Finished 14/11/2024

Escaping the Build Trap

Melissa Perri

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

• Communication
• Work

Another book recommended by Lotte, similar to The Lean Startup but for somewhat larger companies. It seems very strong, perhaps even better than Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love.

Good book. Solid, with a thesis you understand from the title and explored from many angles; it even made me reconsider my previous experiences. A slight step below Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love, but only because the author is less engaging in prose. It definitely has the substance.

Great recap: https://evansamek.substack.com/p/escaping-the-build-trap-by-melissa

PART I: THE BUILD TRAP

• The build trap is when you focus only on hitting KPIs or new features but deliver nothing in the long term. Example: an online courses company that kept adding new items to hit targets, but everything was rushed and poorly done, and users did not use it
• The build trap is when organizations become stuck measuring their success by outputs rather than outcomes. Focus on end results, not on what you produced
• A product has no inherent value. What matters is what it does for the customer, e.g., solving a problem
• If you do not measure the impact of your work on the customer, you will never know which outcomes you are delivering
• Sales-led organizations do not work. Sales does not know what to bring, so they overpromise, and IT struggles. The process should start with the product manager, who listens to the customer, focuses on a problem, tests a feature on a small scale, and provides Sales with a roadmap they can take forward
• So product-led companies set a general strategy, then follow with features to achieve that goal (e.g., increase the number of courses per instructor), prioritizing projects with the highest impact
• Concept of known knowns and unknown unknowns. Plan with what you know and what you expect not to know. There will always be surprises

PART II: THE ROLE OF THE PRODUCT MANAGER

• A few archetypes of poor PMs: Mini-CEO (overbearing), Waiter (people pleaser), Former Project Manager (focuses only on deadlines, the when)
• Good PMs:
  • Own the why, work with the team to develop the idea, and drive the requirements
  • Connect the dots across feedback
  • Ask the right questions
  • Reserve time for product vision and research
• Do not organize work around features. Do it around value streams, all the activities that deliver value to the customer. Work backward from user value and build on it

PART III: STRATEGY

• See Roku or Johnson & Johnson. You need a strategy and core values to follow, making hard choices without straying from them
• It is not a plan. It is a decision-making framework
• Examples of good frameworks: DIBBs (Spotify) —> Data, Insights, Beliefs, and Bets. OKRs (Google, others) —> Objectives & Key Results. BPM (Twilio, via First Round) —> Big Picture, Priorities, Measures
• Vision: more of a general direction that guides philosophical choices over the long term. Always keep it in mind
• To clarify the differences. Netflix example: Strategic intent = lead the streaming market. Product initiative = enable people to watch Netflix on any device, wherever viewers wanted to. Options = Roku, Xbox app, partnerships with internet-enabled TVs, iPad App, etc.
• Remember to say no to less important things to make time for innovation

PART IV: PRODUCT MANAGEMENT PROCESS

• Introduces Toyota Kata, an example of a system for creating products from a problem-solving mindset
• Metrics are critical. Two popular frameworks are Pirate Metrics (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) and HEART (Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, Task Success)
• Ignore vanity metrics (the ones that always go up)
• Generative research matters as well. Understand users and how they use it. There is always a way to talk with customers. You will find it. Get creative
• Other exploration methods: concierge test (the end result is still manual but you test the concept), Wizard of Oz (it looks finished but there are manual steps behind it), concept test (quick POC)

PART V - THE PRODUCT-LED ORGANIZATION

• Watch bonuses. Example: they rushed in November to earn the bonus and then had to fix everything in December. Define sensible KPIs
• Roadmaps should be live documents, always evolving, not dead Gantt charts
• Review, review, review. Quarterly Business Reviews, Product Initiative Reviews, Release Reviews
• Budgeting is important. Instead of thinking in fixed budgets that you then have to spend, think like a VC. Propose an idea, get sponsorship, and if it works ask for more funding
• Be customer centric. Always ask what would make your customers happy

Appendix A: Six Questions to Determine Whether a Company Is Product-Led

1. Who came up with the last feature or product idea you built? -> Ideally you see confusion. Red flags if they can’t take ownership for it, or if they don’t know why they’re doing it. Or if the idea came from the CEO w/o explanation.
2. What was the last product you decided to kill? -> Another red flag is a company that can’t kill any bad ideas, whether due to immovable budgeting, overcommitments to customers, or no pushback to management.
3. When’s the last time you talked with your customers? -> Red flag if they can’t talk with the customers or don’t have any process in place for it.
4. What is your goal? -> Red flag if they struggle to articulate their goal (speaks to poor product management at the organizational level), or if it’s output oriented and framed around dates instead of impact.
5. What are you currently working on? -> Good sign if they’re excited, can articulate the big-picture goals, etc.
6. What are your product managers like? -> Good sign if development and UX people say, “I love my product manager. She has clear direction, communicates well, and helps us stay focused on the goals and problems.”