2019.06 - Keeping the Endgame in Focuslanode.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/TSW_Keynote... ·...
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Keeping the Endgame in Focus Asheem Chandna Technology Scouting Workshop – June 2019
Transcript of 2019.06 - Keeping the Endgame in Focuslanode.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/TSW_Keynote... ·...
Keeping the Endgame in FocusAsheem ChandnaTechnology Scouting Workshop – June 2019
1. Greylock2. Company building3. Team and culture4. Product management mindset 5. Go to market
Agenda
Greylock Partners
170+1965EST.
#15FUND
B2C IPOs
ALLB2B+
STAGES
Asheem Chandna
15+ years – product executive
15+ years – venture capital
Enterprise Opportunity Areas TH
EMES Digital
TransformationSelf-Driving
Enterprise (AI/ML)
OPP
ORT
UNIT
Y AR
EAS SaaS
ApplicationsData Culture and Analytics Cybersecurity Data Privacy
and Regulation
Process Automation
DigitalHealth
Next-Gen Infrastructure
Journey tothe Cloud
Page 6
Enterprise PortfolioAPPLICATIONS
HORIZONTAL VERTICAL DIGITAL HEALTH
SECURITY
INFRASTRUCTURE
COMPUTE NETWORKING STORAGE
MANAGEMENT & ANALYTICS
DATA & APP SERVICES
PRODUCTIVITY
6
Consumer PortfolioSocial Platforms & Communications
Marketplaces& Commerce
MediaConvergence Marketing
FinTechVR IoT
Frontier
• Large existing markets (new approaches) • New emerging markets (that can grow fast and be large) • Best-in-class technology teams• Disruptive technology or business models• Superior customer value
Funding Innovators
Founder Attributes• Competencies
– Domain relevance? Privileged authentic insights?– “Best-in-class”? Prior accomplishments?– Innovative and customer-centric?
• New company – Mission? Passion? Persistence?– Create right culture? Talent magnet?
• Personal attributes– Intelligence? Learner? Scrappy doer?– Humility? Understated?
NYT article “What Drives Success”– Superiority complex + insecurity + discipline
Company Building
The Endgame?
The Endgame
Some Rules for Success
1. Product obsession2. Grow as fast as possible
3. Stage-appropriate team
4. Act 25. Operating leverage & cash flows
Company Building
• Market size and dynamics• Quality of team• Innovation, differentiation• Top line growth• Unit economics, subscription metrics,
revenue quality• Operating leverage and FCF• Secular opportunity• M&A premium
Company Valuation Drivers
Team and Culture
1. Build safety 2. Share vulnerability3. Establish purpose
Culture Trumps Strategy
Trust
Conflict
CommitmentAccountability
Results
* Shlomo Kramer, Imperva (2010)
Culture - Team Credo
Product Management Mindset
Product Management Mindset• Mission (what are we committed to be the best at)• Target market definition
– Segmentation, buyer persona, user persona– Problem/pain and use cases (3-5)– Qualified prospect (3-5 criteria)
• Product– Initial release, roadmap (mapped to use cases)– Why us – technical and business value/justification– Only us – technical and business value/justification– Pricing and packaging– Onboarding, telemetry, measuring engagement and value– Engineering investment/ROI, prioritization– Core IP, differentiation focus
• Core principles– Simplicity, velocity, repeatability
Product Roadmap by Technology Area
Initial Release Next Release Future Release Longer DirectionTechnology Area 1Technology Area 2Technology Area 3…
Product Roadmap by Customer Use Case
Initial Release Next Release Future Release Longer DirectionUse Case 1Use Case 2Use Case 3…
Customer Discovery• Explore, test, verify • Engage with 100+ customers
ahead of initial release– 1-1s, roundtables, advisory
boards, design partners– Overweight the most
insightful individuals• Share across company
and continually iterate
The Mom Test
1. Talk about their lives vs. looking to reaffirm your idea. Understand their specifics.2. Pre-plan the three most important questions.3. Your goals are first learning, and second getting a commitment to advance.
• Category name and definition• Brief description of key technology capabilities that define category (what)• Business benefits/value (why)• Comparative table, relative to other product categories (compare the what)
• Technology and architecture (how)• Summary description (1 sentence; 1 paragraph)• Longer description (1-2 pages; 5-8 pages whitepaper)• Technology (secret sauce) branding and diagram• Architecture branding and stack diagram
• Product modules and naming• Customer deployment summary, including deployment diagram• Use cases (3-5)
• For each use case, crisp workflows of how address, supported by product screen shots• Product demo - use case and workflow driven• Killer short customer example anecdotes/zingers of the what, how and why
• Competitive positioning related to other approaches/methods and closest competitors• Why us? • Why only us?
Messaging and Positioning
Messaging and Positioning
For ____Who are dissatisfied with ____Our product is a ____That provides ____Unlike ____We can provide ____
* Crossing the Chasm, Geoffrey Moore
Amazon – Messaging and Positioning
I
Go to Market
Multiple Paths to Building a $100M Business
http://christophjanz.blogspot.com/2014/11/three-more-ways-to-build-100-million.html
The Sales Learning Curve“You come out, and you think you have a market-ready
product. Then you discover that you really don’t.”*
“Hiring a full sales force too fast just leads the company to burn through cash and fail to meet revenue
expectations.”*
* The Sales Learning Curve, Mark Leslie and Charles A. Holloway, HBR, July-Aug 2006
Enterprise Sales Learning Curve*
Customer Discovery
* Sales Excellence, Jeremy Duggan, June 2019
Page 38
Changing of the Guard
Against the Odds?
Page 40
Small Dogs Can Grow Big…Quickly
~ 4 - 7 years from 1st funding to IPO
Early customers
get innovation advantage
Summary
• Endgame – customers, company building, growing value
• Team, culture• Product management mindset • GTM• Focus, velocity, repeatability
