In this talk, we will understand the challenges & risks associated with new product development. We will also learn the concept of a discovery process to minimize these risks in a systematic way. During the talk we will build a fictitious product using the discovery process to understand this methodology.

1. Building New Products -
Rallying the team (Part 4)
SUNDAR RAJAN
3/25/2019
1

2. About me
 Principal PM at Microsoft
 I am an ex-Googler, ex-Investment Banker
 Been with Microsoft >5 years - Shipped E2E product / key scenarios on Bing Ads, Bing Search,
New Product / Market Insights
2

3. Before we start..
These are my views and not the views of my organization
As you can imagine, nature of PM roles varies across the products & business groups
 This is “a way" of building new products not "the way"
There are many different ways to do build new products.
 I consider myself a student of craft! I have a lot to learn!
I have had some success with this method. But there are pitfalls as well. Happy to share my thoughts and hear your feedback!
 Acknowledgements
SVPG, “Inspired” book, PMHQ articles, Innovation Arts / Project Signals, Lean Launchpad, “This is Product Management” podcast and others
3

4. Key Steps for building new products
4
Frame the problem
Ensuring executive & partner alignment -
building a shared understanding of the
opportunity and risks
Mitigate risks through Discovery
Mitigate customer, stakeholder &
technology risks through customer
discovery, stakeholder FAQs &
technology prototypes
Rally the team
Rally your executive sponsors, key
partners & development teams through
the pivots!
Fundamental principle: Acknowledge that new innovations fail. Do everything you can to
minimize the risk of failure as quickly as possible!

5. This is part 4 of the 4 part series:
(1) Introduction to New Product Development
(2) Framing the problem
(3) Discovery Process
(4) Rallying the team
5

6. Scenario
Imagine VP of Product at Career.ly (Fictitious tech based job placement company) wants to build a
new product for aspiring product managers! And you are the chosen PM to head this effort! How
would you go about it?
Target Customer: Non PMs who are aspiring to switch to a PM role.
6

7. Rally the team!
Talk to your development team!
Talk to leadership & partner team
 Showcase customer anecdotes
 Showcase synthesized findings
 Show new recommendations & open it up for brainstorming
 Talk to the team! Especially to people impacted with Pivot!
7Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love
Rally the team

8. Show case customer anecdotes
“Nobody reads resumes. It is all about referrals. When I get the referral, I should be well prepared for
a PM interview. PM interviews are case based and I need to practice well. I find it very difficult to
practice them myself.” – Matija
“I can build my resume by looking at LinkedIn profiles of experienced PMs. I don’t need a paid
service for that.” – John (click here to listen to the audio)
8Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love
Rally the team

9. Rally the teamShow hypothesis progression map and call out key pivots
9
Exploring Validated Invalidated / AbandonedNot-exploring yet
Product for aspiring PMs
Success: Engaged PM
community and channel
placement rate >= 30%
Resume Builder
Help me build a PM resume & LinkedIn profile
PM Course
Help me study the basics of PM role
PM connect: Role Understanding
Help me connect with PMs to know more about pm
role
Interview Practice
Help me connect with PMs & Peers to prep for PM
interviews
Job Search
Help me apply for a PM job
Business Goals Customer Promise / Value Props Key Scenarios / Features
Time for Pivot!
Let us explore Interview
Practice scenario and PM
connection scenarios
further.

10. Hypothesis
Progression
1 0
Exploring Validated Invalidated / AbandonedNot-exploring yet
Product for new &
aspiring PMs
Success: Engaged PM
community and channel
placement rate >= 30%
Resume Builder
Help me build a PM resume &
LinkedIn profile
PM Course
Help me study the basics of PM
role
PM connect: Role Understanding
Help me connect with PMs to
know more about pm role
Interview Practice
Help me connect with PMs &
Peers to prep for PM interviews
Job Search
Help me apply for a PM job
Tinder for aspiring PM
Match PMs aspirants based on a
tinder like profile match
Interview Mentor
Identify PMs in the targeted
company for a paid interview
practice
Rally the team
Visually communicating of direction changes & progress in
hypothesis is crucial in navigating through pivots.
Otherwise, you will be seen as randomizing the team!

11. Rally the team!
 Show hypothesis progression map and call out key pivots
 Talk to individuals & teams impacted by pivot!
 (Tell the truth, get them involved in solution, find ways to reuse work)
 Brainstorm solutions
 Show new story maps
 Align the team structure and OKRs with the story map
1 1Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love
Rally the team
Talk to individuals
& teams impacted
by pivot!

12. Scenario – “Cool” Idea from the team
As you review hypothesis progression board with your team, a
data scientist says how about we build a “PM Interview bot!”
PM: Can you prototype “What is your favorite product”
conversation with the bot?
1 2
Rally the team

13. Scenario – Hippo Opinion
In your business review meeting with leadership, VP of marketing
asks you to build a “PM Portfolio” (similar to “Designer Portfolio”) to
help aspiring PMs to help showcase your PM skills
1 3
Rally the team

14. Rally the team
Exploring Validated Invalidated / AbandonedNot-exploring yet
Product for aspiring PMs
Success: Engaged PM
community and channel
placement rate >= 30%
Resume Builder
Help me build a PM resume &
LinkedIn profile
PM Course
Help me study the basics of PM role
PM connect: Role Understanding
Help me connect with PMs to know
more about pm role
Interview Practice
Help me connect with PMs & Peers to
prep for PM interviews
Job Search
Help me apply for a PM job
PM Portfolio builder
Market place of projects to help
aspiring PMs to help showcase your
PM skills
Tinder for PM Interviews
Match PMs & aspirants based on a
tinder like profile match
Interview Mentor
Identify PMs in the targeted
company for a paid interview
practice
PM Interview Bot
A chat bot which simulates the PM
interviewer with follow up
questions
Hypothesis
Progression
1 4
New Ideas added

15. Story boards!
1 5
Matija registers on
the portal
Matija is shown a
new set of aspiring
PMs every day
Matija swipes left /
right based on his
interest to interact
Matija is notified if
there is mutual
interest
Matija connects
with John to
practice an
interview
Matija registers on
the portal
Matija selects
companies of
interest
Matija is shown a
list of PMs who
work in those
companies
Matija requests
meetings by
selecting candidates
of interest
Matija connects
with John to
practice an
interview
Tinder with aspiring PMs (Score: 2.8) – Other aspirants might not be good enough
Interview Mentor (Score: 4.2) – Willing to pay for this service and get mentors because they have gone through this
interview process before.
Rally the team

16. Exploring Validated Invalidated / AbandonedNot-exploring yet
Product for new &
aspiring PMs
Success: Engaged PM
community and channel
placement rate >= 30%
Resume Builder
Help me build a PM resume &
LinkedIn profile
PM Course
Help me study the basics of PM role
PM connect: Role Understanding
Help me connect with PMs to know
more about pm role
Interview Practice
Help me connect with PMs & Peers to
prep for PM interviews
Job Search
Help me apply for a PM job
PM Project builder
Market place of projects to help
aspiring PMs to help showcase your
PM skills
Tinder for PM Interviews
Match PMs & aspirants based on a
tinder like profile match
Interview Mentor
Identify PMs in the targeted
company for a paid interview
practice
PM Interview Bot
A chat bot which simulates the PM
interviewer with follow up
questions
Hypothesis
Progression
With additional rounds of validation
1 6
Rally the team

17. Be prepared to answer this question - “so how does my
work fit in?”
1 7
Rally the team

18. Rally the team
Defining the team structure for execution
As the stories become clearer, it is important for every individual in the team to know how their work
contributes to the full picture.
Story maps help you realize that effectively!
It is a very powerful way to ask for additional investments as well.
1 8

19. 1 9
Matija registers on
the portal
Matija selects
companies of interest
Matija is shown a list
of PMs who work in
those companies
Matija requests
meetings by selecting
candidates of interest
Matija connects with
John to practice an
interview
LinkedIn
Registration
Google | FB
Registration
New User
Registration
form
Selects companies
from drop down list
Recommended
companies based on
current openings &
skillset match
Show all list of
registered mentors
from the selected
company
Enable filtration by
availability,
popularity, recency
Build
recommendation
engine based on
profile
Clicks “Request an
interview”
Builds a smart list of
requests – If the first
person doesn’t
respond in 3 days,
automatically request
next
John accepts the
request
John shares his
calendar with
available slots
Features are for illustrative purposes.
Rally the teamVision Storyboard with increasing clarity!

20. Rally the team
Vision Storyboard with increasing clarity!
2 0
Matija registers on
the portal
Matija selects
companies of interest
Matija is shown a list
of PMs who work in
those companies
Matija requests
meetings by selecting
candidates of interest
Matija connects with
John to practice an
interview
LinkedIn
Registration
Google | FB
Registration
New User
Registration
form
Selects companies
from drop down list
Recommended
companies based on
current openings &
skillset match
Show all list of
registered mentors
from the selected
company
Enable filtration by
availability,
popularity, recency
Build
recommendation
engine based on
profile
Clicks “Request an
interview”
Builds a smart list of
requests – If the first
person doesn’t
respond in 3 days,
automatically request
next
John accepts the
request
John shares his
calendar with
available slots
Features are for illustrative purposes. Green = MVP

21. Rally the team
Vision Storyboard with increasing clarity!
2 1
Matija registers on
the portal
Matija selects
companies of interest
Matija is shown a list
of PMs who work in
those companies
Matija requests
meetings by selecting
candidates of interest
Matija connects with
John to practice an
interview
LinkedIn
Registration
Google | FB
Registration
New User
Registration
form
Selects companies
from drop down list
Recommended
companies based on
current openings &
skillset match
Show all list of
registered mentors
from the selected
company
Enable filtration by
availability,
popularity, recency
Build
recommendation
engine based on
profile
Clicks “Request an
interview”
Builds a smart list of
requests – If the first
person doesn’t
respond in 3 days,
automatically request
next
John accepts the
request
John shares his
calendar with
available slots
Team A Team B Team D (Make an ask for additional investments)
Platform Component 1 Platform Component 2
Features are for illustrative purposes. Green = MVPTeam C

22. 12-18 months later!
You have a new product – Interview Mentor! (with multiple success stories!)
What started out as a resume builder is completely different today!
But it still aligns with VP’s vision of helping career switchers get placed by creating a new channel of
acquiring talent!
2 2

23. Its only a start!
 Figure out the business model!
 Launch a successful product and track success metrics
 Continue to listen to customers though customer advisory board, ideas forum, social channels, instrumentation,
customer service & others
 Continue to build hypothesis led A/B experiments
 Grow the team, grow the business
 Face newer challenges from the market place dynamic shifts!
2 3

24. Key Steps
2 4
Frame the problem
Ensuring executive & partner alignment
building a shared understanding of the
opportunity and risks
Mitigate risks through Discovery
Mitigate customer, stakeholder &
technology risks through customer
discovery, stakeholder FAQs &
technology prototypes
Rally the team
Rally your executive sponsors, key
partners & development teams through
the pivots!
Fundamental principle: Acknowledge that new innovations fail. Do everything you can to
minimize the risk of failure as quickly as possible!
What is business rationale for this new product?
What does success look like?
Who is our customer segment?
What problem are we solving for them?
What are our key risks?
Create a portfolio of customers
Identify key pain points & needs (Customer
Discovery)
Validate usefulness value props, low fidelity story
maps, working prototypes (Product Discovery)
Validate pay worthiness
Show hypothesis progression map
Call out key pivots
Talk to individuals & teams impacted by pivot!
Brainstorm solutions
Show new story maps
Align the team structure / OKRs with the story map

25. Questions | Comments | Feedback
2 5
Contact me: sundarrajan.g.s@gmail.com