An important skill for a Product Manager is the ability to parachute into an existing product and land on your feet. In this workshop you will learn how to immerse yourself in your new company and learn as much as you can as quickly as you can. Paul has been in product management for over ten years and has parachuted into several existing products, all in different industries.

1. How to Successfully Parachute into
an Existing Product
/Productschool @ProdSchool /ProductmanagementNY
Venue Sponsored by

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Howtolandonyourfeetasaproductmanager
March30,2016
PaulHurwitz
HealthTech ProductDirector
Parachuting into an Existing Product

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About Paul Hurwitz
• 15+ Years in technology roles
• 10 Years in Product roles
• Finance/Accounting, Life Sciences & Health Tech products
• Have parachuted 3 times into existing products.

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About Paul Hurwitz
• Have parachuted 3 times into existing products.
– Centage Corporation (Financial/Accounting)
– Medidata Solutions (Life Sciences/Pharma)
– ActiveHealth Management (Population Health Management)

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In the first 2 weeks – 5 Steps
• First impressions are very important
• Learn how product managers are perceived

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1) Meet with Key Stakeholders

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Business Stakeholders
• CEO (depends on size of company)
• Marketing director
• Adjacent product managers
• Sales director
• Account Management
Technical Stakeholders
• VP Engineering / Development Lead
• QA Lead
• Customer Support Lead

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Discussions with Stakeholders
What is the problem that we are trying to
solve?
• Face to Face (if possible)
• Listen! Don’t talk too much.
• Take notes

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2) Find (or Create) the backlog
• What’s already been promised?
• Any golf course deals?
• Don’t make any commitments until you know the full scope

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3) Book Calls with Customers

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4) Learn Your Product
•You only have a few days to experience your
product as a naïve user

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5) Introduce yourself to the Development
team (gently)
•“Be a mensch instead of an MBA” – Rich
Mironov
•Position yourself as their champion

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First 30 - 60 Days – Another 5 steps

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1) At least 5-10 Calls with Customers

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2) Create a Product Strategy

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3) Get intimatewith your financials

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4) Prepare the business for a roadmap
reset

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5) Get a few quick wins

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Conclusion
"A great product manager has the brain of an engineer, the heart of
a designer, and the speech of a diplomat.“
-Deep Nishar, former SVP for products and user experience at
LinkedIn
Before you parachute in, have a plan to engage with people and
issues. Remember that titles don’t matter, but driving collaboration
and product success do.

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Contact Info
• paul@phurwitz.com
• www.phurwitz.com
• http://lnkdin.me/phurwitz
• http://twitter.com/phurwitzma

21. Upcoming Courses
www.productschool.com
www.productschool.com
brad@productschool.com
APPLY AT
Weekdays: June 7th
Weekends: June 4th

22. Project vs Product Managers:
Yea, There’s a Difference– Apr 6th
UPCOMING WORKSHOP
www.productschool.com
RSVP ON EVENTBRITE