 A few weeks back I was talking to a startup founder and we were discussing product-market fit … This is actually a really good question in the context of Agriculture: a very slow, cyclical, highly commoditized and culturally entrenched industry – almost backwards by high-tech industry standards. And as such, I’ve been ideating on trying to find a good definition of a starting point for product-market fit in Ag and how, as an early stage startup and as a product manager, we should tackle the answer. More generally, product managers will always find it hard to figure out what features and product initiatives to prioritize amongst so many competing priorities and stakeholder demands (I have talked about this here!) Made popular by Marc Andreesen in the 2000s, product market fit at the time was the “only thing that matters” or the exact moment when a startup successfully finds itself in “a good market with a product that can satisfy that market”. In the B2C world, this is iPod and the fitness crowd in 2003 or Netflix and DVDs in the early 2000s. But how does this pan out in the B2B world of AgTech? Since there is a lot of product/market fit literature all over the internet, here’s a sampler of what I gathered with a quick google search and that I find the most relevant:
A. Product/market fit is when you build something that people want I will have a more detailed note about this particular definition very soon – it’s a great update from the initial Marc Andreesen definition by Paul Graham (Y-Combinator). Essentially, it stems from the accurate observation that most founders build things nobody wants. And the reason is that they think about startup ideas, not products but sound plausible enough to fool them into working on them. Graham goes on that when launching a startup business, there should already be some people who urgently need the product, and not just the idea of a potential benefit of using it. So the only question that matters is “who wants this right now?” – And as such as an entrepreneur as well as product manager, instead of (most often than not without evil) forcing your views on users, always ask yourself who wants what you’re building so much that they’ll use it even if it’s a crappy buggy first iteration MVP? B. Product/Market fit is when you have the right solution to a problem that’s worth solving The lean startup literature refines the two previous suggestions further by breaking up this startup lifecycle into three stages:
C. Product/market fit is when users love your product so much they tell other people to use it This is my favorite because this is Porter early definition of Product/Market fit in the 1990s, way before “software was eating the world”: “When people understand and use your product enough to recognize it’s value that’s a huge win. But when they begin to share their positive experience with others, when you can replicate the experience with every new user who your existing users tell, then you have product-market fit on your hands. And when this occurs something magical happens. All of a sudden your customers become your salespeople.” Simply put, product market fit is having enough users that love your product so much they spontaneously tell other people to use it … in other words, as a product manager you build a strong viral base of advocates for your product. As an example, chances are that the first time you used Slack somebody in your friends circle invited you to use it – you didn’t click on an ad online, right? By doing so you will also avoid the trappings of targeting a growth goal first and probably fool yourself until someone (like me) digs into your user retention numbers! (See my note on growth product management pitfalls here.)  In conclusion, for product managers as well as startup entrepreneurs, and also in the context of Ag Tech startup this does apply super well, which is the reason why I thought about writing this in the first place, it’s important to separate product/market fit from problem/solution fit and more specifically, in order to estimate your true potential customer base, you will need to make sure you measure the true desire for your product, not just for a solution. If not you’ll most likely end up with a product/market fit false positive. Further, always thrive to find a high or extreme degree of product/market fit or set yourself up for a giant, and often times, super costly, world of painful disappointment. Let me know what you think here. My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Head of Product thinker, doer, designer, coder, leader
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 Last month I wrote about the essential soft skills that product managers must possess to be effective in driving the product development process, and I came across this super clever story from Product Board – it really resonated with me while turning around the digital division at Nutrien over the past two years so i thought I would share. Picture this. You are a forward-thinking product manager with a clear product vision, a value-driven prioritization framework, and a context-rich roadmap. You make it a point to listen to customer needs and incorporate feedback from many different perspectives. Yet, throughout the product management process, stakeholders come to the table with unvalidated requests. 'This must be built," they insist, "and right away." Introducing the dangerous animals of product management: stakeholders and situations that-if left untamed-can get in the way of your carefully planned product vision and strategy. The dangerous animals of product management WoLF (Working on Latest Fire) When you neglect technical debt and issues like security and product functionality to focus solely on new features, you can end up with wildfires that require your immediate and complete attention. The WoLF's cycle of reactivity demands all your resources, seriously hindering productivity and innovation. RHiNO (Really High-value New Opportunity) You can recognize a RHiNO by their call, "If we just had feature X, we'd be able to make this sale/land this particular customer." When you address the RHiNO's one-off requests too often, you are focusing on solutions rather than solving real problems for a broad range of customers. HiPPO (Highest Paid Person's Opinion) It can be tempting to give in to HiPPOs (founders, CEOs, or other leaders). But letting HiPPOs make all the decisions can lead to products or features that haven't been validated. This can kill morale and introduce risk, making way for what product leader John Cutler calls a "Feature Factory''. ZEbRA (Zero Evidence But Really Arrogant) ZEbRAs think they know it all, but rely on their gut rather than any actual evidence. ZEbRAs might luck out and occasionally get things right-but not nearly as often as when you take the time to test assumptions and gather data to support your decisions. Seagull Manager Seagull Managers tend to be a little bit removed from your day-to-day work. However, they occasionally swoop in, cause a ruckus, then swoop out again, leaving the team to clean up the mess. Their intentions are good, but they aren't always aware of the long-term effects of their proposed solutions. Download Product Board’s E-book Here. (05/11/2020) Let me know what you think here. My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Head of Product thinker, doer, designer, coder, leader  Friend, does this ring a bell? Some of your co-workers treat you as you’re like the kid in high school who thinks he or she has the answer to every question. Even if and when you’re the data-driven product manager who actually backs your assumptions with data, you’re being stereotyped, even bullied into thinking that the know-it-all is you, often arguments that don’t describe you at all but are designed to turn people against you:
There are one or two things that can have happened here. First, it might not necessarily be you: in organizations, as soon as you’re good at what you do, you turn into a target for mediocre know-nothing co-worker cliques. Second, this can be simply inexperience in emotional intelligence, which isn’t something you learn at school. Ask yourself: do you speak too loudly or you find yourself interrupting people because you’re too excited to talk? Are you taking criticism personally? Bottom line is that none of this is good – it will eventually become toxic to you and your reputation and eventually this can lead to a career dead-end. So, here’s a few pointers on how to influence as a product manager, without dictating and most importantly without manipulating (this is definitely not the point) and in time, turn foes into friends, meanwhile not losing your talent and your soul. Anyone familiar with product management has heard the phrase ‘influence without authority’ at least a million times, because as a Product Manager, you’re guiding product development along, but you have to do that without being the captain of the ship. In other words, you somehow have to bring together a bunch of tech professionals such as data scientists, UX and UI designers, software engineers, etc. and make a valuable and functional product happen. That’s difficult enough without also not being their boss. That’s when the analogy of being “The CEO of the Product” fails: a CEO has all the authority in the world and the product manager has none of it. Indeed, influencing in the context of product management is the essential soft skill of driving product development and ‘telling people what to do’ without formally being authorized to do so. In other words, Product managers need to lead and guide without having the power to snap their fingers and make things happen, and the most effective way to do that is to build up influence. So how do you achieve the end result you desire without overtly “telling people what to do”? How do you shape the opinions of others, make sure that there is alignment between all key stakeholders, from vision to prioritization, and keep everyone on board at all times and moving in the same direction? In a nutshell, influence as a PM is built over time from interactions with team members, especially how you communicate your decisions in order to convince people to go along with your ideas and your track record of product success, which will inform how much they can trust your decision making process. A good PM is an excellent influencer and diplomat, and honing this soft skill takes a lot of time to develop and polish. Here are a few areas that are critical to your success: 1. Overact on listening. it’s all about creating a safe environment where people feel that their ideas are heard and valued. The best way to get there is to hold brainstorming sessions very regularly, be intent on having collaboration sessions and have repositories for ideas for discussion. In other words, you need to work hard to bring people in at all times and make sure they know that what they say has an impact 2. Always explain the ‘why’. All the reasons behind a product manager’s decisions are very important – people are smart they want to see the data, the research, understand the reasoning, They want to have perspective on the thought process. So make a point of giving it to them. 3. Always back up your assumptions and reasoning with data. it’s all about honesty not opinion. Using the adequate research and data also shows that you’ve taken the time to make sure that your instincts are to the best of your knowledge, correct, at the time that you’re making the decision, and your only bias is objectivity. 4. Your personal brand matters. Thought leadership matters, human connections matter, anything you do shapes other peoples’ opinion of you. The best way to generate lasting credibility is creative work such as designing an e-book, writing your own blog, giving talks, or anything that’s on your own time and shows your passion for product. 5. Be a visionary. The north star, the product vision, is your greatest tool for achieving alignment. And over time, build a proven track record with your team, company and industry. 6. Bribe ethically. Always think about the “what’s in it for me?” with your teammates. For example, the UX designer cares about the user experience, and less about the sales process. So if you’re asking them to do something that mostly benefits the sales team, find a way to bring it back to how they’ll also benefit from it. 7. Resistance is futile. In organizations you’ll always find people who disagree with you and vice versa. If there is resistance, do take the time to understand what it is all about (yes it’s most certainly always cumbersome and time consuming) and where it comes from. You then need to find all the opportunity to explain and debunk the criticism. V important. It’s won’t go away so instead embrace it and deal with it. In the end, you’ll also avoid future problems. In conclusion, being an influential Product Manager is about working with people by earning their respect, and, as you grow in your product career, the amount of formal authority you will have will grow, but being able to influence without resorting to power plays will always remain an critically valuable skill. Let me know what you think!
DM me @philippemora on IG and Twitter My name's phil mora and I blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech and anything holistic. Head of Product thinker, doer, designer, coder, leader |
i blog about the things I love: fitness, hacking work, tech, Experiences and anything holistic.
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