Product Value Creation

It’s easy as a PM to only focus on the upside. But you'll notice: more experienced PMs actually spend more time on the downside. The reason is simple: the more time you’ve spent in Product Management, the more times you’ve been burned. The team releases “the” feature that was supposed to change everything for the product - and everything remains the same. When you reach this stage, product management becomes less about figuring out what new feature could deliver great value, and more about de-risking the choices you have made to deliver the needed impact. -- To do this systematically, I recommend considering Marty Cagan's classical 4 Risks. 𝟭. 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 Remember Juicero? They built a $400 Wi-Fi-enabled juicer, only to discover that their value proposition wasn’t compelling. Customers could just as easily squeeze the juice packs with their hands. A hard lesson in value risk. Value Risk asks whether customers care enough to open their wallets or devote their time. It’s the soul of your product. If you can’t be match how much they value their money or time, you’re toast. 𝟮. 𝗨𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿’𝘀 𝗟𝗲𝗻𝘀 Usability Risk isn't about if customers find value; it's about whether they can even get to that value. Can they navigate your product without wanting to throw their device out the window? Google Glass failed not because of value but usability. People didn’t want to wear something perceived as geeky, or that invaded privacy. Google Glass was a usability nightmare that never got its day in the sun. 𝟯. 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 Feasibility Risk takes a different angle. It's not about the market or the user; it's about you. Can you and your team actually build what you’ve dreamed up? Theranos promised the moon but couldn't deliver. It claimed its technology could run extensive tests with a single drop of blood. The reality? It was scientifically impossible with their tech. They ignored feasibility risk and paid the price. 𝟰. 𝗩𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗥𝗶𝘀𝗸: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶-𝗗𝗶𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 (Business) Viability Risk is the "grandmaster" of risks. It asks: Does this product make sense within the broader context of your business? Take Kodak for example. They actually invented the digital camera but failed to adapt their business model to this disruptive technology. They held back due to fear it would cannibalize their film business. -- This systematic approach is the best way I have found to help de-risk big launches. How do you like to de-risk?

🔊 AI is making services sexy again. 🔊 The core promise of AI is the elimination of barriers to creation. Text, audio, video, code... all become easier to generate. When creation becomes that simple, it doesn’t just empower—it commoditizes. What once required deep expertise and high barriers to entry can now be built by many, intensifying competition in software. Meanwhile, service businesses—the ones we’ve all ignored because, let’s be honest, their margins weren’t great—have a shot at massive value creation. Here's the math: 👩🏭 Average professional services margin: 15-25% 👨💻 Average software margin: 70-80% 🤖 AI-powered services margin: Approaching software territory AI fundamentally alters the unit economics of human labor by scaling a single person’s productivity exponentially. It can convert a 5-person team into a 50-person productivity powerhouse. Services that traditionally lived in the low-margin corner are now knocking on the door of software-like profitability. In a commoditized software world, the moat shifts. It’s not about the code—it’s about who owns the customer relationship. It’s in trust. It’s in delivery. Services businesses that leverage AI effectively are on the verge of tremendous value creation. 📈 💰 The ultimate irony is that the technology that’s supposed to take over the world, might actually put the power back in human hands. As software commoditizes, the intangible stuff—relationships, service, trust—becomes the differentiator.

Capturing Demand vs. Creating Demand Most companies only focus on capturing existing demand. They wait for people to look for them. Then try to capture it with SEO, SEM, review sites, intent data, and retargeting. This is the basic SaaS marketing mix. They are riding on the coat-tails of existing demand for their category or product. They spend all their time and money fighting over the small portion of the market that is actively buying. When there isn’t enough real market demand, they have their Salespeople & SDRs chase around and annoy people that don’t want to buy. It works great until it maxes out. Or until your competitor beats you at CREATING demand. What people don’t understand is that all of the upside is in marketing to the 99% of the market that isn’t actively buying. To create awareness. To drive differentiation. To influence product consideration. To facilitate independent buying journeys. To CREATE DEMAND. If you wait until they’re in “buy mode”, you’ve already lost. If you wait on “intent signals” to go outbound, you’ve already lost. You want to engage customers and win WAY earlier in the buying process. Your north star for 2023 should be to become the BEST at CREATING DEMAND. #marketing #demand #gtm #b2b #sales p.s. Getting someone to download your e-book so you can call them a "lead" and cold call them is NOT capturing demand. Capturing Demand = When a person/account is in-market to buy, demonstrating intent to buy, how do we capture that demand and convert it into a Sales meeting or self-service purchase.

When I worked at Hallmark, I was involved in many brand and innovation projects, where I learned that people are very predictable! The factors we consider when engaging in or purchasing from a brand haven't changed much fundamentally, although the manifestation of those factors are different than they were 10-20 years ago: 1. VALUE: Do I feel good about what I get for what I give? Challenge: Low-cost options abound and many are "good enough." There are fewer product types consumers feel precious about these days, especially younger consumers who are accustomed to the Temu and Shein versions of everything. If there's not added value, like a great experience, forget it. Workplace equivalent: Am I getting paid and appreciated for the work I do? Is my experience enhanced? 2. CONVENIENCE: Is it easy and efficient for me to engage with you? Challenge: We've been dealing with online shopping for a long time now, but same-day delivery and free shipping create major barriers to entry for the little guys who seek to compete on this dimension. Subscriptions help counter this, but they require consumers to think ahead (and to think of you when they think ahead). Staying top of mind is expensive. Workplace equivalent: Do I have the flexibility I need? Am I free to work in ways that maximize my output? Am I facing unnecessary barriers? 3. AFFINITY: Do I feel emotionally connected to your brand and/or solutions? Challenge: Today, this is both quicksand and a rocket ship. Consumers move swiftly to boycott if they don't like your positions or decisions, and social media spreads negative sentiment like wildfire. At the same time, they'll support you with their social capital and money if they DO like your positions and decisions, and that spreads like wildfire too. Workplace equivalent: Can I trust you to be who you say you are, and does that align with how I see myself? When I talk about you to others, am I amplifying good or bad traits? 4. STATUS: Does being associated with your brand and/or solution give me credibility or make me feel good/important/enriched/happy? Challenge: Trends cycle faster now, and the more polarized we are, the more powerful #1 and 3# become. For increasing numbers of people who may feel discarded or disenfranchised, feeling valued and aligned overshadow the desire for status. If you're not there for them, they don't want to be there for you. Workplace equivalent: For many professionals, the days of caring more about working for a big brand than working for a good company that sees, respects, values, and protects them are behind us. They tried that and learned the hard way that bigger does not mean better. Interesting times, indeed. What consumer drivers did I miss? And how do you see them differently today than in years past? #marketing #consumer #brands #products #retail #wearethewaymakers #betheway #thewaymakerschangegroup #leadership #workplacewellness #culture #consumerinsights #employeeinsights

Innovation isn’t about making what you sell better; it’s about selling something better. Most often when people think of the objectives of digital transformation, they focus on production optimization or cost reduction. But I would argue the real value comes from transforming the way you provide and capture value to customers. 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐬: 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 Manufacturers have traditionally sold physical products; however, with the increasing popularity of digital services such as software or cloud-based solutions, many manufacturers are now offering digital services as well. These digital services can be anything from providing access to a web portal for customers to tracking performance data for their equipment. By selling digital services, manufacturers can not only increase their profits but also gain a better understanding of customer needs which they can use to refine their products and services accordingly. 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐀𝐬-𝐀-𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 The subscription business model has become increasingly popular among manufacturers as it allows them to offer customers more flexibility when purchasing their products or services. Instead of customers buying a one-time product or service, they can subscribe on an ongoing basis instead which means they get access to the latest updates and features without having to purchase a new product each time. 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 This type of contract typically involves setting an agreed upon outcome that both parties agree on before signing any agreements. For example, if a manufacturer agrees to provide hardware maintenance for its customers for a certain number of years then it will receive payment once those conditions have been met instead of upfront payments like in traditional contracts. In such arrangements, manufacturers assume more responsibility for delivering results; thus increasing their risk but also allowing them to capture more value from customers if successful. ******************************************* • Visit www.jeffwinterinsights.com for access to all my content and to stay current on Industry 4.0 and other cool tech trends • Ring the 🔔 for notifications!

People value what they create 63% more. Yet most digital experiences treat customers as passive recipients instead of co-creators. This psychological principle, known as the "Ikea Effect", is shockingly underutilized in digital journeys. When someone builds a piece of Ikea furniture, they develop an emotional attachment that transcends its objective value. The same phenomenon happens in digital experiences. After optimizing digital journeys for companies like Adobe and Nike for over a decade, I've discovered this pattern consistently: 👉 Those who customize or personalize a product before purchase are dramatically more likely to convert and remain loyal. One enterprise client implemented a product configurator that increased conversions by 31% and reduced returns by 24%. Users weren't getting a different product... they were getting the same product they helped create. The psychology is simple but powerful: ↳ Customization creates psychological ownership before financial ownership ↳ The effort invested creates value attribution ↳ Co-creation builds emotional connection Three ways to implement this today: 1️⃣ Replace dropdown options with visual configurators 2️⃣ Create personalization quizzes that guide product selection 3️⃣ Allow users to save and revisit their customized selections Most importantly: shift your mindset from selling products to facilitating creation. When customers feel like co-creators rather than consumers, they don't just buy more... they become advocates. How are you letting your customers build rather than just buy?

Most enterprises waste millions on tech without seeing real impact. I learned this the hard way. Early in my career, I saw companies invest in cutting edge tools only to struggle with adoption, integration, and ROI. That’s when I developed a smarter, outcome-driven approach. Here’s the exact method I use to maximize ROI from technology investments:  Start with Business Outcomes, Not Features ↳ Define the measurable impact before picking the tech. What problem are you solving? What KPIs will prove success?  Ensure Alignment Across Teams ↳ IT, finance, and business leaders must be on the same page. Misalignment leads to wasted budgets and underutilized tools.  Adopt in Phases, Not All at Once ↳ Test, refine, and scale. A phased rollout prevents disruptions and maximizes adoption.  Measure, Optimize, Repeat ↳ Regularly assess ROI. What’s working? What needs adjustment? Continuous refinement drives long-term value. Tech alone doesn’t drive transformation—strategy does. How do you ensure your technology investments deliver real business impact? Let’s discuss. 👇 🔹 Follow me for more insights on digital transformation. 🔹 Connect with me to explore strategies that drive real impact. ♻️ Repost this to help your network. P.S.: Thinking about how to maximize your tech investments? Let’s chat. I’m happy to share insights on what works (and what to avoid).

Every time I think am too obsessed with "demand", I realize I'm not focused enough on it... The 0-1 journey is just about finding demand. The 1-10 journey is about serving demand repeatedly, then scalably. When we find demand, everything else is solvable. When we don't, everything else is both impossibly complex and futile. So... what IS demand? At a high level, it's what buyers are trying to achieve. But it's so much more than that... and it's worth understanding this concept deeply. A couple of concepts I've found useful: 1 - Who, in what situation, would be weird *not* to change? We often think about all the people who COULD BENEFIT from our product. This leans into our impulse for wishful thinking; we could, in theory, serve *anyone*, right? Flip it: Who would be weird to not buy? When? 2 - What is the *project* on their Trello board that makes our product relevant? Nobody wakes up and says, "Yes! Today's the day I get to buy enterprise software!" Nobody wants our products. Something in their world that has nothing to do with our product CAUSES our product to become relevant in their lives. Demand, in other words, is supply-agnostic. 3 - Demand is found at the "n of 1" level No persona or niche or even company has demand, *individual people* buy things. If we can't find demand at the "n of 1" level, how could we possibly find it at scale? 4 - It doesn't matter what they *should want* This is, in part, why we wind up with shiny value props and well-designed products nobody buys: We try to impose what we want our customers to want. "Why wouldn't they want XYZ benefits? Don't they want what's best for them?" Guess what they don't want - us nerds lecturing them on what they should want Learned all these the hard way, hope they're helpful in your demand-finding journey :)

My AI tools finish in seconds what used to take hours. Yet somehow my workday has gotten longer. The time savings materialized immediately. Content creation, data analysis, and customer research cycles shortened dramatically. But something unexpected happened. For every hour saved, we discovered three hours of new work that suddenly became possible—and valuable. Market segments we couldn't previously analyze became accessible. Customer personalization we couldn't scale became feasible. Product improvements we couldn't resource became attainable. Our capacity expanded, but so did our ambitions. This pattern isn't unique to us. Every founder I've spoken with who's meaningfully implemented AI tools has experienced the same counterintuitive reality. The time saved doesn't translate to shorter workdays. Instead, it unlocks entirely new categories of high-value work that were previously impractical. The founders seeing the greatest returns aren't those using AI to reduce headcount or cut costs. They're the ones using AI to dramatically expand their capabilities while maintaining their team size. One SaaS founder in our network used AI to analyze customer conversations at a scale previously impossible. This revealed three new market segments they're now successfully targeting. Another used generative AI to create personalized outreach at 50x their previous capacity, transforming their entire go-to-market motion. The true value of AI isn't in doing the same things faster, but in doing entirely new things that create disproportionate value. This expansion of possibility is challenging. It requires constant prioritization and focus. The constraint is no longer technical capability but human judgment about what's worth doing. Productivity is fundamentally about maximizing impact, not minimizing effort. And in that light, having more high-value work to do than hours in the day isn't a failure of the technology. It's a sign you're using it correctly. #startups #growth #founders #ai

𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐉𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧   What’s in a name? For me, 𝐃𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐃𝐀𝐕𝐄 is more than just who I am - it’s a meaningful lens to navigate 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 in today’s fast-changing world. Inspired by my name, I am excited to share a strategic approach that embodies the core principles organizations need to evolve and thrive in the digital era.   Here’s what it’s all about: 📌𝐃 - 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚-𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 Data is the backbone of modern strategy. Analytics, AI, and actionable insights empower organizations to make smarter, faster decisions and stay ahead of the curve. 📌𝐄 - 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 Seamless and personalized experiences are key. Whether through AI-driven tools like chatbots or real-time feedback systems, improving customer engagement creates lasting value. 📌𝐄 - 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 In a dynamic market, agility is everything. Cloud solutions, flexible workflows, and responsive operations allow businesses to adapt quickly and innovate faster. 📌𝐏 - 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Automation is a game-changer. By automating repetitive tasks with tools like RPA and AI, organizations can boost efficiency, reduce errors, and focus on strategic priorities. 📌𝐃 - 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Integration fosters collaboration. Building a connected ecosystem that streamlines data sharing and decision-making creates a foundation for long-term growth. 📌𝐀 - 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐀𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain aren’t just trends - they’re tools for innovation, productivity, and maintaining a competitive edge. 📌𝐕 - 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 At its core, digital transformation is about generating value - whether by driving efficiency, opening new revenue streams, or enhancing customer experiences. 📌𝐄 - 𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 Technology alone isn’t enough. A culture of continuous learning, collaboration, and adaptability is crucial to thrive in an ever-changing environment.   This isn’t just about technology - it’s about blending data, processes, advanced tools, and cultural change to unlock growth and innovation. #DigitalTransformation #Innovation #Leadership #Technology #Adaptability