If you map out the path your product takes from idea to launch, you will find many queues. There will be at least one for each stage your product must go through and there may even be holding queues where your product waits between stages. Most likely your product started its life an idea that had to wait to be evaluated. Once evaluated, it waited for approval. Once approved, discovery occurred and detailed requirements were researched and written. The requirements were then passed to engineering, where they waited for a review. Once the review was complete, the requirements were…
Product Management
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Product Management 2.0» Product Management & Product Marketing Experts
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Why Queues Hamper Our Success
4 Feb 2010 | 4:38 pm -
Product Management Productivity Tip#3: Work from ONLY one to-do list
25 Jan 2010 | 12:24 pmThis tip is going to dramatically cut down your stress level – work from only one mastere To Do list. Once you try this you will find that it is a very different way of working. If you think about it, right now you probably have a few voicemails on your cell phone. You might also have voicemails on your business land line. You’ve got some emails, probably have a To Do list, and may even have post it notes and notes from a meeting that have action items as well. So with all of all these competing sources, how are you going to know what’s important and what you should be doing… -
The Myth of the Iron Triangle
20 Jan 2010 | 11:37 amI am always amazed at how often accepted truths turn out to be false. I am further astounded at how liberating it is to throw off the constraints imposed by those beliefs. The first myth that Kent Beck, the father of Extreme Programming, shattered for me is that change does not have to be expensive. The cost of change can remain relatively flat throughout all phases of the development lifecycle by re-organizing and re-thinking how software is developed. The second myth, which I am now ready to castoff, is the Iron Triangle. The Iron Triangle (figure 1) influenced much of my career and… -
Product Management Productivity Tip #2: Mastering Outlook
13 Jan 2010 | 11:45 amI‘ve heard lots of people complain about Outlook — they hate it, it’s confusing — it’s a Microsoft product. I was one of those people for a long time. Outlook has just a boatload of features, is complex and the menu system can be confusing. It is not very well understood by most users, and I frankly had difficulty with it despite the fact that I consider myself to be very good at learning new software. But at one point I decided that Outlook was the tool I was going to use and I invested in it. I went out and got the Outlook for Dummies book. I spent probably four or five hours… -
Product Management Productivity Tip: Mastering Email
6 Jan 2010 | 11:38 amThis is the first in a series of posts on how to become a more productive product manager. The first productivity-killing topic we will talk about is email. Even though I can’t see or hear you I imagine there’s a big groan when we talk about email. I get 120-140 emails a day. If you don’t have a system for email it will overwhelm you and break your spirit. I handle email with a number of tactics. First, I make an absolute commitment to myself to not continuously process (i.e. read, respond and react) email throughout the day. Notice I said process and not “check.” I process email…
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Rocket Watcher by April Dunford
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5 Considerations when Marketing to Early Adopters
9 Feb 2010 | 8:30 amI had a conversation with a reporter last week who was writing a story on how to market to early adopters. It got me thinking about how much marketing and product come together to improve adoption of a new product or service. Research shows that there are a set of factors that effect the rate of adoption of a new innovation. Clearly product characteristics are a critical factor each of these but there isn’t a single one where marketing can’t have at least some impact. 1/ Complexity – The difficulty in understanding the offering will impact how quickly it gets… -
The Google Superbowl Ad: Why Now?
8 Feb 2010 | 8:57 amGoogle launched their first ever major TV ad last night at the Superbowl and thinking about it I had a moment where I thought – “Oh dear, I’m watching the beginning of the end.” I’ve worked at tech companies that spent a fortune on TV ads and I have always been a skeptic. Unless you are doing pretty sophisticated brand tracking to measure the changes in the perception of your brand, the effects of tactics like that are almost impossible to measure and even then, trying to connect those results back to a specific TV ad is impossible. If you can’t measure… -
7 Rules for Perfect Press Releases
2 Feb 2010 | 7:45 amNearly every startup I have worked with has been nervous about writing press releases. Lack of experience is one reason but people also think there are a set of secret rules to writing one “properly.” I’m also hearing startups say they believe press releases are irrelevant in an age of social media. I disagree. The majority of press releases really stink but they stink because they are written like we wrote them 15 years ago. A modern press release can be a valuable marketing tool for startups and I believe anyone can create a great one. Here’s… -
Everything You Say Matters
28 Jan 2010 | 8:44 amThis week I got an invitation from someone to connect on LinkedIn and I noticed a change in the text they are using. The previous invitations I received had the subject line that said: “Join my Network on LinkedIn.” The latest one I received said “John Smith wants to stay in touch on LinkedIn.” The difference might not seem like much on the surface but from a product marketing perspective this seems like a big change to me. There are the obvious benefits to putting the person’s name in the subject line, thus making it easier to figure out who’s doing… -
Crafting Simple Value Statements
26 Jan 2010 | 7:30 amProducts can be like babies for founders and we all know what babies are like. When we’re talking about MY baby, I’ve got a lot to say. Look at her remarkable crawling technique! Her charming smile! And she smells like flowers! Meanwhile there isn’t much to say about other babies that are just doing regular baby stuff like crawling and smiling and stinking like poop. Much like proud parents, founders often go overboard with messaging by talking a lot about features that are either non-differentiating or irrelevant for their target market. When working on messaging…
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ProductMarketing.com
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Setting prioritites grounded in the market
9 Feb 2010 | 3:44 amIf you've ever had to review a long list of requirements, you'll appreciate this. I was recently asked: I wonder if you have insights on good feature/function/backlog prioritization – especially when there are a ton of them (700+). Specifically, best practices for how to store and retrieve the important ideas, while being able to ignore the ones that will never matter. Some think we need to store any and all ideas so that we don’t forget them, but the noise is overwhelming and the organization of the content is impossible.A fast way is to rate all 700 with +1 or -1. Give it a +1 if… -
Friday fun: The Reality of Meetings
5 Feb 2010 | 4:45 amSaeed at OnProductManagement has another great slideshare in his series on product management in pictures: What People Do In MeetingsView more presentations from Saeed Khan. -
Leaders and losers and competitive checklists
3 Feb 2010 | 6:15 amRobin the product manager has yet another request from Kevin, the world's worst sales person: "I can't sell your product without a competitive checklist showing how we're better than bigsoftware.com" He attached something that he's been using: More developers than Oracle More marketing spend than Microsoft Better implementation assistance than SAP SaaS-ier than Salesforce.com More carpeted areas than our leading competitor Poor Robin. How does she deal with this request? She knows that checklists are the sales tool for followers and losers. Only the leader can win at the checklist game, and… -
Setting prioritites grounded in the market
2 Feb 2010 | 5:50 amA common sight in agile shops is the product owner shuffling his user stories. "This before that. Oh this is a good one. Ooh, move that one to later." It sure seems that many people use a prioritization scheme based in opinion, deal-of-the-day, and "whoever I talked to last." In Requirements That Work we recommend a prioritizing formula grounded in market problems: how many people experience it and how bad is it? In a recent session, Adrian shared this scale representing the impact of the problem on customers: 50: solving the problem will make money for customers40: solving the problem will… -
Setting priorities...
30 Jan 2010 | 7:29 pm...is a challenge. If everything is "must have", how can you choose?http://geekandpoke.typepad.com/geekandpoke/2010/01/priorities.html Posted via email from Steve Johnson on product management
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On Product Management
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Product Management in Pictures #3: The Reality of Meetings
4 Feb 2010 | 8:29 pmFiled under: Humour, Product Management, Saeed -
Is Customer Service dead?
1 Feb 2010 | 8:30 pmIs it just me or have you also been experiencing this problem lately? I’ve recently had a number of really unbelievably bad customer service incidents. One was with a wireless carrier — should I be surprised?? — and another, a real doozy that I’ll detail in the near future on this blog, with an online retailer. A third one happened at a restaurant during a recent trip. The restaurant incident was small next to the other two but strange in it’s own way. I went for an early dinner at a Pakistani restaurant in the Bay Area. There were only a few customers in the… -
Product Management in Pictures #2- Feature Requests from Sales Reps
19 Jan 2010 | 1:18 amPosted in Humour, Product Management, Requirements, Saeed, Sales -
A Shiny Badge for Our Efforts…
14 Jan 2010 | 6:34 pmWhen you least expect it, you get some recognition for your work. We lobbied hard for your votes for the Canadian Blog Awards. We got to the final round of voting but didn’t make it to the podium. We asked for your support in the ComputerWeekly IT Blog Awards. No success there either. Today, via a tweet, I learned about the following: Cool. And if you want to see the details, click here. Also, here’s a list of the other blogs in the Product Management category and their rankings. The Top 3 are: Leading Agile On Product Management Cranky Product Manager So, it feels good to be… -
Product Management in Pictures #1 – Requirements and Reality
7 Jan 2010 | 9:22 pmGoing to try something a little different here. Perhaps this will become a regular feature on the blog. Saeed Posted in Humour, Innovation, Product Management, Requirements
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Brainmates
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Vacant: Product Manager – TV Subscription Services
28 Jan 2010 | 9:21 pmA full-time, permanent Product Manager is being sought by a prominent company within the subscription TV industry. The role is based in Sydney, Australia. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Product Manager – TV Subscription Services brainmates seeks a mid-level Product Manager with initiative and drive, for our client in the subscription TV industry. This position will be responsible for the end-to-end product management for TV subscription packages, associated new products and channel enhancements eg catch-up TV. As part of the Product and Customer team, you… -
Exciting TV Product Manager Position – Ancillary Products
28 Jan 2010 | 9:13 pmA full-time, permanent Product Manager is being sought by a prominent company within the subscription TV industry. The role is based in Sydney, Australia. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Product Manager – Ancillary Products brainmates seeks a mid-level Product Manager with initiative and drive, for our client in the subscription TV industry. This position will be responsible for the end-to-end product management for a portfolio of products including the High Definition TV service. As part of the Product and Customer team, you will collaborate with a… -
Fancy a Product Management Role in Travel
14 Jan 2010 | 3:35 pmDigital Product Development Manager [Travel], Sydney 11 months maternity cover contract. It’s a really interesting opportunity as there is so much change that will be initiated across the online travel and related businesses this year. The role will work closely with senior management on a number of new product developments from concept to launch to evaluation. THE JOB: • Manage all aspects of the product development including product design, stakeholder management, specification, communication, forecasting and reporting • Contribute to and manage the Product Development… -
Social Media Tools for Product Marketers
11 Jan 2010 | 7:09 pmSocial media has become an increasingly important area of focus for marketers. The CMO Club and Bazaar Voice recently surveyed 133 Chief Marketing Officers and found that 64% intended to increase their social media marketing spend in 2010 with 81% expecting to spend 10% or more of their marketing budget in this way. Although some Australian organisations have taken to the medium, many have yet to truly capitalise on this opportunity. With this additional investment has come a greater focus on the use of social media and its return on investment. We’ve spoken to product marketers and are… -
Jobs, Jobs and More Jobs!
10 Jan 2010 | 2:27 pmOur partner Lavolta is trying to fill a number of full time Product Management jobs. Senior Product Manager, [pure play digital brand] Sydney Pure play digital business, which is part of a large organisation. You’ll be responsible for the Product Strategy and the planning and execution throughout the product lifecycle. This includes gathering and prioritizing product and customer requirements, monitoring competitors and industry trends, defining the product vision, and working closely with development, marketing and customer support to ensure revenue and customer satisfaction goals are met.
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Forrester: Product Management
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Stock photos are the Muzak of the Web
9 Feb 2010 | 10:38 amStock photos on corporate web sites are lot like Muzak in elevators, or the distracting TVs left on in restaurants and bars. They're portions of the user experience that normally attracts none of your attention. If you do stop and think about them, they're just plain weird. Why does anyone think I'd like to hear a mash-up of Bruce Springsteen and Mantovani? Why is the TV turned on to a soccer game, or for that matter, turned on at all? And why are all these people in the stock photos shown here so damn happy about using their computers? Everywhere I've ever worked,… -
Not all innovation needs to be disruptive
8 Feb 2010 | 7:21 pmYou might applaud this recent op-ed article by former Microsoft executive Dick Brass, grumbling how his ex-employer can't innovate the way that Apple does, as evidenced by the recent iPad announcement. Or, you might dismiss it as sour grapes from a disgruntled ex-employee. Both reactions are probably wrong. Brass' op-ed completely misses a basic point about innovation: not every company does it the same way. Apple is certainly the poster child for disruptive innovation. Tom Bodett's reaction to the iPad announcement is a good illustration: at first, he thought, … -
IBM’s Growth Markets grow…and get smarter.
3 Feb 2010 | 5:21 pmFebruary 3, 2010 by Jennifer Bélissent A couple of weeks ago IBM announced its 4th Quarter and Full-Year 2009 results. Their Growth Markets Business Unit which includes 140 of the 170 countries that IBM operates in – grew 14% in Q4 compared to 3% decreases in the Americas. For the quarter, Growth Markets represented 20% of IBM’s revenue. For the year, Growth Markets were 19%, up just slightly from 18% of total IBM revenue in 2008. The signs are clear: Growth Markets are growing, even as other markets fell. Much of the success in Growth Markets has come… -
Inside Sales And Telemarketing Help Boost B2B Brands: Really?
3 Feb 2010 | 4:44 pm[Posted by Laura Ramos] First of all, I’d like to extend a big “Thank You” to my readers and followers who responded to an invitation last month to participate in the 2010 B2B Marketing Budgets and Mix survey that Forrester fielded together with MarketingProfs. Without your responses, the research would not be as broad or relevant — so thank you again! After closing the survey and digesting some of the results, I was really surprised by one finding. After reviewing our process and validating the data, my researcher, Zack Reiss-Davis, and… -
Best Practices For Marketing To Buyers “In The Cloud”
3 Feb 2010 | 4:43 pm[Posted by Laura Ramos] “Cloud computing” is a very hot topic, and like social media, subject to much debate about “what is cloud computing?” and “what does it mean for business?” Simply stated, cloud computing lets your customers and potential buyers take advantage of services and resources delivered as an online utility. Buyers get the benefits of using your technology without worrying about the technical details as much as they would if they implemented software inside their data centers. The benefits can include: lower capital investment, faster implementation, reduced…
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The Accidental Product Manager
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Case Study: What To Do When A Large Competitor Shows Up On Your Block
7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmImage Credit NCR Is Getting Into The DVR Rental Business – Bad News For redbox Who Doesn’t Like A Little Competition? There’s not a product manager out there who doesn’t dream of the day in which their product is the only show in town. Man – wouldn’t that be great? You wouldn’t have to worry about any real competition, you’d just be spending your time working to grow the market. And then you wake up. The new-kid-on-the-block firm Redbox who has taken the DVD rental market by storm with their low-price, limited selection kiosks that have been popping up everywhere. For the… -
Are You Listening To Your Customers Product Manager?
31 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pmImage Credit It May Seem Strange, But Listening To Your Customer Really Works Why Bother Listening To Your Customers? One of the best interviews that I’ve ever read was with Steve Jobs (of Apple fame) in which he scoffed at doing things like focus groups and such in order to get input for the fantastic products that Apple makes. He said that since what Apple is doing is so revolutionary, getting input from potential customers wouldn’t help much because they couldn’t even imagine what a product could do. I do respect Steve, but could he be wrong? For those of us product managers whose… -
Hey Customer: Would You Like Some Time With That Product?
26 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pmImage Credit Don’t Mickey Mouse Around With Your Customer’s Time Quick: what’s the most valuable item in the world? Gold? Diamonds? Nope, it turns out that the thing that most of us would gladly give our left arm for more of is: time. Now since I can see that you are nodding your head in agreement with this, I’ve got a question for you. Why aren’t you selling time along with your product? Don’t Worry, Nobody’s Doing It Study after study of both consumers and businesses have shown that both share our view that time is the most valuable of resources. Nobody has enough of the… -
Product Managers Need New Product Flop Insurance
24 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pmImage Credit Even The (Seemingly) Best Product Ideas Can Fail Is there any part of a product manager’s job that is more exciting then being responsible for introducing a new product? For that matter, is there any experience that can be more nerve racking than introducing a new product? If only there was some way that we could take out “flop insurance” that would help to prevent our becoming known as the product manager who introduced the next “new Coke” disaster… Why New Product Fail In 2003 34,000 new products were introduced. 90% of them failed. In 2008 122,743 new products were… -
Is Dancing With Yourself Wrong For Product Mangers To Do?
17 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pmImage Credit How Will Microsoft What’s a product manger to do when your #1 competitor is your own product? What can you do if you spend a lot of time and money developing a new version of your product and then roll it out and the customers that you want to sell it to appear to be happy using the old version of your product? This is exactly the situation that Microsoft’s Office product managers now find themselves in… Done In By Their Own Success Everybody knows what Microsoft’s Office product is don’t you? It’s the premier suite of business software tools…
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Lead on Purpose
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Clear leadership
6 Feb 2010 | 10:36 pmThis evening I had the opportunity to listen to a speaker who had just returned from a humanitarian service trip to Haiti. He told amazing stories about the trip, including heart-wrenching accounts of the devastation caused by the recent earthquake. He spoke about the director who organized the trip and what a great job he did in leading the people who went with him. When describing the impact this individual had on the trip, the speaker made the following profound observation: People will follow clear leadership What does ‘clear leadership’ mean to you? What benefits have you… -
Hire your replacement
3 Feb 2010 | 8:54 amLeaders at successful companies focus significant time and resources to hire the right people. The money and effort they spend pays big dividends as the company progresses and matures. The companies that excel at hiring the right people seem to take this one step further: at all levels the leaders hire people whom they can groom as their replacements. This may seem at odds with conventional thinking; generally, most people at most companies do not think about what the company will be like when they leave. However, those who really ‘get it’ make hiring better people than themselves… -
Book Review: The Right Leader
26 Jan 2010 | 5:48 am“How we go about doing the things we choose to do or are called upon to do is what makes a leader the right leader.” In his book The Right Leader: Selecting Executives Who Fit, author Nat Stoddard (with help from Claire Wyckoff) investigates the complex topic of assuring smooth executive transitions, with their primary focus at the CEO level. When a CEO does not work out for a company — which usually happens within the first 18 months — the primary reason is rarely the individual’s lack of competence; most often the problem is a result of the wrong fit. The… -
A new Leadership Development Carnival
4 Jan 2010 | 6:30 amThe Lead on Purpose blog is featured in the January Leadership Development Carnival of Dan McCarthy’s Great Leadership blog. This first Leadership Development Carnival in 2010 provides links to 50 posts — what Dan calls “the Best of 2009.” The links include posts on topics such as building better leaders, measuring employee engagement and building corporate trust. You’ll find posts from great bloggers such as Art Petty, Wally Bock, Mike Henry and others. The Leadership Development Carnival is a great way improve your leadership development and get to know… -
Five myths about leadership
28 Dec 2009 | 11:01 pmTrue leadership principles endure the test of time regardless of the economy or world affairs. The more you practice them the more they become part of your life. One of the best ways to understand principles is to understand their opposites. John Maxwell — author of the book The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership — does a masterful job of explaining the leadership principle of influence through the five myths about leadership: The Management Myth: Management focuses on maintaining systems and processes. Influential leadership is about influencing people to follow. The…
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Product Management Tips
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4 lessons from Massachusetts Senatorial election
21 Jan 2010 | 4:13 pmThe results of the Massachusetts senatorial election this week to elect the replacement for the senate seat held by Ted Kennedy shocked the entire nation. A Republican named Scott Brown who not many people had heard about about as recently as a month back won the seat convincingly in a largely Democratic state. Ted Kennedy [...] -
Communications – RASCI approach
18 Jan 2010 | 8:55 amI am currently reading the book Art of Scalability by Marty Abbott and Michael Fisher, both of them ex-eBay executives. An approach they have described to make sure the entire product development team stays on top of things caught my attention. The model they recommend to use is called the RASCI model. It stands for: R [...] -
Donations for Haiti earthquake victims
14 Jan 2010 | 9:54 amSincere request to all readers of this blog : Unconfirmed reports in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake put the death toll at 50,000 and the suspicion is that 100,000 may have perished. The earthquake has affected more than 1 million people. This makes this earthquake a disaster of epic proportions. I am making a request to [...] -
Software product manager’s first 45-90 days at a new job ….
13 Jan 2010 | 7:24 pmThis is a continuation of my previous blog post of Software product manager’s first 30 days at a new job ….. Now that you are already settled into your new job and the first 45 days have gone by. You have done everything that was listed on the 30 day checklist. You have met with the stakeholders, [...] -
Software product manager’s first 30 days at a new job ….
6 Jan 2010 | 2:45 amHappy New Year! I wish you all a prosperous 2010. So you found a new software product management job or you are moving into a software product manager’s role in your current company. Congratulations! Now what do you do in the first 30 days to make sure you start off on the right foot? Here is [...]
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Seilevel's Software Requirements
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Managing the Requirements Process for “Green Screen” Replacement Applications – Part 1
27 Jan 2010 | 7:00 amI have been on teams that created requirements for replacing old “Green Screen” mainframe applications and have also observed the work of my colleagues on similar projects. The observations here are based on our experiences with these efforts and offer suggestions to anyone who is about to embark on a similar project. This post is split into two parts. Part 1 identifies issues that make these projects challenging and different from other requirements projects. Part 2 offers specific suggestions on how to tackle these projects and describes practices that will result in a greater… -
A Very Nice Requirements Blog – Please Pay Them a Visit
25 Jan 2010 | 7:00 amAs someone who is part of the family of requirements professionals, it is always exciting to find a new source of writings on the subject that is near and dear to our heart. I recently discovered the Blueprint Software blog that can be found here. It is clear from reading the posts on their site that they care passionately about the subject matter. The articles are well written, informative and useful to both practitioners of our craft and consumers of our “dog food” :-). If you are into macabre humor, check out the post on the resetting “smart bomb”. So long as you are not at… -
SeiHelp Haiti
14 Jan 2010 | 5:15 pmWe are hoping to reach out to Haiti with a little SeiHelp in the form of much needed clothing! We are collecting summer clothes and Rob will deliver them to a relative in Waco. She has arranged to deliver them to the Bahamas where she knows a lot of Haitians in her village who will in turn help get them to Haiti. We are collecting at our office through end of day Monday or can arrange another meet-up location!Email rob.sparks or joy.beatty if you want to donate! -
Using a Group to Prioritize Requirements for Complex Multifunctional Projects
12 Jan 2010 | 7:00 amPrioritizing and identifying requirements that get developed in a release cycle can be a tricky proposition. It is one of the most important things we do as Product Managers. It is also one of the most challenging.Most organizations use some means of categorizing requirements. Two common examples I have seen: Must Have, Important, Nice to Have. High, Medium, Low. There are far better ways of prioritizing requirements but the purpose of this post is to deal with another level of complexity altogether. How do we decide which functional unit or Department's features gets built when dealing with… -
The Seilevel 2009 Software Requirements Holiday Medley
18 Dec 2009 | 8:00 amIt's that time of year we all look so forward to, when we get to wish our colleagues around the requirements world a bit of SeiCheer with our holiday medley of songs. And worry not, if the 2009 collection isn't enough for you, you can go back in history and read our 2008 songs, 2007 songs, and our original 2006 songs!Without further ado, sing along with us....We wish you a Merry ReleaseWe wish you a Merry ReleaseWe wish you a Merry ReleaseWe wish you a Merry Release and we hope it is near.Requirements we bring to you and the teamRequirements for Release and we hope it is near.Oh, bring us a…
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ack/nak
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change: a (new) man bag for (old) man stuff
8 Feb 2010 | 6:10 pmIt's a shame."What's a shame?"I've come to sense the limitations of my Belstaff Colonial Canvas shoulder bag."Buh-wha...?"I've been on the road an awful lot lately, and it's just not cutting it."I thought that bag did everything but wash your dishes and stop bullets."Don't get me wrong, it's a great bag. It's just not convenient for the serious traveler."What happened?"First of all, it's just not big enough. I'm schlepping around a laptop, files, notebooks, my pencil case. . ."You carry around a pencil case?"Dude. You need a pencil case. I keep my spare pens, refills, my automatic pencil, a… -
news: my new adventure
8 Feb 2010 | 5:51 pmI'm not quite sure how to tell this story, so I'll be brief, start at the end, and leave the beginning for another day.I'm working at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History as the product manager for the Encyclopedia of Life.A few years ago Edward O. Wilson asked attendees at TED to "imagine an electronic page for each species of organism on Earth." Some brave people took up that challenge and a year later EoL was launched. If you want to learn more you can visit www.eol.org and poke around.It's audacious, it's meaningful, it's a long way from finished - actually, it… -
oh: and by the way
24 Jan 2010 | 6:44 amA few unrelated topics:1. After three days in Leiden I'm convinced we'd all be better off if we all rode bikes. I think the Dutch ride bikes in part because being a pedestrian there is a full-contact sport. Curiously enough I didn't see a single person wearing a bike helmet, and yet I didn't read any stories of devastating head injuries. Could it be they've made cities "bike safe"? Or are their heads simply that much harder? By the way a wonderful review of a typical Dutch bike can be found here, with bonus points going to the author for being a Chicago resident.2. Somewhere over the Labrador… -
definition: what is a product?
24 Jan 2010 | 6:36 amI had the opportunity to "define" what a product is to my steering committee last week. I thought I'd share my definition with you."Brands make promises to people - products keep those promises by delivering value in consistent, meaningful and delightful ways over time."You'll note there are a few keywords missing there, such as profitable. It's missing because it's built in to the concept of delivering value over time - products that can't be sustained (by whatever means matters to you) can't be delivered, QED.This definition works for me, because it aligns the mind around the customer, and… -
warning: worst beverage ever
6 Dec 2009 | 6:22 pmI'm reluctant to name names, but if you should ever find yourself debating the relative merits of, say, a delicious carbonated fountain beverage and a "plain cappuccino" while waiting on line at a branch of our nation's (perhaps our world's) largest chain restaurant, PLEASE G_D select the delicious carbonated beverage. Because if you choose the other beverage, you will get a beverage that will give you diabetes on the spot in addition to burning whole swaths of taste buds as efficiently as if you had licked a simmering cauldron of napalm.When asked "can you make it less sweet" we were…
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Product Management News
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Cisco touts connected data center approach to service providers
8 Feb 2010 | 10:24 pmNew data center architecture leverages gigabit wide area networks and simple routing scheme to share processing across different data center locations Telecom service providers not only run some of the world's biggest data centers to support their own networks and services, but are increasingly offering virtualized, cloud-based data center ... -
CA Enables Growth of Open Source for the Enterprise
8 Feb 2010 | 2:23 pmCA, Inc. today announced it has extended its world-class Web access security technology to include support for Web applications and Web services hosted on JBoss Enterprise Middleware. -
Sharp MFPs With Zoran's IPS Print Language Software Win 2009 Industry ...
8 Feb 2010 | 10:13 amSharp's MFPs, covering the entire spectrum of color and monochrome from 26 to 50 pages per minute, also earned an additional eight 'Picks.' "Sharp is honored to have won this prestigious award for its line of MFPs," said Cliff Quiroga, senior director of product management, Sharp Electronics America. -
Pitney Bowes Business Insight Selects Tele Atlas as Preferred Digital Map Provider
8 Feb 2010 | 5:50 amTele Atlas, a leading global provider of digital maps and dynamic content for navigation and location-based solutions, and Pitney Bowes Business Insight, the leading global provider of data quality and location intelligence solutions, today announced an agreement under which Pitney Bowes Business Insight will use Tele Atlas map data across its ... -
Cme's Otc CDS Clearing Service to Use Cma DataVision
7 Feb 2010 | 4:03 pmCME will utlize DataVision for pricing and intra-day risk management in the clearing and settlement of CDS trades.
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The Experience is the Product | Better product management and products
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Customer Development Interviews How-to: Finding People
4 Feb 2010 | 10:41 am“OK,” you say, “I’m convinced – I need to talk with potential customers to make sure my startup/product/service idea has potential. But how do I find those people?” Finding People AdWords / Facebook Ads / Tweets. Summarize your idea, invest some money in getting it in front of people who have expressed intent by searching for that [...] -
Anybody, As Long As It’s Not You
28 Jan 2010 | 7:00 amQuestion: Who should give you feedback on your early-stage product mockups/demo? a) Your investors b) Your most loyal, early-adopter existing customers c) A demographically-balanced segment of people who have no familiarity with your product d) Anybody, as long as it’s not you OK, sure, there’s probably an “ideal” audience to show your product to. But it probably doesn’t matter. Earlier this [...] -
Not With a Bang But a Whimper
14 Jan 2010 | 9:23 amThis is the way the product ends This is the way the product ends This is the way the product ends Not with a bang but a whimper (apologies to T.S. Eliot) What happens when it’s time to End of Life a product? Too often, companies just stop fixing bugs, stop answering support emails, and seem to hope that [...] -
Simple Stories for Complex Products (A Recipe)
6 Jan 2010 | 5:00 amI was talking the other day with a friend of mine who works for a Very Large Enterprise Software Company – one that is probably about as opposite from my job as possible. Nonetheless, we both struggle with how to craft simple, compelling narratives. With his permission, I’m sharing parts of our exchange. Enterprise Guy: “Some [...] -
The Efficiency of Inefficiency
22 Dec 2009 | 10:41 amAbout a month ago I was getting ready to send out an email blast asking for feedback when I took a moment to stop and think. I asked myself, If I got this in my inbox, how likely would I be to reply to it? and immediately answered, Not very. The problem with online tools is that [...]
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The Cranky Product Manager
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Call for Nominations: Worst Product & Company Descriptions
5 Feb 2010 | 1:40 pmThe Cranky Product Manager has decided to start a vendetta against the Marketing Cryptospeak that is so freakin’ common in the software industry. You know… those meaningless, boilerplate-ish, hyper-generic, jargon-oozing, designed-by-committee, ridiculously cryptic descriptions of what a product (or company) supposedly does? Those nonsense-filled sentences that leave readers so confused about what type of product this actually is (is it a toaster? a really cool foam hand? or project management software?) that they simultaneously hold their noses and reach for the dictionary? -
Cranky Tweets for the Week Ending 2010-02-02
2 Feb 2010 | 2:57 pmGREAT. Another "stress ball" given as the wicked awesome giveaway at Sale Kickoff. Why does DysfunctoSoft waste $ on this crap? #prodmgmt # Vegas, the Cranky Product Manager loves/hates you. Her hotel room 1/2 mile from where she must present the roadmap to da Droids. #Prodmgmt # Product marketers: the most introverted extroverts you'll meet. Product managers: the most extroverted introverts. #prodmgmt # Anyone out there using workspace.com for requirements trkg? #prodmgmt # -
Power Post #2: Hoarding Features & Products
22 Jan 2010 | 5:42 pm(OK, another 5 minute Power Post. An attempt to break through the procrastination and writer’s block that has been plaguing the author of this blog.) The Cranky PM has recently become obsessed with the TV Show Hoarders. If you are unfamiliar, it is a reality show that profiles people who hoard stuff — tons of worthless artifacts and even unsanitary crap (literally crap! think rotten food! old diapers! full cat boxes!) — until the point that they are buried under 10′ mounds of germ-ridden garbage, their homes are rotting underneath the filth and about to be… -
Power Post: Quickie Observations on Life in the Software Industry
22 Jan 2010 | 12:02 amThe Cranky Product Manager has been neglectful of this here blog, once again. Good thing she’s not being paid to do it or anything, or else she’d be so totally fired. Anyway, to break through the Huge Writer’s Block that has been in her way for the last 7 weeks or so, the Cranky PM is taking on a Big Ass Writing Challenge! To write an entire blog post in a mere 5 minutes! She’s calling it — wait for it — POWER POSTING! (you can tell she’s in software marketing because she thinks her completely boring, uncreative title is totally wicked awesome). So… -
Fantabulous Christmas Gifts for Product Managers
30 Nov 2009 | 6:45 amSearching for a Christmas present for that wicked awesome product manager? BUY A CRANKY PRODUCT MANAGER MUG! The Cranky Product Manager created a brand spankin’ new design, to wrap around mugs, water bottles, and travel mugs. Check it: And of course, the usual mugs are still for sale:
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ZIGZAG Marketing - Tips & Articles
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Top 3 Culprits of Under-Performing Products
3 Feb 2010 | 5:11 amAny number of factors can contribute to under-performing products, but the root causes are usually tied to a combination of... -
What's the Product Management IQ of Your Organization?
26 Jan 2010 | 11:08 amThe Product Management IQ (PMIQ) of your organization refers to the cross-organizational discipline required to be a market driven product company, not... -
Product Management's Role in Creating a Culture of Innovation
26 Jan 2010 | 10:38 amEvery company needs to innovate. Innovation is not just about developing new products or services; it's about process improvements, greater... -
Product Management 2.0 – The Convergence of Product & Portfolio Management
17 Dec 2009 | 3:15 amIt’s not that Product Management 1.0 principles are wrong. They’re just not working as well as they used to.... -
Positioning & Messaging - Do it Twitter Style
17 Dec 2009 | 3:10 amIf it takes more than 140 characters – a Twitter post known as a tweet - to explain...
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Web Ink Now
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Mumbai taxis and Apple MacBook Pros are really quite similar
9 Feb 2010 | 7:40 amAs I was strolling the streets of Bombay (Mumbai), India, I noticed that the taxicabs are the same make of car, yet the owners of the cabs have personalized them with stickers and other do-dads to make them unique. It got me thinking of other things that are commonly personalized such as MacBook Pro computers like mine. Anyway, I made this very short video to show you what I mean. It is less than a minute. Direct link to the video here. -
How to crowdsource videos for your company
8 Feb 2010 | 3:44 amWouldn’t it be cool if people created videos for you? Perhaps like HP, you could hold a contest to get students to put forward their best efforts. The contest was simple. "Present an idea which promotes HP Workstations ability to bring to life anything the creative mind can conceive." This video filmed, edited and directed by Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth for the contest is just terrific. Please take a just 80 seconds to watch this amazing video. Direct link to HP Invent video by Matt and Tom here. While in Amsterdam this past week, I met Jan-Paul de Beer of BrandFighters, a company… -
Enjoying a brand called Brand while listening to a Ramones tribute band
6 Feb 2010 | 3:20 amSo last night I made my way to Pakhuis Wilhelmina, a funky former warehouse turned live music venue in Amsterdam to see what turned out to be a surprisingly excellent Dutch Ramones tribute band. (Click the photo to enlarge.) While the band was terrific, they only knew about ten songs and considering most Ramones tunes clock in at less than three minutes we heard each song twice. The crowd didn't care, getting more into it on the second go-round. (I think I heard Blitzkrieg Bop three times, but I can't be sure). So I look up to the chalkboard menu to see the brands of beer they serve. I see… -
DSBtheMovie: Crowdsourced film created quickly and with zero budget
5 Feb 2010 | 4:03 amWhile in Amsterdam where I keynoted the Marketing Pioneers event, I met Jan Willem Alphenaar, Producer and Director of DSB the Movie. The film tells the story of the Netherland's DSB Bank NV which was declared bankrupt by court in October, 2009. Amazingly, Jan crowdsourced everything for the film including the film's logo, producer, scriptwriters, soundtrack, editor, camera, actors, and publicity. The film will be completed in just four months and with zero budget. Here is my interview with Jan which includes the film's trailer at 0:55. Direct link to my video here. Direct link to the film… -
Corporate comedy
1 Feb 2010 | 6:14 amCorporate comedy is one of those phrases like "jumbo shrimp," "smart ass," and "party down in Omaha" that seems a bit off. (No offense to shrimps, asses, or those from Omaha). Despite its rarity, comedy can be an extremely powerful corporate marketing tool. My friend Tim Washer, who is head of social media productions for IBM worldwide, is a comic genius. He pushes his colleagues at IBM on the value of hysterical videos and is in charge of producing them. I sat down with Tim to talk comedy. Specifically I wanted to find out how a marketer goes about convincing the bosses to lose control and…
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Product Management Meets Pop Culture
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Product Management Interview: David Locke
8 Feb 2010 | 6:15 amIn our continuing series of one-on-one interviews with product management professionals, we’re talking with David Locke. A veteran PM and consultant, David will be attending the next meeting of the Orange Country Product Managers group on February 10 as well as the Orange County Product Camp on February 27. How does he see product management evolving over the next five years? What are the pros and cons of the growth in product management? Answers to these questions, and more, after the jump… David, you express a definite point of view on product management. How would you define a… -
Product Management Meets Pop Culture: The Podcast – Episode #3
3 Feb 2010 | 9:42 pmThis episode: We talk about the Xbox Live Arcade game SHADOW COMPLEX, the new book WIRED TO CARE, and look at how customer empathy can help drive your business forward. All in 10 minutes or less. Listen now: Show Notes For This Episode Video: E3 2009 Shadow Complex Trailer HD Video: Inside Gaming 2009 Comic Con Interview: Shadow Complex MetaCritic: Shadow Complex Video: Authors@Google: Dev Patnaik Wired To Care (Official Site) New Around Here? Subscribe to the feed to receive future updates; follow me on Twitter to keep the discussion going and/or tell me how to properly conduct a podcast,… -
Do Product Managers Understand What They’re Hearing?
1 Feb 2010 | 11:59 amAs Product Managers, we talk (rightfully so) about the importance of listening to the market. That’s why we’re visiting with customers, talking with them on Twitter, conducting surveys, blogging, etc. But, do we really understand what we’re hearing? Doc Savage Told Me A Story Once At a training seminar last week, the instructor (literally named “Doctor Savage” — and, yes, he was a little on the bronze side, thanks for asking) put the following sentence on the projector and asked us what it meant: Woman without her man is nothing Some people read it as,… -
Product Management Meets Pop Culture: The Podcast – Episode #2
25 Jan 2010 | 6:32 pmThis episode: We review the new supernatural thriller Legion; explore Minimum Viable Products; and discuss a new strategy for developing Hollywood blockbusters. All in ten minutes or less. Listen now: Show Notes For This Episode Legion (Official Movie Site) Legion Cinemascore & boxoffice results opening weekend “Minimum Viable Product” presentation by Eric Ries 10 Examples Of Minimum Viable Products New Around Here? Subscribe to the feed to receive future updates; follow me on Twitter to keep the discussion going and/or tell me how to properly conduct a podcast, because… -
Product Management Interview: Jim Holland
25 Jan 2010 | 6:52 amToday, we’re kicking off a series of one-on-one interviews with product management professionals. Our launch guest is Jim Holland, a 20-year product management veteran and a leader of the product management tribe found on Twitter. What’s the best career advice Jim received as a young PM? What trends does he see in software product management? If he could be anyone, living or dead, who would he be? Answers to these questions, and more, after the jump… Jim, thanks for agreeing to be interviewed for “Product Management Meets Pop Culture”! Thanks for the opportunity!
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spatially relevant
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Frost and Sullivan: Mobile and Wireless Market Outlook 2010
7 Feb 2010 | 1:50 pm2010 Outlook & Forecast: Mobile & Wireless Communications View more presentations from Frost & Sullivan . -
Relevant Reading – February 2nd to February 7th
7 Feb 2010 | 7:00 amhere you go, been slacking for a couple of days or more: An Overdose of the Olympics Being Remarkable is never out of style -
PCAMPATL: Learning, Sharing and Discussions
6 Feb 2010 | 10:13 amPCampATL has been a great time. Good discussion, networking and session facilitation. Great job by @jbrett and the rest of the volunteers. Many thanks to the folks that attended the session and provided your insights on the things we get bogged down on. Based on the discussion, it is clear we all get bogged down in the daily noise, the tactical and the stupid things which stop us from doing the right things for the business. Stupid Things In Product Management View more presentations from Jon Gatrell. Related Product Management Articles: Not everyone’s strategic and 4 other things… -
Relevant Reading – February 1st
1 Feb 2010 | 6:00 amSharing the the things I found for the day: Anybody, As Long As It’s Not You The Experience is the Product Product Management in Pictures #2- Feature Requests from Sales Reps Are You Listening To Your Customers Product Manager? definition: what is a product? Setting priorities… -
Hertz Gold Members Assured: No Toyotas in Your Future…
31 Jan 2010 | 3:26 pmImage by Getty Images via Daylife I really wouldn’t want one of my customers sending emails like this one I got today from Hertz. As if being on the news wasn’t enough for Toyota on this recall and major rental companies choosing to opt out on Toyota until addressed, now one of their larger fleet customers is letting their customer base know – “we will make every effort to switch you to another brand (e.g., Nissan, Ford, GM) as quickly as possible.” This note also makes for great customer service by Hertz. I really hope similar notes went out to all email…
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Effectivus: Product Management and Marketing
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Apple differentiates the iPad
29 Jan 2010 | 9:36 amRegular readers will know that I tend to rant until blue in the face about differentiating technology products, targeting user needs and not going overboard with your one key differentiating feature. I’m also really keen on clear names and clear concepts about what a product does. In the film industry they talk about “high-concept pitches” for films. Legend has it that the high-concept pitch for Aliens was “Jaws in space”. So I was gratified when I heard a high-concept pitch for the Apple iPad as “like and iPhone but bigger” – I got it (or at… -
The future of 3D TV
26 Jan 2010 | 1:00 amI am a geek. Well, I was. But I’m starting to doubt it now. You see part of being a geek is adopting new technologies way ahead of the sensible majority of the population. Not only am I a geek, but I’m a geek who has spent 25 years in the film and television business creating and delivering the coolest new products to help put fantastic images on your screens, but now I feel like I’m losing my way. Why? 3D TV. First out let’s just clear something up, because geekiness is also about pedantry. It’s not 3D. I’ve got to call it that because everyone else does and if I don’t you… -
Samsung Tic Toc
25 Jan 2010 | 9:28 amWhat were they thinking about? What can possibly have got into the Samsung engineers’ minds, let alone the marketing guys, to make them think that the Tic Toc was a good idea? Announced at CES, the Tic Toc is an incredibly small MP3 player which has but one button. You control it by turning this way or that, or shaking it quickly or slowly. As the power says: “Easily shift through a choice of four play modes with a simple shake of the wrist”…”through the force of gravity”. You can just imagine the thought process: We could make an MP3 player much smaller if… -
Make the tough stuff look simple
22 Jan 2010 | 1:54 amOn one of my regular visits to our customer Industrial Light and Magic in the early ‘90s I was talking to one of the matte painters I love to watch users (whether artists or technical whiz kids) as they work. You learn so much from them. Only that way do you get a real understanding for their pains and needs. Sandy was drawing around the blue stockings on an actor, frame by frame, with amazing care and precision. She explained that they were going to have to remove the lower legs so that it looked as if the actor had had them amputated. The first stage was to isolate them. Now usually… -
Effectivus’s predictions for 2010’s technology products
10 Jan 2010 | 7:51 amThis last week the technology press has been agog with 3D TVs, Slates and Google’s Nexus One at CES, and predictions for the next decade. I wasn’t there. I don’t mind too much because Vegas is so unreal that it is easy to get carried away with the marketing hype and miss the big picture. So, to offer a little balance, I’d like to propose some alternative predictions for the next decade. I think that in a world running out of resources it is time for the technology industry to grow up and shoulder its responsibilities. The planet is running out of food, land, water and energy…
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Launch Clinic
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Apple iPad is a game changer for education
3 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amA lot has been written already about the new Apple iPad. From my perspective the iPad isn’t merely an oversized iPod. It’s not a tablet. It’s not a PC (er Mac). It’s not another device to surf the web or view photos. It’s not another Kindle. It’s a whole new category of device.Much of what has been written about the iPad are on its features. To look merely at features from a technology standpoint is completely missing the point. It’s about what the iPad could do. Have you considered what the iPad could do for K-12 and secondary education? First some facts… The iPad claims… -
Lunch is an event. Product launch is a process.
1 Feb 2010 | 8:03 amToo often we think about product launch as an event. The magic product launch checklist is consulted. The ‘required’ deliverables are produced. Unfortunately the sales velocity that management expects doesn’t materialize.The problem in this scenario is that a successful product launch isn’t an event where appetizers, entrees, and desserts are chosen from a fixed menu. What’s needed is a product launch process where the items on the menu are revealed based on the goals of the launch. The Repeatable Product Launch Process delivered in the Pragmatic Marketing Product Launch Essentials… -
Social media and product marketing
24 Jan 2010 | 7:34 amI often get asked how important social media is to product marketing efforts. It’s one of the few “it depends moments” I have, before responding. There is so much hype surrounding social media it’s easy to get caught up into believing that you’re not doing what all the cool kids are doing. What adds to the hype is the explosive number of “social media consultants” on the scene. My friend Jay Baer (@jaybaer), a social media strategy guy really nailed it in his post “Attacking the Social Media Lynch Mob”. “For most of the past year, there’s been a barrage of blog… -
Do we really need a new definition of "marketing"
16 Jan 2010 | 6:10 amIn 2008 the American Marketing Association introduced a new definition for marketing. I found it in an article listed by BtoB Magazine in their 20 most popular stories of 2009. Intrigued and curious I wanted to know what I was missing. Afterall, in my role as an instructor with Pragmatic Marketing I’m teaching product marketing managers and product managers. Anything new in the marketing arena I should be keeping up with. Here is AMA’s new definition of marketing: “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging… -
Welcoming 2010 with a bang
13 Jan 2010 | 4:50 amMy 2010 is starting out with a bang and hopefully yours is also. While on the road I have time to reflect on many things. This time of year it’s about looking forward and setting goals for the new year. First goal is to complete my first marathon. For those of you reading this blog who also run, I would appreciate your insight and training thoughts. I set this goal last year but injuries knocked me out. I’m now back stronger and more careful. The second goal is about you. There is so much to write about product launch and product marketing in technology companies it would take volumes.
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Strategic Product Manager
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Shared Links 09-Feb-2010
9 Feb 2010 | 9:18 amI have read some interesting posts recently and I thought I would share a few with you here. 22 JAN 10 – Agile Product Manager Chapter “Scaling Software Agility” … I’ve decided to push this early draft Chapter out for review and comments… 22 JAN 10 – A CEO’s Perspective of Personas “Where the Product Management Tribe Gathers” …I have been engaged with several companies recently who are pursuing personas as an avenue into buyer and user knowledge, and an intimate look at the behaviors, goals and motivating factors of each… 25… -
Budget and your Strategy
8 Feb 2010 | 10:03 pmI suspect that one of the major impacts to your roadmap is a budget change. And by change, I mean a reduction in available funds for product development. I suspect a lot of you dealt with this last year as you suffered through many rounds in workforce reduction. I am curious how you handled that. Picture this scenario, late last fall you reviewed all your feature requests, dusted off the roadmap, the business case is shiny again and it is all aligned with your vision and the corporate vision. With your budget approved, you are ready for 2010. Enter January 2010 and due to slightly missing the… -
Agile 2010 Submission Request
8 Feb 2010 | 11:32 amWe are searching Agile Product Management submissions for the Agile 2010 conference in Nashville. The Agile 2010 submission process will be somewhat different than in past years. In the past submissions would be submitted to individual stages for consideration. This year you will be submitting to one of the broad conference themes, Business, Technical, and Leadership & Organization. Once submitted the program committee will identify and forward to the most appropriate stage. The length of the sessions will either be 60 or 90 minutes and will be presented Tuesday – Thursday ONLY. -
Agile 2010 Conference
4 Feb 2010 | 1:34 pmI’m pleased to announce I am on the Agile Conference Review Committee for 2010 for the Agile Product Management track. The Product Manager review committee is lead by Rich Mironov of Enthiosys. This year, the conference is in Nashville, TN, August 9-13. The deadline for submissions is February 26th. Visit http://agile2010.agilealliance.org/ for more information. -
2009 Year in Review
22 Jan 2010 | 6:14 pmIs there a date when it is not cool to do this type of post anymore? I think I am well past it. Heck I even did a top 5 post this week too. I figure I am roughly a month behind schedule anyway, so it all passes as acceptable in my books. To provide some historical context to this post, here is a link to my 2008 predictions and my declaration that 2009 would be the year of the product manager. I have been inconsistent with my blog post titles, but the gist was about the same. This past year was an interesting year from my perspective. Here are some thoughts on why I think it was interesting.
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A Girl's Guide to Project Management
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The Plan Is Giveaway
7 Feb 2010 | 10:30 pmRichard Revis is the brains behind The Plan Is, scheduling software that has been designed with fixed date projects in mind. It is still in beta testing, and the final touches are being put to the software based on customer feedback. There are still some bugs and quirks to iron out – you can read my review of it here – but overall it is a free, alternative scheduling tool which could help project managers tackling fixed date projects. Richard, who is currently travelling around the USA and coding on the go, has kindly given me access to his closed beta trial of The Plan Is for 35 of… -
So What? giveaway winner
4 Feb 2010 | 10:41 pmTeri, a project manager from Jeffersonville, USA, was the first name out of the hat for the So What? giveaway. Congratulations, Teri! Your book is in the post. Related posts:Giveaway winner! Congratulations to Norma from Northumberland who’s name was first out of the hat for the copy of Rita Mulchay’s book PM Crash Course. Norma, your... Giveaway winner: The Lazy Project Manager Congratulations to Lissa, from Eugene, Oregon, who won a signed copy of Peter Taylor’s book The Lazy Project Manager. Lissa, your book is on its... Giveaway winner And the first name out of the hat… -
Fixed Date Feb & ThePlanIs.com
2 Feb 2010 | 10:31 pmThere are some project dates that you just can’t move. For example, my first attempt at knitting baby clothes for a friend’s newborn. I couldn’t say to her to hang on a bit because the jumper wasn’t ready. It had to be wrapped and ready to go the moment I got the text to announce the birth. I planned backwards from the due date and because it takes me so long to knit anything at all I added in lots of contingency. Basically, I started looking at patterns and wool the minute I knew she was pregnant. This month I’ll be taking a detailed look at managing fixed date… -
How Social Media Changes Project Management
31 Jan 2010 | 9:45 pmToday, Andrew Filev, who writes the fab Project Management 2.0 blog, and I are swapping posts. We agreed on the loose topic of social media and project management. Andrew has a great deal of knowledge on enterprise 2.0 and social media, so I’m glad to have him as a guest author today. You can read my take on the subject on his blog! Bas de Baar, Josh Nankivel and Cornelius Fichtner raised an interesting question during their presentation at the PMI Global Congress. The question was, “Why should you care about social media?” Social media in project management is a hot topic, so… -
PM News round-up
26 Jan 2010 | 9:58 pmLots of little announcements today. So What giveaway: last few days If you haven’t entered the giveaway to win a copy of Mark Magnacca’s book So What?: How to Communicate What Really Matters to Your Audience you have until Friday. Find out how to enter here. Social Media in a Project Environment survey I’ve had over 200 responses to my social media for project management survey, which is a lot more than I ever expected! Thanks, guys. If you haven’t done it yet, I’ll be closing the survey soon, so please take the time to give me your opinions on how social media can help…
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Gearheadgal
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Google Shares Nexus One Design Thinking
7 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmWhile this video also sits in my Vodpod collection on the right side of this page, I wanted to highlight the video not for the design secrets it reveals (there really aren't any revelations in the video) but because of how it highlights the importance of an integrated hardware and software user experience. I find that positioning most interesting in light of the UI fragmentation concerns that persist around Android. -
Favorite Tweet(s) of the Day
6 Feb 2010 | 10:47 pmSome inspirational thoughts during tough times. RT @WebStudio13: What Failure Can Teach Us (JK Rowling Video) http://bit.ly/9jB8xR RT InnovToday: Breakthrough innovators have a no trade-off mentality. McKinsey Q & #Rotman article tie it together http://wp.me/pLtLu-5D -
Should Apple Decide What's 'Beneficial' in an Ad?
6 Feb 2010 | 10:16 pmFirst published on Technorati The process of getting an application approved through the iPhone App Review team and into the App Store can be a mysterious one for application developers. Many complain the app review process takes too long, the rules for acceptance are vague, and the reasons for rejection are too subjective. Apple does produce guidelines for submissions, which highlight best practices, tips, and rules to help developers successfully navigate the review process. Earlier this week, Apple added a new tip about the use of location services for developers looking to get apps… -
Hey, Verizon, My USB Modem Doesn't Receive SMS Messages. But Then You Already Know That.
2 Feb 2010 | 9:49 pmI try to imagine I'm a normal consumer when I do my job and when I post on this site, because it is important to me to exercise great empathy for the average user. However, I have to admit every now and then, that because I work in technology, and I love gadgets, I am not every consumer. The difference is an important one. By way of example, I recently bought a Verizon Wireless USB Modem. I have no Verizon phones, because I own an iPhone, Blackberry Curve and NexusOne, and I didn't need another phone. (This is when my admission I am not every consumer is relevant.) I carry different devices… -
Favorite Tweets of the Day - AKA It's Dave McClure Day
2 Feb 2010 | 2:45 pmOk, Dave seems to have hit a couple of my favorite topics over the last few days. HelenWaters BusinessWeek Special davemcclure on why design matters more 2 startups than enginrng: http://bit.ly/dx7x8s davemcclure: Subscriptions are New Black http://ow.ly/12PYy
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B2B Bliss
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Ideas that Sell: Does Thought Leadership Really Drive Revenue?
9 Feb 2010 | 9:23 amOver the past year, content marketing and thought leadership have become popular catch-phrases. Try typing “#content marketing” into a Twitter Search and see how many results you get; this past Friday, the topic generated nearly 50 tweets in the span of an hour. For B2B marketers – especially those of us who work with consulting firms, accounting firms and IT service providers – thought leadership is nothing new. We’ve been using content (e.g., trend reports, market analyses, by-lined articles, podcasts, books and e-books, microsites) for years to build differentiation and… -
Read all about it! This Week’s Top Line News Summary – 2/8/2010
8 Feb 2010 | 9:30 amBummed it’s the end of the football season? Us too! But to liven up your Monday, we’ve compiled some nuggets of interest from the business world. It might not be as good as a party on Bourbon Street, but its close enough. This week we are taking a closer look at news in healthcare, the markets and banking. Enjoy! Healthcare: During the Super Bowl pre-game show on Sunday, President Obama announced plans to assemble a bipartisan healthcare session at the While House. The session would be televised live this month, allowing Americans to see if/how Democrats and Republicans are working… -
Watch the Media Evolve: Wall Street Journal Journalists Weigh in on How PR Pitches Should Change Due to Social Media
4 Feb 2010 | 9:50 amOk, we get it. The media landscape is changing. So much so that the Twitter handle @themediaisdying has almost 22,000 followers and has tweeted over 3,500 updates since the account launched on November 18, 2008. While “dying” might be a bit of a dramatization, the media is without a doubt evolving – and doing so at warp speed. So why do public relations professionals continue to pitch the media as if it was circa 2002? Good question – and kudos to the Publicity Club of New York for more tactfully addressing this very question. This Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending PCNY’s… -
On pedants and dilettantes, gurus and gravitas
3 Feb 2010 | 8:46 amI had the opportunity last week to visit with a friend from college, Marshall Sonenshine, whom I had not seen in 25+ years. We had a nice visit in his Park Avenue office, learned that our companies employ roughly the same number of people, and that we market in very much the same way. Both service businesses, they depend on the learnings and experience of the people who run them. The big difference? He’s in investment banking, and I am in public relations. So he gets paid more… but that’s apart from the topic at hand. When I asked him how he markets his firm, he said, “I run a… -
What’s New in Business News this Week? This Week’s Top-Line News Summary
1 Feb 2010 | 11:50 amLast night at the Grammy’s all eyes were on big winners like Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Kings of Leon and Lady Gaga. This week in business news, B2B PR professionals at BlissPR have nominated Obama’s budget, Real Estate and Retail as the areas to watch. Obama’s Budget: President Obama released today the annual budget. Overall spending is expected to climb to $3.83 trillion and the national deficit is expected to shoot up to $1.26 trillion. Read more here. Commercial Real Estate: REITs are still facing difficulties with decreasing rents and occupancies, but they have rebounded from…
