SlideShare a Scribd company logo
Building New Products -
Introduction (Part 1)
SUNDAR RAJAN
3/25/2019
1
About me
 Principal PM at Microsoft
 I am an ex-Googler, ex-Investment Banker
 Been with Microsoft >5 years - Shipped E2E product / key scenarios on Bing Ads, Bing Search,
New Product / Market Insights
2
Before we start..
These are my views and not the views of my organization
As you can imagine, nature of PM roles varies across the products & business groups
 This is “a way" of building new products not "the way"
There are many different ways to do build new products.
 I consider myself a student of craft! I have a lot to learn!
I have had some success with this method. But there are pitfalls as well. Happy to share my thoughts and hear your feedback!
 Acknowledgements
SVPG, “Inspired” book, PMHQ articles, Innovation Arts / Project Signals, Lean Launchpad, “This is Product Management” podcast and others
3
This is part 1 of the 4 part series:
(1) Introduction to New Product Development
(2) Framing the problem
(3) Discovery Process
(4) Rallying the team
4
When do you encounter New Product scenarios
 Early Stage Startups
 New product or business opportunity at an enterprise
 Significant changes in product direction
 Significantly large scenarios additions to an existing products
 New company internal tools
 And many more..
5
Challenges of New Product Development
6
Build, Productization & GTM is a very long, time & resource consuming activity
Original concepts here: https://svpg.com/four-big-risks/
Value Prop
Product
Definition
Build
Productiza
tion
Deploymen
t / Testing
GTM
User
Feedback
Is it valuable to customers?
Is there a viable business?
Is my team & executive sponsor
motivated for the journey?
Does my GTM motion
align across the board?
Challenges of New Product Development
7
Is it valuable to customers?
• Is our product useful?
• Is it better than their existing alternative?
• Is it worth the switching costs?
• Will the customer pay for this?
Is there a viable business?
• Is this a big enough business to go after?
• Will the product align with our sales strategy?
• Does this product impact our brand?
• Are the COGs in control?
• Does this align with broader company strategy?
Is the team motivated for the journey?
• How to manage the morale through the pivots
• How to manage leadership & partner expectations (who expect
roadmaps) while adopting to customer needs?
Original concepts here: https://svpg.com/four-big-risks/
>
Is it usable by customers?
• Can the users figure out the flow?
• Is the visual design optimal?
• Are the colors, icons, space, layout and aesthetic appeal
done rightly?
Is it feasible?
• Can my engineering team deliver in time?
• How do you manage cross team engineering dependencies?
Key Steps
8
Frame the problem
Ensuring executive & partner alignment -
building a shared understanding of the
opportunity and risks
Mitigate risks through Discovery
Mitigate customer, stakeholder &
technology risks through customer
discovery, stakeholder FAQs &
technology prototypes
Rally the team
Rally your executive sponsors, key
partners & development teams through
the pivots!
Fundamental principle: Acknowledge that new innovations fail. Do everything you can to
minimize the risk of failure as quickly as possible!
Frame the problem!
Work with your executive sponsor and key partner team leaders to ensure everyone is on same page
 What is business rationale for this new product?
 What does success look like?
 Who is our customer segment?
 What problem are we solving for them?
 What are our key risks?
Present the above findings with your development team! Make sure everyone is on same page!
9Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love
Frame the problem
Mitigate risks through discovery!
Talk to the customer for customer risks! (Not buyers, not customer service, not sales, not partners)
Build prototypes for evaluating feasibility risks!
Build Stakeholder alignment FAQs for internal risks!
Steps for mitigating customer value risks:
 Create a portfolio of customers
 Identify key pain points & needs (Customer Discovery)
 Validate usefulness value props, low fidelity story maps, working prototypes (Product Discovery)
 Validate pay worthiness
 Iterate!!
1 0Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love
Mitigate risks through Discovery
Rally the team!
Talk to your development team!
Talk to leadership & partner team
 Showcase customer anecdotes
 Showcase synthesized findings & hypothesis progression
 Show new recommendations & open it up for brainstorming
 Talk to the team! Especially to people impacted with Pivot!
 Showcase new Vision & MVP stories to leadership
 Realign the team
1 1Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love
Rally the team
Its only a start!
 Figure out the business model!
 Launch a successful product and track success metrics
 Continue to listen to customers though customer advisory board, ideas forum, social channels, instrumentation,
customer service & others
 Continue to build hypothesis led A/B experiments
 Grow the team, grow the business
 Face newer challenges from the market place dynamic shifts!
1 2
Questions | Comments | Feedback
1 3
Contact me: sundarrajan.g.s@gmail.com

More Related Content

PPTX
Ayushman bharat
PDF
Buddhaditya Bagchi_2013079_SIP Report
PPT
Employee Wellness Programs-India
PPTX
How to Rank 10 Million Products on Page One -- bol.com
PPT
Burnout presentation
PPTX
Creating and Implementing Your Analytics Strategy
PPTX
IQ Messenger Presentatie
PPT
Unemployment in india
Ayushman bharat
Buddhaditya Bagchi_2013079_SIP Report
Employee Wellness Programs-India
How to Rank 10 Million Products on Page One -- bol.com
Burnout presentation
Creating and Implementing Your Analytics Strategy
IQ Messenger Presentatie
Unemployment in india

Similar to Building new products - sundar rajan - introduction (part 1) (20)

PPTX
Building new products - sundar rajan - discovery process (part 3)
PPTX
Building new products sundar rajan - framing (part 2)
PDF
Honeycomb webinar
PPTX
Go-to-Market Strategy
PDF
Highest quality code in your SaaS project. Why should you care about it as a ...
PDF
The Minimum Loveable Product: Go Beyond the Minimum Viable Product
PPTX
From Product Vision to Story Map - Lean / Agile Product shaping
PDF
How to build a startup new frontiers 2017
PPT
Customer Development Methodology
PPT
Customer Development Methodology
PPTX
Presented at Ford's 2017 Global IT Learning Summit (GLITS)
PDF
VicHealth Physical Activity Innovation Challenge Concept Development Workshop...
PDF
Product Management
PDF
Intro to Lean Startup and Customer Discovery for Agilists
PPTX
Product management
DOCX
Course report on becoming a product manager
PDF
Product management - Product Development Lifecycle
PDF
Pitch Deck Workshop
PDF
Innovation Ready: A Practical Guide
Building new products - sundar rajan - discovery process (part 3)
Building new products sundar rajan - framing (part 2)
Honeycomb webinar
Go-to-Market Strategy
Highest quality code in your SaaS project. Why should you care about it as a ...
The Minimum Loveable Product: Go Beyond the Minimum Viable Product
From Product Vision to Story Map - Lean / Agile Product shaping
How to build a startup new frontiers 2017
Customer Development Methodology
Customer Development Methodology
Presented at Ford's 2017 Global IT Learning Summit (GLITS)
VicHealth Physical Activity Innovation Challenge Concept Development Workshop...
Product Management
Intro to Lean Startup and Customer Discovery for Agilists
Product management
Course report on becoming a product manager
Product management - Product Development Lifecycle
Pitch Deck Workshop
Innovation Ready: A Practical Guide
Ad

Recently uploaded (20)

PDF
PRIZ Academy - 9 Windows Thinking Where to Invest Today to Win Tomorrow.pdf
PDF
Mitigating Risks through Effective Management for Enhancing Organizational Pe...
PDF
PPT on Performance Review to get promotions
PDF
Embodied AI: Ushering in the Next Era of Intelligent Systems
PPTX
web development for engineering and engineering
PPTX
bas. eng. economics group 4 presentation 1.pptx
PPTX
Sustainable Sites - Green Building Construction
PPT
Project quality management in manufacturing
PDF
Digital Logic Computer Design lecture notes
PPTX
M Tech Sem 1 Civil Engineering Environmental Sciences.pptx
PDF
Structs to JSON How Go Powers REST APIs.pdf
PDF
composite construction of structures.pdf
PPT
Mechanical Engineering MATERIALS Selection
PPTX
Infosys Presentation by1.Riyan Bagwan 2.Samadhan Naiknavare 3.Gaurav Shinde 4...
PDF
Mohammad Mahdi Farshadian CV - Prospective PhD Student 2026
PPTX
Strings in CPP - Strings in C++ are sequences of characters used to store and...
PPTX
IOT PPTs Week 10 Lecture Material.pptx of NPTEL Smart Cities contd
PDF
The CXO Playbook 2025 – Future-Ready Strategies for C-Suite Leaders Cerebrai...
PDF
Model Code of Practice - Construction Work - 21102022 .pdf
PPTX
CH1 Production IntroductoryConcepts.pptx
PRIZ Academy - 9 Windows Thinking Where to Invest Today to Win Tomorrow.pdf
Mitigating Risks through Effective Management for Enhancing Organizational Pe...
PPT on Performance Review to get promotions
Embodied AI: Ushering in the Next Era of Intelligent Systems
web development for engineering and engineering
bas. eng. economics group 4 presentation 1.pptx
Sustainable Sites - Green Building Construction
Project quality management in manufacturing
Digital Logic Computer Design lecture notes
M Tech Sem 1 Civil Engineering Environmental Sciences.pptx
Structs to JSON How Go Powers REST APIs.pdf
composite construction of structures.pdf
Mechanical Engineering MATERIALS Selection
Infosys Presentation by1.Riyan Bagwan 2.Samadhan Naiknavare 3.Gaurav Shinde 4...
Mohammad Mahdi Farshadian CV - Prospective PhD Student 2026
Strings in CPP - Strings in C++ are sequences of characters used to store and...
IOT PPTs Week 10 Lecture Material.pptx of NPTEL Smart Cities contd
The CXO Playbook 2025 – Future-Ready Strategies for C-Suite Leaders Cerebrai...
Model Code of Practice - Construction Work - 21102022 .pdf
CH1 Production IntroductoryConcepts.pptx
Ad

Building new products - sundar rajan - introduction (part 1)

  • 1. Building New Products - Introduction (Part 1) SUNDAR RAJAN 3/25/2019 1
  • 2. About me  Principal PM at Microsoft  I am an ex-Googler, ex-Investment Banker  Been with Microsoft >5 years - Shipped E2E product / key scenarios on Bing Ads, Bing Search, New Product / Market Insights 2
  • 3. Before we start.. These are my views and not the views of my organization As you can imagine, nature of PM roles varies across the products & business groups  This is “a way" of building new products not "the way" There are many different ways to do build new products.  I consider myself a student of craft! I have a lot to learn! I have had some success with this method. But there are pitfalls as well. Happy to share my thoughts and hear your feedback!  Acknowledgements SVPG, “Inspired” book, PMHQ articles, Innovation Arts / Project Signals, Lean Launchpad, “This is Product Management” podcast and others 3
  • 4. This is part 1 of the 4 part series: (1) Introduction to New Product Development (2) Framing the problem (3) Discovery Process (4) Rallying the team 4
  • 5. When do you encounter New Product scenarios  Early Stage Startups  New product or business opportunity at an enterprise  Significant changes in product direction  Significantly large scenarios additions to an existing products  New company internal tools  And many more.. 5
  • 6. Challenges of New Product Development 6 Build, Productization & GTM is a very long, time & resource consuming activity Original concepts here: https://svpg.com/four-big-risks/ Value Prop Product Definition Build Productiza tion Deploymen t / Testing GTM User Feedback Is it valuable to customers? Is there a viable business? Is my team & executive sponsor motivated for the journey? Does my GTM motion align across the board?
  • 7. Challenges of New Product Development 7 Is it valuable to customers? • Is our product useful? • Is it better than their existing alternative? • Is it worth the switching costs? • Will the customer pay for this? Is there a viable business? • Is this a big enough business to go after? • Will the product align with our sales strategy? • Does this product impact our brand? • Are the COGs in control? • Does this align with broader company strategy? Is the team motivated for the journey? • How to manage the morale through the pivots • How to manage leadership & partner expectations (who expect roadmaps) while adopting to customer needs? Original concepts here: https://svpg.com/four-big-risks/ > Is it usable by customers? • Can the users figure out the flow? • Is the visual design optimal? • Are the colors, icons, space, layout and aesthetic appeal done rightly? Is it feasible? • Can my engineering team deliver in time? • How do you manage cross team engineering dependencies?
  • 8. Key Steps 8 Frame the problem Ensuring executive & partner alignment - building a shared understanding of the opportunity and risks Mitigate risks through Discovery Mitigate customer, stakeholder & technology risks through customer discovery, stakeholder FAQs & technology prototypes Rally the team Rally your executive sponsors, key partners & development teams through the pivots! Fundamental principle: Acknowledge that new innovations fail. Do everything you can to minimize the risk of failure as quickly as possible!
  • 9. Frame the problem! Work with your executive sponsor and key partner team leaders to ensure everyone is on same page  What is business rationale for this new product?  What does success look like?  Who is our customer segment?  What problem are we solving for them?  What are our key risks? Present the above findings with your development team! Make sure everyone is on same page! 9Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love Frame the problem
  • 10. Mitigate risks through discovery! Talk to the customer for customer risks! (Not buyers, not customer service, not sales, not partners) Build prototypes for evaluating feasibility risks! Build Stakeholder alignment FAQs for internal risks! Steps for mitigating customer value risks:  Create a portfolio of customers  Identify key pain points & needs (Customer Discovery)  Validate usefulness value props, low fidelity story maps, working prototypes (Product Discovery)  Validate pay worthiness  Iterate!! 1 0Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love Mitigate risks through Discovery
  • 11. Rally the team! Talk to your development team! Talk to leadership & partner team  Showcase customer anecdotes  Showcase synthesized findings & hypothesis progression  Show new recommendations & open it up for brainstorming  Talk to the team! Especially to people impacted with Pivot!  Showcase new Vision & MVP stories to leadership  Realign the team 1 1Please refer to Part IV in Inspired: How to create tech products customers love Rally the team
  • 12. Its only a start!  Figure out the business model!  Launch a successful product and track success metrics  Continue to listen to customers though customer advisory board, ideas forum, social channels, instrumentation, customer service & others  Continue to build hypothesis led A/B experiments  Grow the team, grow the business  Face newer challenges from the market place dynamic shifts! 1 2
  • 13. Questions | Comments | Feedback 1 3 Contact me: sundarrajan.g.s@gmail.com