Early stage product strategy is so critical to startup success, but it's also incredibly difficult to nail down.
Industry leader Gillan Hawkes and Keith Cline of VentureFizz recently sat down to discuss product management for teams with the goal of bringing a business to $100M ARR.
You can check out their full discussion here, on VentureFizz's YouTube channel, but I've recapped three big takeaways from their discussion below!
1. Incorporate AI into your Product Strategy
Companies need to be both tech and data companies. These tech companies have small or large amounts of data accessible to them. This data brings a new opportunity and revenue stream, and AI can help.
Remember - don’t just implement AI because it is hot right now. You still need to identify a pain your customer is facing and implement a solution that demands AI.
Companies need the data and software infrastructure to implement a scalable AI pipeline.
2. Build Complex Products in a Multi-Product Portfolio
A product portfolio is a broad solution set to problems that your company wants to tackle, so only launch a new product after exhausting your existing product vertical.
A resource allocation chart can help track the amount of resources, including time dedicated toward the innovation of each product; 40% of your resources can go to building new products, 40% to continuously enhancing existing products, and 20% to scalability.
Scalability of products can be achieved by investing in foundational data pipelines, internal performance indicators, and other tech mechanisms.
3. Ensure Strong Partnership with Sales
Products are the nexus between go-to-market (sales) and the engineering team.
Product managers should enable their sales team to believe in what they are selling. Salespeople should understand the benefits, impacts, and assets of the products they are selling.
Go-to-market sales teams can help product managers monitor and measure the success of their products as they receive feedback from the field.
Want to Learn More from Startup Product Leaders? Attend SBW 2024
If you're looking for more tips and best practices, Startup Boston Week 2024 has a whole track of sessions for product teams!
Startup Boston is hosting their annual event in collaboration with Suffolk University on September 9-13 this year. The whole startup community gathers - all industries, startup departments, and startups in different funding stages are welcome to attend.
Who Should Attend SBW2024 This September:
Product managers and designers who are creating products (both physical and digital) for their early-stage startup
Product managers and designers at Seed, Series A, and Series B companies who are looking to understand when and where to lean on and incorporate trends in their product roadmap
Anyone interested in designing products for a set market and startups in their market research phase looking to determine their product’s chances of success
Pre-seed startups and founders looking for co-founders and team members
Product designers that have a prototype of their product and are starting to go through the motions of mass-producing it
Ready to connect with your peers in product and design? Grab your free Startup Boston Week 2024 ticket to join us on Sept 9th - 13th today! Register here.
What is VentureFizz?
VentureFizz helps you explore the hottest companies and discover the best jobs in Boston, NYC, or remote. Popular job categories they cover are software engineering, sales and business development, marketing, product management, finance and operations, talent acquisition, human resources and people ops, and customer success. When you join their community, members can access video interviews and podcasts that share information about hiring advice, company culture, and job-related industry trends.
Who is Gillan Hawkes?
Gillan has over fifteen years of experience as a product leader. She started her career with large e-commerce retailers, working on digital product management, online digital by-pass experiences, and omni-channel experiences. She also worked Optimal Dynamics, Shopify, 6 River Systems, and other high-growth companies. Currently, she is an Advisory Board Member of Returnalyze, a Strategic Advisor of ReBound, and a Product Core Member of Underscore VC.
About the author: Nicholas Ewing is a graduate of UMass Lowell in Business Administration: International Business this year. You can connect with him here.
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