A no-demo tradeshow…

So, a few weeks back, a number of Product Management bloggers were invited to participate in a “blogfest” (blogapalooza?), responding to Steve Johnson’s post entitled “Why Demo at Tradeshows?“

Both Ethan and I responded to the call.

Having said what I said — give me the opportunity to have a meaningful one-on-one conversation with a valid prospect, and I’ll certainly trade a quick demo for it — I’m a bit surprised that I recently attended a small summit and tradeshow (200 attendees), and in two days, had a number of conversations with a number of individuals at our small “demopod”, and never once did I show running software.

A few key Powerpoint slides and references to the product brochures and data sheets were all that was needed to explain what we did, answer questions and scan their badges.

So, on one level, I admit that Steve (and those who agreed with him) had a point about tradeshow conversations. But on another level, I must also say that the small size of the show was a factor. Many of the people were more interested in the iPod we were giving away versus the software we had to sell.

So, perhaps the attendees read Steve’s article and agreed with him that they didn’t need a demo, or perhaps they were simply preoccupied with the end of the quarter, or maybe they wanted a demo, but because we never offered one, they didn’t muster the courage to ask. Or, maybe there was another reason, but in the end, I noted, somewhat surprisingly that after two days, no demo was presented. A first in my experience.

Saeed

iPhone vs. iPod Touch

A few months ago, to much fanfare and (possibly well deserved) hype, Apple released the iPhone.

People oohed and ahhed.

And a small number (1, 2, 3) OK…lots of people bought them.

Then Apple did something really interesting. Within a few months of the iPhone release, they dropped the price of the iPhone, by 33% (from $599 -> $399), and almost simultaneously released the iPod Touch.

The price drop really annoyed existing iPhone owners, and the new iPod Touch once again made people ooh and ahh.

The iPod Touch, is essentially an iPhone, without the phone, camera and a number of other features. The Touch is only 15 grams (1/2 ounce) lighter and 3 mm thinner than an iPhone. They have the same sized screen and function almost identically.

Why is this at all interesting?

First, people paid a premium price for the iPhone even though it was clearly quite expensive, AND it had a poor cell phone carrier plan. With the price drop, a customer revolt ensued, but Apple seems to have handled it well with a $100 Apple credit for any of the original iPhone purchasers.

Second, that the difference in price between an 8GB iPhone and an 8GB iPod Touch is only $100. $399 for the phone. $299 for the Touch. Makes you wonder. Is the phone portion such a commodity or are Apple’s margins really good on the Touch?

Third, and most important IMHO, Apple now has two different products that fundamentally share the same technology. And while this can be viewed as line extension (iPod, iPod nano, iPod shuffle etc.), in many ways this is really a big step forward for the iPod. It now becomes a mobile, wireless device, and not simply a portable music/video player. And the rumours are that the multi-touch pointing technology is next headed for the laptop.

So from a Product Management perspective, what can be learned?

1. Always keep innovating.The iPhone may be as great as all the hype, maybe not, but it truly is different in many ways when compared to other high end mobile phones. But note that in all the hype about the iPhone, was there any mention that this was Apple’s second kick at the telecom can? Anyone remember the ROKR? OK, it was a Motorola phone, but Apple was certainly involved in it’s development. Can anyone say boooring?
2. Communicate those innovations in intelligent and articulate ways to your market/customers in advance of the launch. By giving people 3 months notice of the launch of the iPhone, Apple ensured that word would spread and demand would grow. Many software companies wait until the ship date to communicate to the market and customers. This is a guaranteed way to delay revenue.
3. Leverage your technology investments and deliver multiple solutions to different market segments.It’s always great to create a completely new product with new technology and new functionality. But, what’s even better is to get multiple returns on a single technology investment by being able to repackage, reposition, and resell different slices of the same technology to address problems for different users and use cases. If you are in the BUSINESS of technology, and not simply the technology business, this is something you really need to focus on.

Saeed

Welcome back Cranky!

So, the CrankyPM’s blog is back up after disolving into the ether(net) for a couple of weeks. So, on some level, things have returned to normal for her, though personally, I really had hoped she’d return as the Cranky CEO. Now that would have been really interesting!

Saeed

Why A Real Market Of A Few Is Better Than A Mythical Market of Millions

From OnStartups: Why A Real Market Of A Few Is Better Than A Mythical Market of Millions.

There is an overlap between entrepreneurship and product management; sizing markets and opportunities is probably the most important. Start-ups aren’t the only companies that fall into the trap of the “mythical million market” - established companies do it too.

Product Manager vs. Product Management (part 1)

I recently finished a series of articles on being a Great Product Manager. I want to switch gears a bit and spend some time talking about the function of Product Management in software companies. As we know, product managers and product management are not isolated to software companies, but the role of product management in software companies is different from the role of product (or brand) management in other domains, such as the financial sector or Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) firms.

For example:

• How many new “features” does a “release” of a new shampoo have?
• How much time does the brand manager spend with the chemists working on that new shampoo formulation during the “release cycle”?
• How much discussion is needed on how the consumer will actually use the shampoo?
• Are whitepapers and product demos that important for shampoo?

This is not to belittle brand management in CPG, but simply to give a few examples of how issues in CPG product management may be different than those in software product management.

One nice thing about CPG Product Management is that it is fairly well defined. For CPG, Product Management is, without question, a marketing function. CPG Product Managers need to be business focussed and have a keen understanding of media and web marketing, demographics, finance and analytics. They need to be able to grasp the differences in various global markets, and be able to market global brands locally, as well as create local brands and products as needed in specific markets.

The 4 P’s (product, place, price, promotion) are fundamental to them. And, with the web growing ever omnipresent in our lives, and the emergence of new technologies allowing customers and companies to communicate more intimately with each other, terms like interaction, interruption and mass-customization are heard quite frequently.

Now compare this to Product Management in most software companies. Honestly, how many software product managers could list the 4 P’s, let alone talk confidently about the dynamics of international markets and how they impact their software products?

Full disclosure: I always list “Position” as one of the P’s (product, position, price, promotion), even though it is not. I really think it should be! Also, while I have been the PM of products that have had world-wide distribution including full localization into languages such as Japanese, French and Korean, I really had little insight into the dynamics of those markets. For the most part, beyond the specific localization, those markets received exactly the same functionality as every other geography, and it was up to local partners and distributors to market the product in the ways they saw fit.

The reality is that software product management is still an immature function. Most software companies define and staff product management in a reactionary manner. Typically a product manager is hired once the founder or CTO or chief architect or other corporate thought leader reaches the limit of their abilities in defining the product, or things become so messed up in the company with a product or technology strategy, a member of the Board of Directors tells the CEO to get a Product Manager.

It really shocks me that VC’s don’t make it a funding requirement, at minimum in the series B and above rounds, that a startup must have an experienced Product Management executive on board. Think about it? These folks are in the business of investing in technology companies. Their objective is to maximize the likelihood of success for their investments. As such, why would they not view Product Management as a critical role, on the same level as Sales, Marketing and Engineering?

I recently asked a couple of VCs this question. The answers really surprised me.

One said, quite candidly, that he really didn’t understand the role of product management very well, but that he had recently learned a lot more about it via interaction with one of his portfolio companies. OK, thanks for the honest answer, but not very reassuring from my perspective.

Another said his expectation was that the founders would fill in for the PM function until such a time as it made sense to bring dedicated product management into the company. I asked the latter VC why he didn’t view product management as a critical role to fill right at the start? He said that when he makes investments, it’s fundamentally the management team, and particularly the founders that he’s investing in. Pulling in a PM who isn’t a close associate of the founders in the early stages can be disruptive to the management team.

OK, certainly a better answer, but it says a lot about software product management when those who make their living investing in software companies cannot see enough benefit in the function to have it outweigh any concerns they have about personalities and fit in the management team.

In the next post, I’ll dig deeper into the software product management function and discuss some ways to improve both the status and discipline of the role.

Saeed

Related Articles
Product Manager vs. Product Management (part 2)
Product Manager vs. Product Management (part 3)
Product Manager vs. Product Management (part 4)
Product Manager vs. Product Management (part 5)
Product Manager vs. Product Management (part 6)

Disneyland knows Product Management

A couple of years ago, when we were still living in the SF Bay Area, my wife and kids and I took a holiday down to Southern California. The objective was to hit the theme parks, see sights etc. Pretty typical stuff.

We first drove down to San Diego and went to SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo. The zoo was pretty good and lived up to expectations. We liked the cable car ride over the zoo. It’s always nice to get up over the trees and see the world from another perspective.

The animal displays and pens were quite varied and certainly much better than the rather dated looking San Francisco zoo. But in the end it was still a zoo: pretty good but not really distinguished from any competing zoos.

The next day, we went to Sea World. Sea World is a bit of a strange place to be honest. From a positioning perspective, it’s part aquatic zoo, part educational institute and part theme park, but not exactly any of them. Schizophrenic is the term I would use.

SeaWorld started out as an attraction displaying marine mammals (sea lions, dolphins, killer whales etc.) performing various tricks. As the years went by, rides and other attractions were added to keep the people interested and occupied. There are only so many times people are willing to pay money to watch a killer whale perform a backflip!

From a product positioning perspective, this schizophrenia is troublesome.

During our day there, we attended the almost obligatory show featuring Shamu the killer whale. One thing that really annoyed me though, was that just before the show started, a brief video came on, featuring August A. Busch IV, welcoming everyone to the park and, in particular welcoming all the military families (San Diego is the home of the largest US Naval base on the West Coast) and acknowledging their sacrifice.

August A. Busch IV is the President and CEO, of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., the parent company of the SeaWorld and Busch Gardens theme parks.

Now, what was my problem? I’m on holidays with my family. I’m looking to remove myself from certain realities of the world and enjoy some time off. The last thing I want is to hear is a corporate/political pitch by some CEO who I’ve never heard of. Seriously…it completely removed any vacation context from my mind.

But then, given the schizophrenic nature of SeaWorld’s positioning, it should have been expected.

Next we went to Disneyland in Anaheim. We had bought three day passes for the family. Possibly overkill, but we wanted to take our time in the park.

So, why does Disneyland understand Product Management? Well comparing Disneyland with both the zoo and SeaWorld, there were a number of clear differences, starting from the moment we entered the grounds.

First of all, strange as it sounds, I can’t sing enough praises about the parking garage at Disneyland. Yes, you read that right. Disney has made even the mundane task of parking, ruthlessly efficient. Disney staff direct incoming vehicles into successive rows of empty parking spots. Contrast this to other parks, where, like in a shopping mall, you hunt up and down rows for an open spot.

After the parking lot, the tram ride into the theme park itself, helps put people into the right “Disney” frame of mind so that once they enter the park, they are ready to start enjoying the experience. And experience is the right word.

Once inside the park, there is no reference to the external world: no CEO videos, no newspapers, no CNN news feeds, nothing. The park staff are all in costume, down to the clean up crews, who do their jobs efficiently and unobtrusively.

Aside from the rides, the various characters that stroll around the park were interesting. Most, like Mickey, don’t talk. Some, like the green toy soldiers from Toy Story, don’t simply stroll, but enact certain behaviours that we’d expect of them. The soldiers, for example, move around the park in small groups, skulking from small building to small building.

My favorite character though, had to be the evil queen from Snow White. No fake smiles here. She kept a scowl on her face from the moment we encountered her. Yes, she took pictures with the kids, but not without throwing out a a few evil comments about princesses and dwarves. I think she’d give the CrankyPM a run for her money!

There were many other memorable things about the time we spent at Disneyland such as the evening fireworks and the truly unique Fantasmic show. But from a Product Management perspective, what I liked about their product was that it delivered on their promise, in an engaging, consistent, and satisfying way.

From installation (the parking lot), throughout the product usage lifecycle (3 days) and to the uninstall (back to the parking garage) we really enjoyed our time there. I’m not a big Disney booster (ask my wife), nor do I hold Disney stock, but the trip exceeded my expectations and despite the premium price over other parks, delivered real value. We won’t go back to SeaWorld or visit Busch Gardens, but will definitely go back to Disney theme parks.

I wrote a while back about a great experience with the premium-priced Dyson vacuum cleaner. In that post, I said:

when you build a superior product that turns a dowdy market-segment into one where customers rave about the product to their friends, you deserve success.

Now, I wouldn’t call theme parks “dowdy”, but I’ve never heard of too many people rave about SeaWorld. And I’ve been to other theme parks (Great America, Canada’s Wonderland) and neither provide the real experience that Disney does.

It’s more than simply positioning and consistency. It’s an end-to-end attention to detail, to really understand the needs of the target audience, and fulfill those needs as best as possible that makes a product successful.

And it’s not simply about having efficient parking lots and lack of external interruptions. Those are necessary in this case, but not sufficient.

It’s about defining a culture of customer focus throughout the organization, and ensuring that every customer interaction lives up to a standard that beats your competition. If you can do that, not only can you charge a premium price for your product, but you’ll develop incredible customer loyalty as well.

The technology industry could learn a lot from Disney.

Saeed

In Search Of: CrankyPM.com

OK, this might just be a DNS problem in my region of the Internet, or some temporary problem at Cranky’s hosting service, but I can’t seem to get to http://www.crankypm.com.

What has befallen this site? The domain is valid until 2009.

Has she reformed her ways? Is she no longer cranky? Has she been promoted or started her own gig? Will we look forward to http://www.crankyceo.com?

Keep us posted if you have any info.

Saeed

Amusing Tales of Product Managers

From the NY Times:

“Yeah,” he said, “I couldn’t tell you at the time, but your review was right on. I wouldn’t have used one of those units on my own computer if you paid me!”

I am shocked by what I read in this article. Shocked and appalled!