Shared experiences of delivering new software products from start-ups to well established companies -- from no process to very formal stage gates. Presented to University of San Diego Business class.

1. New
Product
Development
Experiences
and
Stage
Gates
Guest
Speaker
April
3,
2014
Rick
Berzle
|
President
|GoToMarket
LLC

2. Agenda
•
Background/Experience
•
Company
Maturity
and
Product
Planning
•
Formal
New
Product
Planning
Processes
•
Limited/No
New
Product
Planning
•
Considering
GoToMarket
Alignment
•
ParKng
Thoughts

3. Speaker
Background
•
BS
Computer
Science/MBA
MarkeKng
•
8
years
in
SoNware
Development
•
10
years
in
SoNware
Product
Management
•
15+
years
in
VP-­‐level
MarkeKng
PosiKons
•
12
MarkeKng/Business
Consultant
2

4. My
Story/Career
TransiBons
• Math
major
-­‐>
1st
job
Engineer’s
Aid
• Back
to
school
for
Computer
Science
• Honeywell
(LA)
-­‐>
Digital
(Boston)
• Development
-­‐>
Product
Management
– Graduated
to
Product
Line
Management
• To
Apple
-­‐>
Taligent
• Taligent
-­‐>
Start-­‐ups
-­‐>
GoToMarket
• To
Peregrine
-­‐>
GoToMarket
• Lots
of
early/mid-­‐stage
soNware
companies
3
70’s
80’s
90’s
20’s
Today

5. Product
Planning
Processes
Factors
that
influence
product
planning:
• Company
size/maturity
• Financial
stability/shareholder
expectaKon
• Leadership
• Market
dynamics
• Time-­‐to-­‐market
• Category
(soN
vs
hard)
• Capability
(experKse)
4

6. Size/Maturity:
Product
Focus
• Sales leadership
• Product suites
• Revenue growth
• Brand awareness
• Integrated sales/mkting
• Technical leadership
• One Product Company
• Reference Accounts
• Sales & Sales Support
• Minimal Marketing
Start-up
$0-5M
Early-Stage
$5-20M
Mid-Stage
$20-50M
Growth
$50-100M
• Financial leadership
• Product lines
• Predictable revenues
• Brand value
• Market/Product Strategy
Mature
100+M
Product Planning MaturityInformal Formal

7. Maturity/Size:
GoToMarket
Focus
Start-up
$0-5M
Early-Stage
$5-20M
Mid-Stage
$20-50M
Growth
$50-100M
Mature
100+M
• Focus is account acquisition
• Product defined by engineering
• Marketing is describing what was built
• Product Management is non-existent
• Focus is market expansion
• Product Management/Marketing blended role
• Product strategy and roadmap fundamental
• Marketing is about awareness and value proposition
• Product and Product line strategy
• Specific marketing disciplines exist
• Product management is fundamental
• Well-defined marketing/sales boundaries

8. Digital
Equipment
Corp
• Formed
in
late
50’s
• Leading
suppler
of
mini-­‐computers
• Grew
to
be
a
complete
systems
provider
–
desktop
to
servers
• $14B
in
sales;
$1B
in
soNware
• Squeezed
out
of
the
market
– IBM,
Dell,
Compaq
at
the
low-­‐end
– IBM
at
the
high-­‐end
• Acquired
by
Compaq
(98),
merged
with
HP
(02)
7

9. Phase
Review
Process
• Product
Lifecycle
Model
and
Process
• Spans
all
corporate
funcKons
• Owned
by
Product
Management
• Planning
and
ExecuKon
of
all
phases
and
phase
transiKons
of
the
product
lifecycle
• Specific
EXIT
criteria
for
each
phase
• Public
Exit
Phase
Reviews
8

10. 6
Phases
to
the
Lifecycle
• Phase
0
–
Strategy
and
Requirements
• Phase
1
–
Planning
&
Feasibility
• Phase
2
–
ImplementaKon
• Phase
3
–
QualificaKon
• Phase
4
–
ProducKon
and
Support
• Phase
5
–
ReKrement
9

11. Phase
0
–
Strategy
&
Requirements
• IdenKfy
a
market
problem
or
opportunity
• Propose
a
product
soluKon
• Consistent
with
Corporate
Product
Strategy
• Primary
deliverable
is
the
Business
Plan
10

12. Phase
1
–
Planning
• FuncKonal
specificaKon
and
engineering
plan
• Preliminary
product
design
• Integrated
implementaKon
Plan
• Company
fully
commits
at
Phase
1
Exit
11

13. Phase
2
–
ImplementaBon
• Design
complete
• Prototypes
built
• Product
meets
phase
0
requirements
• Full
funcKonality
is
tested
• Product
launch
plan
developed
12

14. Phase
3
–
QualificaBon
• Qualify
producKon-­‐
level
copies
of
the
product
• IniKate
field
tests
• Demonstrate
product
meets
requirements
of
Phase
0
and
specificaKons
of
Phase
1
and
2
13

15. Phase
4
–
ProducBon/Support
• Achieve
and
maintain
steady-­‐state
volume
producKon,
sales
and
service
• Phase
4A
–
Ramp-­‐up
• Phase
4B
–
Steady-­‐
state
• Monitor/adjust
to
meet
product
and
market
performance
targets
14

16. Phase
5
–
ReBrement
• Implement
Product
Phase
Down
Plan
• Fulfilling
internal
and
external
commitments
• Require
the
same
level
of
complexity
as
new
product
development
15

17. Challenges
for
Tech
Products
Point
of
Sale
Sold
direct
to
customer
by
sales/channel
Capability/ROI
Emphasized,
demonstrated
ROI
Pre-­‐Sale
EvaluaKon
Demos,
Pilots
(months)
Post-­‐sale
support
DocumentaKon,
training,
service,
support
Purchasing
risk
High
(many
products
don’t
meet
their
hype)
Intangible
factors
Trust,
reputaKon,
references,
financial
stability
Product/Technology
Roadmap
Lifecycle
and
extendibility
Must consider go-to-market cost/risk in the Tech Market

18. Formal
New
Product
Planning
Digital
Equipment
CorporaBon
examples:
• Low-­‐end
Laser
Printer
(opportunity)
• WorkstaKon
Publishing
(make
vs
buy)
• 2D/3D
graphics
(industry
standard)
• OperaKng
Systems
(strategic)
17

19. Informal/No
Product
Planning
Early-­‐stage/High-­‐growth
examples:
• Peregrine
– Rapid
expansion
of
product
porlolio
– Mergers/AcquisiKons
– Infrastructure
Management
• IT,
Telecom,
FaciliKes,
Vehicles,
..
• ServiceNow
(soNware-­‐as-­‐a-­‐service)
• Customer-­‐first
soluKons
(producKzed)
18

20. A
few
final
thoughts
on
go-­‐to-­‐market
consideraBons
19

21. Go-­‐To-­‐Market
Alignment
Market Opportunity Revenue Attainment
Target
Market
Customer
Buyer/Influencer
Need/Pain
CompeBtors
MarkeBng
Strategy
Who?
(customer)
Requirements
Use
Cases
Service/Support
PosiBoning/Branding
Value
ProposiBon
Pricing/Packaging
What?
(soluBon)
Demand
GeneraBon
Sales
Model/Channel
OpBmizaBon
Team
OpBmizaBon
Sales
ExecuBon
Measurement/Metrics
How?
(execute)
ü Poor
alignment
results
in
missed
market
and
revenue
opportuniKes
ü Good
alignment
requires
organizaKonal
cooperaKon
and
collaboraKon
ü Agreed
set
of
strategic/tacKcal
goals
and
a
sharp
focus

22. PosiBoning
Template
“FOR
(who
is
the
target
customer)
WHO
(what
is
their
need
or
opportunity)
YOUR
PRODUCT
or
SERVICE
NAME
IS
A
(product
category)
THAT
(key
benefits
–
the
compelling
reason
to
buy)
UNLIKE
(primary
compeKKve
alternaKve)
OUR
OFFERING
(statement
of
primary
differenKaKon)”
21

23. GoToMarket
Example
For
soNware
vendors
who
develop,
market
and
sell
soluKons/services
to
an
enterprise
customer
and
deploy
on-­‐site
or
as
a
service
(SaaS)
Who
are
focused
on
aligning
their
go-­‐to-­‐market
strategies
and
tacKcs
to
consistently
meet
market
penetraKon
and
revenue
aqainment
goals
GoToMarket
is
a
markeKng/sales
consultancy
and
interim
execuKve
management
company
That
provides
unique
execuKve-­‐level
operaKonal
experience
to
idenKfy
the
go-­‐to-­‐market
gaps
that
affect
the
vendor’s
ability
to
predict
and
meet
revenue/market
aqainment
goals
in
a
sustainable
fashion.
Unlike
other
consulKng
firms,
GoToMarket
provides
highly
successful
and
experienced
professionals
with
deep
soNware
markeKng
and
sales
operaKonal
experience
that
can
idenKfy
go-­‐to-­‐market
revenue
chain
gaps/issues
and
provide
the
operaKonal
leadership
to
implement
needed
changes
Our
Offering
takes
a
pragmaKc
approach
to
the
strategic
and
tacKcal
elements
of
the
go-­‐to-­‐market
revenue
chain
that
rapidly
determines
both
the
internal
barriers
to
sales
success
and
the
associated
remedies
to
align
markeKng
and
sales
for
opKmal
producKvity
-­‐-­‐
expanding
the
opportunity
pipeline,
improving
customer
acquisiKon
and
retenKon,
lowering
the
cost
of
sales
and
ulKmately
ensuring
reasonable
revenue
aqainment
targets
are
achieved.

25. Recommended
Reading
• “Crossing
the
Chasm:
MarkeKng
and
Selling
DisrupKve
Products
to
Mainstream
Customers”
by
Geoffrey
Moore
• “Inside
the
Tornado:
Strategies
for
Developing,
Leveraging,
and
Surviving
Hypergrowth
Markets”
by
Geoffrey
Moore
• “Rules
For
Revolu7onaries:
The
Capitalist
Manifesto
for
CreaKng
and
MarkeKng
New
Products
and
Services”
by
Guy
Kawasaki
24

26. Thank
You.
I
hope
this
was
helpful.
rberzle@gotomarket.com
linkedin.com/in/rickberzle