Good Product Manager

Good Product Manager Bad Product Manager By Ben Horowitz and David Weiden Note: this document focuses specifically on product management in the context of a "divlet" [small division] in AOL. Related key assumptions are that there is a corresponding "business owner" in each of the brands, and that the "products" are generally online services intended for individuals. A Good Product Manager plays critical role in a successful product. A successful product is the highest impact contribution that anyone can make in the PD organization. In fact, the number one criteria for selecting a Vice President is the candidate's track record (or lack thereof) of successful products that become profitable businesses for their company. Being a good product manager is so hard that most product managers at most companies fail to be good -- and instead are bad. Because product management is a highly leveraged position, a bad product manager leads to many other bad consequences, generally including the wrong product being built, which generally has a significant impact on revenue, morale, and reputation -- of both the product manager and their company. There are a number of straightforward principles that product managers can follow which will dramatically increase their chance of success. Surprisingly, only very few product managers follow these principles. Part of the problem is that these principles often are not articulated clearly, which this document attempts to address. A final note is that product management is a demanding and high profile job. Individuals should make sure they're up to the challenge. Summary points: • CEO of the product • Balance all important factors • Clear, written communication with product development • Clear goals and advantages • Focus on the sales force and customers • Other key skills • Really good product manager CEO of the product • A good product manager acts like and is viewed as CEO of the product. CEOs drive vision and are ultimately responsible for their company's success or failure. The same is true with a good product manager in relation to their product. Good product managers have a realistic vision of what success of their product means and they ensure that this vision becomes reality - whatever it takes. Good product managers are viewed by the entire product team as the leader of the product. • Bad product managers think of themselves as marketing resources. Bad product managers define their role narrowly as a marketing resource: someone who writes data sheets, arranges press releases, gets customer feedback, etc. Bad product managers get all of their time sucked up by the various organizations they work with, they take product team minutes, they are gophers for engineering. • Bad product managers have lots of excuses: not enough funding, the engineering manager is an idiot, Microsoft has 10 times as many engineers working on it, I'm overworked, I don't get enough direction. Once bad product managers fail, they point out that they predicted they would fail. Barksdale doesn't make these kinds of excuses and neither should the CEO of a product. Good product managers balance all important factors • Good PMs take all important factors into consideration. As CEO of the product, the product manager must understand and balance a wide variety of factors that affect product strategy and execution. o The primary factors to balance include:  Company goals & capabilities. Good product managers understand (or seek guidance on) overall company goals and set product strategy in that context. Good product managers also understand the capabilities and limitations of their overall company. For example, a good product manag