entrepreneurship is product management
TRANSCRIPT
ENTR
EPREN
EURSH
IP IS
PRODUCT M
ANAGEMEN
T
WHO AM I
• Co-founder @ Pokerspace.com, Lush Apparel • Senior Product Manager @ Miovision• Co-Founder @ Roadmunk
Bookworm, rock climber, improv enthusiast & skier
Startup Product Management
• Early ideation • MVP vs MSP • Design is not a luxury• Delighting early audience
and its tradeoffs
EntrepreneursProduct Managers
Let’s talk here, about the subtle differences.
What starting can look like.
Early Ideation: How to Choose and Validate
Eg: Bookxor was a tool for students to read and annotate lecture notes. In return, professors could see usage and readership analytics on their course notes.
Early Ideation: How to Choose and Validate
●Student & Professor○ Have you searched for a tool that does this?○ How much do you love current offering (1-10)?○ Problem 1-10?
Eg: Bookxor was a tool for students to read and annotate lecture notes. In return, professors could see usage and readership analytics on their course notes.
“7 means they’re being Canadian polite and it’s probably a zero.”
Real interview questions from PM
1. Do you have a current offering that’s easily displaced even if you don’t like it? (ie. BANT)
2. If you didn’t have this product for another year, what how would you feeling?
3. If our product / service did this, how often would you use it? If not daily, what would make it daily?
4. How much would you pay and if it’s fully featured how much do you expect the organization to commit? How much can you put down now?
If they’re not very excited, then assume they’re not interested at all.
Early Ideation: Where we started
We started out as a requirements management platform.
Even though we did 3 months of interviews, we did not ask the right questions and left it open-ended.
It wasn’t until I opened up my new idea in a P2P roundtable and someone said:
“I’ll pay for that, seriously!”
Early Ideation: Two-Week Validation for Roadmapping
1. Spent $500 on Google AdWords
2. Got 120 sign-ups and people messaging us asking questions
3. Let’s just make a few people very very happy
Product manager - Let’s validate the market even more! Entrepreneurial PM- We have one customer and 4 months of runway, let’s go!
“Nail the problem first and if you can, the market”
MVP vs MSP
Minimal Viable Product
Minimal Viable vs Saleable Features
MVPs MSPs
● Enable Conversation ● Drive a Sale
● Feedback after release ● Driven by Design
● Difficult for investors ● Feedback required prior to
● Investors can see results
Examples for MVP & MSP
MVPs MSPs
● Google Chrome only ● Fit to PowerPoint
● Deletion of account ● Export to Private / Password protected URL
● Simple permission system
● Corporate branding and colours
● Drag-and-droppable UI everywhere
Design is not a Luxury.
“Design is the fastest way to differentiate and capture market
attention.”
Design Principles & Language
● 3-click mentality● Cognitive Load● Play within the lines ● Tactful transitions
RelateIQ, Dribbble, Google Drive, Slack
How does the Kano Model differ for startup product managers?
Traditional PM
Startup PM
But my sales guy just closed a six-figure deal and they want us to build the moon?
Want Delighters and will pay!
Show adoption/growth in their org
Raising $ seed becomes easier
Tell sales to avoid these people
