Sue Raisty - The Blog of Sue Raisty (Page 2)

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Sinister Sales Engineer

Ah, the Sinister Sales Engineer. Many companies have one. Early in my career, when I was not even a "Senior" Product Manager yet, this guy scared the bejeezus out of me. Let's just say that this

Lessons I Learned from Co-Founding a Tech Startup

Once upon a time, when I was a wee lass (23 years old, to be precise), and not yet a product manager but a code warrior, I did that clichéd, hackneyed Silicon Valley stunt: co-founding a tech startup with three

Quora: Is it fair for men & women to have different criteria for Y-Combinator, MIT & Caltech?

Summarized from a discussion I had in the comments on Quora [http://www.quora.com/How-could-Y-Combinator-be-more-female-friendly]. Original Question: How could Y Combinator be more female-friendly? This isn't so much about how YC treats women once they get in,

Why Product Management is so misunderstood

I've encountered lots of software startups that want to start up a Product Management function, even though they don't really understand what the Product Management role is or its activities. (I guess that's why

Stuff Product Managers Should Do, But Don't (and vice versa)

Let's start off by adding some things to your to-do list.... Four Things you SHOULD do, but probably don't: 1. Understand the product financials. Make a little spreadsheet of how your product makes money. How many

The Problem of Analysis Illiteracy Among Users

I’ve worked on several "Big Data" products over the years. I’ve always inspired myself and others (or at least attempted to inspire others) with goal of helping regular people gain true insight from the hoards of

The Content Manager Product Pattern

Content Management is huge in enterprise software, and thus the Content Manager Pattern is one of the most important high-level Product Patterns. Content management is the primary function of most software described as a platform, server, or online service. It’

Product Patterns: What is Content?

In my posts about Product Patterns [https://blog.sueraisty.com/macro-product-patterns-enterprise-software/], I’ve mentioned the word “content” a lot. I’ve even mentioned a few high-level product patterns called the “Content Manager” and “Content Authoring Tool.” This is an important

Product Patterns: The big ones you see over and over in Enterprise Software

Since I’ve become attuned toProduct Patterns [https://blog.sueraisty.com/product-patterns-everywhere/](buckets of software functionality that appear in product after product), I’ve noticed dozens of them. Some are big, top-level patterns. And some are really sub-patterns, that exist

Product Patterns Everywhere

In my entire Product Management career, I’ve probably done hands-on, formal analysis of the functionality and usability of over 300 software products and online services (not including mobile apps). Why so many? Well, I am extremely good at competitive

Battlecards - Cheat Sheets on Your Competition. (A Template)

Sales people are known for having a short-attention span -- they are always focused on the needs of their in-progress deals. Many won't put in the time to learn all about the competition until they absolutely need to.

Presenting Your Product Strategy: Tell A Story.

You Should Use Frameworks & Templates When Developing Your Product Strategy To develop a product strategy, most PMs use two or more strategic frameworks to make sure they’ve considered the business environment and potential futures from all angles. Many

Should "Product" Report Directly to the CEO?

Seems like everyone in the Product Management blog-o-universe just loves to chat about where Product Management should report in the organization. Unsurprisingly, among us Product Management geeks of the world, the overwhelming consensus that Product Management should report directly to

Cartoon: Product Roadmap Fail

A new, original cartoon for your enjoyment. Inspired by countless product roadmap presentations that I have slept through over the years. (TIP: Telling customers & prospects about features that are not for them or that they don't care

Quora: Is a product manager responsible for product documentation?

My answer, originally published on Quora [http://www.quora.com/Is-a-product-manager-responsible-for-product-documentation/answer/Sue-Raisty-Egami] . Q: Is a product manager responsible for product documentation? ##My Answer: Product managers are typically _responsible_ for the "whole product" -- which means the product

Quora: Why should I remove features that are not popular?

My answer, originally published on Quora [http://www.quora.com/Why-should-I-remove-features-that-are-not-popular/answer/Sue-Raisty] . Q: Why should I remove features that are not popular? I've read many articles that suggest that product managers should be removing features that are

Quora: How does the work-life balance of Product Managers compare to that of Software Engineers?

My answer, originally published on Quora [http://www.quora.com/How-does-the-work-life-balance-of-product-managers-compare-to-that-of-software-engineers/answer/Sue-Raisty] . Q: How does the work-life balance of product managers compare to that of software engineers? I am trying to decide between a software engineering and a product

A Day in the Life of the Cranky Product Manager

As an Internet icon and a member of the Technorati 100,000,000, the Cranky Product Manager receives hoards of fan mail -- one or two messages a week, in fact. Whenever she can, the Cranky Product Manager tries to

Sexism in the Software Industry - My Personal Experiences

Following up on my earlier posts about the deepening dearth of women in the software industry, here are some incidents of outright sexism that I have personally encountered in this industry.

Product Managers and the Fear of Selling

Most product managers and product marketers I know have a fear of — or at least a strong dislike of — selling. They find selling unpleasant and often think they are bad at it. Especially the closing the deal part. Alas, this