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We don’t need no stinkin ’ product manager

A Case-Based Workshop. We don’t need no stinkin ’ product manager. Ken Kruszka 10/12/2014. “Who Am I? Why Am I H ere?”. Vice Admiral James Stockdale. Who Am I?. Ken Kruszka Boom Financial, Inc. EVP Product & Service Delivery 9 years in Mobile Payments

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We don’t need no stinkin ’ product manager

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  1. A Case-Based Workshop We don’t need no stinkin’ product manager Ken Kruszka 10/12/2014

  2. “Who Am I? Why Am I Here?” Vice Admiral James Stockdale Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  3. Who Am I? • Ken Kruszka • Boom Financial, Inc. • EVP Product & Service Delivery • 9 years in Mobile Payments • Developed and Commercialized first Mobile Remittances service available in US (SVC Financial) • Co-Founder of m-Via • 17 years leading product innovation in Financial Services, eCommerce, Mobile, Gov • m-Via, SVC Financial, Mellon Capital, Wells Fargo, Cygent, NASA, NIST, DoD • Cornell (BS CS), University of Illinois (MS CS), University of San Francisco (MBA) Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  4. Why Am I Here? • No Lectures • No Pontificating • Case-based Exploration • Interactive • Conversational • I expect to learn from you Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  5. What is Product Management? “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.” - Bill Clinton Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  6. Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  7. What Product Managers Do Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  8. Case 1: The Situation • Robert is a newly hired, mid-level Product Manager brought aboard to drive user experience for a mobile first company in the real-money gaming space. The company has a product in the market, has over 100,000 sign ups, but only about 10,000 MAU. • Right before Robert was hired, a key new feature was implemented. A focus group was conducted and the feedback was 90% positive on the new feature. Pressure from management was HIGH to launch the new feature. • Robert jumped in and scoped/designed small, iterative changes to the app, prioritized based on focus group feedback. • Once given to Engineering for sizing, the estimates come back as 2 weeks per change (on average), due to the technical complexity of the designs. • The feature was eventually scrapped by management and never made it to market. Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  9. Case 1: To Do • What went wrong? • What mistakes did Robert make? How could he have avoided these? • What assumptions did Robert make in this situation that could have been challenged? • What about the other actors? Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  10. Case 2: The Situation • A large financial company wants to extend their industrial loan business ($100+MM) to include currencies beyond USD. • With all in-house product managers / business analysts overtasked, the company brings in a consultant to drive the project. • Stakeholders available: Business Analysts, Loan Managers, Head of Industrial Loans, Developers • Current Integration Environment looks something like this: Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  11. Case 2: To Do • Where does the consultant start? • Continue through outlining the steps to a successful project launch Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  12. Case 3: The Situation • Startup X has a small but steady business in FX brokerage. The service allows small to medium businesses to purchase currency online and handles payments and deposits with client bank accounts. • Business isn’t growing fast enough to meet investor expectations. • CEO proclaims: “We will be the Uber for Cryptocurrencies!” • Note: There is no PM! Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  13. What Can You Make Out of This? “This? Why, I can make a hat or a brooch or a pterodactyl…” Airplane Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  14. Case 3: To Do • You’re one of the Developers on a team of 5… go! Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  15. Some Words of Wisdom “Product management is about doing the right things. Engineering is about doing [those] things right.” - Rich Mironov Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  16. Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  17. ken.kruszka@useboom.com http://www.linkedin.com/in/kruszka Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  18. APPENDIX:notes from the workshop Ken Kruszka 10/12/2014

  19. What does a Prod Mgr do? • Defining requirements • Prioritizing • User Ombudsman • Identify opportunities • Create a thing wanted • Cross-functional team lead • Vision/strategy/market fit • CEO of the product • Janitor (and anything else nobody else wants to do) • Competitive analysis • Solve problems • Market knowledge • Tech knowledge • Roadmap • Arbiter between Dev/QA/management • UX • Protector/Buffer for the development team • Constituency management • SDLC • Biz Dev • Responsibility without Authority • Collaborator with development • Manage stakeholders Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

  20. What a Prod Mgr should not do • Build a solution before understanding the problem • Other people’s work for them (but do offer help) Ken Kruszka Silicon Valley Code Camp - 10/12/2014

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