Scaling PMM at a high-growth startup

Transcript

1. Presented by Diana Smith
   Head of Product Marketing at
   Scaling PMM at a
   High-Growth Startup
   Adapt or Die
   

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2. How often do
   you get this
   question?
   

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3. PMMs are like superheroes.
   We can help solve a number of
   problems.
   

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4. At a high growth startup, your focus should
   change as your company evolves.
   

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5. Your job is to find
   the gap.
   

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6. I’m your host
   Diana Smith
   Head of Product Marketing at Segment
   Tweet me
   @DianaHSmith
   @sf_haiku
   Email me
   dianaharlansmith@gmail.com
   Or check out Segment
   segment.com
   Shameless plug for our data conference
   next week:
   synapse.segment.com
   

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7. FIND THE
   GAP
   KNOW THY
   CUSTOMER
   LOVE
   YOURSELF
   Lessons in scaling product marketing
   AT A HIGH-GROWTH STARTUP
   

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8. 1.Find the gap
   

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9. 1. What work isn’t getting done?
   2. What are your top challenges as
   an organization?
   Find the gap
   TOP CONSIDERATIONS
   

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10. PRODUCT
    MARKETING
    SALES
    PMM
    

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11. USER ACQUISITION
    ● Messaging & positioning
    ● Educational content
    ● Volume of customer stories
    NEW PRODUCT REVENUE
    ● Market insights for product roadmap
    ● Product launches
    ● Activation & retention
    SALES EFFECTIVENESS
    ● Onboarding & collateral
    ● Deep customer stories
    ● Objection handling
    Some options for focus
    COMPANY PROBLEMS AND POTENTIAL FOCUS AREAS
    

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12. Series A Series B
    OUR GROWTH PATH
    Gap Product development
    Key metric Signup > paid
    Marketers 1-3
    Salespeople 1-10
    PMs 0.-0.5
    Employees 4-50
    Gap Content / education
    Key metric New sign ups
    Marketers 3-10-5
    Salespeople 10-30
    PMs 0.5-5
    Employees 50-150
    

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13. Series C Series D
    OUR GROWTH PATH
    Gap New products
    Key metric NRR
    Marketers 5-20
    Salespeople 30-90
    PMs 5-12
    Employees 150-375
    Gap Sales effectiveness
    Key metric ARR/AE
    Marketers 20-30
    Salespeople 90-130
    PMs 12-18
    Employees 375-475
    

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14. Find the gap!
    Then, communicate your focus.
    

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15. 2. Know thy customer
    

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16. Know thy customer
    BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE
    This curiosity will help you
    ● Build resonant messaging
    ● Influence the product roadmap
    ● Develop effective campaigns
    

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17. Tools at your disposal
    USE EXISTING DATA SETS TO GET A JUMP START
    1. Customer interviews
    2. NPS analysis
    3. Market and customer surveys
    4. Win/loss analysis
    5. Salesforce product requests
    6. Competitive analysis
    7. Top requests from sales and
    success leads
    8. Analyst calls
    

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18. Synthesize!
    HELP YOUR TEAM IDENTIFY WHAT TO DO NEXT
    Sample syntheses
    ● Top requested product
    features by customer segment
    ● Top concerns to address from
    NPS feedback
    ● Top competitive gaps where
    we lose deals
    ● Top objections to train sales
    on handling
    IF EVERYTHING IS IMPORTANT, NOTHING IS
    IMPORTANT.
    

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19. 3. Love yourself
    

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20. 3. Love your
    lanky,
    awkward
    teenage self
    

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21. WATCH FOR
    ORPHANS
    NO ORG
    STRUCTURE
    IS PERFECT
    Love your lanky, awkward teenage self
    EMBRACE THE DUMPSTER-FIRE OF HIGH GROWTH, WITH GUARD RAILS
    GIVE CLEAR
    OWNERSHIP
    

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22. Give clear ownership to the most important things
    THEN DOCUMENT YOUR ORPHANS
    SERIES A
    #ALLOFTHETHINGS
    MARKETER 1
    ● Messaging
    ● Demand Gen
    ● Product Launches
    ● Case Studies
    Orphans
    ● Anything that’s not
    completely on fire
    SERIES B
    LIGHT SPECIALIZATION
    PMM 1
    ● Features 2 & 3
    ● Competitive Intel
    PMM 2
    ● Features 1 & 4
    ● Sales Content Needs
    Orphans
    ● Features 5 & 6
    ● PR & AR
    SERIES C
    ALMOST TO A MATRIX
    PMM 1
    ● Product Area A
    ● Customer Persona 1
    PMM 2
    ● Product Area B
    ● Industry Campaign
    PMM 3
    ● Product Area C
    ● Conference Content
    Orphans
    ● Customer Persona 2
    

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23. ● You can never do all of the things that
    would be high-impact. That’s the burden
    and joy of high-growth.
    ● Even when you’re underwater and need a
    life raft, don’t rush your hires. Pink flags
    will likely turn into red flags later.
    Lessons learned the hard way
    YOU WON’T ALWAYS HAVE EVERYTHING UNDER CONTROL. THAT’S OKAY.
    DO ALL THE THINGS
    YOU CAN NEVER DO
    ALL THE THINGS
    

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24. You’ll likely agonize over your org structure
    HERE’S A SECRET: PERFECTION IS A MYTH
    

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25. You’ll likely agonize over your org structure
    SPOILER: PERFECTION IS A MYTH
    ● Here’s a secret: There is no perfect
    organizational structure (by
    product, by segment, a matrix).
    ● Each one has pros and cons.
    ● Align based on burning needs.
    BY PRODUCT LINE
    ● Pros: Roadmap influence
    ● Cons: Cross-product stories
    BY CUSTOMER SEGMENT
    ● Pros: Aligned with sales/customer-
    focused
    ● Cons: Lack of product influence
    MATRIX (GTM + PRODUCT)
    ● Pros: Great coverage across PMM
    responsibilities
    ● Cons: Lower quality execution/doubling
    up resources
    

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26. Focus where there
    are gaps in your
    company. Then
    communicate your
    focus.
    Know your
    customer better
    than anything else.
    This is how you
    add value.
    Some areas will
    grow faster than
    others. You’ll never
    cover it all. That’s
    why this is fun.
    Adapt or die
    @DianaHSmith
    SCALING PMM AT A HIGH-GROWTH STARTUP
    

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27. Thank you!
    Diana Smith
    Product Marketing
    @DianaHSmith
    Scaling PMM at a
    High-Growth
    Startup
    THIS HAS BEEN AN EPISODE OF
    

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28. synapse.segment.com
    Free code: synapsewdiana
    

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