<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Viber]]></title><description><![CDATA[Michael Shmilov]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/thoughts</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:32:19 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.shmilov.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[Using AI Assistants for Product Discovery]]></title><description><![CDATA[One interesting thing about adding an AI assistant to a product: you suddenly see how your users think. I recently added the EcoMoat AI assistant . It’s still very early. I’m still forming my conviction about how valuable the assistant can be for investors. But one thing became clear immediately. The assistant gives me direct access to what investors are actually trying to understand. Not surveys. Real questions. (Anonymous of course, I’m looking at patterns, not people.) Things like:  • What...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/using-ai-assistants-for-product-discovery</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69a9b08f9ce02ea2106a374d</guid><pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2026 16:35:19 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_d3f5de89449749188457a98302e8e5ca~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Advising vs. Building: What Product Looks Like From the Outside]]></title><description><![CDATA[For years, I was inside. VP Product. CPO. Deep in execution, living the roadmap, fighting fires, shipping features, and negotiating trade-offs. Now I sit in a different seat; advising companies while still building my own. And the shift in perspective is profound. And when I say building, I don’t mean carpentry, even though I’ve recently developed a midlife hobby for that too. When you’re inside one company, product feels tactical. Urgent. Specific. When you step outside and see patterns...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/advising-vs-building-what-product-looks-like-from-the-outside</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69957fa0cb2338afd5b51f79</guid><pubDate>Wed, 18 Feb 2026 10:02:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_8c7165a1fe8740528630df7ac2f6e43c~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[When AI Makes Building Easy, Product Thinking Gets Harder]]></title><description><![CDATA[Over the past year, something fundamental shifted. With AI, vibe-coding, and increasingly capable assistants, building software has become dramatically easier. I’ve seen it firsthand while working on EcoMoat and with my customers and partners while practicing hands on advising. I can prototype in hours. I can refactor architecture faster than ever. I can spin up new endpoints, experiments, even entire flows in a fraction of the time it used to take to teams. Execution friction is collapsing,...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/when-ai-makes-building-easy-product-thinking-gets-harder</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69931ca8d535f1470208e31a</guid><pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2026 14:48:12 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_2d085bc51ddc4375881914ca337af91e~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_750,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Telegram, Freedom, and the Uncomfortable Truth About Blocking]]></title><description><![CDATA[Yesterday, Pavel Durov published a strong statement about governments trying, and failing, to block Telegram. According to him, Russia is now repeating what Iran attempted eight years ago: restrict Telegram to push citizens toward a state-controlled, surveilled alternative. His conclusion is clear; restricting freedom never works, and Telegram stands for privacy and free speech, no matter the pressure. As a Telegram user, I genuinely love the product. But as someone who has seen this story...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/telegram-freedom-and-the-uncomfortable-truth-about-blocking</link><guid isPermaLink="false">698cfe1f31ffa9c2436002b0</guid><pubDate>Wed, 11 Feb 2026 22:33:48 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_113fb287ae6e4959bb505113c7cf6bf0~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_750,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Thoughts on Product Management in the AI Era]]></title><description><![CDATA[Even with AI everywhere, skyscrapers aren’t building themselves. And neither are products. While advising founders, CTOs, and fellow product leaders over the past few years, I’ve noticed a quiet shift. The product manager role isn’t disappearing, but it’s definitely evolving. And fast. Working on EcoMoat  has pushed me deeper into this shift. AI helps me code faster, architect better systems, and even automate DevOps. I can prototype ideas in hours, not weeks. But when it comes to product...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/thoughts-on-product-management-in-the-ai-era</link><guid isPermaLink="false">698870725275ae5022b671df</guid><pubDate>Sun, 08 Feb 2026 12:17:53 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_60b4459472014bd295880e3218cb9b76~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_750,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ray-Ban Meta Glasses: A Step Into the Future, But Which One?]]></title><description><![CDATA[Ray-Ban's Meta AI glasses I’ve wanted the Ray-Ban Meta glasses for a while now, and during a recent family trip to Paris—somewhere...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/ray-ban-meta-glasses-a-step-into-the-future-but-which-one</link><guid isPermaLink="false">67fb5326c9ecd448413e5f41</guid><pubDate>Sun, 13 Apr 2025 06:59:05 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_38e21d4b3e0640b1a2d09eca4c44a644~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[More Efficiency, Less Control]]></title><description><![CDATA[I’m constantly amazed by how much time AI saves me these days. Whether it’s helping me write emails, better understand things, make...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/more-efficiency-less-control</link><guid isPermaLink="false">67cb113dd823096a2bcf45e5</guid><pubDate>Fri, 07 Mar 2025 16:21:39 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_0278f7bf13144052aba122d25880afdc~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_928,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[BeeHero, AI, and the Future of Work: Learning from a Pollination Powerhouse]]></title><description><![CDATA[I recently listened to another great episode of Aviv Frenkel’s podcast, in which he interviewed Yuval Regev (CTO and Co-Founder of...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/beehero-ai-and-the-future-of-work-learning-from-a-pollination-powerhouse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">67c75b0b704201787db7ba00</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Mar 2025 20:05:31 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_98117a3e03954c3c8358c2b5f4e3a598~mv2.webp/v1/fit/w_1000,h_762,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[New Chapters &#38; Open Roads: An Update on My Journey]]></title><description><![CDATA[I just finished updating my website to better reflect what I’m working on these days. Over the past few months, I’ve taken a step back...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/new-chapters-open-roads-an-update-on-my-journey</link><guid isPermaLink="false">67bc5bb8efd67e3d7e3a903c</guid><pubDate>Mon, 24 Feb 2025 13:32:20 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_05c135f54ea5499faba9bb14ef004bb3~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Efficiency at Scale]]></title><description><![CDATA[Product managers are juggling countless responsibilities, from feature prioritization to customer feedback analysis. Can AI help us...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/efficiency-at-scale</link><guid isPermaLink="false">66fa58c0c829d3b6531c6f63</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Sep 2024 07:53:46 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_3d21b93fff1a4a4891a5b213b47f4b83~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_840,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Whose Decision Is It?]]></title><description><![CDATA[One of the toughest tasks as a manager is firing a team member, especially when the decision isn’t fully yours. You understand the...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/whose-decision-is-it</link><guid isPermaLink="false">66fa4f04a4157d189e7e1bdf</guid><pubDate>Mon, 30 Sep 2024 07:24:08 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/nsplsh_9551eb9ca1ec4158bffbd456cb0af9fc~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Thoughts on Metaverse]]></title><description><![CDATA[In the past months, the world has been talking about the Metaverse - below are my thoughts on the Metaverse and what it means for us in...]]></description><link>https://www.shmilov.com/post/thoughts-on-metaverse</link><guid isPermaLink="false">61a3ebffc08b830016205643</guid><pubDate>Sun, 28 Nov 2021 20:54:29 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/c2234c_cf26c7b71ef94de1a334341acd21c550~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Michael Shmilov</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>