{"id":9004111223056735,"date":"2010-08-11T04:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-08-11T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pragmaticinstitute.com\/uncategorized\/auditing-product-management-in-early-stage-companies\/"},"modified":"2010-08-11T04:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-08-11T04:00:00","slug":"auditing-product-management-in-early-stage-companies","status":"publish","type":"resources","link":"https:\/\/www.pragmaticinstitute.com\/resources\/articles\/product\/auditing-product-management-in-early-stage-companies\/","title":{"rendered":"Auditing Product Management in Early-Stage Companies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Many product managers like to work in startup companies. I\u2019ve been one of them. Why? Without doubt, a product manager in a startup has an opportunity to make broad-ranging and meaningful contributions to product success, fast. But, life in that lane is not easy.<\/p>\n

Early product definition tends to be quite elastic, leaving room for creativity. Corporate structure in a startup tends to be flat, allowing exposure to serious and far-reaching business and technology problems that impact decision making. That\u2019s all good. However, one of the major difficulties is confusion. It\u2019s all in flux. Yes, broad-stroke formulations of product vision and business concept do exist, the ones used to raise funds for the startup. But almost always, even these fundamental statements change with time. Flexibility is good but it\u2019s hard to succeed without a firm grasp of reality and clear articulation of objectives, decisions, success factors and progress metrics.<\/p>\n

How do you deal with this \u201cmess\u201d of moving targets and reference points? The tool that has not been broadly used but can be of great help is the product management audit. What is a product management audit? Let\u2019s take a closer look, but first, I\u2019ll highlight key issues related to product management in a startup. Then, we\u2019ll define the specific problem we propose to address here and explore an example of an audit meant as a remedy for this problem.<\/p>\n

The problem<\/h2>\n

The three issues that hold keys to product success and frequently, create problems in a startup are strategy, market and customer needs, and product requirements.<\/p>\n

Strategy is extremely important for any endeavor, and especially for a startup, both the corporate strategy and the product strategy. The issue here is two-fold: Is our corporate strategy really sound and clear\u2014as articulated\u2014and is its impact on product strategy well understood? Do all key people in the company understand and agree on the current articulation of product strategy?<\/p>\n

Target Market and Customer Needs define, almost completely, product requirements. Thus any lack of clarity here will soon lead to difficulties with the product. Have we fully decided who our target customers are and truly verified the scope of overlap between what they need and what we plan to deliver? It\u2019s amazing how often the answer is: \u201cSort of, but not really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Product Requirements are key for a startup, driving both development work and early product promotion. No it\u2019s not a matter of a polished text document. It\u2019s a matter of having thought through and decided on the kind of product we aim to bring to market, and when. And, it\u2019s a matter of mutual understanding among all the managers in the company what these requirements are. Are we building what we think we\u2019re building?<\/p>\n

So are these three issues the problem we address here? Not quite. Entrepreneurs usually know these issues are important and create problems if not addressed. However, in a startup, people are very busy doing a lot of different things. Moreover, entrepreneurs want to be optimistic, driving to success by focusing on the possible rather than on the difficult. This combination doesn\u2019t leave much room for rigorous self-assessment.<\/p>\n

The problem often is these three key issues are glossed over. We tend to think all three are in good shape, and justify these thoughts by superficial considerations and wishful thinking. We also want to believe what we preach to the point of tweaking the facts to fit our needs. Although drinking your own Kool-Aid may be enjoyable, it usually leads to an upset stomach.<\/p>\n

The solution is a product management audit\u2014a practical way to counter neglect and false optimism and focus on thoughtful decisions and a justified positive outlook.<\/p>\n

The solution: a product management audit<\/h2>\n

What is a product management audit? First, it\u2019s a review. An analysis of the state of everything related to product management. The goal is to step out of the daily grind and take an unbiased look at issues, and grade the progress achieved towards solving each of them. It has some similarity to a financial audit. It\u2019s a step by step, \u201cby the book,\u201d analysis of everything that impacts product management. It\u2019s a short, intense, and repeated effort.<\/p>\n