3 Gems from around the (PM) world - Vol 2
Hey PMs
Happy Friday. Here are some things I found of immense value about product management. Hope you found them useful too.
In this post:
Gem #1: How to do Industry analysis by Steve Blank
Gem #2: A case for product led retention by Jason Lemkin
Gem #3: How to be happy by Morgan Housel
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Gem #1: 10 steps to analyzing your industry by Steve Blank
As a PM, we have to learn to understand your industry. That means not just understanding customers but also the industry drivers, competitors and other factors that may impact the sales and profitability of your product.
It is especially important for founders trying to create something in a market.
This article is a gem from Steve Blank, who was also my professor in my MBA class. In this article, he breaks down how to do a thorough industry analysis in 10 steps.
Basic Industry Understanding
Diagram the industry and its segments
Create a glossary of industry unique terms
Who are the industry experts in each segment? For the entire industry?
Key Conferences, blogs, web sites, etc.
Detailed Industry Understanding
Who are the market leaders? New entrants? In revenue, market share and growth rate
Understand the technology flows
Understand the economic flows
If applicable, understand the personnel flow for each segment
Forecasting
What’s changed in the last 10 years? 5 years?
What’s going to change in the next 5 years?
Here is the link to the article.
Gem #2: A case for product led retention
I follow Jason Lemkin of SAASTR for his deep wisdom and insights on the B2B SAAS. There is a ton of discussion on product led sales and product led growth. He recently kicked off a discussion on Product Led Retention which few people talk about.
Here is the thread you can follow.
Gem #3: How to be happy
I recently started listening to the Morgan Housel podcast. Each of his episodes are golden and I will share more of his podcast in this issue.
Morgan wrote the book “The Psychology of Money” and I highly recommend everyone, especially people in early to mid careers.
Hint: It’s not just about money.
In one episode he talks about what makes you happy. As PM, we are always stressed about our job and career. You may be a high earner but are you happy?
I feel that if you are inherently happy and satisfied with your life and work, then you will produce better outcomes.
Do you agree?
Here is the episode on Apple Podcast and Spotify.
Connect with me on LinkedIn and X.
I post twice daily on my experiences in B2B Product Management.
Here is one of my posts that went viral.
I am available for coaching and advisory for B2B product teams and product managers. I can help with transforming your team to be revenue and product centric and help align product strategy with business strategy.
Let’s start with a free 30 min intro call.