In this interview, Rupert McSheehy, Director at rmg digital, and Matt Stone, Director at Plus Product, discuss how companies can prepare for a challenging market.

Introduction to Matt Stone

I’m an independent product consultant, with 15 years’ experience in product management.

I started as a software developer and used to manage large B2B Products. A Vice president of product at gocompare.com for a number of years. I fell in love with the product manager role and worked my way to the top

I also fell love with the variety of product management, not just how things work but why

How important is a tech background?

When you ask a product manager a question the answer is normally it depends on…. (joke)

But it truly does depend on the type of product

You can be a product manager without a tech background, I even met a product manager who used to be a gardener once! Essentially, having a tech background can be a major advantage to help you connect with the experts.

You mentioned you moved away from being an in-house product manager, what led you to launch your own consultancy?

It was January 2020…. And I thought what’s the worst that could happen

I was at a very good place in my career and was very lucky to have many opportunities

It was a “zoom out moment” saw an opportunity to help businesses understand how important product management is and how it can add value.

How can companies prepare for the challenging market ahead from a product perspective?

Are you building something that people are actually using, is it self sustaining, are you achieving product market fit, is your product adding value?

Businesses need to be tuned into the fact of saying; we are here to solve problems. And ask yourself how can you deliver better value, quicker

What does the market term ‘product market fit’ mean to you?

Most traditional businesses start with the idea, build it, then go to the market and say buy, buy, buy.

It doesn’t work in the age of today with the variety of products we have to choose from.

Flip the mindset, start with figuring out where the demand is. where the problem is within the market.

If you listen to the market, it will tell you! Then figure out how you’re going to solve it.

You will know when you get to product market fit, your phone will be going off the rocker and demand will be going through the roof.

Your complaints line will go significantly up – it’s a good sign – it means people are relying on your product.

Proper product market fit is when you have matched demand with a great solution.

Some areas to define a market fit consist of:

OKR’s (Objectives and key results)

It’s an ambition (visionary)

KR is proving how you get there, if applied well it can work well

It brings cross function teams together

A great OKR is one that’s shared!

Watch the video interview HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATTGxFDWHSU