Main takeaways: - There are a lot of opinions written and spoken about Product Management, popularized by big consumer companies and silicon valley startups - Why you should not try to apply those opinions without realizing the context they were applied in - When the rubber meets the road, you should start realizing that the path to building great products comes down to basics - not the buzz words

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Misconceptions about Product
Management by iwoca Senior PM

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10. Deepak Nayal
T O N I G H T ’ S S P E A K E R

11. About Me - Deepak Nayal
● Currently working with iwoca (fintech)
● PM for more than three years
● B2B / SME space
○ Little bit on B2C - including shot at starting my own startup
● PM experience in startups only
○ Worked with PMs of big companies
● MBA
● Started career as a developer

12. Misconceptions About Product Management

13. Disclaimer
● Based on my experience - others may have a different view
● My views - not necessarily my employer’s

14. source - https://www.onedesk.com/product-manager-meme/

15. ● Earliest reference from Ben
Horowitz’s “Good Product
Manager/Bad Product Manager”
○ Negative connotation that PMs
have authority
○ Especially not true in B2B
● CEOs have authority - PMs do not
● Everyone reports to CEO - no one
reports to PM
Misconception #1
Product Managers are CEOs of product
Photo by Hunters Race on Unsplash

16. Reality #1
PMs are caretakers / guardians of product
● Serve everyone
● Answerable to everyone
○ Get stakeholders’ buy in
● Propose best way forward - based on data and insights
○ “Defend-able” decisions

17. ● Steve Jobsian perception of PMs
● You are not alone - it’s not just
up to you
● Many others in your company
fighting the same battle
Misconception #2
PMs need to come up with great product ideas
Photo by Keegan Houser on Unsplash

18. Reality #2
● Framework to identify customer / user / stakeholder problems
● Framework to prioritise / redefine those
● Framework to identify solutions
● Framework to de-risk your approach
Put in place frameworks and processes to bring out
knowledge and ideas within the organisation

19. ● Probably true in companies such as
Facebook and Google
● Data != Quantitative Data
● In startups, particularly, very good
chance that you do not have [easy]
access to [good] quantitative data
Misconception #3
Photo by Carlos Muza on Unsplash
PMs have access to sea of quantitative data to dip in
and generate insights

20. ● Quantitative data tells where is the problem
● Qualitative data tells what is the problem
● Real insights into customer / user problem will come from qualitative data
● Tons of knowledge within organisation: sales, success, marketing, etc.
Reality #3
Use mixed methods - inside and outside organisation

21. ● You are not helping by just saying NO
● People mainly explain problems
○ By describing solution they can think of
○ With only their context
Misconception #4
Photo by Mattia Ascenzo on Unsplash
If you are not saying NO enough, you are not doing
your job well

22. ● Understand the reason and pain behind the ask
● Work with them to dig deeper and build case
● Explain your position / propose alternatives
● Get buy in
Reality #4
Understand stakeholder pain and work with them

23. ● Most well known brands are B2C
● B2C pioneer in focusing on user
● Simple value proposition important
● Consumers are fickle
● B2C is a “winner takes most” space
● B2B focusing on user and simplicity
Misconception #5
Photo by Collin Armstrong on Unsplash
B2C is cooler than B2B

24. ● Common to have multiple winners in B2B
● People are actually willing to pay money for your product
● Involved in pitching to customers and partners, structuring deals, etc.
● Line between B2C and B2B fading
○ Many B2C companies making money from business side of value chain
Reality #5
More fun - and money - in building products for
businesses

25. ● Understanding stakeholder (internal and external) problem
● De-risking your approach to solving that problem
● In the process, respecting and shaping the company culture
In its essence, product management is...

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