Let's Talk Product

"Where do you guys want to go eat today?"

“Let’s check out that place with that great soup.”

“Done."

And off we were. 

The soup was amazing. As expected.

But the conversation - even more interesting. 

My two developer friends were in between products. Meaning, they had just wrapped up a product and were waiting to start work on a new one. In the world of Software Development this happens all the time. But that - that’s not the interesting part. What was fascinating, is what followed.

“How long were you working on the previous product?”, I asked.

“A couple of years”, one of my friends said.

“So, what happened?” As good as that soup was, I dropped my spoon. I really wanted to probe further.

The first thing my friends offered was an in-depth detailed explanation of the way the product worked. It was a fine piece of Software Engineering. They were proud of it. And they were right to be proud of their creation.

But I pressed on. “Ok, but why are you moving on from this product?”

“Well, we don’t know why, but it didn’t catch on.”

And there it was.

This wasn’t their own product. They worked for a company that invested in a team of Software Developers for over two years. In the end, the company pulled the plug on the product because they couldn’t get any traction in the market.

Products Fail All The Time

If you’ve been around long enough in the Software Development world, or if you’ve tried to launch a Digital Product before, then you absolutely know how difficult it is to get it right. If you haven’t, the data will convince you. Just know this, for every successful Facebook, Slack or Instagram, there are thousands of failed products that never go anywhere. You don’t know about them because they didn’t make it far enough to reach you, me or the rest of the world.

After hearing my friends’ story I asked them one more question.

“So who was your customer - who were you building the product for?”

They were stumped. They once again started iterating the amazing features of product and how the technology they used was top-notch. When I insisted on the customer question, they realized they didn’t really think about it that much and they weren’t quite sure who the customer was. 

But the product had great features.

Except - they weren’t used by anyone.

That's it. Right there.

The IT Mindset. 

The single most disastrous reason why Digital Products don’t get to Product/Market fit, and beyond. There’s this myth, horribly wrong and deadly, yet prevalent and ever growing in the Tech Industry. The idea that if you build it, they will come. As great as that sounds and as exciting as those stories about school dropouts turned billionaires over night are, the reality is that - no, they will not come. 

Digital Products Are Different

My developer friends, like many other developers before them - myself included, wrote software. And great software too. But writing software is not enough to build a successful Digital Product. There’s more to it. If writing exceptional code is akin to climbing a steep mountain fast, then to build outstanding products, we need to figure out what mountain we need to climb in the first place.

Who the product serves - the customers, and why. How the product delivers value to those customers. How the entire business model of closing back the economic loop works. That, and much more - is not what we learn or teach in our Computer Science undergraduate programs.

And yet, these decisions, these daily decisions about what features to built, what features to scrap and what direction to take - are the daily decisions that make or break products. We have built schools - great schools, we have built tools and methodologies to help us write great software. And yet, that is not what makes or breaks products.

Writing software is an important but insufficient piece of a larger puzzle. Building great Digital Products is different. Digital Products - they are different. To make history, to change the world, to build successful businesses, we need to bridge the gap between writing software and building Digital Products. 

The Product Mindset

Bridging that gap successfully stands between launching world-changing businesses and throwing time and money out the proverbial window. Bridging that gap requires a fresh look at the root cause plaguing the Digital Economy, namely the IT Mindset. Stepping outside of an IT way of thinking, rising above simply writing software, requires a new way of thinking.

This week, at 3Pillar, we decided to celebrate what we call the Product Mindset. Our way of codifying that new way of thinking needed to bridge that gap and help organizations launch successful Digital Products that change the world and deliver authentic, impactful value in the lives of millions of human beings. We’re dedicating this week to the Product Mindset, just days ahead of officially launching the book that we believe and hope will contribute a great deal to transforming how organizations think about Digital Product Development.

If Digital Products are at the heart of the Digital Economy, then the way we think about Digital Product Development is the ultimate key to winning the Digital race. The Product Mindset is a beautiful story of that way of thinking in practice, having built over a hundred products for some of the largest brands in the world.

It works. 

And it’s precisely what forward-thinking organizations need in order to transform entire industries.

As a Software Developer, I encourage you to embrace what we have worked hard to codify as an incredible way to add value to your career and start growing your skillset in a new and exciting way. Dig deep into the Product Mindset and I promise you - it will be the single most valuable decision you have made in your career to date.

Take a look at productmindset.com and stay tuned for more.

Let’s do this. We have an entire week to explore why the Product Mindset is the revolution we’ve all been waiting for.  

Leave your comments below and share your Digital Product Development story with us.

Let's chat.

Check out the entire series:

Exploring The Product Mindset

Part 1: Let's Talk Product

Part 2: Focus On Creating Customers

Part 3: What's Your Product Story?

Part 4: Changing Our Minds Is A Good Thing

Part 5: You're Not Superhuman

Part 6: Make Them Feel Like Heroes?

Part 7: The World Needs You