Tag Archives: planning

Completely Weighted Systems

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Building product models is an art, not talking about building prototypes but building financial models. Modeling is a product managers domain not the CFO. The finance guys are your best friends in this and have skills you do not need to command however you have functional knowledge they will never grasp.

How do you know costs cross functionally if you do not walk through every step from raw material sourcing through sales and support? There are a few things that are often missing from models: Development costs and Redevelopment costs! New features also will eventually lead to new platform requirements as will expansion.

Recently I was reviewing a services firm model and while there was cost inserted for new staff and ramp loss to productivity there was no cost expansion on services for that new staff. Not the payroll overhead but the support.

Productivity is critical in early stages of an offering, my base is model to 75% of productive not any higher. We all ebb and flow as reflected in output then there is change that stops it all. Once the service grows the economies of scale allow you to raise that to 85% or better but I suggest sand bagging you numbers.

Product managers excel when they learn not to fight change, modeling needs to embrace change. When you are building a lifecycle model and the curve is up then plat only you are not doing your work. Weighting a lifecycle model requires you to embrace change including all of the implied and embedded costs of new features, platforms. re designs that go with growing and sun setting your product.

Mining companies include closing and clean up then a few lawsuits. Are you that complete?

Go to market or come from market?

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So much focus is on go to market plans these days that it seems like it is the only term that marketers and Product Managers are judged by. When solid front end PM work is done identifying the opportunity, testing, modeling…. the GTM should flow out of this data.

Front end planning defines users, value, competition and more then adds information about where the target market lives, breaths, takes advice and cues. Segmentation work defines price point and distribution, estimates responses writes sales PPTs or channel materials.

Truly successful GTMs come from the market research and product testing sessions. I do not mean to reduce the value of the tactical elements or the value of planning and execution but here I am addressing the GTM Plan not GTM actions. The plan states we are going to drive to NY and use a four door sedan, stopping for gas every 150 miles, stopping in Chicago.

Once the road trip begins weather and road conditions will crop up and change things. You need to monitor the engine constantly then respond to the environmentals. From my perspective building a GTM is not as critical a skillset as running a GTM effort from launch through the product lifecycle including sunset.

Adding Value through mobile services aggregation

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Mobile is the center of our web experience more and more. Working a project on Mobile Financial and payment strategy it strikes me how many in the ecosystem thing they are the lynchpin and 0thers need to work with them vs. building 1+1=3 value. 

 If the mobile accesses the web and every part of your customers experience is separate Apps/services, where is the value of mobile?  Let’s go back to Context and the user experience thinking!  Pull your head out of your narcissistic a$$ 

Strategic Product Management for stat-ups is difficult I understand. Start-ups need to believe they are changing the world and that their idea will be the future next great thing everyone will want. Then when reality hits they back up and think about partners and ecosystems and channels and distribution…..

Mobile demands aggregation! What is your API strategy?? How will you share and get customer data? How will your customers move across partner applications to experience your value? Many experiences are 1+1+1+1……. Who are, What the other ones?

Cycles – Gaussian Curves and Long Tails

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Until recently the Bell Curve ruled everything. Today there are the Long Tail theories of unlimited distribution and sales potential delivered by the more infinite terms of the internet.   The long tail basically states that equal gross and net terms can be experienced from many small successes as can be from a large Tornado like experience. 

Common proof points are often cited in Netflix and Amazon. Yes their machine is pumping out widgets be they movies, books or music by the thousands and the more standardized their product and distribution terms the more they can lower costs to the customer and maintain margin. 

SaaS software also point to the many from one. The counter argument is that the tornado is Amazon itself, remember single click checkout. Or Netflix with their subscription. For that matter think of any publishing model. 

Cycles are part of life, they will change and must!  Models change and preparation can sustain growth as can new products or one plus features. But as we say here!

To be a Box there must be a top and bottom! The smart marketer knows both!