Differences between segments and personas
How to think about segments and personas In my coaching and teaching PM courses, some things always come up as point of confusion to new PMs. One of them is the confusion between Segments and Personas. It’s important to differentiate between customer segments and personas as these concepts are foundational for effective product management and […]
Market Sizing for B2B SaaS Founders
A Comprehensive Guide for founders to estimate market size – TAM, SAM, SOM Market sizing is something we rarely do as regular PM work. Startups founders however have to estimate their market size, especially if they are raising funds. Why We Do Market Sizing Market sizing is a crucial step for B2B SaaS founders, providing […]
Startups are hard right out of the gate
Navigating some hard initial steps when you are starting out Last week I had some interesting events. For the past 3 years, I have been an advisor at Berkeley’s Skydeck, an accelerator program. This is similar to the Y Combinator. And since my experience is B2B, I act as advisor for Enterprise SAAS startups. Each […]
Don’t Build an MVP yet
Test your assumptions before building your product Now that I am teaching and advising on product management, I get to coach PMs and founders on the craft of building products. Here is a common dialogue I go through. PM: What should be the MVP?Me: Depends. What is your hypothesis to test? PM: What should be […]
A band aid is better than bleeding
Trade offs in short term vs long term decisions Recently I have been thinking about trade offs in product. The discussion about trade offs is something that is not spoken about much. I was watching Season 3- Episode 5 of “Halt and Catch Fire”. The two startup co-founders are arguing about a software issue which […]
You have a product, I need a solution
As a product manager, we read a lot about the need for a solution by the customer. So when we build a product, why does it not just work. The general reason that comes back is that the customer needs a solution. Wait, didn’t we just build that? Not quite. There is a subtle difference […]
B2B startups guide to the first customer pitch
You only need 9 slides, and one is blank. The First Pitch The first customer pitch is a crucial stepping stone for a startup trying to land an enterprise deal. Crafting a compelling and effective pitch requires a combination of clear communication, understanding the prospect, and showcasing the unique value your startup brings to the […]
Importance of personas in product design
How to use personas in creating a compelling product experience In this article, we delve into a critical aspect that sets the foundation for building successful products: personas. As a product manager, you know that understanding your users is key to crafting experiences that resonate, solve their problems, and drive business growth. Personas are the […]
The power of starting up in a niche
How to select the right niche to start up I was an early employee and a first product hire at iCharts, a data visualization startup. At that time, we were not sure who our ideal customer will be. We had a basic MVP-ish software already built. Something we could show around to customers. But where […]
Not all pain points are worth solving
How customers use ladder of pain points to spend on solutions In today’s digital landscape, Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions have become essential tools for enterprises across industries. With a plethora of options available, enterprises face the challenge of deciding where to allocate their budget and resources. In this blog post, we will explore […]
