what does a product manager do?
TRANSCRIPT
The Product Manager
(The Most Thankless Job in Tech)
What Does a PM Do?
What tech people think Product Management is about
What Product Management is really about(Still a canvas*)
So, where do we start?
*Ash Maurya’s Lean Canvas
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
What’s next?
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
What’s next?
“Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!”
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
What’s next?
Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
Deliver hot pizza in under 30 minutes
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
What’s next?
Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
Deliver hot pizza in under 30 minutes
- Flyers- Word of mouth- TV Commercials
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
What’s next?
Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
Deliver hot pizza in under 30 minutes
- Flyers- Word of mouth- TV Commercials
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
- Orders- Walk-ins- Catering
What’s next?
Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
Deliver hot pizza in under 30 minutes
- Flyers- Word of mouth- TV Commercials
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
- Rent- Ingredients- Salaries- Delivery Cars
- Orders- Walk-ins- Catering
What’s next?
Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
Deliver hot pizza in under 30 minutes
- Number of free pizzas given
- Number of orders
- Flyers- Word of mouth- TV Commercials
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
- Rent- Ingredients- Salaries- Delivery Cars
- Orders- Walk-ins- Catering
Hot Fresh Pizza in 30 minutes or it’s free!
- Fresh, Hot Pizza Delivery
- Pizza Delivered Quickly
Deliver hot pizza in under 30 minutes
- Number of free pizzas given
- Number of orders
- Locations- Delivery cars- Pizza Box
Insulation Technology
- Flyers- Word of mouth- TV Commercials
- Suburban families- Students- Office Workers
Busy, hungry people with empty fridges.
- Rent- Ingredients- Salaries- Delivery Cars
- Orders- Walk-ins- Catering
Product Market
Product Management is also like this
Why?
“You can’t make everybody happy all the time” Ancient Proverb/Common Wisdom
The development team really hates vague requirements,. Sooner or later you’re going to provide vague requirements.
Some customers hate new features or new design. Others may love the change but those who don’t will hate you. (1* Star Reviews)
When stakeholders say, “Show me the money!” and you turn your pockets inside out, they will hate you. And probably fire you.
The bigger the organization the less ownership. With all these dependencies, marketing, sales, and other stakeholders are bound to eventually hate you, too.
Love / Hate
(Therefore, have a quick look at the previous page again)
Because you don’t have the luxury to “do just one thing and do it well”
It’s all about…Balance
Know your market
• Who’s in it with you? (ie. ‘The Competition’)
• How much is the entire market worth? ($$$)
– How much is it worth to you (ie. your piece of the pie)?
• How do you get the word out?
– Where do you reach the customers in your market?
• Who (actually) cares?
Know your customers
• Who is your ideal customer?
– Create customer segments based on motivations, context, and triggers.
• Who is the customer who needs your product at 8 AM on a Friday? Are they drinking a coffee, getting ready for work, or getting home from last night’s party?“Highlight the human need you're trying to fulfill.”
• How?
– Qualitative research (ie. Interviews)
– NOT Big Data (not until you’re Google or Facebook)
Know your product
• You know the stack inside and out, but do you know how users (will) interact with your product?
• Don’t believe the hype
– If you know your product, you know there is still lots of work. Always.
– Also don’t believe the hype around anyone else. Don’t compare your product (too much) to other products.
• Highlight the strengths (externally), focus on weaknesses (internally).
Know the metrics• What are your success metrics?
- Revenue or Active Users?- Unique visits vs site impressions?- Virality?
• Customer Lifetime Value vs Cost Per Acquisition
• Track event analytics
• Use A/B testing to validate assumptions
Basically…
Measure Everything
Final Notes
• UX is everyone’s job, but product oriented designers do it best• Product Management is everyone’s job, but visionaries do it best• User satisfaction is the only true measure of approval
• Watch HBO’s “Silicon Valley” it’s good satire.
PS:
Sources/Suggested ReadingOnline
• http://startupclass.samaltman.com/ - Great Lectures!• http://practicetrumpstheory.com/• http://www.frontendinnovation.com/blog/08/14/2014/osterwalders-business-model-canvas-doesnt-
work-for-start-ups• http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/the-product-owner-responsibilities/• http://www.romanpichler.com/blog/one-page-product-owner/• http://innovatorstoolkit.com/content/technique-1-jobs-be-done• http://practicetrumpstheory.com/how-to-interview-your-users-and-get-useful-feedback/• http://www.quora.com/How-do-you-calculate-Customer-Lifetime-Value• http://mystartuphas30daystolive.tumblr.com/post/53839497912/in-30-days-my-startup-will-be-be-dead
Books
• The Art of The Start• The Lean Startup• The Innovator’s Dilemma• Startup Communities• Managing Startups: Best Blog Posts• Lean Analytics• Running Lean