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Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

AMA: Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing, Katie Duzan (O'Brien) on Market Research

May 21, 2025 @ 10:00AM PT

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Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

VP of Product Marketing · Veeva Systems

Hi everyone, I'm Katie Duzan (O'Brien), VP of Marketing @ Veeva Systems. We deliver enterprise software for the life sciences industry. I've held product marketing roles for 15 years. For the past 3 years, I manage all global marketing roles (including product marketing) for the Clinical Data business at Veeva.

• 👋 I'm based in Texas
• 💬 Ask me about enterprise software product marketing, leading product marketing teams, and building your product marketing career

  1. How and at which GTM stage do you go about collaborating with finance/billing teams to set up new feature SKUs and pricing?

    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)
    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

    Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing • 1y

    This really depends on the size of your company and "layers" to set this up.

    But, in general, I start as early as possible -- like 3-6 months before launch. I let finance know before we get the pricing figured out, so we can understand the implications of this new SKU. Is it a bundle? Does it have a dependency? How and where will it be listed and calculated? In some cases, finance will need to be part of the pricing process.

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    1 request

  2. What is the best place to start with research in general, including market and industry trends, as well as how to pursue competitive intelligence?

    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)
    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

    Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing • 1y

    In general, the best place to start is figuring out your scope.

    Start with the business need. What do the business most need to know now? What will the business do with that information? (If they won't do anything or won't support any decisions, then it's likely not that important, but just "head nod" research.)

    Align with stakeholders upfront. Research done in a vacuum is rarely successful.

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  3. What is the best approach to get feedback on a new Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?

    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)
    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

    Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing • 1y

    This answer really depends on your company's operating model. If you are in enterprise software, then the best approach would be to go to the beta or early adopter customers of the MVP to get their feedback. This is often done alongside product management and happens at various stages in their adoption (e.g. at requirements gathering, pre-implementation, during implementation, 3 months after, etc). These early customers are often your best stories when taking the MVP to market more broadly. If y ...Read More

    1,807 Views
    3 requests

  4. How can a solo PMM scale market research?

    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)
    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

    Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing • 1y

    Honestly, either ruthlessly prioritize or get the help of a market research consultancy. But, don't underestimate the time it takes to get outside assistance. I think it would be difficult to scale market research as a solo PMM without making other tradeoffs. But, depending on the business need, it may be one of the most important things. Just understanding the biggest need for market research. Too often, PMMs get dragged into "go find this out" or "wouldn't it be great to know that" but it does ...Read More

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    2 requests

  5. Can you walk through the process you use to gather feedback from the market (both industry and clients), identify the top points, and share that with stakeholders?

    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)
    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

    Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing • 1y

    In general: Start with what you want to DO with the feedback (once you have it later). Data gathering will only be as useful as what happens with it. So, start with the end in mind. What will success look like? Who are those stakeholders? Do they agree with that goal? List the open questions that most need to be answered. Prioritize. Scope is everything here -- focus on the most important questions. Start your research brief. What is your methodology? Sample size (if conducting new research)? Wh ...Read More

    1,341 Views
    2 requests

  6. How do you prioritize data and also share effectively for learning across the business?

    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)
    Katie Duzan (O'Brien)

    Veeva Systems VP of Product Marketing • 1y

    Write your press release headline for the data. What's the story? Net it out. Then, what are the supporting points for that story? That's important for credibility and details, but don't lead with that.

    What are the recommendations or actions from this data? Make it easy for people to learn by making it very clear and actionable.

    848 Views
    2 requests