Dalit Heldenberg

Balancing current customer needs with the ever-evolving landscape of AI and technology is a critical facet of effective product management. To achieve this delicate balance, consider the following key strategies: 1. Define Business Goals: * Begin by setting clear business goals for the upcoming quarter or another suitable timeframe. This establishes a framework for decision-making aligned with the company's overall objectives. 2. Develop a Comprehensive Product Roadmap: * Craft a product roadmap that strategically aligns with both short-term customer needs and long-term technological trends. This roadmap serves as a guiding document for development efforts. 3. Prioritize Features Strategically: * Prioritize features based on a strategic mix of customer needs and technological advancements. Ensure that the chosen features enhance the customer experience, leading to increased satisfaction and retention. 4. Validate Customer Needs: * Before committing resources to development, validate prioritized features by engaging with customers. Leverage customer calls, interactions with customer success teams, interviews, and support ticket analysis to ensure alignment with actual needs. 5. Prioritize Based on Impact: * Prioritize customer needs that are not only prevalent but also have a significant impact on a large portion of the customer base. Consider strategic customers or those in sensitive stages that have a substantial impact on revenue. 6. Leverage Technology and AI: * Following customer-centric prioritization, shift focus to features that leverage technology and AI to address broader market trends and stay ahead of the competition. 7. Continuous Feedback Loops: * Establish continuous feedback loops with customers throughout the development process. This iterative approach ensures that assumptions are validated, and the evolving needs of customers are met effectively. 8. Adopt an Agile MVP Approach: * Embrace an agile Minimum Viable Product (MVP) approach to fast-track development. Set Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure feature success, allowing for informed decisions on whether to continue development.

When you are the first product manager, it usually means the company is in the early stage or is a more grown startup. The framework guidelines I suggest to follow would be: 1. Define Product Strategy and Build Roadmap: Define the product strategy and vision. Once you have that, set goals that are aligned with the company's goals. Then, start building your roadmap, prioritizing features that align with your goals and are based on customer needs and the market. 2. MVP Approach: Identify the core features necessary for the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Focus on delivering a product that addresses the most critical needs of the target audience. 3. Set KPIs - for the prioritized features set clear KPIs that will measure the features' success and will help you decide if to continue focusing on those features more or not. 4. Iterative Development: Embrace an iterative development approach, allowing for continuous improvement based on user feedback and market changes. There is no time for long development cycles; you should be fast, validate what you want to build before building it, and have short development cycles to see if you are in the right direction. Based on feedback and usage, decide on the next steps and priorities. 5. Educate the Organization About Product Management: Explain its role and principles. Share your deliverables, strategy, vision, and goals with internal stakeholders for alignment and visibility

There are some soft skills that are a must to be a good product manager: 1. Communication: As product manager, your first job is to communicate the 'why', 'what', and 'how' to many people who needs to be involved to make it happen. Product is at the center of the organization, and the product manager is responsible for communicating what the focus is, what should be prioritized, and what we should say no to. They need to explain to different stakeholders various aspects of the product in a way that achieves alignment. Therefore, the message needs to be very clear. 2. Agility and Adaptability: We are living in a dynamic pace where everything can change very frequently. Product managers need to shift priorities in order not to waste time on items that are realized to be less of a priority. 3. Focus and Time Management Ability: There is always so much to do - writing specs, measuring value and impact, sitting with R&D. There is a need to focus and prioritize time effectively, concentrating on the important and urgent tasks. 4. Humility: A good product manager should also possess humility. Part of that is the ability to be open to feedback, acknowledging that there is always more to learn and realizing when there is a need to shift priorities or say 'no' to bad ideas, which not solving a real pain. The other skills that are also part of the PM work are - strategic thinking, execution-driven, decision-making, and leadership.

Establishing the product management function in an existing business structure is challenging but can be a very rewarding and unique experience. Here’s some advice based on my experience (joined several companies as first PM): Talk with All Stakeholders: * Take the time to meet with everyone from executives to the last employee to understand the company product, customer pains, market, and any other feedback on the product and the product-market fit. * Gain a comprehensive view of the company's operations, market, and customers. Educate on Product Management: * Explain what product management is and how it adds value to the organization. * Set clear expectations about roles, responsibilities, and processes. Build Collaborative Relationships - Work closely with engineering, sales, marketing, and customer support. Implement a Basic Product Management Framework Establish a clear process for product discovery, development, and delivery. Align with Business Goals and Ensure Strategic Alignment: * Align the product strategy with the overall business strategy. * Create a product vision and roadmap that supports the company’s long-term objectives. * Set realistic goals, ensure they are focused, and if there are none, establish a process to set some main goals to ensure focus. Regular updates to stakeholders and feedback * Keep stakeholders informed with regular progress updates. * Use data and feedback to make informed decisions and adjust plans as necessary. * Clearly communicate timelines, deliverables, and potential risks. * Be transparent about what can be achieved and when. Best of luck!