Don't look for answers in your office...
A product marketing manager wonders what he should be doing while development is working on the product. It'll be six months until the first release is available.
Six months?
Before you worry about go-to-market, get a concept in front of some customers. Test your product idea.
"MVP is the smallest amount of coding that can be used to test your product hypothesis.”There seems to be confusion about "minimum viable product" (aka MVP). It doesn't mean a poorly implemented product; MVP is the smallest amount of coding that can be used to test your product hypothesis. [Tweet this]
Here's an idea: does anyone want an app that converts images to PNG files with the background removed? I think I could use it but I dunno if it appeals to anyone else. So, let's make a web page describing the product idea and see who clicks on it. The call to action can be "Sign up for product news" or "Click here to stay informed." Maybe you show a "before and after" image as a demo. If no one signs up, you may have a problem.
You may have solved a problem that people don't have.
And isn't it better to know sooner rather than after the coding is complete?
About Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson is a product management process coach, author, speaker, and advisor. His approach is based on the belief that minimal process and simple templates result in a nimble product marketing and management team. Before founding Under10, Steve was a Pragmatic Marketing instructor for over 15 years and personally trained thousands of product managers and hundreds of company senior executive teams. Learn more at www.under10playbook.com
In his spare time, Steve enjoys making music, and has an album available on iTunes. Check out Steve’s music at notExactlySteve.com