3 Gems from around the (PM) world - Vol 27
Building new products in existing companies
Hey PMs
Happy Friday. Here are some things I found of immense value about product management. Hope you find them useful too.
In this post:
Gem #1: Building new products in existing companies by Tanguy Crusson (on Lenny’s podcast)
Gem #2: Path to Product Market Fit by Rob Snyder
Gem #3: Lazy work, good work by Morgan Housel
Do you like these gems each week? Please share with just one friend. Thanks.
Gem #1: Building new products in existing companies by Tanguy Crusson (on Lenny’s podcast)
Existing companies have an advantage. They have customers.
So building new products should be easy.
Wrong. Even big companies can falter.
Your segments, the competition the industry dynamics can all be different.
As someone who has built 0-1 products both in startups and in mature companies, I have had my share of success and non-success.
So is there a formula to what will succeed in existing companies.
I am not sure.
But you can learn more in this recent Lenny episode with Tanguy Crusson of Atlassian. He talks about Hipchat and other new products.
I was a Hipchat user, and then moved to Slack. Initially, I thought it was the pleasant experience and the high level of integrations that made Slack better. But Hipchat cold have done the same.
In this episode there are some interesting lessons about assumptions and validation, even within a large company with a captive set of customers.
Here is the link.Gem #2: Path to Product Market Fit by Rob Snyder
Rob Snyder at Harvard Innovation Labs recently shared a 91 page workshop slides for startups. The topic was the path to product market fit.
The main argument is that you start bottoms up and then move upstream. Start with one customer and get a case study. Then the next.
As opposed to a top down method for identifying segments and finding a niche and validating assumptions. That part resonated with me as well.
I advise most very early B2B founders, your first milestone is get one paying customer…then 5, then 20.
It’s a wonderful workshop. You can find the slides on his Linkedin post.
Gem #3: Lazy work, good work by Morgan Housel
“Boss, I am most productive in a bath tub where I get new ideas. Can you please install one in the office? “
Sounds ridiculous, no?
But …. should it?
120 years ago, we heralded the industrial economy which rewarded making widgets in a factory. Productivity meant clocking time on machines.
But the economy has now is shifted to knowledge and thinking work, where the machine is inside your head. But we reward pounding on the keyboard and showing your face at the desk. There is no measure or instrumentation for what is going inside your head when you are on a walk, or in the shower or generally meeting people. Heck, I get ideas just watching movies.
I am sitting in my backyard in the sun. But I am thinking about my next article and my coaching package. And later I will type it away quickly having done the major part of thinking. Am I lazing around or working in the sun?
In this podcast, Morgan Housel (my favorite podcast) make the argument that activities where you do most of your thinking as a knowledge worker like walking or meeting people should be encouraged and celebrated. Knowledge workers are being productive 24 x 7, not just when in office or on the keyboard.
Here is the episode.
If you missed my Tuesday newsletter this week, here is the link.
I am available for coaching and advisory for B2B product teams and startups.
Let’s start with a free 30 min intro call.
Interesting, would be happy to get top points from each podcast before committing to hear it.