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Product Management 101 in the world of high technology - as taught to MIT students in Spring 2014
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CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE1
Product Management 101:MIT Sloan Fall Seminar
March 19, 2014
Jeff BussgangGeneral Partner, Flybridge Capital
Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School@bussgang
John AndrewsVice President Products
Oracle
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE2
Session Objectives
• What people mean when they use the phrase, “Product Market Fit” (PMF), plus:– Customer Development Process– Lean Start-Up Theory
• What is great product management?• Exposure to some tools and techniques to be a
great product manager
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE3
Session Objectives (2)• EV(MBA in startup) = mixed
LTV seeks to increase your expected value
“The value of an MBA for a young entrepreneur is about negative $250k.”
- Guy Kawasaki in TechCrunch
X =
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE4
Context for Jeff’s Perspective
• General Partner at Flybridge Capital, early-stage VC firm in
Boston and NYC70+ portfolio companies; seed and Series A focused
• Senior Lecturer at Harvard Business School
• Former entrepreneurCofounder/Pres. Upromise (acq’d by SallieMae)
VP at Open Market (IPO ‘96)
• Author: Mastering the VC Game
• Blog: Seeing Both Sides
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE5
Context for John’s Perspective
• Vice President Product Mgt and Strategy, Oracle CommerceCame via $1.1 billion Endeca acquisition
• Vice President Marketing & Product Mgt, EndecaJoined Endeca as a product manager
• Previously consultant at Deloitte
• HBS’01
• BC ‘96, Economics and CS
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE6
Agenda
• Customer Development / Modern Product Management
• The Product Manager – Role & Responsibilities• Open English Case Study
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE7
Old School Product Management
• Report to: Marketing• Output: Requirements Documents• Methodology: Waterfall• Product lifecycles: Years• Decision-Making: Opinion-Driven
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE8
Modern Product Management
• Report to: CEO• Output: Prototypes• Methodology: Agile• Product lifecycles: Weeks• Decision-Making: Data-Driven
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE9
Customer Development
Customer Developmentvs. Product Development
Concept/Bus. Plan
Product Dev.
Alpha/Beta Test
Launch/1st Ship
Product Development
Source: Steve Blank
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE10
“Lessons Learned” Drives Scaling
ConceptBusiness
Plan/CanvasLessons Learned Scale
Do this first instead of scaling(or raise seed round to test hypotheses…rigorously)
Test Hypotheses
Source: Steve Blank
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE11
Hypothesis-DrivenEntrepreneurship
EnvisionVenture Concept
Generate Business
Model Hypotheses
Test Hypothesis Using Minimum Viable Product
Pivot
Perish
Product-Market Fit: Proceed with Scaling
Persevere with Next Test
11
Desirable
Feasible
Viable
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE12
Startup
1. A team launching a new product under conditions of extreme uncertainty
2. A vehicle for testing hypotheses about such an entity
12
Entrepreneurship: the pursuit of opportunity beyondresources you currently control
- HBS Professor Howard Stevenson
Relentless FocusNovel/Innovative
Resource Constrained
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE13
The Lean Startup• Many startups fail because they waste capital and
time developing and marketing a product that no one wants
• Lean startups rapidly and iteratively test hypotheses about a new venture based on customer feedback, then quickly refine promising concepts and cull flops
• Being lean does NOT mean being cheap, it is a methodology for optimizing—not minimizing—resources expenditures by avoiding waste
• Being lean does NOT mean avoiding rigorous, analytical or strategic thinking
13
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE14
Lean Startup Principles
• No idea survives first customer contact, so get out of the building ASAP to test ideas
• Goal: validation of business model hypotheses, based on rigorous experiments and clear metrics
• Minimum viable product (MVP): smallest set of features/marketing initiatives that delivers the most validated learning
• Rapidly pivot your MVP/business model until you have validation and product-market fit (PMF)
• Don’t scale until you have achieved PMF
14
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE15
15
Pivoting
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE16
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE17
Practical Pointers
• Outline for an MRD • PRD template• Sample wireframe• Persona examples: http://bit.ly/18puWOx
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE18
Other Tools/Techniques
• Structured idea generation• Business model generation• Customer discovery process• Focus groups• Customer survey• Persona development• Competitor benchmarking• Wireframing• Prototype development• Usability testing• Conversion funnel analysis• A/B test
• Landing page optimization• SEM/SEO optimization• Inbound marketing design• PR strategy• Customer support analysis• Clustering and feature
prioritization• Sales pitch• Lead qualification• Bus dev screening• Charter user program• Net promoter analysis• Lifetime value vs. Customer
acquisition costs 18
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE19
Crossing The Chasm
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE20
Where are You?Before Product-Market Fit: Search & Validation • Lean startup approach• Hunch-driven hypotheses• Minimum viable product (MVP)• Customer development process• Selling to early adopters• Pivoting• Bootstrapping• Small, founding team• Product-centric culture;
informal roles• Early in sales learning curve
After Product-Market Fit: Scaling & Optimization• Building a robust, feature-rich
product• Crossing the chasm• Metrics, analytics, funnels• Designing for virality &
scalability• Challenges with corporate
partnerships• Building a brand• Scaling the team; more
formal roles• Scaling a sales force
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE21
Should You Always Nail ItBefore You Scale It?
• That is, when is it ok to be a little “fat”?• If you are in a winner take all market• Deep customer lock-in / high switching costs• Network effect businesses• Capital is cheap• Executive team knows how to scale
• Upromise example• Series A: $34m (March 2000)• Series B: $55m (October 2000)• Launch service: April 2001
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE22
PM Perspectives at Scale
• In larger companies with more mature products, each decision isn’t a “bet the company” decision
• Prioritization still a top priority • Increased specialization of roles• Interdependencies become more important
across modules and products as product footprint grows
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE23
Development Methodologies: No Silver Bullet
Waterfall AgilePro Avoids piecemeal design
Can work on modules in parallel Can see full output at of each
phase Can measure progress against full
plan Full-time product owner not
needed
Ongoing input from product owner Product owner buy-in via direct
participation Flexible if requirements should
change Find / fix bugs faster Faster time to market with MVP Time-boxing = cost predictability
Con It’s difficult to specify requirements at outset
Not flexible if requirements should be changed
Don’t discover problems until phase is complete
Works best with small team and co-location
Requires full-time product owner Flexibility can lead to feature
proliferation Piecemeal = integration issues Piecemeal = product that lacks
vision?
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE24
Agenda
• Customer Development / Modern Product Management
• The Product Manager – Role & Responsibilities• Open English Case Study
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE25
Product Management Skills• Responsibilities:
– Define the new product to be built– Secure the resources to build it– Manage its development, launch and
ongoing improvement– Lead the cross-functional product team
• Attributes:– Ability to influence and lead– Resilience and tolerance for ambiguity– Business judgment and market knowledge– Strong process skills and detail orientation– Fluency with technology and implications on product design, business– Design/UX instincts
Mini CEO – with none of the authority
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE26
• Think Big• Simplify (Product Manager as Editor)• Prioritize• Forecast and Measure• Execute• Cross-functional leadership
Product Management Skills (2)
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE27
A Few PM Profiles
Adi Kleiman• Tel Aviv University (industrial
engineering, MBA)• SAP Product Manager (4.5 yrs)• VP of Products, tracx
Nagarjuna Venna• Warangal (CS & eng)• Siemens, Lucent, Banyan
engineer (4.5 yrs)• MIT Sloan• Start up product manager• Founder, Chief Product Officer,
BitSight
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE28
Sample Product Roadmap
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE29
Amazon’s Technique: Working Backwards
1. Start by writing the Press Release. Nail it. The press release describes in a simple way what the product does and why it exists – what are the features and benefits. It needs to be very clear and to the point. Writing a press release up front clarifies how the world will see the product – not just how we think about it internally.
2. Write a Frequently Asked Questions document. Here’s where we add meat to the skeleton provided by the press release. It includes questions that came up when we wrote the press release. You would include questions that other folks asked when you shared the press release and you include questions that define what the product is good for. You put yourself in the shoes of someone using the product and consider all the questions you would have.
3. Define the customer experience. Describe in precise detail the customer experience for the different things a customer might do with the product. For products with a user interface, we would build mock ups of each screen that the customer uses. For web services, we write use cases, including code snippets, which describe ways you can imagine people using the product. The goal here is to tell stories of how a customer is solving their problems using the product.
4. Write the User Manual. The user manual is what a customer will use to really find out about what the product is and how they will use it. The user manual typically has three sections, concepts, how-to, and reference, which between them tell the customer everything they need to know to use the product. For products with more than one kind of user, we write more than one user manual.
Source: Amazon CTO Werner Vogels
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE30
Product Mgr vs. Proj Mgr• Project Managers
– Focus on successful delivery of the project: deadline, budget, goals
– Coordinate the cross-functional team involved in delivering a project / product
– Professional operational managers– Live and die by the “Gantt Chart”
• Sometimes PM plays Project Mgr role, other times they are distinct roles
• Important to be clear on roles, responsibilities and ownership going into a product release
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE31
Product Mgt and Sales
• The pressure to “add this feature to win this deal”, particularly at the end of the quarter
• When do you listen to your salespeople / customers, and when do you direct them?
• Sometimes need to slow things down to go faster – focus on infrastructure, scalability
• Paying down technical debt can be painful, but often inevitable – how to manage sales / communication
MVP PMF TECH DEBT
$$
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE32
OPOWER Token System
• Product manager has limited resources (engineering) and many competing interests to balance
• OPOWER created a token system to help build trust, transparency and force trade-offs
• Sales received a certain number of tokens and could “spend” those tokens on customer-driven features
• But beware of custom requests/features– Create a culture where the executive team focuses on equity
value, not functional optimization.– NEVER branch the code– “Make the company” deals are always hairy. Figure out a way to
make them work, even if it means sacrificing your roadmap.
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE33
Agenda
• Customer Development / Modern Product Management
• The Product Manager – Role & Responsibilities• Open English Case Study
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE34
Open English Case Study
• Online English language learning program• Founded 2006 by Andres and Nicolette Moreno
– Andres: Grew up in VZ, Simon Bolivar (engineering), cofounded offline English language school
– Nic: CO born, Pepperdine (Business and Psychology), non-profit exec, got into but chose not to attend Stanford GSB to co-found Open English
• Launched in late 2009 as a subscription service– ~$1,000 per year – guarantee you’ll learn English– Pay up front or monthly
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE35
Fernando Gomez
“My textiles company is starting to do business with more clients overseas. I’d like to practice my English to make communication between us easier.”
34 year-old entrepreneur from Mexico City, Mexico
Language Topics of Interest:Business EtiquetteBanking & FinanceMeetingsIndustry terminologyTravelConversationalNews & Current events
Motivation:Business RelationshipsPersonal Growth
Payment:Full payment upfront
Why learn English?To support my growing businessChallenge myself
Current English ability:Advanced
Learning Goals:Increase confidenceImprove fluency
Technology Setup:Personal/Work laptop
1
The Professional
Education Level:Advanced Degree
Persona
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE36
Persona 2
Valentina Silva25 year-old college graduate from Santiago, Chile
“My brother moved to the U.S. to get a job, and now is a store manager in New York City. I want to practice my English so I can visit him, and explore opportunities nearby.”
Why learn English?To prepare for job interviews abroad
Current English ability:Intermediate
Learning Goals:Become Fluent Find a job in U.S.
Learning Pace:As quickly as possible
Language Topics of Interest:TravelingRestaurantsCultureMusicConversation
Technology Set-up:Desktop shared with family
Motivation:To make new friendsEnter an exciting job marketTravelPractice English with nativesLearn the culture
Payment:12-month financing
2
The Seeker
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE37
Company Timeline
7
04/06Founded Vzla Entity
02/07Founded US Entity
04/10Round A $6M
05/11Round B $4.25M
11/11Round B-1 $2M
02/12SVB Loan $2M
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
12/08VzlaLaunch
05/10LatAmLaunch
03/11LatAmRe-Launch
11/11BrazilLaunch
+100
+500
+1000
+2000
+4000
New Enrollments
Free Alpha Thinkglish.com
Subscription BetaEnglish180.com
CRM Set UpService Model
Video ProductionContent Library
Launch OpenEnglish.com
Student TestingModule
4/12Round C$43M
2012
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE38
Growing Pains
“With all the growth and developments, there was very little investment in the learning platform.” – Andres Moreno
• Rigid infrastructure made it difficult to add features• Limited personalization, ability to predict churn• Back end that wouldn’t scale more than 20-30% above
current volumes• 12 month product with one price point vs. ability to upsell,
continue over longer duration to improve LTV• Payment system only accepted money in US $ from
consumers who held credit cards, not local currencies
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE39
Choices
1. Rearchitect vs. Improve in place?– Continue to progress with incremental improvements
rather than stop everything, pay down technical debt and rearchitect the system from scratch
2. Inside team vs. outside team?– Who should handle the work: the current team or hire an
outside team so as to not distract the current team?
If you were Nic/Andres…what would you do?
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE40
Discussion
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE41
Summary/Wrap
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE42
Leading Thinkers/Books/Blogs
• Geoffrey Moore: Crossing the Chasm (read this!)
• Steve Blank: Customer Development Process (read Four Steps to the Epiphany)
• Eric Ries: Lean Startups (read this too!)
• Marty Cagan: Silicon Valley Product Group (great book and blog)
• HBS Prof Tom Eisenmann: Launching Tech Ventures (great blog)
• Sean Ellis: Startup Marketing (great blog)
• Andrew Chen: Growth Hackers (great blog)
CONFIDENTIAL PRESENTATION | PAGE43
Product Management 101:MIT Sloan Fall Seminar
March 19, 2014
Jeff BussgangGeneral Partner, Flybridge Capital
Senior Lecturer, Harvard Business School@bussgang
John AndrewsVice President Products
Oracle
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