Main takeaways: - Sexy Products do not always sell - User journeys and customer discovery - Course correct, anticipate risks, be up front

1. www.productschool.com
Embracing Failures & Bouncing Back
by fmr PayPal Principal PM

2. Join 40,000+
Product Managers on
Free Resources
Discover great job
opportunities
Job Portal
prdct.school/PSJobPortalprdct.school/events-slack

3. CERTIFICATES
Your Product Management Certificate Path
Product Leadership
Certificate™
Full Stack Product
Management Certificate™
Product Management
Certificate™
20 HOURS40 HOURS40 HOURS

4. Corporate
Training
Level up your team’s Product
Management skills

5. Srividya
Sunderamurthy
T O N I G H T ’ S S P E A K E R
1994 20181995 1997 2002 2013 2016

6. did not get it right either..

7. Apple Maps (2012)iPhone 4 Antennagate (2010)
The iPhone 4's antenna is the stainless steel
band that runs around the edge of the phone.
The antenna for WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS is the
smaller strip beginning in the bottom left and
running to the top, and the cellular radio for
voice and data is the much larger strip running
around almost three quarters of the phone.

8. But they bounced back..

9. Failure is actually good as long as
we learn from it
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” - Robert F. Kennedy
“It’s failure that gives you the proper perspective on success” - Ellen DeGeneres
“The phoenix must burn to emerge” - Janet Fitch
“Failure is delay, not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end.” - Denis Waitley
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.” - Paulo Coelho

10. My goal for this session
Share some learnings on product lifecycle
Summarize key takeaways

11. #1 -
Gather user
feedback early on
from end users
What usually happens
● You get the initial concept validated and aligned and
then you are heads-down
● Getting carried away in product execution is very
common
● User stories, JIRA tickets, sprint planning is all part of the
game
● Answering engg questions and reviewing mockups are
essential
BUT
● Keeping the users in the loop is much more critical
● Providing regular updates on where the product is at
● Discussing different facets of the product helps build
trust and rapport between the PM and end users (even if
it is an internal facing product)

12. #2 -
A sexy product
does not always
click
What usually happens
● Customers / end users are awed by the bells and
whistles of a slick looking prototype or a MVP of the
product .. it’s an easy sell only at the beginning
● They get blinded by the animation, graphics, ability to
move things around, personalize etc.
BUT
● Staying focused on aspects such as performance,
problem solving, user efficiency and how does it
integrate with the core offering is much more critical
● Answering the question whether the product solves
the problem that it is designed is far more important
● If there is a alternate rudimentary version of the
product it is important to know if the new product will
replace the old version and if not why not ..

13. #3 -
Get SME opinion
to steer the
product in the
right direction
What usually happens
● Often times PMs get into a new domain and they are
brought into create features that they might not have
enough context on
BUT
● Build a support system of SMEs who can be the voice
of validation for your product
● Do not be ashamed of showing that you do not know
much of the domain .. yet..
● Product management is a continuous process of
learning and discovery
● You are not only the central point of disseminating
information but also are the key to assimilating
information from the right sources

14. #4 -
Build the product
GTM right
What usually happens
● You have an idea or you have a customer who is
demanding that the product needs to have certain
features
● You jump right in to start the rqmnts and building the
product
BUT WAIT ..
● Always take the time to do an opportunity assessment
first .. as described by Marty Cagan himself
● Exactly what problem will this solve? (value proposition)
● For whom do we solve that problem? (target market)
● How big is the opportunity? (market size)
● What alternatives are out there? (competitive landscape)
● Why are we best suited to pursue this? (our differentiator)
● Why now? (market window)
● How will we get this product to market? (go-to-market strategy)
● How will we measure success/make money from this product?
(metrics/revenue strategy)
● What factors are critical to success? (solution requirements)
● Given the above, what’s the recommendation? (go or no-go)
There are several frameworks available that help you prioritize
the product or a feature
● RICE
● The MoSCoW method
● Story Mapping

15. #5 -
Watch your
competition
What usually happens
● You have released your product and you have a few
customers
BUT to increase customer acquisition and adoption
● Take the time to look around and assess the
competition . invest the time to do a SWOT analysis
● Know your product’s strengths & weaknesses
● Sales enablement is key, ensure that they know the
product facts

16. #6 -
Always metrify
your product
What usually happens
● You want to release the product to get the early
mover advantage
● Or make the deadlines based on user expectations
BUT
● Do not compromise on metrifying the product
● The more hands-on you can get with data analysis the
more successful you are in showcasing how well your
product is doing
● Publish KPIs & metrics - # of users/customers, #usage
metrics, #of alerts generated, detection rate, System
uptime, downtime etc.

17. www.productschool.com
Part-time Product Management Training Courses
and
Corporate Training