It was a bone crushing time for the company and a morale crushing time for the employees. It happened nearly 20 years ago at a tech company I worked for. We were caught in the perfect storm. Bad News The dot com bubble had busted. Technology spending had plummeted. The company was mandated to restate […]
Yearly Archives: 2020
Could those with an engineering or science training have an advantage when building a startup?
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 […]
Who is a product manager?
Many #startups that I speak with are confused about the role of a PM. Often this role is filled by #founders, or business analyst or by someone in BD or sales. There are also organizations where this role is not created and sort of everyone (or no one) is driving. Is it simply lack of awareness? Or a […]
What is a product roadmap? Why do you need one?
Well, if you don’t know where you are going, how will you get there? Just like you need a map (now GPS) to get to a new destination, you need a map to help you chart a course for your product and business, whether you are a #startup or not. When you use a map for getting […]
Not getting traction for your early stage B2B product?
Early stage products often fail to get enough interest from the market in spite of solving an important problem. These 3 letters could help you fix that – ICP. Ideal Customer Profile is a framework to fine tune your targeting. Early stage products are different because the founders or product managers are still figuring out how to […]
How do you win against cheaper competition?
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 […]
Why “must have” and “nice to have” are not enough
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 […]
What’s the hardest skill to master as a product manager?
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 […]
This one skill can make or break your career as a product manager
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. […]
Should a #productmanager be techie or business person?
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 […]