PRACTICAL TIPS FOR CREATING AND Understand similarities and differences between the Establish the pricing schedule,
the Establish the pricing schedule, setting the priced
MANAGING NEW IT PRODUCTS segments in terms of needs and business dynamics. based on perceived value.
Consider how you’ll reach prospective customers in Account for the minimum desired profit margin.
This cheat sheet offers advice for product managers
each market segment.
of new IT solutions at startups and enterprises. Product Delivery and Operations
Engagement with the Sales Team Understand the intricacies of deploying the solution.
Responsibilities of a Product Manager
Understand the nature and size of the sales force Determine the effort required to operate, maintain
Determine what to build, not how to build it.
aligned with your product. and support the product on an ongoing basis.
Envision the future pertaining to product domain.
Explore the applicability and nature of a reseller Determine for the technical steps, personnel, tools,
Align product roadmap to business strategy. channel or OEM partnerships for product growth. support requirements and the associated costs.
Define specifications for solution capabilities. Understand sales incentives pertaining to your Document the expectations and channels of
Prioritize feature requirements, defect correction, product and, if applicable, attempt to adjust them. communication between you and the customer.
technical debt work and other development efforts. Look for misalignments, such as recurring SaaS Establish the necessary vendor relationship for
Help drive product adoption by communicating with product pricing vs. traditional quarterly sales goals. product delivery, if necessary.
customers, partners, peers and internal colleagues. Assess what other products are “competing” for the Clarify which party in the relationship has which
Participate in the handling of issue escalations. sales team’s attention, if applicable. responsibilities for monitoring, upgrades, etc.
Sometimes take on revenue or P&L responsibilities. Determine the nature of support you can offer the Allocate the necessary support, R&D, QA, security
sales team to train or otherwise support their efforts. and other staff to maintain and evolve the product.
Defining Product Capabilities
Gather sales’ negative and positive feedback Obtain the appropriate audits and certifications.
Understand gaps in the existing products within the
regarding the product.
domain and how customers address them today. Product Management at Startups
Understand which market segments and use-cases
Understand your firm’s strengths and weaknesses. Ability and need to iterate faster to get feedback.
have gained the most traction in the product’s sales.
Research the strengths and weaknesses of your Willingness and need to take higher risks.
current and potential competitors. The Pricing Model
Understand the value that customers in various Lower bureaucratic burden and red tape.
Define the smallest set of requirements for the initial
(or next) release (minimum viable product). segments place on your product. Much harder to reach customers.
Determine your initial costs (software, hardware, Often fewer resources to deliver on the roadmap.
When defining product requirements, balance long-
personnel, etc.) related to deploying the product. Fluid designation of responsibilities
term strategic needs with short-term tactical ones.
Understand your solutions key benefits and unique Compute your ongoing costs related to maintaining Product Management at Large Firms
value proposition. the product and supporting its users.
An established sales organization, which provides
Decide whether you will charge customers recurring access to customers.
Strategic Market Segmentation or one-time (plus maintenance) fees for the product.
Market segmentation often accounts for geography, Potentially-conflicting priorities and incentives with
Understand the nature of customers’ budgets, groups and individuals within the organization.
customer size or industry verticals.
including any CapEx vs. OpEx preferences.
Devise a way of grouping customers based on the Rigid organizational structure and bureaucracy.
similarities and differences of their needs. Define the approach to offering volume pricing
Potentially-easier access to funding for sophisticated
discounts, if applicable.
Also account for the similarities in your capabilities, projects and complex products.
such as channel reach or support abilities. Define the model for compensating the sales team,
Possibly-easier access to the needed expertise.
including resellers, if applicable.
Determine which market segments you’re targeting. Well-defined career development roadmap.
Authored by Lenny Zeltser, who’ve been responsible for product management of information security solutions at companies large and small. This cheat sheet, version 1.0, is released under the
Creative Commons v3 “Attribution” License. For additional information security and technology guidance, visit [Link]/cheat-sheets and [Link]/security-product-creation-framework.
