Slide deck of the presentation on " ISPMA White paper- Ensuring continuous market fit" by Hans- Bernd Kittlaus presented at SPM Summit India 2023 at IIM Bangalore

1. ENSURING CONTINUOUS PRODUCT MARKET FIT IN FAST MOVING MARKETS
ISPMA® White Paper
Based on a Panel – Powered by Currnt
Hans-Bernd Kittlaus March 2023
ISPMA® - InnoTivum

2. Agenda
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
• 1
The Research
Question
• 2
The Approach
• 3
Results for
Startups and
Mature
Organizations
• 4
Conclusions and
Management
Summary

3. • InnoTivum CEO, ISPMA Chairman
• SPM Management Consultant, Trainer, Coach, Author
• Certifications ISPMA SPM, Scrum CSPO, PRINCE2 Practitioner
• References Infosys, Samsung, IBM, Lycos, BearingPoint, Talend,
German Savings Banks, Postbank, AVL, Lufthansa Systems, e.a.
• Organizations
hbk@innotivum.de, www.innotivum.com
3
Hans-Bernd Kittlaus

4. Publications
hbk@innotivum.de, www.innotivum.com
4
Hans-Bernd Kittlaus

5. 1. The Research Question
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit – Key Objective for Startups
Initial

6. 1. The Research Question
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit during the Product Life Cycle
• Topic not really considered in the literature outside of the startup scenario
• How relevant is it in later stages of the product life cycle?
• Can mature organizations learn from startups (and vice versa)?
è ISPMA Research in cooperation with Currnt

7. 1. The Research Question
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
How are product management leaders managing to ensure their software products and/or software-
intensive products become and stay relevant, in particular in faster moving markets:
• Best practices of startup product leads
• Best practices of product professionals of larger companies managing existing portfolios
• What can they learn from each other?

8. 2. The Approach
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Panel on Currnt Platform - September 16, 2022 to November 2, 2022
• Involve expert practitioners
(with experience in different phases
of the product life cycle)
• ISPMA members
• Practitioners in the industry
(identified through AI-powered
internet search)
• Let them have a guided discussion
• Summarize results

9. 2. The Approach
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Panel on Currnt Platform
Mikkel Locke
Winther
Product Leader,
Strategist and
executer... at
ProductFIT DK,
ISPMA Certified
Product Manager
Marco Ruffa
Digital
Transformation
Director @ PINKO
Head of Luxury
market @ Luxochain
Innovation designer
& datadriven
creative consultant
Joe Parsons
Product Manager
Jimmé Peters
Marketing &
Communications
executive creating
engaging messaging to
eloquently share the
customer story | Board
Member | Executive
Counsel
Thiru
Damodharan
Marketing Insights &
Innovation | Digital
Leadership &
Transformation |
Strategy & Planning |
NUS-Fudan Dual MBA
degree graduate
Jonathan
Ralton
Senior Product
Manager / Team
Lead, Digital
Enablement
Josh Tilley
Strategy Director
Reva Minkoff
Founder and President of
Digital4Startups Inc.
Samar Hamdy
Co-Founder & CBO
Motti Elbaz
Chief Marketing Officer
Adrian Deen
Innovator |
Entrepreneur |
Investor
Logan Fan
Product Manager
Michael
Fruhling
We help our clients
accelerate new
product development
by sourcing external
innovation inputs.
Ahmad Yousuf
Fintech | Health IT |
Product Management
Gregor
Marboe
Product Rocker |
Communicator |
Digital Designer
Gaurav
Mittal
Co-Founder and CEO
Panagiotis
Goros
VP Product
Management
Jennifer
Frigault
Matthias
Schlegel
Product Manager
Autonomous
Simulation
Romain
Lenglet
Chief Architect /
Technology and
Business Consultant
Derek
Granath
Sr. Director, SD-
WAN Product and
Technical Marketing
Facilitator
Tara Hodgkins
Product Manager
Andre Felippa
Partner | Chief Strategy
Officer
Ronald
Bruijn
Co-founder, Investor,
CEO
Shreekant
Patil
Designer and
Communications
Coordinator at
Plastinax Eyewear
Guenther
Ruhe
Professor
Reidar Marin
Berg
Management
Consultant at
BearingPoint
Harish
Srigiriraju
Distinguished
Engineer, Technical
Product Management
Ophir
Mubarik
Co-Founder and CSO
at Vultus
Karmpal
Mistry
Deputy CEO
Cristiano
Bellini
Head of Product
Management
Mahmoud
Abdelaziz
Founder & CEO
Katharina
Klotz
Head Of Marketing Asia-
Pacific
Nevindaree
Premarathn
e
Senior Manager -
Startup Ecosystem
Development
Thomas
Steinborn
VP Products at
DataOps.live
20+ years with product management in
the IT industry, dealing with complex
technology solving complex issues.
Includes software product management,
hardware and cloud based SaaS. Working
with diverse stakeholder groups and
handling large international partner
ecosystems, building relations to both
large industrial partners and government
institutions.

10. 2. The Approach
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Panel on Currnt Platform - September 16, 2022 to November 2, 2022
Discussion structured into
4 Product Market Fit themes:
1. Needs and Drivers
2. Tools, Best Practices and Solutions
3. Envisioning the Future State
4. Viable approaches and actionable output
Outcome: 3 keypoints per theme

11. 3. The Results
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
THEME 01: Product Market Fit - Needs and Drivers
Keypoint 02:
The pandemic has accelerated the expectation to adapt the product market fit quicker to meet the demand
of the digitalization of products.
During the Corona period,
processes that should have taken 5
years in market education were
shortened to 5 weeks. Everyone has
become accustomed to consuming
digital services in a moment and at
all ages. Consumers expect the
company to think digitally.
One of the lessons we should take
from the impact of Covid-19 on
markets is that markets will always
evolve and adapt to current human
circumstances and PMFs have
totally shifted and changed with
the pandemic.
“ “ Prior to the pandemic companies
would take months to launch a new
feature, quietly testing, dipping
their toe in the market, etc. We
didn't have that luxury during the
pandemic and consumers wouldn't
allow it.
“
Motti Elbaz
Chief Marketing Officer
Jennifer Frigault
Ahmad H

12. 3. The Results
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
THEME 02: Product Market Fit - Tools, Best Practices and Solutions
Keypoint 01: Tools
Customer insights, VOC, market analysis are the preferred PMF tools. Listening to your customers is key.
Other useful tools are A/B tests, MVP and Prototype work, preferably in co-creation with the market.
Extensive VOC work is the best tool
in my PMF tool belt.
Ongoing testing and listening of
your broad customer base is so
important.
“ “ The Product-Market Fit Pyramid is
an actionable model that defines
product-market fit using five key
components.
“
Joe Parsons
Product Manager
Jimmé Peters
Marketing & Communications
executive creating engaging
messaging to eloquently share
the customer story | Board
Member | Executive Counsel
Ahmad Yousuf
Fintech | Health IT | Product
Management

13. 3. The Results
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
THEME 03: Product Market Fit - Envisioning the Future State
Keypoint 03: Focus
Mindset and culture matter!
Tools alone won't do it,
organization without tools won't
excel -- but there's one more critical
element: the right culture and
mindset.
Organizational - allow
employees to express their
opinion honestly without fear.
“ “ Failure needs to be ok.
“
Reva Minkoff
Founder and President of
Digital4Startups Inc.
Andre Felippa
Partner | Chief Strategy Officer
Motti Elbaz
Chief Marketing Officer

14. 3. The Results
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
THEME 04: Product Market Fit - Viable approaches and actionable output
Keypoint 02: Challenges and proposals for startups.
Documentation and products in sensitive sectors require a more structured approach.
"Corporate approach" is perfect for
startups that have products dealing
with sensitive types of data in
sensitive sectors like fintech,
insurtech and healthtech areas. In
addition to putting the regulator as
part of the product stakeholders
from day one.
Documentation can be handled
through wise management that
ensures deliverables on both
business and code level. It
comes through practices and
making it a part of each task for
each member of the team.
“ “
Samar Hamdy
Co-Founder & CBO
Mahmoud Abdelaziz
Founder & CEO

15. 4. Conclusions and Management Summary
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit – A Continuous Task
a. Product Market Fit is a continuous challenge and objective
across the product life cycle from the early startup stage to
the maturity stage due to
• Changes in the market
• Changes in and additions to the product
b. Startups and mature organizations (corporates) can learn
from each other – with adaptations.

16. 4. Conclusions and Management Summary
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit – A Continuous Task
General findings:
c. With the pandemic, products and PMF have been becoming more customer-driven,
require more customer involvement and speed to meet the demand of the digitalization of products.
d. There is a need to constantly monitor and potentially adjust product market fit
based on product analysis and chosen metrics.

17. 4. Conclusions and Management Summary
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit – A Continuous Task
General findings:
e. Listening to your customers is key. Customer insights, VOC, market
analysis are the preferred PMF tools.
f. Best Practices center around the customer: customer surveys,
mapping the customer journey, ‘jobs to be done’.
g. Speed, agility, and focus on value count in all scenarios.

18. 4. Conclusions and Management Summary
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit – Advice for Corporates
Add more generalists to the teams
to increase big picture understanding and
to enhance the organization's ability to pivot and respond
to the market.
Manage customer relationships in a personalized way.
Manage customer expectations when applying
“experimental” startup approaches.
Develop or nurture a mindset and culture
where people are allowed to challenge company
decisions, and
failing fast is accepted as a way to improve the product.
Focus on
leadership and decisive action,
simplicity, speed and agility,
value and resilience.

19. 4. Conclusions and Management Summary
Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Product Market Fit – Advice for Startups
Learn from corporates’ more structured approach and
benefit regarding
documentation, reuse, scalability
without hurting the startup mindset,
in particular for products in sensitive sectors.
Not having PMF could cause the end of the venture.
Failing fast, rapid go to market etc. are key!
Mindset and culture matter!

20. Ensuring Continuous Product Market Fit
Hans-Bernd Kittlaus
ISPMA Chairman + InnoTivum CEO
hbk@innotivum.de
Questions ?