Five Things I've Learned About Enterprise Product Strategy
- 1. Confidential & Proprietary – Do Not DuplicateApril 2020 Vivek Saraswat Venture Investor at Mayfield Product Leader at Docker/VMware/AWS Five Things I’ve Learned About Enterprise Product Strategy
- 2. MyJourney E N G I N E E R I N G P R O D U C T V E N T U R E StealthCo Investments Assist
- 3. Mayfield’sJourney Proprietary and Confidential 3 People-First philosophy Partneringwith Entrepreneurswho Changethe World in which we work, live, andplay A team with Entrepreneurial DNA Fifty-Year TrackRecord of investing Funds Investments M&As IPOs Expert Network 2000117200+500+20
- 4. Prioritization:ThePowerofFocus • Startups die of indigestion, not starvation • Strategy is what you choose (NOT) to do • Build what is important • Critical Path value proposition • Table Stakes enterprise features – (SSO, Access Control, etc.) • Real enterprise value – Collaboration, Piece of Mind, Performance
- 5. Empathy:DesignforYOURAudience • Lots of buttons, highly customizable • High maintenance/custom skillset • High price tag • Focused user/buyer base • Intentional design, highly accessible • Low maintenance/easy to fix • Low(er) price tag • Large user/buyer base SpaceShuttles Bicycles
- 6. GTM:IfYouBuildIt…TheyWon’tCome • Going Beyond Product • Marketing: The value of value communication • Sales: Empathizing with the front lines • Integrating Product with GTM • Bottoms Up: User adoption (“the hook”) and buyer monetization (“the upsell”) • Top Down: Building a differentiated value proposition (“pierce the noise”) “Deeply consider GTM as part of your product building process” - Dave McJannet, CEO Hashicorp
- 7. BottomsUp:TheHookandTheUpsell The Hook: Focus on growing adoption: • Solve a simple, burning pain point • With a lightweight method of insertion • For a large surface area of users The Upsell: After building a community base, monetize: • Influence the higher-level buyer to come to you • By understanding their chief concerns • And upselling a paid version of the free product
- 8. TopDown:PiercetheNoise • Are you on the Exec Radar? • Build a “Top 2” painkiller • Integrate with enterprise ecosystem • Take Customers on a Journey • The first step vs. the vision • Seeing is Believing • The power of guided demos/hosted trials
- 9. Questions? Tweets:@theVSaraswat Blog:viveksaraswat.com • Prioritization: The Power of Focus • Empathy: Design for YOUR Audience • GTM: If You Build It…They Won’t Come • Bottoms Up: The Hook and the Upsell • Top Down: Pierce the Noise