Product Management: Good, Better, Best

Rich Mironov

25 October 2014

1 ©  Rich  Mironov,  2014  

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•  Veteran product manager/executive

•  6 startups, including as CEO

•  “The Art of Product Management”

•  First Product Camp, first product tracks at Agile conference

ABOUT RICH MIRONOV

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market information, priorities, requirements, roadmaps, epics,

user stories, backlogs, personas, MRDs…

product bits

strategy, forecasts, commitments, roadmaps, competitive intelligence

budgets, staff, targets

Field input, Market feedback

Segmentation, messages, benefits/features, pricing,

qualification, demos…

Markets & Customers Development

Marketing& Sales

Executives

Product Management

WHAT DOES A PRODUCT MANAGER DO?

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•  Focus on deliverables and processes

•  Engineering and Marketing see promptness, not quality

•  But great product management >> deliverables

•  We earn our pay by making hard decisions

HARD TO QUANTIFY PRODUCT MANAGEMENT EXCELLENCE

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REQUIRED SPORTS ANALOGY: [1] LEARN THE BASICS

[2] TECHNICAL MASTERY

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[3] BRILLIANCE >> TECHNIQUE

•  “Minimally viable product manager” •  Learn the tools, keep the product process flowing

•  Technical mastery •  Best practices, efficient processes, successful products

•  Strategic brilliance •  Creative solutions, competitive advantage,

seeing around corners

GOOD, BETTER, GREAT PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

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1.  Market insight

2.  Agile

3.  Pricing

4.  Organizational thinking

FOUR ASPECTS

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“Daddy said that customers will want this.”

MINIMALLY VIABLE MARKET INSIGHT

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TECHNICAL MASTERY: KNOWN MARKETS, UNDERSTOOD NEEDS

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DEEPLY CHANNELING CUSTOMER NEEDS

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•  Choose a model

•  Play your part

•  Make some music

MINIMALLY VIABLE AGILE PRODUCT OWNERSHIP

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•  Teamwork

•  Right-sized stories

•  Groomed backlog

•  Harmony

•  Assigned roles

TECHNICAL MASTERY OF AGILE PRODUCT OWNERSHIP

•  Whole team contributes to market insights

•  “Customer problems we are solving” instead of “what customers asked for”

TRANSCENDING TEXTBOOK PROCESSES

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We have a price •  Matches competition

•  Doesn’t delay launch

MINIMALLY VIABLE PRICING

B2B:  $20  per  month  per  user  

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Apply well-known models correctly

TECHNICAL MASTERY OF PRICING

   

Basic  

Expa

nded

 

Advanced

 

Core  feature  #1   √   √   √  Core  feature  #2   √   √   √  Core  feature  #3   √   √   √  Baseline  support  (5*8,  email)   √   √   √  Baseline  capacity   √   √   √  Monthly  newsleFer   √   √   √  Major  upgrade  feature       √   √  Cool  feature       √   √  Extra  capacity       √   √  Expanded  service  hours  (6*12)       √   √  Professional  feature           √  Tons  of  capacity           √  Concierge  service  (24*7,  phone)       √  Golf  with  sales  rep           √  CEO  welcome  leFer           √  

New pricing model changes basis of competition

STRATEGIC MARKETPLACE DISRUPTION THROUGH PRICING

•  Plays well with others

•  Sales is willing to invite to customer meetings

MINIMALLY VIABLE ORGANIZATIONAL SKILLS

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•  Knows what motivates stakeholders and team

•  Smoothly leads without authority

•  Understands org charts and organizational structures

TECHNICAL MASTERY OF ORGANIZATIONAL MODELS

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•  Sorts roles from personalities, anticipates behaviors

•  Coaches across all levels and functions

•  Given our executive team, how should we be structured?

STRATEGIC INSIGHT INTO PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS

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Deeply understands customer needs…

Can quantify the value of solutions…

Partners to get great product built…

Gently manages the organization…

Helps customers discover/appreciate/buy

SO A GREAT PRODUCT MANAGER…

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WELCOME TO PRODUCT CAMP SEATTLE!

Rich Mironov San Francisco, CA 94102

RichMironov  

@RichMironov

Rich@Mironov.com  

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