Ever wondered what the difference is between B2B and B2C product management? In this event, Anand discussed the core of what it is like to be an Enterprise Product Manager, drawing upon his experience at Microsoft and Checkr. Enterprise Product Management has different challenges and rewards than consumer products, and while you may find that consumer products are more exciting, think Spotify, Snapchat, Instagram,, working on an Enterprise product is extremely fascinating as well. Aside from general Enterprise Product Management, Anand talked about what it is like to be a Product Manager at a startup vs. a large company, the exciting things happening in the background check space and his experience working with people across various disciplines.

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7. Anand
Lakshminarayan
TONIGHT’S SPEAKER

8. Enterprise Product Management
Anand Lakshminarayan

9. About Me

10. What is “Enterprise”?

11. “Enterprise” Misconceptions
Myths
➔ BIG
➔ Recognizable
➔ Just “gotta know”
Reality
➔ No obvious definition

12. What is an “Enterprise” customer?

13. So, what is Enterprise “Product
Management”?

14. “...organizational lifecycle function within a company
dealing with the planning, forecasting, and production,
or marketing of a product or products at all stages of
the product lifecycle…” (for the Enterprise)

15. ● Work with stakeholders (internal or external) to
support their business needs through a defined
product and iterate/innovate on those needs
● Examples:
○ Amazon (AWS)
○ Zenefits
○ Checkr
○ ZeroCater
Defining an Enterprise PM

16. Cohort customers to
capture requirements
One “buyer”
Roadmap can be destroyed
New vs. redefining old
Growth potential nearly
unlimited
Monetization sometimes not
obvious
Enterprise Consumer

17. Enterprise Product Lifecycle

18. ● Customers will want everything to be fully end-to-
end, tested, and production ready
● Hard to convince a customer (or buyer) to switch
to a half-baked solution without an interesting
value proposition
● Even if solution is “better” than what is existing,
have to consider switching cost, training, support,
etc.
Challenges

19. Case Study

20. ● Slack just “blew up” in
2013
○ Missing key phase of
feedback!
● Through feedback came
discovery of how to
build a generalized chat
solution
○ Rdio, Cozy, others
Slack Overview

21. ● Slack was in “beta” for over 6 months
● Enterprise products affect entire teams, as
opposed to consumers affecting individual
users
● Customer feedback is critical not just in
beginning but continuously
Learnings

22. This seems easy

23. ● Blindly taking in customer
requests will lead to
disjointed product
● Have to have a strategy
behind product decisions
made
● Cliche warning: North Star
Strategy & Vision

24. Case Study

25. ● Created in 2014
● API for BGC
● Key differentiators
○ Turnaround time
○ Cost
○ Accuracy
Checkr Overview

26. Understanding Customer Needs (PAM)

27. 1. Direct, in-person interviews
2. Observing customer usage of Product
3. Getting information from Customer facing
teams
4. Just take your best guess and assume!!!
Getting Enterprise Feedback

28. What is being an Enterprise PM like?

29. Big
- “Buy-in” is name of the
game
- Decisions are mostly
top-down
- Release schedule
varies
Big vs. small company
Small
- Think fast, release
faster
- Decisions bottom-up
with approval from
leadership
- Open to different ideas
from anyone

30. ● Windows Developer
Platform
● 6 month release cycle
● Massive amounts of
testing
● Roadmaps planned out 1-2
years in advance
● Worked across
many teams
● See rapid
customer and
company growth
● Product decisions
change quarter to
quarter

31. ● Roadmaps entirely
customer driven
● Every project subject
to change
● Deal size given highest
priority
Product Process (beginning)

32. ● Strategic projects
incorporated into
roadmap
● Value of customer
considered but not
absolute
● Time set aside for
discovery vs.
implementation
Product Process (today)

33. 1. Meetings with stakeholders, customers
2. Time set aside for spec writing
3. Feedback sessions with Engineering
4. Sprint planning & reviews
5. Extra time devoted to quarter / long term
planning
Day to Day

34. ● Enterprise PM involves a lot
of customer interaction
● Take feedback and use it to
drive enhancements to
products and workflows
● Use observation to derive real
customer need for product
innovation
● Gifs make presentations
better
Key Takeaways

35. Thank you!
anand@checkr.com

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