Product Management

I've been in software product management for 15+ years and have trained and coached many PMs. These posts explain my product management philosophy, tips, tricks, and stories.

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

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

Q&A About Agile Product Management

Below is an online Q&A from a presentation I gave on Agile Product Management.  Just wanted to share…. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Q: How do you deal with a management team that is entrenched in the Waterfall method and a development

Pros/Cons of Product Management Reporting Structures

The Cranky Product Manager received a boatload of intelligent comments on last week's post Why It Doesn't Matter Where Product Management Lives in the Organization. Check out the comments if you got the time. Shockingly, a

Return of the Product Management haiku

Remember this?  The Product Management Haikus (originally inspired by Pivotal PM)? I am inspired to once again dust off my quill pen and write some more poetry. Poetry that no one but you, a reader of a product management blog,

The Value of an MBA in Product Management

A question from a reader: Q: Is an MBA necessary to advance in Product Management to the Senior level, Director level, or beyond? Or can one compensate for the lack of a Masters with strong analytics and high-level strategy and

Why you need a Product Strategy (even if your boss doesn't care)

I read too many blogs that say "ALL product managers should do X". Having worked with so many companies, I can usually think of plenty of cases where it makes sense to break the "rule." But

Quora: Is there a market for fractional or part-time product management?

This amazing product management magazine concept was inspired by the literature in my dentist's office

Don't know about you, but I'd read it....

Where to get information about competitors

Don't just look at your competition's website and read a few articles. For a fuller view, try these information sources: 1. The competitor's website -- including hidden pages, all images, and any uploaded documents

The Veteran Software Engineer: Hard Proof At Last

I received an email from a reader regarding this blog's recent guest post, The 7 Types of Engineers [https://blog.sueraisty.com/humor-7-types-software-engineers/]. > To Whom I May Concern, > I have attached a picture of the real

Common Product Management Screw-ups That Strike Even the Experienced

1. Acting like a Requirements Monkey. 2. Punting on strategy. 3. Not focusing on a particular target market. 4. Not meeting with enough customers often enough. 5. Not meeting with prospects and non-customers (aka potentials) often enough. 6. Not truly

Product Management Haiku, Redux

In our coupious spare time, Product Management bloggers just LOVE writing haikus. Check it: here (Pivotal PM), and here (my previous post), and here (Product Management Meets Pop Culture), and here (Tyner Blain), and here (On Product Management). The fun