product management vs. business development
TRANSCRIPT
Product Management vs.
Business Developmentby Chris Butler
From product to BD…
...and back
Business development is
a close relative of product
Techniques used by BD can help
product people be more effective
All hands on deck sometimes means
product people do BD work
“How would you design a washer/dryer
combination for someone that is sight
impaired?”
Empathy
“A program manager isn’t valuable for
their first two years.”
-PM instructor
Tech evangelism: the gateway drug for
business development
1)Building a lead list
2) Understand your users, partners and
developers
3) Alignment is difficult
4) Creative thinking is key
1)The pitch
2) Indemnification, exclusivity, contract
outs, net payment and other legalese...
3) Outreach by any means possible
BD hack: use the DMCA contact
information to find an email address
4) Closing techniques
5) Negotiation is asking for what
you want and need
Sidebar: what is sales vs. BD?
1)Channel sales won’t work before you
know how to sell your own product
2) Understand your place in the
ecosystem through partnership
1)Manage and review queues
2) Don’t be the person holding things up
3) Build a toolbox of options
4) Learn a partner’s philosophy, fears
and culture
1)Guard your team’s time
“Free trial”
“It only takes 10 minutes to integrate...”
“It’s only 5 lines of code...”
2) Be numbers driven
Headed home...
Business development is
a close relative of product
Techniques used by BD can help
product people be more effective
All hands on deck sometimes means
product people do BD work
Have you hugged your business
development person today?
Thank you!