AMA: Google Product Marketing Lead, Vishal Naik on Product Launches
May 22 @ 10:00AM PT
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👋 Vishal Naik
Hi all, I'm Vishal Naik, Head of Product Marketing for AI (and platform and developers) at Box
• 👋 Based in: San Francisco
• 🧠 Top of mind: KPop Demon Hunters
• 💬 Ask me about: DIYing stuff
• 🍦 Fun fact: we just opened a new role on the Box AI PMM team
• 👋 Based in: San Francisco
• 🧠 Top of mind: KPop Demon Hunters
• 💬 Ask me about: DIYing stuff
• 🍦 Fun fact: we just opened a new role on the Box AI PMM team
Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
I've 100% found the failed launches in my career to be more impactful towards my learning and development as any successful launch. Two jump out at me as ones that didnt ...
1831 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
No launch is the same. A Bill of Materials checklist is nice, but no launch should ever map 1:1 with your checklist. Use it as a starting point, but flex items on or off ...
1349 Views
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What tactics do you use to effectively incorporate new, creative aspects into product launches that can so easily become routine and mundane?
In the SaaS world especially, I feel like it's easy for PMMs to fall into the pattern of checking off the "traditional" product launch activity boxes. This may be because of limited bandwidth and resources or restricted budget, which can ultimately keep PMMs doing the same things that have previously worked. For me, this has often stunted my creative aspirations, and led me to feel more like a project manager than a standout Product Marketer.
Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
in my opinion, each launch has its own nuance. Not every product goes to the same audience (there are likely subsets of your user base that are more or less excited by so...
1793 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
I'm honestly not super bullish on trying to find the new flashy marketing vehicle. I interviewed at a company once who stated they were looking for some out of the box, e...
1315 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
My opinion is that if its in the UI, it needs to be very intuitive. So if you cant drive usage/awareness with a single in-product notification, then the UI needs some ref...
1473 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
In my opinion, you need clearer goals of who is responsible for what, before you go into a launch. For example, our team specifically focuses launches on marketing driven...
1264 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
cross promoting the playbook for work my team ran on this at a previous company! https://sharebird.com/h/product-marketing/playbooks/how-docusign-increased-their-develope...
1288 Views
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How do you think about bundling or 'holding' launches for a regular launch cadence vs releasing when ready?
What approaches have you tried, and did they work? How did you get buy in from the product team?
Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
I worked at a startup who took pride in the fact that we launched new features with every sprint. It sounded like innovation to talk about how we released X new features ...
1453 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
By the numbers. Understand your audience for each channel and where your target demo for that product is going to engage, and then show up in those areas. For example, if...
1273 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
Both are viable goals, just depends on what's better for your business. focusing on current customer adoption can make you a stickier product within your install base and...
1261 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
They both require a clear user story. For a product you've acquired, they probably have existing messaging that you then need to nuance into a cohesive customer story. Fo...
1276 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
It's harder to measure usage if the product is launched before its available. So if product readiness doesnt map to launch dates, you'll need to consider follow up touchp...
1346 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
Different teams might own different channels. I tend to think that I know enough that I could probably write a good email or create a good social strategy for a launch, b...
1287 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
I work at a company where there's a specific challenge where there's an entire press ecosystem around scooping new news. Thus we tend to make announcements and run launch...
1309 Views
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Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
You have to articulate the cost. And specifically the cost to the business, not just the cost to your department. For the most part, I cant say I've worked for many leade...
1679 Views
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How to manage a PDE function that does not want to commit to any dates, ever, but also does not want to uncouple release from launch?
I'm establishing PMM at my org as a function, and trying to put in place a launch process. The PDE function are used to just shipping when ready, without giving thought to the need for a launch plan. We're missing opportunities to launch, but also annoying clients by not giving enough notice when we plan to roll out new features or functionality.
Box Head of Product Marketing, AI & Platform | Formerly Google Gemini • 1y
One tactic that I like to employ when I dont have buy-in yet from XFN partners is to pilot something with no cost to the other team. My guess is that your stakeholders do...
1603 Views
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