Daniel Waas

Vice President Product Marketing, AppFolio

Content

How do you drive culture change with market research?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

I'd say lead the way. Use a traditional PMM responsibility like refreshing your buyer personas as a reason to kick off a joint research project and pull in your partners from the product and design team. Set up customer interviews. Get outdoors and do a workshop. Have some fun with it. Bribe them......Read More

1047 Views

How do you know where the line is when it comes to learning about the product vs. trusting your product business partner to keep you informed and educated on the most important factors?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

To be an effective product marketer my view is that you need to be a deep expert on your product. You don't need the same technical expertise as your product management counterpart but you need to deeply understand the customer, their pain points, and how your product solves these pain points. Ap......Read More

817 Views

What are some of the best ways to begin becoming a more influential PMM?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

Influence comes from repeatedly bringing fresh insights and a distinct point of view to the table. To influence product strategy and the roadmap you need to take a broader view of your market and the customers than your friends on the product management team. Invest in a deep understanding of you......Read More

766 Views

How to establish credibility and trust in people around you?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

That's a great question and actually my answer to some of the other questions asked today. The way to influence without authority is to build credibility and trust. My thoights on how to do that overlap with many of my other answers but here they are in summary: * Get to know your colleagues an......Read More

667 Views

What are some ways you navigate the pivot from engaging with colleagues from a place of collaboration and ideation towards a stance of execution and accountability as deadlines approach?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

We're actually in the middle of a project like that. For major launches with large cross-functional teams, there is a point of transition when you, as you say "pivot towards a stance of execution". Some thoughts on how to prepare for that point and then make the transition. I'm putting this is se......Read More

658 Views

What has been the greatest accomplishment made when you’ve had to influence others without authority and did it make things easier for you when you needed buy in on other projects?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

My biggest accomplishment was in a prior role at a different company for a SaaS product. I was able to persuade the product and executive leadership team to invest in a redesign of the user experience of a product that had become stale compared to new entrants in the space. Redesigns can be a har......Read More

573 Views

PMMs are typically tasked with a broad scope, balancing both strategic & tactical work and serving as the X-functional glue across multiple teams. How do you combat burnout for your team?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

* Set boundaries and clear expectations with the various stakeholders you work with. Don't commit to crazy timelines. If a crazy timeline is unavoidable, communicate what you will have to trade off. * Create a culture of trust with your team by being your authentic self, being a good ......Read More

415 Views

How do you prioritize your product marketing projects and still make time for ad-hoc requests?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

There are many answers to this question depending on how large your team is, how much budget you have, etc. Some pointers: * Get clear on your goals for your product marketing team (even if it's just you) and how they ladder to the business goals. * Build an annual plan. It's surprisin......Read More

380 Views

How to tackle a situation where Product Managers can often wary when hearing that Product Marketers want to "influence the product roadmap"?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

You need to earn your seat at the table by repeatedly bringing fresh insights and a distinct point of view to the table. To influence product strategy and the roadmap you need to take a broader view of your market and the customers than your friends on the product management team. Invest in a dee......Read More

348 Views

How does the product marketing team's placement in the org chart (under marketing, product, etc.) effect your ability to influence the roadmap?

Daniel Waas

AppFolio, Inc. Vice President Product Marketing • April 6

I have led product marketing teams that reported into marketing and others that reported into product. I've been reorganized from one to the other twice. I don't find it makes all that much of a difference. You'll need to work harder to build strong relationships with the "other" team. Your respo......Read More