1. What Lean Brings to Product
Marketing Management
by Cindy F. Solomon, CPM, CPMM
Global Product Management Talk
Startup Product
October 12, 2014
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

2. Cindy F. Solomon, CPM, CPMM
•Host, Global Product Management Talk
•Founder, Startup Product movement for product excellence
•Contributing author: ProdBOK, Product Management And Marketing Body of
Knowledge and 42 Rules Product Marketing #13 Emulate Twitter
•20 years of web development, services, consulting & software product
marketing and management at Apple, Vadem, NetObjects and start-ups in
Silicon Valley.
www.linkedin.com/in/cfsolomon/
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

3. Early Bird Tickets Available Now! http://productsummit.org

4. November 20-23, 2014
The Product Summit is the community conference for
developers, designers, founders & product managers: 4 full
days of interaction, workshops, experts, team challenge &
unconference to forward your product management career,
product team effectiveness & product excellence.
Join the community: events.bizzabo.com/productsummit

5. WELCOME TO THE STARTUP
PRODUCT FAMILY!
Startup Product is a movement for product excellence.
Startup Product welcomes everyone passionate about product
excellence, regardless of title, industry, or stage of growth, to come
together to share, learn and talk about what it really takes to
produce products that people love and how to build sustainable
businesses and revenue streams based on product excellence.
There is a lifecycle that every product, startup, idea and project
passes through to be realized. Focusing on where the product is in
its lifecycle enables a conversation that brings us all together on
what will serve the product most to arrive at product/market fit,
scale, sustain growth, and generate revenue streams.
Startup Product events and educational opportunities facilitate a
holistic view of product and a strategic foundation for innovative
approaches across disciplines.

6. WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT
THE PRODUCT SUMMIT SF
This year we bring even more activities and insights to make The
Product Summit the only conference of its kind focused on
achieving product excellence and forwarding product leaders
across industry, function, product type and lifecycle.
The Product Summit provides 4 days of interactive opportunities for
executives, product teams and practitioners, who are passionate
about product seeking to:
learn how to manage products,
find like-minded professionals and mentors,
learn from the mistakes of others,
get perspectives outside of their domain,
acquire tools to forward their product at every stage of the product lifecycle,
hone their craft for managing products across disciplines,
discover the latest innovations and methodologies, and
forward their careers.

9. 4 DAYS OF INTERACTIVE
PRODUCT IMMERSION
The Product
Summit
November 20,
2014
Workshop Day
November 21,
2014
Design
Thinking
November 22,
2014
Product Camp
SF
November 23,
2014
Future of
Product,
Productivity and
Product
Management
The single-track,
lightning-talk
format is
designed to keep
everyone in the
same room,
taking part in the
same
conversation.
2 Hour
Workshops
provided by
practitioners to
go deeper into
subject matter.
Participants may
choose 4
workshops
during the day.
Challenge to
design
sustainable,
profitable and
scalable
solutions
starting from
the knowledge
of the
consumer and
innovating in
the business
models.
Product Camp
San Francisco is a
community
unconference:
everyone is
invited to
propose topics
and present and
creating value
throughout the
day.

10. 1. What is Lean Product Marketing?
2. Distinctions between Product Marketing
Management And Product Management
3. How is Product Marketing Management currently
handled?
4. Move from Strategic View to Tactical implementation
5. Example of Lean Content Marketing Implementation
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

11. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
The Living Company
The ability to learn faster than
your competitors may be the
only sustainable competitive
advantage.
Arie de Geus
http://amzn.to/1hUX4fd

12. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
What is Running Lean?
•Speed, learning & focus
•Testing a vision by measuring how
customers behave
•Engaging customers throughout the
development process
•Product and market validation done
in parallel using short iterations
http://amzn.to/1fbBbpP

13. http://bit.ly/1fUZTdx
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

14. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Lean Principles
http://bit.ly/1ptVrI8

15. Value at every step
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

16. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
View of Product
Sales
Support
UX QA
Dev Marketing
Customer
smells
something
grey

17. Goal of Product Marketing
The goal and focus for any Product
Marketing team is to conceive,
develop, deliver, penetrate and end-of-
life the most successful product(s)
within its niche with successful repeat
performances again and again.
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
-Peter Buscemi
http://bit.ly/1oWyvml

18. Strategic Product Marketing
Product marketing management plays a
critical role in successfully driving products
into the marketplace by understanding the
current market environment and developing
strategy to drive customer awareness of the
benefits of adopting products and solutions.
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
- Cindy F. Solomon
Product Marketing Management Manifest 2010
http://bit.ly/1jnqEPK

19. http://bit.ly/1oWyvml
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

20. Product Marketing Activities
• Strategic
– Market problems, win/loss analysis, distinctive competence , market definition,
distribution, product portfolio, business plan, pricing, buy/build/partner, product
profitability
• Technical
– Competitive landscape, technology assessment, product roadmap, innovation, user
personas, requirements, use scenarios, status dashboard
• Marketing
– Positioning, buying process, buyer persona, marketing plan, customer acquisition,
customer retention, program effectiveness, launch plan, thought leadership, lead
generation, referrals & references
• Sales
– Sales enablement, sales tools, sales process, collateral, channel training, presentations &
demos, special calls, event support, channel support
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

21. Cross Functional View
Focusing on where the product is in its
lifecycle enables a conversation that
brings us all together on what will serve
the product most to arrive at
product/market fit, sustain growth and
generate revenue streams.
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Startup Product

22. http://bit.ly/1guBJg0
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Defining Product

23. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Donald Norman mapped
lifecycle of products
why good products can fail…

24. Lifecycle of Products
“In its early days, a technology cannot meet all the needs
of its customers.
Early adopters need the technology and they are willing to
suffer inconvenience to get it.
With time, the technology matures, offering better
performance and higher reliability.
When the technology exceeds the basic needs of most of its
customers, there is a major change in customer behavior.
Emotional reaction, pride of ownership, and pleasurability all
can become major selling points.”
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Donald Norman
The Invisible Computer

25. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1kYBida
Product Growth Cycle

26. Product Management Lifecycle
1. Conceive
2. Plan
3. Develop
4. Qualify
5. Launch
6. Deliver
7. Retire
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

27. AIPMM Product Management Framework
Product Management Product Management Product Marketing
+ Product Marketing
Product Management
+ Product Marketing
Source: AIPMM © 1998-2014, All Rights Reserved.
http://amzn.to/1b5tQs5
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

28. 1. CONCEIVE
• To Answer – What is missing?
• Is there a market? Opportunity? Need?
• People buy products to get jobs done
• Important to understand trends & needs
better than competitors
• Identify ubiquitous pains & unmet necessities
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

29. There is a lifecycle that every
product, startup, idea and
project passes through to be
realized that parallels the
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
“creative process.”
Cindy F. Solomon, CPM, CPMM

30. http://bit.ly/1h2dMLA
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

31. 2. Plan
To justify: Why Build it?
• Market Requirements Doc (MRD)
• Product Canvas / Business Model Canvas
• One Page Overviews
To justify: What to build?
• Product Requirements Doc (PRD)
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

32. http://amzn.to/1mr6Ew5

33. Positioning Statement
Template
To:
is the one
that
(One Target/Persona Type)
(Product/Company Name)
(Category)
unlike .
(Key Customer Benefit)
(Differentiator)
33
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://amzn.to/1mr6Ew5

34. Lean Canvas
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

35. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/1lhj89b

36. 3. Product Development
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
“Product development is a
process by which an
organization transforms data on
marketing opportunities and
technical possibilities into
information assets for
commercial production.”
- Kim B. Clark and Takahiro Fujimoto
Product Development Performance

37. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
MVP
Minimal Viable Product
“An MVP is about delivering real value to customers
for the purposes of maximizing validated learning.”
- Shardul Mehta
“It requires judgment to figure out, for any given
context, what MVP makes sense.”
- Eric Ries
http://bit.ly/1djE0tP

38. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
3. Develop
Create & Communicate Roadmaps for
stakeholders
To showcase: What is being Built Aligned with
business goals
• Feature and schedule tradeoffs
• Technical feasibility assessments
• Slippage and risks

39. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

40. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
4. Qualify
• Continuous iteration
• Beta testing for real world usage & interest
level

41. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
5. Launch

42. Product Marketing Drives Product Narrative
http://bit.ly/1h38PlL
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

43. http://bit.ly/OSXWs1
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

44. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
6. Deliver = Market
Contribute value
in every
interaction
http://bit.ly/1oWnoKh

45. Develop Lean Content
• Write less and say more
• Curate
• Analyze Data
• Create fast feedback loops
• Provide on-demand messaging
across platforms
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

46. http://bit.ly/1jy1RnN
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

47. http://bit.ly/1gvmpzz
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

48. Lean Content Marketing
1. Develop strategies based on dynamics of online search, content
marketing (brand journalism) and social media
2. Create great content that helps answer your target audience’s
questions and solve their problems
3. Publish content on the web and across social media channels
4. Promote content using search engine optimization, permission based
e-marketing and social media
5. Manage, maintain, review, update and archive content on an ongoing
basis
6. Collect, measure and analyze marketing data to assess
engagement, conversion rates, leads and sales
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

49. http://bit.ly/1nV9FXa
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

50. Exploit
Visual
Content
http://bit.ly/1gT1MYg
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

51. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Twitter
• Twitter Is the Leanest Communication
Vehicle
• Twitter is a broadcast medium with no
barrier to entry - anyone who is tuning
into Twitter can pick up anyone else's
signal.

52. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Why Twitter
“The qualities that make
Twitter seem inane and half-baked
are what make it so
powerful.”
Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard
Law professor, Internet
Expert, Author

53. Global Product Management Talk
Tweeted: “Let’s have a twitter chat for product managers!”
Tweet traveled 7400 miles
Designed Socratic Twitter Chat format
Discovered Difficult to tweet & discuss complex issues
Recorded thought leaders via Skype
Became top 10 business podcast on BlogTalkRadio
3 years >100 podcasts >35k listeners/episode
Community: >2000 SF members, >16 locations
Conference: Startup Product Summit (2X SF)
Unconference: Startup Product Open
Trainings: Startup Product Academy
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

54. Power of Twitter Chats
• Enables a parallel threaded discussion
where many people can talk at once
• Every voice is heard and documented
• Watch the conversation
• Identify & reach out to target
market/customers/interests
• Respond to a tweet/conversation on
demand
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

55. Benefits of Twitter Chats
• network
• share knowledge
• increase influence
• showcase thought leadership
• contribute value
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

56. Recommended Tweet Format
“Please Retweet: [article
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
name] [by @author]
[shortened URL] [optional
comment] [#hashtag]”.

57. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Anatomy of a Tweet

58. Twitter Chat Best Practices
1.Strategize
2.Plan
3.Promote
4.Produce
5.Lean Content Marketing
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
http://bit.ly/11ZuMfZ

59. Twitter Chat Format
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Socratic Method
• background content available prior to event
• pre-posted questions provided by speaker for participants
to answer
• participants may answer on their social platform of choice
• time boxed for live discussion
• twitter conversation occurs before, during and after
• enables capturing of educational material with
conversation for on-demand viewing and consumption post
event

60. © Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Twitter Chat Best Practices
Post Event
Following Each Twitter Chat
1. Capture tweets on storify http://storify.com/prodmgmttalk/
2. Post transcript to slideshare
3. Post and repackage content across mediums
beyond Twitter scoop.it
4. Blog
5. Reach out to local participants & meetup!

61. Daily Content Promotion Tools
1. storify http://storify.com/prodmgmttalk/
2. slideshare http://www.slideshare.net/CFSolomon/
3. scoop.it http://www.scoop.it/u/startup-product
4. Bufferapp
5. Blog Medium, Tumblr, Wordpress, blogspot
6. Prlog http://startupproduct.com/broadcast-news/
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

62. Key Takeaway #1
Contribute
Value
in every interaction
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

63. Key Takeaway #2
ASK
QUESTIONS
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

64. Key Takeaway #3
LISTEN
to what IS & what is NOT
being communicated
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

65. Key Takeaway #4
STRATEGIZE
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

66. Content Starts With
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com
Who?
Why?
What?
How?
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com

67. Thank you for sharing your precious time!
Please connect!
www.linkedin.com/in/cfsolomon/ @cindyfsolomon
Startup Product, movement for product excellence
http://startupproduct.com @startupproduct
Global Product Management Talk, weekly broadcast
@prodmgmttalk
Webcast Digest, daily curated online events
@WebcastDigest
© Cindy F. Solomon
cfsolomon@gmail.com