September 30th, 2011
I’ve worked with business development managers that don’t believe in creating comprehensive term sheets when putting together a deal. What they end up with is a short summary and a disjointed string of e-mails with all of the details. They say it’s faster. I say it’s lazy, it ends up taking longer, and it causes problems further down the line.
From the Harvard Law School Program on Negotiation titled “Conflict Management From the Start“:
After reaching an agreement, professionals often rely on their lawyers to draw up the official contract. Unfortunately, miscommunication between negotiators and their lawyers often leads to costly mistakes. Contract terms may not accurately represent the negotiated agreement, key deal terms could be missing, or clauses might contradict one another.
The biggest miscommunications happen when the lawyers don’t have a term sheet to work from. If you just give them a summary, some e-mails, and perhaps the other party’s standard contract, they have no idea what to do with it. What follows are a long series of questions and back-and-forth on the contract terms. All of which could have been avoided if they’d had something more structured to work with from the beginning.
I’ve done it both ways. A term sheet is always the better, faster way to go. The legal process takes far less time, you end up with a contract that covers what you expected, and you don’t get blind-sided by anything 6 months into the deal.
You can equate not using a term sheet to trying to launch a new product without having detailed written requirements. That too doesn’t work so well. Take the time to write everything out and gain agreement on it. You will be glad you did.
Posted in Randy Weber, business development, management, marketing, partnerships, product management, productivity, startups | No Comments »
September 25th, 2011
Great post on The Software Maven that should help all product managers. A nice application of how to use the scientific method and some common logical fallacies to avoid.
When you’re gathering data to validate your market or product, pay attention to the following:
- Confirmation Bias – “Are you asking questions to find the truth or to prove yourself right?“
- Appeals to Authority – “Are you listening to experts instead of your customers?”
- Misaligned Motivations – “Do you have an emotional connection that is clouding your vision?”
- Overconfidence – “Are you…completely sure you know all the answers?”
- Familiarity – “Are you digging to find the real needs that you wouldn’t hear about otherwise?”
Posted in Randy Weber, marketing, product management | No Comments »
September 21st, 2011
Currently my shopping list is pretty short. I want a new iPhone 5 when they come out and I want one of the Amazon Android tablets. I’m pretty excited about both, though obviously the iPhone is clearly at the top of the list. I don’t want an iPad because you can’t own one without at least occasionally tethering it to a PC, especially at setup. That strikes me as ridiculous. Thus Amazon is going to get my business instead unless Apple fixes that really fast.
Posted in Apple, amazon.com, gadgets, iPhone, mobile | No Comments »
September 18th, 2011
After a horrible 4th quarter collapse last week against the Jets, the Cowboys come from a 10 point deficit in the 4th quarter this week to win in overtime over the 49ers. How ’bout those Cowboys!
The hero was Jesse Holley on a 77 yard Romo pass in overtime.
Posted in Cowboys, Dallas, Randy Weber, San Francisco, football, sports | No Comments »
September 18th, 2011
This book focuses on innovations through slow, trial-and-error approaches. Marketers with the right attitude can benefit greatly from this approach. Those with a “growth mindset” are not afraid to fail. They see challenging themselves and failing as learning opportunities. Using the “affordable loss principle,” marketers should focus on what they can afford to lose rather than what they expect to gain. This allows them the leeway to take smaller initiatives and give them a chance to grow and evolve over time. With this approach, the gains tend to be more evolutionary than revolutionary. But they are much easier to implement and less risky. This is important for marketers working in larger organizations that tend to be more risk averse. I wouldn’t recommend this approach to those creating products in a start-up environment.
Thanks for recommending this Nate.
Posted in marketing, product management, reviews | No Comments »
September 5th, 2011
There was a nice guest post on TechCrunch today by Uzi Shmilovici about pricing for online/software products.
He presents a useful model for determining whether or not free is right for your product.
The thing I found most interesting was the concept of “the penny gap.” I hadn’t heard this before.
“The penny gap”—the hardest part is to get your customer to pay you the first penny. This is why it is so critical to choose your premium features wisely.
Also of note is the idea that the costs for most online products will trend towards free.
…Because of declining hosting and bandwidth costs, for most Internet products the marginal cost today is practically … zero.
In other words, if the cost to serve a customer (support aside) is zero, the long-term price of the product in the market will be zero (because of competitive pressure).
Check out the post, it’s very thought provoking.
Posted in Internet biz, Randy Weber, marketing, pricing, product management, start-ups, startups | No Comments »
September 3rd, 2011
Nothing is more old school than direct mail. I ran across a nice example of direct mail and product extension courtesy of Hallmark.
I received this card the other day. It was obviously bulk mail, but I was curious who would shell out for a Hallmark card. So I opened it.
It was AT&T with a 20% off coupon for accessories. OK offer.
But the bigger deal is how Hallmark has expanded into direct mail, how the advertiser recognized the benefit of using Hallmark, and the likely increase in open rates. Probably worth the extra cost.
Tags: advertising, direct mail, Hallmark, marketing, product management
Posted in AT&T, marketing, product management | No Comments »
