To simplify it, product management is focused on the building the right product, and product marketing is focused on selling the product to the right customers. It’s a very important difference that we should remember. We don’t always have control over both sides of the fence in our careers, and we have to do the best with what we have, but I think a product person should learn both the product management and product marketing as much as possible. For me, I’ve seen it come up in several ways:

First, sometimes your company just doesn’t have both functions and you have to do both. The fact is, the work needs to be done if the product is going to be success. So if you don’t have a dedicated product marketer, then you have to be that person. And if the company has no product managers, then you have to push to influence development and engineering. So knowing both sides of the fence is important because sometimes you don’t have a choice.

Secondly, when there are two functions, they should be aligned from the very beginning. How many times have products failed when during the “hand-off” between product and marketing? We see it all the time. Therefore, its important to have marketing along for the ride. And the more you know about what they do, how they work, and what they need to be a success, the better.

Even better, it is important to have marketing involved with the customer development process from the beginning, so that marketers can see the value you are creating for their audiences. This saves time, creates aligned interest, helps perfect the messaging, and drives marketers to focus on finding the right customers.

Thirdly, both product and marketing should collaborate over time to be effective. They should iterate their respective tactics to learn, fix problems as they come up, and adapt strategies to changing realities. Information needs to flow back and forth freely. And for that, you need trust.

So my little tip is that if you are a product marketer, learn a bit about product management. And if you are a product manager, learn about product marketing.

Of course, this is a double-edged sword that you need to be aware of. If you ever do move to the other side, you also need to learn to let go and let someone else do that job. Otherwise, if you move from product to marketing, you could create tons of conflict with whoever fills your past role because they are not doing things the way you did them. And if you move from marketing to product, you need to let the marketers do their job, even if you would do it differently. Otherwise trust breaks down, and things fall apart.

Here’s a great book about the Customer Development Process, a term offered to us by Steve Blank. It’s a bit of an oldie at this point, but these days I hear everyone in entrepreneurship classes are reading it, and for good reason.

The content is a bit repetitive and could have used some serious editing, but I really like the concepts and systematic approach to building a market for your products from the ground up  (as opposed to building a product for a “potential” market). The reality is, both efforts should go hand in hand.

Personally, my biggest beef with the book is that it makes it seem like if you check off a few boxes and jump through a set of hoops that you WILL end up with a successful product. In my experience, that just isn’t true. I’m sure Steve Blank would also agree because he’s a smart guy and caveats everything he writes effectively. But I still get a sense that people will read this book as some kind of magic formula for guaranteed success in startups, and I don’t think it is.  I’ve used many of these techniques over the years and still failed.

The fact is, I always enjoy when engineers think they have “cracked the code” for delivering successful products  with some kind of newfangled process or product design model. In my experience, there is no secret process that will solve all our problems.  That is, there’s still quite a bit of magic pixie dust required for success that is found in the right timing, the right people, the right opportunities, the right connections, and being in the right place at the right moment that no amount of boxes, arrows and process charts will every replace.

But if the stars are aligned, then Steve Blank’s approach offers light upon light. So I recommend it  highly.

Enjoy.

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.

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.

From Gen. James Mattis, USMC

One interesting thing I’ve found is that people’s definition is often colored by their background, even subconsciously. For example, engineer-type product managers tend to focus on aligning technical requirements with business objectives. Sales and support-type product managers tend to focus on aligning customer feedback with technical and business objectives. Consultant-type product people often tend to focus on strategy, vision, and financial analysis. UX and design-type product manager like to focus on the user experience and the ‘story’ aspect of the product.

While the reality is that these are all important parts of the job, it’s pretty clear that it makes a big difference what background you have in determining what you see product management’s role as in the company. It happens to all of us, so we should just accept it. Knowing this about myself helps me want to develop skills and learn to appreciate other aspects of the job even more.

To get you started, here’s a great post from Phil Montgomery. He has a nice overview of measuring success in product management, and a refreshing twist on the old saying that a product manager is a ‘CEO’ of a product. Phil doesn’t think that description fits and offers some interesting points to consider.

Good luck!

Foundation 07 // Chris Sacca from Kevin Rose on Vimeo.

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

But I prefer to lead with the Tao. It may take longer. It may not work very well for me in today’s hyper-competitive, short-term thinking, CYA-cultured corporate world. It may even mean I miss a few promotions along the way. But in the end I believe it is the most satisfying path for me, the people who work alongside me along the way, and the customers I serve.

Here’s a great book that describes the way I like to think of leadership: Real Power, Business Lessons from the Tao Te Ching.

But you should probably read the other books too, just so you know what you’re up against.

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