AMA: Asana Head of AI & Platform, Product Marketing, Neel Patel on Influencing the Product Roadmap

We often hear that Product Marketing is a blend of art + science. Well early on in my career, I'd come mostly from a place of art and then dragging very slowly behind...the science. I'd frequently find myself wondering why my voice didn't feel heard and then it dawned on me: for a business to run at hypergrowth speed, it needs that blend of art + science but one without the other is a recipe for disaster. If you're trying to influence the roadmap, come prepared with customer insights, field inpu ...Read More

I typically like to think about it in a few phases: Phase 1: top customer asks from existing base Phase 2: top reasons for customer churn or closed/lost Phase 3: top leading indicators for the industry Phase 4: experimental where we believe we want to go in 3-5 years I'll then work with my respective stakeholders to opportunity size each phase by potential ARR and then work with R&D to make calculated investments in prioritizing our existing customers, customers we want to target/win, and di ...Read More

This is a great question and one I still try to balance based on what research/insights we gather. For analysts, I like to think about bigger market trends, competitive insights, and where an overall industry/category may be going. Once we have that, it's about marrying those broad-stroke themes with product investments that ultimately support your target buyer/existing customer base. Making sure you're serving your customers is critical and getting these insights will help evaluate where to wei ...Read More

I've found that the best working relationship between PMM and PM is one grounded in transparency and clear, open communication. Sharing customer insights/pain points, emerging market trends, etc. frequently helps your R&D partners understand where things are going and why you're coming with a perspective that might defer from their roadmap plans. Especially in the changing tech landscape that we're experiencing right now, we have to operate a bit more like a start-up when it comes to new tec ...Read More

A few themes come to mind when thinking about influencing a product roadmap:1. Understand business impact: how does your idea or recommendation impact the company at large? Is there a shared business goal that other teams can get behind in hearing your proposal? Laddering up to shared objectives creates a path of less resistance.2. Understand customer/industry impact: what impact will this have on your customers? Have you talked to any customers to provide proof points? Or at least, work with ke ...Read More

What an undertaking as the sole PMM—how exciting!Putting myself in your shoes, I'd first start by zooming out and thinking more broadly about what does your ideal PMM + PM working relationship look like overall. Identify your top 3-5 wishes/goals and then meet with your respective counterparts to align on theirs. Then once you have a shared language and understanding, you can review initiatives like a product roadmap and decide together what success looks like. Is it to align on overarching them ...Read More

I rely on this a good amount so that I can bring a data-driven POV vs. having an inkling about something. Some ways to go about this include: Customer insights & input via market research, product councils, surveys, alpha/beta programs, etc. Analyst briefings & inquiries to understand the landscape of your industry + competitors and overall TAM Field intel & recommendations based on sellers who are on the frontlines with customers every day Work with revenue analytics partners to hel ...Read More