Startups and their success rate

For each startup that ends up successfully as a company, hundreds fail. Some never find a customer, few do but never make a profit or break even.

A few top reasons they fail are because:

1. They fail to find a market fit during the first few attempts.
2. They overestimate the target market size and don’t reach profitability.
3. They fail to account for fast growing competition.
4. They face challenges during execution phase and lose critical time.

All founders know these problems. However, running a business is extremely complex. Navigating the complexity of business, finances, market, product and engineering can overwhelm the best of the founders.

Who can fill in the gaps?

In the software world, the role of a Product Manager fills in the gaps. While at most companies, a dedicated person plays this role initially it is the founder who plays this role.

However, once the product gains traction, the founders need to focus on other things and hence hire dedicated Product Managers.

But wait, I don’t need another CEO!

The industry has created a hype or a buzzword which calls Product Managers as ‘Mini CEOs’.

This is the main reason for the concern. No, they are any mini-CEOs, delivery managers or architects. They do not step on to anyone’s shoes.

The Product Management function is a mere role which is responsible to answer if there is a good match between the market, product and the business. If even one of them fails to be a part of the game, the game collapses.

The role of the Product Manager is answer the following questions:

• Does a market exists for the problem the company is looking to solve, and if yes, how big is the market?
• Are customers willing to pay for the problem?
• Is this the right problem to solve for the company and is this the right time?
• Is competition offering the same solutions? If yes, how do does the company do better?
• If the company solve this, what is the difference that it will make to its market position, financials, roadmap and the

Writing of user stories, creating designs, etc. is a secondary goal. It is required once the above questions are answered.

The continuous Product Journey

When the MVP is achieved, most companies consider it a success and reach out for funding. Which is great. But the problem only begins there. The customer needs keep on growing. There is a competition always present to snatch the customer by giving them better features or a better pricing point, or promises the customer a better future by sharing a better roadmap and instilling confidence.

Building software is a long term game. The Product has to keep making small enhancements, utilise newer technologies to solve new problems or existing ones in a better way, build new features that are profit making and most importantly create long term value for the customer to keep invested in the product.

Getting started with Product Management

At ByteSketch, we have expert Product Managers to help you getting started with the Product Journey. Please reach out to use by filling our contact form and we will reach out to you.