The document discusses the impact of COVID-19 on product strategy, emphasizing the need for businesses to adapt their plans in response to the evolving market conditions. It highlights significant contractions in certain industries while noting growth in online services and crisis healthcare. The guidance includes maintaining employee well-being, re-evaluating priority items, and leveraging feedback to adjust product roadmaps accordingly.

1. Covid-19’s Impact On Your
Product Strategy
Rich Mironov
For Synerzip
12 May 2020

2. • Software product management (1988+)
• Mentor/coach product leaders
• “Smokejumper” VP Product Management
• Blogger (2002+), early Agilist, founded
Product Camp
• Outcomes >> processes
About Rich Mironov
THEARTOFPRODUCTMANAGEMENTRichMironov
THE ART OF
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
L E S S O N S F R O M A S I L I C O N VA L L E Y I N N O VAT O R
Rich Mironov
“Rich is a thought leader among technology practitioners.
He balances practical experience with systematic insights
into how products are built and what makes start-ups
successful.This book captures the wisdom he has
accumulated, along with considerable scar tissue.”
Henry Chesbrough, author of Open Innovation and
professor at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business
The Art of Product Management takes us inside the head of a product
management thought leader. With color and humor, Rich Mironov gives
us a taste of Silicon Valley’s tireless pursuit of great technology and its
creation of new products. He provides strategic advice about start-ups
and big organizations, how to think like a customer, and what things
should cost—while reminding us to love our products and our teams.
The Art of Product Management brings together the best insights from
more than seven years of Product Bytes.
“This book is for everyone who needs to understand how customers think and companies
work. Don’t plan your next product until you’ve read these real-life lessons.”
Steve Westly, CEO of The Westly Group and former California State Controller
“The Art of Product Management is a true resource for product management and market-
ing problem solving.This book should be on every product professional’s desk.”
David Taber, CEO of SalesLogistix
“Like a master filmmaker, Rich sheds a soft light on the sometimes harsh realities of prod-
uct management, bringing a rare moment of entertainment to those of us solving hard
problems for our customers.”
Luke Hohmann, CEO of Enthiosys
“I’ve trained thousands of product management professionals over the last 12 years at
Pragmatic Marketing and have recommended Product Bytes to seminar attendees since
it began in 2002. Each article hits a product management pain point and gives specific
tips or tools to solve it”
Steve Johnson,VP, Pragmatic Marketing and
author of The Strategic Role of Product Management
“In my 15 years working with technology companies, Rich is the ONLY product guy I’ve ever
found who truly understands the processes, people, and politics behind creating products.
This book should be required reading for every product manager in Silicon Valley!”
Andrea Corney, President,Acorn Consulting
“Any aspiring or experienced product manager can use Rich’s collection as an illuminat-
ing set of career mile-markers.”
Steven Haines, President of Sequent Learning Networks and
author of The Product Manager’s Desk Reference
US $21.95
2160647814399
ISBN 978-1-4392-1606-4
90000 >
@RichMironov

3. • First: Business Check-In
• Next: Team Check-In
• Then: Product Strategy Check-In
• Takeaways
Agenda
@RichMironov

4. Situation in your industry
• Deep contractions: travel, retail,
restaurants, in-person events,
energy, elective healthcare…
• Uptick: online tools, online entertainment,
physical delivery, crisis healthcare
• Slowdowns: enterprise software,
financial, manufacturing (by audience)
[1] Business Check-In
@RichMironov

5. • Can your business survive?
• Realistic 2020 revenue guesses
• Staff: deep cuts?
Short-term reassignments?
Ramp up hiring?
Product strategy is subset
of business strategy
You’re Already Working on This…
@RichMironov

6. For the teams we can keep
• Are they physically safe, heathy, fed?
• Practicalities of working from home
• Complex individual challenges
For those we can’t keep
• Fair exit packages, stock vesting
• Aligned reference stories
• Our reputation matters
[2] Team (Employee) Check-In
@RichMironov

7. Work tools and interactions
• Webcams, collaboration software,
Wi-Fi hotspots, printer/scanners…
• Lightweight retros (e.g. Zoom burnout)
Emotional and company culture
• Conscious support for parents (etc): hours, productivity, focus
• “Bring your pet to the meeting” or karaoke & cocktails
• Drop-ship food, chocolate, team t-shirts, diapers
Helping The Newly Remote
@RichMironov

8. Think (quickly) before we act (quickly)
• Fundamental long-term changes for our customers?
• Urgent-but-short-term need to shift priorities?
Then validate (quickly) to reduce group-think
Easy to pile on (AND vs. EXCLUSIVE OR)
• Already at capacity: what will we delay/cancel?
• Resiliency and productivity are probably down
Product Strategy Check-In
@RichMironov

9. • Audience: churches and not-for-profits with
member events
• Top Q2 roadmap item was… kid check-in at
in-person meetings
• Short-term need: more capacity for online
event streaming
• Re-prioritize? remote requests for help
How could we add value now? Make an impact?
Example: Mobile App for Religious Groups
@RichMironov

10. • Audience: large banks and lenders
• Top Q2 roadmap item was…
faster in-branch account set-up
• New need: late fee waivers, mortgage
deferrals (quick >> perfect)
• Re-prioritize? Rescoping of consumer-to-consumer
cash transfers (6+ month project à 6 week fixes)
Example: Back-Office Banking Systems
@RichMironov

11. • Original audience: meetings for 10M+ corporate users
• Suddenly new audience: 200M+ shelter-in-place consumers
• Urgent new needs: scalability,
security vs. “zoombombing”
• Re-prioritize? Consumer
ease-of-use vs. corporate controls
Example: Zoom
@RichMironov

12. • Business survival drives people plan and product
strategy
• Your roadmap was built with last year’s
assumptions
• Validate urgent but small short-term adjustments
• Moving something forward requires moving
similar-sized item back
Takeaways
@RichMironov

13. Rich Mironov
CEO, Mironov Consulting
www.mironov.com
+1-650-315-7394
rich@mironov.com
@richmironov

14. Your Agile Software
Co-development Partner
1. Accelerate delivery of your
product/technology roadmap
2. Address technology skills gap in
your in-house team
3. Save >50% with India-based
software development talent
4. Leverage US based professionals
to make it easy for your in-house
team to collaborate

15. 15
Synerzip Clients - Representative Sample
…100s more
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley/NYC
Silicon Valley
Texas
MichiganTexas
Texas
Texas
Texas
Silicon ValleyTexasSilicon ValleyOregon
Texas
Texas
Nebraska
Texas/Florida
Florida
New Jersey

16. API as a Product
Tuesday, May 19, 2020
@ 1pm ET | Noon CT | 10am PT
Presenter:
Rajiv Kaushik
Product Director, Open APIs and
Integration
FIS Global

17. TEXAS | SILICON VALLEY | NYC | INDIA