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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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