I have a different opinion on product from the PMs, how should I convince them?
I have been working in a startup for almost a year. My company is building a community to help business professionals to get business insights about companies. And the way we are doing it is off in my opinion, that a daily news digest email product is our main product to engage our users. I recently built a deck which basically explained where we are short and how we engage our users more. Surprisingly it's coincided with blind somehow. My idea is basically to help people to crowdsouce intelligence from the right people and we facilitate that in a timely and accurate manner. Sorry I can't go deeper here. But how should I propose to the company executives and the PMs?
While your thoughts, ideas, and opinions are certainly valid and I'm sure appreciated, at the end of the day it's not really your job to be making product calls. If you want to be a PM or a designer, go be one, but while you're working as an engineer you should stick to your role and avoid stepping on toes. But like I said, be vocal... just don't cop an attitude and act like your opinion is somehow the answer. Trust your colleagues to make the right product decisions, and if they don't, you're free to leave.
I like your answer. I'm just taking this not like a daily job. I wanna think from founder's point of view, because I wanna build a company myself in one day. If it's just a daily job I wouldn't be in a startup. And as you said, I wouldn't think myself only as an engineer in the coming years. My mindset is to learn whatever I can from whatever environment I'm sitting at.
Data or it didn't happen. If all you have is gut feeling, put your money on it and sell it yourself. If you have data and they're not buying it, you're in the wrong crowd.
Our PMs are very data driven. But I have the argument that at early stage product is more artistic than science. And when it matures, it more becomes science.
Artistis start off broke. Invest your money in your own poc.
Yeah that's true, that's why you need angle investment
In your case. curve investment might do the trick.
They are smart people but stuck with metrics.
If your PMs are data driven, and you think your idea will work better, ask for some resources to build a PoC and do some pilots. Comparing data to no data is not super useful. At the end of the day, it's PMs job to define product vision, and if they make a call probably best to fall in line. But they should also listen to their peers and consider other opinions.
How would you balance the pressure from metrics like mau and spending time building pocs?
It's a risk but a smallish one. new companies have to take some risk.
Back up with data/facts!!
Go to the PM. Explain why you feel that way. If you have data, great, it should speak for itself. If you don't have data (qualitative or quantitative) then ask the PM if you can find a way to get data. At the very least it's cheap to talk to some existing customers and gauge demand. And worse case your idea is a flop, but the PM can get some other insights about the existing product from users.
Any PM worth their title will be extremely receptive to listening to ideas, and should truth seek them on merits alone. If you go with an open mind, it is reasonable to expect open mindedness back. Remember that they have likely been thinking about this with context for longer than you have, so make sure to understand any challenges they might pose to your idea. If you work at a company where the opinions of peers are not valued, I would look into other options.
If everything's based on opinion you're all in trouble unless you're betting on being lucky...