Key Insights for Delivering Value

Many companies think they're set if they have product usage metrics and can track user engagement. But unfortunately, that's only part of the picture. The real value comes from connecting that usage data to actual business impact. The best product ops teams create the vision and ability to connect those data points. They help relate user behavior metrics to critical business outcomes like revenue, churn, and more. Imagine seeing a feature with rising usage month-over-month. Seems great, right? But what if you found that the usage spike was mainly from a customer segment you're looking to phase out... while adoption from your strategic focus segment had dropped 20%? Yikes. Having that analytical power to map product metrics to business metrics is the secret sauce. With product ops, you can scale those capabilities across the entire product org and executive team, guiding decision-making in the right direction. As Aniel Sud, CTO of Optimizely, puts it: "Product ops becomes data-driven over time, turning data into actual value." And according to Joe Peake of Featurespace, the goal is analyzing each product's revenue opportunity and ROI - not just relying on gut feelings about the market. True product insight means bringing all data together - from product usage to customer feedback to financial impacts. As Shira Bauman of Zapier notes, "Learning about the data that people care about, and partnering across data teams, is so important." With product ops connecting those dots, we get out of the "build trap" and can optimize for real outcomes. The path to successful products lies in combining engagement metrics with business performance. What's your experience been in tying product usage data to business metrics? Share your insights and lessons learned in the comments!

Strategic PMM teams start with INSIGHT and then impact every part of the GTM motion, end to end. This is how product marketing should add value to every part of the process: 1️⃣ Insights capture The most strategic PMM orgs co-own insights programs with product. They: Conduct market, customer, and competitive research Gather actionable insights that reveal market opportunities Build the foundation that informs all subsequent decisions 2️⃣ Commercial strategy This is where the insights get transformed into quantifiable business opportunities. This is the part that is most similar to the work of management consultants: Develop segmentation and targeting frameworks Create pricing and packaging structures Craft positioning that should ideally PRECEDE product development 3️⃣ Product strategy While PMs own the product strategy, a PMM should have a strong influence on it: Collaborate with product managers on vision and roadmap Ensure market needs directly influence product direction Provide the crucial market context that shapes what gets built 4️⃣ Product development While PM and Eng work on developing the product, PMMs have a crucial role in ensuring the success of the product: Validate product through beta programs Gather customer feedback during development cycles Ensure the final product delivers on its market promise 5️⃣ Outbound go-to-market This is the part the PMM owns and takes charge of, while orchestrating with other field teams. Develop channel promotion strategies Create compelling messaging frameworks Enable internal teams with sales tools and training Execute successful product launches --- Unfortunately, many product marketing teams are confined to just the final pillar - launch execution - without the strategic influence of the preceding four. The true opportunity lies in working towards the left from launch to insights, gaining that "seat at the table" where product marketing becomes a strategic force. This framework can serve as a maturity model for you. Whether you're: --> Looking to expand your influence within your current company --> Building a new product marketing function from scratch --> Interviewing for a strategic PMM role Remember: Product marketing at its best is business strategy plus execution. The more pillars you can effectively own, the more strategic your function becomes. What's your experience? #ProductMarketing #GoToMarket #ProductStrategy #MarketingLeadership

Roadmaps are great…until you realize they’re missing the most important piece: results. Most roadmaps are beautifully designed to showcase what work will get done. They highlight the development timelines, feature launches, and critical milestones. But here’s the truth: they remain silent on the most crucial aspect— when to expect results. As a leader, it’s easy to get caught up in tracking activities, but the real game-changer is focusing on the outcomes. Are those new features driving the expected user adoption? Is your product delivering the value it promised? Here’s the hack you’ve been looking for: embed clear expectations for results into your roadmap. Map out when you anticipate the impact, not just the delivery. This subtle shift in perspective can transform your roadmap from a simple timeline into a strategic tool that drives accountability and real success. So, next time you review your roadmap, ask yourself: "Am I seeing the outcomes, or just the outputs?" What are your thoughts on building roadmaps that tell the whole story? #ProductManagement #Leadership #Roadmaps #OutcomesOverOutputs #StrategicThinking Ref: aatir's substack

One of the most powerful mental models for scaling impact: When I was a Program Manager at Microsoft, working on large-scale projects, I learned an invaluable mental model that changed the way I approach strategy and execution: 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘀, 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 The Portfolios, Programs, and Projects mental model has helped me make big impact in multiple tech domains and in industries around the world. Here’s why it’s a game-changer: 1. 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲: Projects aren’t standalone efforts. They accrue to a Program—a collection of projects working together to drive bigger, strategic outcomes. 2. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗠𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗿: The Program isn’t just a bucket of projects. It’s where vision meets execution, with a clear focus on delivering customer and stakeholder value. 3. 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗽 𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗦𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹: The roadmap is more than dates and deliverables. It’s a visual representation of how we ship value over time—sequencing efforts for maximum impact. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁: It's easy to think in terms of projects. But if you really want to scale your impact, think in terms of portfolios, programs, and projects. It’s more than getting things done—it’s about delivering the right value at the right time, in the right way, for the right impact. What mental models have helped you organize and scale impact in your work? #leadership  #ProjectManagement

"𝘐𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥– 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯’𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺."  Hope Gurion I was fortunate earlier this year to meet with the product management community in the Washington, D.C., area, hearing Hope talk about the journey from outputs to outcomes at Ahmed Mohammed’s invitation. Hope’s talk was rich with the many deep insights she's learned and practiced in helping countless teams become more outcome-focused. Hope is a true product leader, and one of her many notable successes is even chronicled in Marty Cagan's "TRANSFORMED." Here are a few highlights Hope shared: "𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳" "𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘶𝘴 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯, 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳." 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘃𝘀. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 When moving to outcomes, we must distinguish between 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 and 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵 outcomes. 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 include things like increasing EBITDA, growth, revenue, profit. 𝗜𝗻 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀: • We look at changes in human behavior we can measure or observe • That we believe will lead to the desired business outcome • Within the influence of the product team On the journey to moving to outcomes, Hope sees three main causes of pain: • Lack of context • How we define outcomes • How we hold teams accountable Here are the three key remedies Hope provides: 1. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 • Know & illustrate your revenue formula • Get to know your target customers • Clarify business priorities and the WHY behind the work 2. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 • One outcome per team per timeframe • Start from ideal customer behavior/user flow scenarios  • Always set ranges, never exact numbers to hit 3. 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 - 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗥𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 • What have you learned recently that surprised you? • What is the most critical assumption to test next? • What has been the impact of your most recent decision? • How can I help? I was fortunate to study with Hope in one of her early cohorts for her "Defining Outcomes" course as part of Teresa Torres' Product Talk Academy and can highly recommend it. Link in comments