Blog

I was asked recently whether platforms will conquer the world. My view? They already have. In this article I share how they’ve done it, and how you can successfully bring your own platform to market.

» In case you missed it: recap of the communication toolkit

» To earn trust you need people to know what you’ve achieved » Weeknotes are a way to work in the open, reflect and attain a sense of achievement » Being trusted makes it easier for you to carve out the space your team needs to succeed

» Celsys are going to start charging for software updates to their popular Clip Studio Paint product » The way Celsys communicated this to their users caused outrage — some of which was justified » Fog Creek found themselves trying to monetise their viral product Trello, which it had promised would be free forever » Fog Creek had first mover advantage on an easily copied product, which it exploited by a timely sale to Atlassian

» In solving their own internal scaling problem, Amazon inadvertently created the building blocks for the AWS platform » Stripe’s founders didn’t shy away from tackling an unattractively difficult problem » Platforms connect different sides of a market, even if they have dramatically different needs and capabilities » Twilio’s founder prioritised the developers who’d implement his API, not the managers who’d pay for it

When your stakeholders each have their own interpretations of the product strategy, this lack of stakeholder alignment will cause you no end of problems. Here’s what you can do about it.

» Every other team is allowed to be uncertain about the future — so should product » There are different types of question for strategy, opportunities and interventions » Avoid investments that are neither defense nor offense » What people say and how they really feel can often vary

» Your users must value your product more than it would cost them to switch » An end-of-life policy sets out the process you will use to retire products for customers » Think about your users and customers’ technical and economic issues first » Retiring a product gracefully means making a plan

» People more easily accept they’re not seeing the whole picture than being told they’re wrong » Don’t make people feel bad about their beliefs — be kind and connect with them » Research shows that we interpret words like “we believe” with differing confidence levels » There is often a lack of discipline when it comes to talking about uncertainty

» Use empathy to appreciate the context, needs and pain points of your stakeholders » Understanding people’s social style helps you influence stakeholders more effectively » You can use different modes of persuasion to craft a more compelling argument » Picking the right time to make your point can amplify your persuasiveness

» Each customer has their own unique journey to and through your product » Conversion funnel analysis with bar charts is a conscious choice to maximise precision over accuracy » Cart abandonment is an opportunity to engage with your users » Conversion rate is a quantitative springboard to qualitative insights

» Story structure and the right content give your presenting more impact » Try to create presentations that captivate, not subdue » A perception audit helps narrow the gap between how you perceive yourself and how others see you » Good breathing technique when speaking both calms you and produces a better sound