Slides on Product Management and the role of product managers. Feedback welcome...

1. Product Management 101
Amit Ranjan
Cofounder, SlideShare

2. Presentation Flow
• Product Management
‐ what, why, who
• Product Manager skillsets
• Difference between Consumer & Enterprise
products
• Strategies for Hacking Growth

3. • Product Management is the function that
manages the product life cycle through
activities like planning, forecasting,
production, marketing.
• The Product Management role can have
different flavours
‐ engineering, design, sales, user acquisition,
marketing, data etc

4. • Product Managers have responsibility but no
authority
• They own the product, but don’t manage the
people building the product
The Product Management Dilemma

5. “A great product manager has the brain
of an engineer, the heart of a designer,
and the speech of a diplomat…”

6. “The best Product Managers become
CEOs of their products (minus P&L
responsibilities)…”

7. Product Management owns the vision,
design, and execution of the product

8. • Vision
‐ align org goals with market conditions & user needs
‐ ‘get’ the pulse of the product (think movie directors)
• Design
‐ give shape to the product: feature mix, user
experience
• Execution
‐ work with engineering, quality, marketing to deliver

9. Identifying a Good Product Manager
• Strong product sense/instinct
• Carries multiple points of views
• Communicates clearly
• Simplifies & prioritizes
• Measures & iterates
• Understands good design
• Writes effective copy

10. “Product Managers are God’s gift to
mankind…. against feature bloat”

11. "Every failed product had an awesome
spreadsheet…"

12. Product Managers: “The Art of Saying No”
• So many reasons to say yes
‐ “But the data looks good…”
‐ “But it’ll only take a few minutes….”
‐ “But this customer is about to quit…”
‐ “But we can just make it optional…”
‐ “But my cousin’s neighbour said…”
‐ “But we’re allowed to work on whatever we want…”
‐ “But 713,000 people said they want it…”
‐ “But we’ll achieve our monthly target…”

13. How to tackle casual product feedback
• One person's opinion (OPO)
‐ what if the one-person is Steve Jobs
• Strong suggestion
• Vocal minority phenomenon
• Mandate
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140602024642-22330283-avoiding-the-unintended-
consequences-of-casual-feedback

14. 3 point thumb rule for product prioritization
• Product features (prioritizing for a product)
‐ Metrics movers
‐ Satisfiers
‐ Delighters
• Product Roadmap (prioritizing overall product plan)
‐ Core
‐ Strategic
‐ Venture

15. Both consumer & enterprise products
deliver user values & functionality but…
- Consumer: you build for end-users
Enterprise: you build for end-users & buyers
- Consumer: satisfies the user’s emotional need
Enterprise: workflow efficiency is focus
- Consumer: build what users love (partners: Eng/Design/Pdt.)
Enterprise: revenue driven (partners: Sales/Marketing)
- Consumer: often requires an artistic mindset
Enterprise: requires a business mindset

16. Early Stage Startups - Growth Strategies

17. “A startup is a temporary organization
which is searching for a repeatable and
scalable business model…”

18. Startups = Growth

19. Three stages of startup growth….
• Initial period of slow or no growth
‐ startup tries to figure out what it's doing
• After product market fit
‐ rapid growth, reach as many people as possible
• Startup grows into a big company
‐ growth slows due limits of market size &
organizational bloat

20. Growth Strategies
• Consumer Products case study
• Enterprise Products case study

21. References
• http://crankypm.com/2006/11/08/that-all-the-responsibility-and-no-authority-saying/
• http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/
• http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html
• http://blog.intercom.io/product-strategy-means-saying-no/
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140602024642-22330283-avoiding-the-unintended-
consequences-of-casual-feedback
• https://www.pinterest.com/pin/47850814762416434/
• http://www.sachinrekhi.com/blog/2013/01/28/what-is-product-management
• http://www.quora.com/What-distinguishes-the-Top-1-of-Product-Managers-from-the-Top-
10/answer/Ian-McAllister
• https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-enterprise-products-differ-from-consumer-angela-
yoonjeong-yang
• www.dilbert.com
• http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-ways-to-prioritize-a-list-of-product-features
• http://www.instigatorblog.com/the-role-of-product-managers/2012/06/08/
• https://medium.com/design-of-a-technology-business/ultimate-guide-to-product-prioritization-
b08c18d5c00f

22. https://twitter.com/amitranjan
https://www.facebook.com/amitranjan
http://in.linkedin.com/in/amitranjanprofile