The word “Product” can refer to many different things in many different industries. Here in Silicon Valley, the Product is Software, for B2B businesses, especially when Software is Eating the World.
The Silicon Valley product mindset is not limited to technology startups. Traditional businesses can learn a lot from the Silicon Valley approach to product development.
The Right Problem
In the business world there are many customer problems you could choose to solve.
However:
- Which problems would a customer pay to be solved? How much would they pay?
- Which problems have an existing incumbent that you need to be ten times better than to displace?
- How is your idea better than the incumbent?
- Which problems are solvable either with traditional technology approaches or emerging ones (such as AI)? What could not be solved yesterday that is solvable today, or tomorrow?
You can now provision a business website and system with the click of a button, and have AI write the code for you. What was not possible yesterday, is now possible today.
The product mindset attempts to find answers to these questions and more. In a world where the software solution’s only limits are time, resources and money, all problems are ultimately solvable.
Yet, is it the right problem to solve?
There are multiple product frameworks that help to answer this from the Lean Canvas to Jobs to Be Done. As always, even the tools to identify the right problem are expansive and require an experienced Product Leader to guide you through them.
The Right Solution
The technology world abounds with hype cycles and words mostly foreign to those in the non-tech world. Crypto and AI are the last two in recent memory and there will be more as technology marches forwards.
Every new technology brings with it a host of challenges as well as opportunities. For example, with Generative AI results are still highly probabilistic, not deterministic. This means that inevitably, the conversation becomes one of “assistance” to the business problem as opposed to replacement of the “human”.
This is also why many AI solutions are branded as “Co-Pilots”, because would you want an AI Pilot flying your plane in 2024, with no human oversight?
Additionally, many innovations that are a given in the technology world are still yet to have found applications in the non-technology world. Cloud, Mobile, Social and more, all of these have profound implications to traditional businesses.
A good example is the trucking industry which still largely runs on paper. Why?
Because paper is the lowest common denominator way to easily communicate between fragmented business entities that have no systems connections. Mobile and Cloud will inevitably transform this industry as costs of development of these solutions are decreasing such that a single developer can solve the problems of an entire industry.
Business problems are solved in many ways, and there is usually never a “one size fits all” solution in the business world. Ultimately, ensuring the problem is solved and measuring its Return on Investment is part of what a Product Leader can help with de-risking.
Technology as a Revenue Center
In the traditional business world, business problems are also often unique to that industry.
In Healthcare you deal with saving human lives, in Financial Services you are safekeep the hard-earned dollars of customers and in CPG companies you have problems of mass consumption/distribution, of physical product, at scale.
All of these problems create unique opportunities for domain experts in those areas to solve problems that the general public would not even be aware exists.
By viewing technology as a potential revenue source and “unfair advantage” instead of a cost center, traditional businesses can not only solve problems for themselves but also the same problems for their peers in the industry.
There are many examples of this, from Supply Chain Electronics to Agriculture, to Logistics.
What unique business problems are you facing today, in your industry, where there is no adequate technology solution?
This is what a fractional CPO can help you with. And more.
For your Talent needs in direct hire, full-time or part-time contract staffing, contact Executive Recruiter, Leesa Meintzer at leesa@2gorecruiting.com.
Nathan Creswell is a strategic SaaS Software Product Leader with 3 decades of product experience, who helps clients launch, evaluate, refine and grow software Products. He has both led B2B Software Products and worked in B2C and AI Products for technology and non-technology companies. Nathan’s industry experience covers Manufacturing/CPG, Construction, Supply Chain, Finance, Telecommunications, as well as Software.
Leesa Meintzer is an executive recruiter with more than 20 years of experience in talent acquisition. She excels in partnering across various business functions and brings a comprehensive perspective to talent acquisition. She works with Engineering, Healthcare, Product, Finance, Accounting, Business Operations, Sales, Legal, Human Resources, Learning & Development, and Talent Acquisition for corporate and high-growth start-ups.
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