conviction can start to sound like truth. And your passion can override your pattern recognition.

Great PMM leaders don’t eliminate bias, they build guardrails around it.

Here’s how:

• Name your attachment. If you’re personally invested in a strategy, say so. Transparency builds trust and gives others permission to challenge your assumptions.

• Invite conflicting data. Don’t just ask for feedback — go looking for disconfirming evidence. What would have to be true for your current POV to be wrong?

• Separate the signal from the self. Just because it resonates with you doesn’t mean it resonates with your market. You are not the dataset. When in doubt, lean on the side of additional external research.

• Find a bias buddy. Build relationships with peers or partners who aren’t as close to the work. Ask them what they see that you might be missing.

Being close to the customer is a strength. So is being embedded with product. And knowing when to step back.

The best PMMs build bridges between what’s possible and what’s needed. Between what they believe, and what the data actually shows. Between their gut instinct — and their willingness to be wrong.

Because that’s what makes you trusted. Not your passion. Not your proximity.

Your clarity.

CAMPER ESSENTIALS

📚 Reading List: The Ladder of Inference is a simple but powerful mental model for understanding how our beliefs and experiences shape the conclusions we jump to (plus, learn how to slow the ladder down).

🛠️ Tool: Have you used Dovetail? It’s a great research repository tool that forces you to systematize and surface evidence, not just rely on your gut. Great for pattern recognition without tunnel vision.

💡Thought Starter: Here’s a journaling or team prompt to help break the bias loop and open up new perspectives: “What would I do if I didn’t already believe I was right?” 

Off to the beach to enjoy some sun, piña coladas, and a digital detox! See you back in your inbox next week,