Everyone knows that most startups fail. Year after year CB Insights survey publishes a survey that does post-mortem analysis on failed startups. For many years in a row now – the top reason is: “No market need.” Bad product, lack of funds, and pricing are in the top 5 but not the top most. This is telling. Many founders get …
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Not too long ago I was talking to one of the best product managers I know. She and I were discussing what it takes to lead cross functional teams. “Product Managers must be multilingual,” she said. It was a “lightbulb” moment. And no, we were not referring to the common meaning of multilingual. Most PMs lead teams made of developers, …
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Whether you are building a new product or adding to an existing product, figuring out what to build is key task for a #productmanager. #Prioritisation is a must. It directly impacts the success of a product and often the career progression of a #PM. It is hard because ⁃ usually there are so many things to do when the product …
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If you are a b2b product company selling in any market, you are bound to run into competitors that offer a cheaper solution. This happens very often when you are selling to cost or value conscious markets like India. There will always be someone willing to sell it cheaper. Think of this as a never ending problem. Once a solution is …
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Being a PM is a hard job. You have to know a bit about – tech, business, design, marketing and you have to know your customer and market better than anyone else. You have to be good at communication, negotiation, presentation, simplification, persuasion and arguably the hardest – prioritisation. Prioritisation is hard because there are just too many people pulling …
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The answer is a bit of both, but more importantly a student. Willing to keep learning. Studied engineering in college and exposure to computers was only for building simulations. – First job: learnt about databases, SQL, Analytics – Learnt to be a developer and then an engineering manager – Then took up a role of #pm. Dev background helped establish …
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When I started as a PM, executives would doze off or ignore my points during monthly updates. Not only did I appear to be fumbling in my new role, but also I was doing a disservice to my team that was toiling away and building something great. In one on one interactions I did fine. I could make well crafted …
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If you are a #founder and have pitched to investors – you would have almost certainly been asked this: What if “Google” or “XYZ” (replace with the largest player in your segment) builds a competing product? 1. Know your competition and their products. Just because a large company enters a space, it does not guarantee their success. Orkut, Google+, Glass…. …
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It could also be the hardest to master. What is this overlooked #PM skill? No, it’s not persuasion. No, it’s not domain knowledge. It’s certainly not technical skills. Its the ability to say “No”. Saying NO to customers when the demand doesn’t match the #strategy or #roadmap. Harder if that is your early customer for a new #product or you …
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Could those with an engineering or science training have an advantage when building a startup? Founders and product managers who are able to question and validate their assumptions usually end up creating successful startups and products, especially in new spaces. Is there a way to actually do better than follow the Lean startup method? Very interesting read from Harvard Business Review. …
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