"Modern B2B Product Leadership" panel at SXSW Interactive 2018 #b2bproductlead
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Amazing software requires amazing product management. B2B software companies need product leaders to develop, guide, and scale teams to drive P/M fit and growth. Product leaders are responsible for the success of the customer - the heart of the business itself. As user expectations increase, product leaders must raise the bar to levels that were once reserved for B2C. On March 11, 2018 the "Modern B2B Product Leadership" panel was held at SXSW Interactive 2018. Four B2B SaaS product leaders sat down to discuss the challenges and ideal future state for enterprise software PMs: Megan Berry / @meganberry / VP of Product @ Octane AI www.octaneai.com Esteban Contreras / @socialnerdia / VP of Product @ HYP3R www.hyp3r.com Mark Hazlett / @markhazlett / Product Manager @ Clio www.clio.com Mik Lernout / @miklernout / VP of Product @ Hootsuite www.hootsuite.com https://schedule.sxsw.com/2018/events/PP72899 #b2bproductlead
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"Modern B2B Product Leadership" panel at SXSW Interactive 2018 #b2bproductlead
- 2. Megan Berry / @meganberry / VP of Product @ Octane AI Esteban Contreras / @socialnerdia / VP of Product @ HYP3R Mark Hazlett / @markhazlett / Product Manager @ Clio Mik Lernout / @miklernout / VP of Product @ Hootsuite Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 3. Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead Product leadership
- 4. The company’s view on PL Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 5. Hiring a VP of Product Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 6. Team structure Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 7. Staying motivated Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 8. UX & CX Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 9. Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead i. Which of these jobs seems most relatable to that of the product leader? a) Editor-in-Chief b) Chef c) Sports team captain d) Film Director
- 10. a) Editor-in-Chief b) Chef c) Sports team captain d) Film Director i. Which of these jobs seems most relatable to that of the product leader? Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 11. ii. What keeps product leaders from making the right decisions? a) Poor strategy b) Moving fast c) Loudest customers d) Shiny object syndrome Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 12. ii. What keeps product leaders from making the right decisions? a) Poor strategy b) Moving fast c) Loudest customers d) Shiny object syndrome Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 13. iii. What is your greatest challenge as a product leader? a) Alignment & communication b) Supporting sales c) Finding and growing PMs d) Scaling Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 14. iii. What is your greatest challenge as a product leader? a) Alignment & communication b) Supporting sales c) Finding and growing PMs d) Scaling Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 15. iv. How do you define Product/Market Fit? a) Traction with early adopters b) Overwhelming demand c) Customers say “must-have” d) Retention & renewals Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 16. iv. How do you define Product/Market Fit? a) Traction with early adopters b) Overwhelming demand c) Customers say “must-have” d) Retention & renewals Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 17. a) Process b) Speed c) Trust d) Autonomy Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead v. What’s the key to ensuring PM, design, engineering & QA teams work well together?
- 18. a) Process b) Speed c) Trust d) Autonomy Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead v. What’s the key to ensuring PM, design, engineering & QA teams work well together?
- 19. Measuring success Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 20. Diversity + inclusion Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 21. The times they are a-changin’ Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 22. Q&A Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead
- 23. Modern B2B Product Leadership #B2Bproductlead 👋 Megan Berry / @meganberry / VP of Product @ Octane AI Esteban Contreras / @socialnerdia / VP of Product @ HYP3R Mark Hazlett / @markhazlett / Product Manager @ Clio Mik Lernout / @miklernout / VP of Product @ Hootsuite
Editor's Notes
- Product leadership - beyond product management - is a topic that is starting to get much needed attention. We're excited to be here to talk about the evolving role of the product leader, particularly in modern B2B software. If I can ask the audience, by show of hands -- who in here is in a product role? PMs, Product Designers, Engineers…
- Alright, great. Thanks to all of you for joining us today. Let’s introduce the panel. Megan Berry is VP of Product at Octane AI. * I’m Esteban Contreras, VP of Product at HYP3R. // HYP3R with a 3, is a geosocial marketing platform that helps brands engage, analyze and acquire high-value customers at their locations worldwide. * Mark Hazlett is Product Manager at Clio. * Mik Lernout is VP of Product at Hootsuite. If anyone feels inclined to tweet, we’re using “#hashtag B2B product lead”
- Ok, let's get right to it. What is a product leader and what are some qualities of a great one? Let's start with you Megan. ***** Customer Success + Customer Growth. GUIDE + SHIP + VALIDATE + SCALE. Help elevate the entire company. *****
- Mik and Mark - Hootsuite and Clio are nearly a decade old. How would you say your company's view on product leadership has evolved?
- Megan, Octane AI is an early stage company - the youngest of those represented here. How did the founders decide it was time for a VP of Product? ***** There was debate on whether to hire a product manage, a project manager or a VP of Product. Ultimately, went for long-term plan.*****
- I'm curious about how your product teams are structured. How are your PMs, product designers and engineers organized? - and Why? ***** we’re going from one big team —> 4 pods of focused, autonomous teams. Each with its own PM, PD, tech lead and QA lead.
- Working in B2B SaaS, we're not exactly getting people to the moon. We're not designing flying cars. We're not curing disease. We're quite aware of this... and yet, it is essential for us to believe 100% in what we're building in order to influence our teams and the entire company to believe as well. How do you personally stay motivated and inspired, and how do you motivate and inspire others? ***** Looking ahead. Optimistic. World where marketing is welcome. Inspired by culture and history. // Vision, mission, values; changing the mental model.
- Let's talk about user and customer experience. B2B and consumer software will always be different. But enterprise expectations are changing. How do B2B and B2C differ when it comes to UX & CX? And how do you think this will evolve? ***** High bar used to be reserved for consumer software. Buyer vs user dichotomy. Assist+augment+automate noisy tasks —> surprise & delight users.
- *** For the next few questions, we're gonna go multiple-choice. Some say that PMs are the "CEO of the product." All of us up here agree that this analogy is pretty terrible. So we asked the question: Which other job seems most relatable to that of the product leader?
- And here's what we said :) [Mark and I] ***** Brother. The story. The treatment. The cinematography. Selecting and working with actors, every shot counts, edit to perfection. Craft. Deadlines and financial and repetitional pressures. // Difference: Nowhere near as glamorous.
- To create long-term value, and solve meaningful problems, product leaders need to say NO — a lot. What keeps product leaders from making the right decisions? a) Poor strategy b) Moving fast c) Loudest customers d) Shiny object syndrome
- [Megan and Mik] ***** If you’ve never said no because of your vision or your strategy, you may not have one.
- Product leadership is easier said than done. It’s very hard. Long days, long nights, hellish fires sometimes. What is your greatest challenge as a product leader? a) Alignment & communication b) Supporting sales c) Finding and growing PMs d) Scaling
- [Briefly Mark, Megan, Mik and I] ***** Growing the team, processes, product and infrastructure itself — externally, new opportunities and markets — internally, new team members and fixing things that you need to fix before you’ve scaled problems. Team doesn’t burn out.
- Product/Market Fit is a precondition for scale and growth. How do you define Product/Market Fit? a) Traction with early adopters b) Overwhelming demand c) Customers say “must-have” d) Retention and renewals
- All? ***** You need all four but to be a successful company, you need renewals or else you’re kidding yourself with vanity metrics and cool ideas and salesmanship.
- A product team's success stems out of a lot of collaboration. What's the key to ensuring your PM, design, engineering, QA, product marketing and everyone else works well together? a) Process b) Speed c) Trust d) Autonomy
- We all said “Trust.” ***** Without trust your process, speed, autonomy — and even your vision and strategy — will not ensure the best collaboration.
- Alright, we’re done with multiple-choice questions. The last topic had to do with success. Let’s talk a bit more about this… How do you measure and validate the success of what you're shipping? ***** Not everything you ideate gets built, or shipped or becomes successful. You need to be willing to learn and be honest about failure. Failure is an important step. It sucks but that’s what validating is about — determining what works. //. DATA +Customer Dev + User research.
- It's 2018. Diversity and inclusion is a very important topic. There's a lot to do in tech, as in most industries. What are you doing to make your product teams more diverse and more inclusive? ***** Respect for all human beings. Privilege is a spectrum, and you must be aware of it, and never look down on anyone with less. Believe in diversity and be careful with the “meritocracy” narrative that allows for bro cultures.
- Let's end with this question: What's one thing you see changing in product management right now? Is it a change you agree with? ***** More collaboration within product teams and with other teams. Engineers coming up with and running with ideas. Designers prototyping. PMs working on partnerships and GTM strategy. // PM as the synapse that connects business, UX and tech — not only protecting their teams, but connecting them with the outside world.
- We have some time left. I'd like to open it up for questions from you all here.
- Alright, we've run out of time. Thank you Megan, Mark and Mik - and thank you all for your spending some time with us. We'll continue the conversation on Twitter with #b2bproductlead -- Have a great day and enjoy the rest of SXSW.