https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/ Short, practical notes on product work in regulated and enterprise contexts, by Ahmed Mostafa. en Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/backlog-is-a-contract/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/backlog-is-a-contract/ Tue, 11 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 In a regulated product, every user story is an agreement between compliance, engineering, and the business. Treating the backlog that way is what actually cuts rework. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/meta-api-to-wizard/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/meta-api-to-wizard/ Mon, 06 Jul 2026 09:00:00 +0000 A real client PRD, reverse-engineered. How I turned a large, prerequisite-heavy Meta API surface into a flow a non-technical founder could finish without a manual. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/engineer-to-product-owner/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/engineer-to-product-owner/ Tue, 19 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Not the cliches. The specific, concrete ways an Electronics and Communications Engineering background changes how I pressure-test feasibility and talk to engineering teams. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/stakeholder-map-nobody-draws/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/stakeholder-map-nobody-draws/ Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:00:00 +0000 In a regulated fintech product, legal, compliance, delivery, and ops all have to say yes before a feature ships. Here's the map I actually use, and why silence isn't a signature. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/pricing-dashboard-is-a-trust-problem/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/pricing-dashboard-is-a-trust-problem/ Tue, 24 Feb 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Pricing and operational dashboards fail for a different reason than most PMs think. It's rarely the data. It's who's allowed to disagree with what the dashboard says. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/scope-cuts-happen-in-discovery/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/scope-cuts-happen-in-discovery/ Tue, 13 Jan 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Discovery sessions are where scope gaps are cheapest to find. Most teams find them in sprint three instead, after they've already been built around. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/curriculum-is-a-roadmap/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/curriculum-is-a-roadmap/ Mon, 08 Dec 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Designing a coding and robotics curriculum for K-12 students taught me more about roadmapping under real constraints than most software projects have. https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/program-market-fit-before-product-market-fit/ https://itsamostafa.github.io/writing/program-market-fit-before-product-market-fit/ Mon, 17 Nov 2025 09:00:00 +0000 Years before I could define product-market fit, I was doing a version of it: matching training programs to what students actually needed, not what looked good in a brochure.