Like most people in my field, I too like to dabble in both sides of product management and entrepreneurship.  I think its important to keep myself abreast of what is happening in the innovative startup world, even if it is mostly hype and noise and rarely actually adding value. But I think it is also useful to get bigger company and corporate experience so you have a steady stream of experience, connections, ideas [and income].

While there are similarities between product management and entrepreneurship, I think that they are VERY different things in many ways. This important to think about because I’ve seen a few startup-guys really blow up in the corporate world because they were too entrepreneurial. And I’ve seen a few big-company product people really drop the ball in the startup world. So it’s a good thing to think about from time to time.

First, some of the similarities I’ve noticed:

• They both have the goal to build a compelling product.
• They both rely heavily on engaging the customer from the beginning for ultimate success.
• They both should focus on the business model (or discovering it).
• They both require a multi-disciplined approach.

Some of the differences that I’ve noticed include the following…

Entrepreneur:

• More distractions at every stage because you’re not just building a product, you’re helping to build a business at the same time.
• More adaptability is required because there isn’t a lot of long-term momentum to tap.
• More raw will power to see things through because there are shiny objects under every rock when you’re in a startup.
• More tension and risk to manage (you will not be able to transfer to another division or product line if things don’t work out).
• More energy becuase the potential upside is a lot bigger for everyone (hopefully).

Product management:

• More focus often because you have an existing customer base or an existing market that you’re going after.
• More discipline because you need  to keep everyone on the same team and moving forward in the same direction.
• More political skill is required because you need to negotiate with many power brokers in your organization and get their support.
• More effort to inspire and encourage (cheer-lead) because people often don’t see what’s in it for them.

What does all this mean? Well, it is important to approach the jobs with a different mindset, a different skillset, and a different set of expectations. It’s not that one way is always better or worse than the other. They are just different types of roles and that’s useful to appreciate.  If you don’t learn to separate them, then I think you’re setting yourself up to really blow up your job (and possibly your company).

I know every company is different, every startup is different, and generalizations like the ones above are always easy to prick at. But these are just a few high-level differences that I’ve seen to get you thinking about it.

Enjoy.

I recommend this book at least once a month to someone: Will and Vision, by Gerard Tellis and Peter Golder. It’s  classic.

Some of the lessons I often think about include:

• There is no such thing as “first mover advantage” when it comes to technology. It’s often the opposite actually. The first movers make all the mistakes and invest all the up front costs, and the winners come in second and capitalize on you.
• It’s not enough to have the will to succeed. You also need a vision you want to realize. Without a vision you’re not sure what you are building, where you should focus, and what you should sacrifice to get there. A vision gives you a target to aim everyone at. If you don’t have that, then everyone starts thinking for themselves and their own careers, their own pocketbooks, and their own individual needs before the company. And when that happens, things fall apart, products start to suck, people miss deadlines, and you slowly decline into mediocrity.
• But it’s also not enough to have a vision you want to accomplish. You also need the will to get there. You need energy, enthusiasm, drive to accomplish your goals. You need people who care, people who get things done, people who are intrinsically motivated to succeed. Without the will to get shit done inculcated at every level of your organization people start to slack off, and the slack off disease spreads like the plague. But the key here is intrinsic motivation. It can’t be solved by throwing money or stock options at people. You have to inspire them to get the most out of them. You have to capture their imagination.

Anyway, I’m going beyond the scope of this book with my own ranting. But it’s still a good read. It will give you good ammunition to blow up the next argument from those who say “we have to be first’ for first’s sake.” No. We should never be first for first’s sake. We should be the best at how we want to distinguish ourselves in the market, and let’s focus on that instead.

Enjoy the book.

Here’s a great quote, “Take the mavericks in your service,” he tells new officers, “the ones that wear rumpled uniforms and look like a bag of mud but whose ideas are so offsetting that they actually upset the people in the bureaucracy. One of your primary jobs is to take the risk and protect these people, because if they are not nurtured in your service, the enemy will bring their contrary ideas to you.”

From Gen. James Mattis, USMC

This book shows how creative and innovative people will eventually rule the world. It explains what the creative class is, how it is motivated, and how to ensure you get the most out of your creative workforce. Creatives are the engines of the future, and anyone who wants to drive forward needs to know how to harness their capacities.

Richard Florida is the guru of this type of thinking. His book is a classic.

Here’s a little prodman rant for you.

I have a pet peeve. I hate process. I hate it because I feel like it restricts my options, wastes my time, and because it too often inserts useless power struggles into everything.

Of course, I was a business process consultant for a while. So I understand the need for good processes to make things more efficient and effective inside of organizations. Without any processes you get anarchy and madness. And without some amount of processs nobody can get anything done. So some process is good.

But that experience also taught me the danger of processes. I’ve seen how too much process can sap the energy, enthusiasm, and spirit of people. I’ve seen how too much process can drive people crazy. I’ve seen how too much process can can make some people think they are more important then they should be. And I’ve seen how too much process can slow things down to the point that any normal person just gives up rather than get something truly innovative or creative done.

So when it comes to product management, my mantra for process is: “just enough, and no more.”

What that means to me is that we need just enough process to get things done, but we need to stop there. This means we need to fight the urge to solve every problem, every complaint, and every mistake with a new process. We need to be vigillent against the people who want to insert themselves into product management activities so that they can feel some kind of control, constancy, or order in their world. The fact is, making good products means spilling some milk, making some mistakes, and learning as we go. If we want everything perfect all the time then we’re in the wrong business.

If you ask me, making up new processes to keep everyone happy is what bad product managers do. Instead, a good product manager needs to lead, inspire, and encourage people to deal with a little chaos from time to time. So let’s not freak out every time something goes wrong and start inserting new workflows, new approvals, and new jobs for other people just so we cover our butts.

When it comes to process, “just enough, and no more.”

Some people think that a great process will make great products. I have to disagree. The fact is, in product management we ship products, not processes. We need to accept that some new products upset processes. And that’s a good thing. That’s what makes new products better, more efficient, and more effective. Sometimes a new product will change or eliminate processes. Sometimes a new product will even require a whole new set of processes. That’s OK too as long as we keep it simple from the beginning.

To me, part of the product management job should be looking for processes we can kill. Therefore, we need to be wary of becoming attached to any process, and instead keep our focus on brigning awesome products to market at every stage of the game.

In the end, we need to adapt process to make great products, not the other way around.

Ok. Enough ranting. Back to product:)