AMA: Mezmo Sr. Director, Product Management, Ashka Vakil on Building 0-1 Products

The first and most critical step in developing a 0-1 product is to identify a customer problem that is pervasive and unmet. This requires conducting research and gathering insights into the target market, understanding their pain points, and identifying gaps in existing solutions. The goal is to identify a problem that is significant enough to justify the investment in developing a new product, and that presents an opportunity for differentiation and competitive advantage.

To ensure that you are investing your resources wisely, it is critical to have a high degree of confidence in the problem you are going after. You do not want to spend engineering resources on a problem that may not be large enough or is technically not possible to solve. Here are some key indicators that can signal you are ready to allocate engineering resources to building out the product. However, it's important to continue validating, testing, and iterating on the product as you move forward to ensure that it continues to meet the needs of your target audience. * Market opportunity: You have conducted market research and have a clear understanding of the market opportunity for your product. * Understanding of the customer problem: You have a clear understanding of the problem you are trying to solve, the target audience, and the key pain points that need to be addressed. * Validation from potential customers: You have received validation from potential customers that the problem you are solving is important to them and that they are willing to pay for a solution. * Clear product vision: You have a clear product vision that is aligned with the problem you are solving and the needs of your target audience. This includes a clear understanding of the features and functionality required to solve the problem. * Defined product roadmap: You have a defined product roadmap that outlines the key features and milestones required to bring the product to market. * Resources and budget: You have the necessary resources and budget to support the development and launch of the product. * Competition: You have a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and have identified how your product will differentiate itself from the competition.

The decision to invest in a second product versus innovating on an existing product depends on a variety of factors, including market demand, core competencies, competitive landscape, resource allocation, strategic goals, and financial viability. By carefully considering these factors, a company can make an informed decision that aligns with its overall vision and mission. * Market demand: Is there a clear need and demand for a second product? Are there opportunities to address new market segments or expand into new geographies? * Core competencies: Does the company have the core competencies and resources necessary to develop and launch a second product? Does the company have the necessary talent, technology, and infrastructure to support multiple products? * Competitive landscape: What is the competitive landscape like for the existing product and potential second product? Are there established competitors that will make it difficult to launch a second product, or is there a clear opportunity to gain market share? * Resource allocation: Can the company allocate the necessary resources to develop and launch a second product without detracting from the existing product? Are there opportunities to leverage existing resources, such as technology or talent, for the second product? * Strategic goals: How does a second product align with the company's overall strategic goals? Will a second product help the company achieve its long-term vision and mission? * Financial viability: Can the company afford to invest in a second product, and what is the potential return on investment? Are there other revenue streams or financing options that can support a second product?

Reed Hoffman's quote is a reminder that it's important to get a product to market quickly, even if it's not perfect, in order to gather feedback and iterate based on that feedback. Mark Zuckerberg championed "Move fast and break things" at Facebook which is similar philosophy as well. However, in a larger company, there can be internal anxiety and pressure to release a polished product, which can make it difficult to live out this quote. Here are some ways to navigate this tension and live out this philosophy in a larger company: 1. Set expectations: Make it clear to stakeholders that the initial release of the product will not be perfect, but that it's important to get it to market quickly in order to gather feedback and iterate. Set clear expectations around the level of polish and functionality that will be included in the initial release. You can strike a balance by releasing the product as a tech preview/beta. 2. Start small: Instead of trying to release a fully-featured product all at once, consider starting with a minimal viable product (MVP) that addresses the core problem and can be released quickly. This can help mitigate anxiety and pressure around releasing a polished product. 3. Test and iterate: Make sure there are processes in place to gather feedback from users and to iterate on the product based on that feedback. This can help demonstrate that the initial release is just the beginning of the product development process and that there will be ongoing improvements and iterations based on user feedback. 4. Emphasize speed to market: Highlight the benefits of getting the product to market quickly, such as gaining a competitive advantage or capturing market share. This can help shift the focus away from internal anxiety around releasing a polished product and towards the benefits of speed to market. Ultimately, living out Reed Hoffman's quote in a larger company requires a balance between the need to release a polished product and the need to get the product to market quickly in order to gather feedback and iterate. By setting expectations, starting small, testing and iterating, and emphasizing speed to market, it's possible to navigate this tension and release an initial version of the product that can be improved upon based on user feedback.

Projecting revenue for a product that hasn't shipped yet can be challenging, but there are some steps you can take to estimate potential revenue: * Define your target market: Start by defining your target market and estimating the size of the market. This will give you an idea of the potential customer base for your product. * Estimate market penetration: Estimate the percentage of the target market that you can realistically capture with your product. This will depend on factors such as competition, pricing, and the uniqueness of your product. * Determine pricing strategy: Decide on a pricing strategy for your product. This could include a subscription model, one-time purchase, or freemium model. Your pricing strategy will impact the revenue potential of your product. * Estimate customer lifetime value (CLV): Estimate the customer lifetime value for your product. This is the amount of revenue you can expect to generate from each customer over their lifetime. This will depend on factors such as the length of the customer relationship and the average purchase frequency. * Estimate customer acquisition cost (CAC): Estimate the customer acquisition cost for your product. This is the cost of acquiring each customer through marketing and sales efforts. This will depend on factors such as the marketing channels you use and the level of competition in the market. * Calculate revenue potential: Use the estimates for market size, market penetration, pricing, CLV, and CAC to calculate the revenue potential for your product. This will give you an idea of the total revenue you can expect to generate over a certain period of time. * Conduct sensitivity analysis: Conduct sensitivity analysis to understand the impact of different variables on your revenue projections. This can help you identify areas of risk and uncertainty in your revenue projections. It's important to remember that revenue projections for a product that hasn't been shipped yet are just estimates and are subject to a high degree of uncertainty. However, by following these steps and conducting thorough research and analysis, you can provide your leadership team with a realistic estimate of the potential revenue for your product.

Building a 0 to 1 product is challenging even for experienced product managers. Here are a few things that can make it challenging to successfully build a 0 to 1 product. * Ignoring market research: It's important to conduct market research to understand the needs and preferences of your target audience. Ignoring this research can lead to building a product that doesn't meet the needs of your target audience. * Focusing on features, and not customer problems: Product managers can get caught up in building the product capabilities and forget to focus on the needs of the customer. It's important to stay focused on the customer problems throughout the development process. * Overcomplicating the product: In an effort to build a product that is differentiated and innovative, product managers can make the mistake of adding too many features making the product too complex. This can lead to confusion and make it difficult for users to understand and adopt the product. * Underestimating the time and resources required: Building a new product from scratch takes time, resources, and a lot of hard work. Product managers and engineers can make the mistake of underestimating the time and resources required, which can lead to delays and cutting core capabilities to meet the business team's needs and demands. * Failing to prioritize features: When building a 0 to 1 product, it's important to prioritize features based on their importance to the customer and the business. Failing to prioritize features can lead to a product that doesn't meet the needs of your target audience. * Not testing the product early and often: Testing the product early and often is critical to ensuring that it meets the needs of your target audience. Failing to test the product can lead to building a product that doesn't work as intended or doesn't meet the needs of your target audience. * Not partnering with product marketing: Building a great 0-1 product is not enough for it to be successful. The product needs to be marketed to the target audience to generate interest and usage. It is critical for product managers to work closely with their product marketing team to build a solid launch plan. Overall, building a 0 to 1 product requires a lot of hard work, attention to detail, and a focus on the needs of the customer.

Prioritizing validated problems ensures you are focusing on the most pressing problem that will have the largest impact. It is finding out what will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Prioritization requires a thoughtful and strategic approach. Here are some ways to prioritize various validated problems: 1. Assess the impact: Evaluate the impact of each problem on the user and the business. This can include factors such as how many users are affected, how much time or money is lost due to the problem, and how much revenue is at stake. 2. Evaluate feasibility: Assess the feasibility of potential solutions to each problem. This can include factors such as technical feasibility, resource availability, and the level of effort required to implement a solution. 3. Consider urgency: Evaluate the urgency of each problem. Some problems may be more urgent than others, such as those that impact user safety or result in significant financial losses. 4. Consider strategic alignment: Evaluate how each problem aligns with your overall product strategy and business objectives. Some problems may be more closely aligned with your strategic goals than others and therefore may be a higher priority. 5. Involve stakeholders: Involve stakeholders in the prioritization process. This can include designers, engineers, go-to-market team members, as well as users and other external stakeholders. Getting input from a variety of perspectives can help ensure that priorities are aligned with user needs and business objectives. 6. Use a prioritization framework: Consider using a prioritization framework to help guide the prioritization process. There are many frameworks out there; my favorites and ones that I use frequently are Value vs Effort and RICE.

Validating problem statements requires a user-centered approach that involves collecting data through user research, defining the problem statement, prioritizing the problem statement, developing a hypothesis, creating a prototype, testing the prototype, and iterating based on user feedback. Let's talk about each of them in a little more detail. 1. Conduct user research: The first step in validating problem statements is to conduct user research. This can involve talking to users, observing their behavior, and collecting feedback through surveys and other methods. The goal is to identify the pain points and challenges that users are experiencing and to validate that the problem statement accurately reflects their needs. 2. Define the problem statement: Once you have collected data through user research, you can define the problem statement. This should be a clear and concise statement that accurately reflects the user's pain points and the problem that needs to be solved. 3. Prioritize the problem statement: Once you have defined the problem statement, it's important to prioritize it. This can be done by evaluating the impact of the problem on the user and the business, and by assessing the feasibility of potential solutions. 4. Develop a hypothesis: Based on the problem statement and user research, develop a hypothesis about what the solution might look like. This can include assumptions about user behavior, design elements, and other factors. 5. Create a prototype: Create a prototype that addresses the problem statement and hypothesis. I prefer creating low-fidelity prototypes to avoid users getting distracted by branding and styling. 6. Test the prototype: Test the prototype with users to gather feedback and validate the problem statement. This can involve user testing, focus groups, and other methods. 7. Iterate: Based on user feedback, iterate on the prototype and refine the problem statement as needed. This can involve making changes to the design, modifying the hypothesis, or re-evaluating the prioritization of the problem statement.

Getting feedback is a great way to validate the problem and make sure you are tackling a pervasive problem. Make sure you have a clear and concise articulation of the problem and who your target audience is. There are many different ways to get feedback; listing a few here. 1. Conduct a survey - This is a great way to get feedback quickly from a large group of your target persona. It is very easy to create a survey using google forms, survey monkey, and Intercom to validate the problem. When creating a survey, make sure it is easy and quick for someone to respond to the survey. You can add incentives like gift cards or raffle drawn to get more folks to respond. While surveys can help you reach your target persona with minimum effort, employing surveys by themselves is not very effective at validating problems. You should combine surveys with 1-1 interviews. 2. Conduct interviews - Interviews are a great way to get personalized feedback from your target audience. You can conduct interviews online or in person; depending on who your target audience is. Some of the scrappy ways I have reached out to my target audience to get interviews is via LinkedIn inMail, DMs on Twitter and even setting up a table at a cafeteria. 3. Prototype Testing - Create a prototype of the solution and use that to validate the problem and solution with the target audience. Platforms like UserTesting and sagetap can be used to conduct testing. 4. Social Media - You can gather feedback on problems by running polls or posting questions on social media like LinkedIn, Twitter, and relevant Facebook groups, public Slack, Discord to name a few. You can also publish a blog on Medium with the thought leadership to get feedback. 5. Competitive Research - Reviewing competitive product's collateral - data sheet, solution brief, case studies 6. Current Customers - If you have a product already that has customers and a set of target personas, you can leverage existing customer relationships to get feedback about the problem. 7. For Enterprise products, you can get validation at relevant tech conferences as well as by reading analyst reports. You can also pay for analyst time and get a conversation with them to get validation for your problem, market size, etc. Using a multi-pronged approach to gather feedback is important to get a good understanding of your target persona's pain points and needs.