AMA: Matterport Head of Product, Preethy Vaidyanathan on Influencing the C-Suite

Your strength is being the leader in product and technology. Your superpower is connecting this to how they solve customer problems and drive business results. Top three things to consider:  Start with the why including customer problem and business goals Understand company priority (this year, this quarter) and draw a connection between your product/project to the company priority. This will help re-iterate to your c-suite why they should pay attention and care  Create a demo. This can be proto ...Read More

Start with the customer and business problem you are trying to solve and get alignment on the priority to solving this problem. Oftentimes, the root cause of the disconnect is the timing on when to solve the problem. Get alignment on the business impact for solving the problem (revenue, market share growth, geo-expansion, operational efficiency etc) Get alignment that this is a priority to solve now. Don't proceed if this alignment is not achieved first. Spend the time to build the case and get ...Read More

If your company uses Objective Key Results (OKRs) or other goal setting framework; that is the best guide for a PM to leverage. Tie your product/projects to company priority and use that to guide what are urgent and important to prioritize. However, this alone is not going to be sufficient, as new things could emerge that you need to respond to - a competitor announcement, customer request, a new technology unlock etc. You need to have a framework to respond.  As a PM, I would encourage you to a ...Read More

Your primary role as a product manager is to ensure doing what is best for your products and customers. To manage conflict with stakeholders, try and listen to their point of view, what is important to each stakeholder and what they are trying to achieve. Understanding their goals will enable you to try and create a solution that becomes a win-win. For example, your sales team wants to launch a beta product to maximize in-quarter revenue but your Finance & Operations team wants the backend a ...Read More

Use your product launches as a way to communicate how you are solving customer problems and driving company outcomes. Most companies these days employ communication platforms like slack, intranet boards or other standardized channels. Leverage these channels to start with the why (customer, business problem) and the what (your solution launch). You can leverage simple product announcement templates or use tools to do a quick 2-min video recording to publish. Dont just stop with the launch announ ...Read More

Every interaction you have with your c-suite, set the context before jumping into content. A number of times 5-10mins into the meeting, the conversation derails into a completely different topic. That is because the c-suite may have a different priority in mind and your discussion is not addressing it. To avoid this, do the following at the beginning of every c-suite discussion: Take the time to prepare a 2-3 mins intro at the start of every c-suite meeting. What is the meeting focus area, how d ...Read More

Working with data driven execs is in many ways easier - you present facts and get alignment based on data arguments. The challenge comes when trying to influence data driven execs when you dont have sufficient data yet. This can be various reasons why - it could be a product bet or early in the product maturity cycle. Data driven execs typically follow logical arguments. As a PM, when you dont have your data-case built yet, map out your top assumptions and show how your roadmap plan is going to ...Read More