Janna Bastow is co-founder of ProdPad, product management and road mapping software for product people. Janna is also co-founder of ProductTank and Mind the Product, a global community of product managers. She often starts and stops conversations with the question: “What problem are you trying to solve?”

1. What kind of
company
do you want to
grow up to be?

3. Discovery Delivery

4. Hi there!
I’m Janna Bastow
@simplybastow // janna@prodpad.com
Always open for a chat about product!

5. What we’ll talk about

6. The power of
discovery vs delivery
What we’ll talk about

7. The power of
discovery vs delivery
What we’ll talk about
Signs you’re veering
into agency mode

8. The power of
discovery vs delivery
What we’ll talk about
Signs you’re veering
into agency mode
How to get out!

9. Power of Discovery

10. What do you sell?

11. What kind of organisation are you?
Product Agency

12. Product companies
change the world

13. Chart that shows companies from 20 years ago vs today

14. via Suzie Prince - @pm_suzie

16. Monthly cost

17. Monthly cost

18. Monthly cost Agency work
Cumulative sales Profit

19. Monthly cost Agency work
Cumulative sales Profit

20. Monthly cost Product sales

21. Monthly cost Product sales
Cumulative sales Profit

22. $
Monthly cost Product sales
Cumulative sales Profit
External funding

23. Danger zone

24. $
Monthly cost Product sales
Cumulative sales Profit
External funding

25. $
Monthly cost Product sales
Cumulative sales Profit
External funding

27. Agency work
$
Monthly cost Product sales
Cumulative sales Profit
External funding

28. External fundingAgency work
$
Monthly cost Product sales
Cumulative sales Profit

30. Every minute of time a client buys
to have you work on their problems
is a minute you can’t spend
discovering and solving
the bigger problems in the world

31. Signs you’re veering
into agency mode

32. Sales led roadmap

34. Present dayNo discovery
Client commitments

35. Discovery led roadmap
Potential other
problem to tackle
Likely months away,
but aligns with vision
Objective
Objective
Objective
Objective
Objective
Objective
Objective
Objective
Objective
Immediate problem to
be solved, currently in
development
Immediate problem to
be solved, currently
being prototyped
Now Next Later

36. Product manager who’s
actually just a project manager

37. Feature factory

38. more features ≠ better!

39. We’re addicted to our features
“I can’t sell this unless we build this one thing”
“Acme Inc has this, why not us?”
“If only we had this one thing, everyone would love us.”
“When is this coming out?”

40. The Feature Factory problem
Problem: Constantly chasing the next idea
● Lots of ideas, lots of arguments or methods for which is the
most important
● Huge emphasis on getting things out the door faster (‘velocity’,
‘agile cadence’, ‘burn down’)
● Not a lot of time spent on checking that past ideas or
experiments were successful

41. The Feature Factory problem
Solution: Prioritize at the problem level
● Focus on solving the right problems, in the right order
● Don’t get stuck in a complex ‘stack ranking’ or ‘weighted
scoring’ system for picking top ideas
● Start with Vision, Objectives, Initiatives/Problems

42. How to get out!

43. How to get out
● Acknowledge it and have tough conversations

44. How to get out
● Acknowledge it and have tough conversations
● Set your ideal outcome
What kind of company do you want to be?

45. How to get out
● Acknowledge it and have tough conversations
● Set your ideal outcome
What kind of company do you want to be?
● Rearrange and train the team where needed

46. How to get out
● Acknowledge it and have tough conversations
● Set your ideal outcome
What kind of company do you want to be?
● Rearrange and train the team where needed
● Separate agency work and charge accordingly

47. How to get out
● Acknowledge it and have tough conversations
● Set your ideal outcome
What kind of company do you want to be?
● Rearrange and train the team where needed
● Separate agency work and charge accordingly
● Decrease dependence on project delivery cash

48. You don’t have to go product

49. Don’t fall prey to this
common startup killer!

50. What kind of company do
you want to grow up to be?
Product Agency

51. Thanks!
@simplybastow // janna@prodpad.com
Always open for a chat about product!
Ask me anything, or reach out if I
can help with anything at all.
Start a free trial or explore the
ProdPad sandbox to see a
discovery roadmap in real life
www.prodpad.com/sandbox/
linkedin.com/in/jannabastow