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“Just because you may be a bigger company or the acquiring company doesn't mean you do everything right. Learn from the people that you're buying from.” - Frank Tait   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Frank Tait about how the Pragmatic Framework can help companies navigate the choppy waters of mergers and acquisitions.   Frank worked in educational technology software for more than 40 years and brought the Pragmatic Framework into approximately 17 different businesses (most of those were acquisitions). Now, he works as a strategic advisor.   Despite the difficulties of M&A, it offers a rare chance to quickly and directly impact an organization's economics. By mastering the Pragmatic Framework, you can boost your career and make a substantial difference to your organization.   During this episode, Rebecca and Frank discuss: When to build, buy or partner in the context of a merger or acquisition The three stages of determining whether or not to buy a company The value of a gap analysis during an acquisition or merger How to apply the Pragmatic Framework to M&A build a shared mission and understanding The role of positioning and segmentation during an M&A process Frank Tait is an active member of Pragmatic’s alumni community. How do you become a member of this growing and thriving product community? All you have to do is take your first Pragmatic course, and you’ll gain a free lifetime membership.   Enroll in Foundations In this course, you’ll learn the ins and outs of the Pragmatic Framework that Frank references during this episode.

Are your market research efforts providing meaningful insights? Have you accurately identified the needs of your market? Do your cross-functional team members understand your market well enough to win their trust – and get the sale? Join us as Pragmatic Institute and Diane Pierson, visiting instructor and founder of Innovate on Purpose welcome Scott Lien, CEO and co-founder of GrandPad. Scott will share how to leverage market research to build powerful positioning and ways to utilize Pragmatic principles in the real world to gain a strategic advantage. In this conversation Scott will also discuss: What kinds of market research will help you build better positioning Practical ways to conduct research with limited budgets and time How to drive market knowledge into every product and marketing decision to drive better results How to align with leadership to successfully jumpstart your positioning workflow

“I am pleading for everybody, working in any job, at the start of every one of your projects to say, ‘are we date-driven or are we scope-driven?’ Then, when something unforeseen comes our way, we will gleefully and joyfully make the adjustments and celebrate and move forward.   And we will take the human nature desire to have a punitive discussion at that moment in time off the table because it ultimately inhibits the workflow and the culture.”   -Kirsten Butzow   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Kirsten Butzow, senior VP at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, discussing the often overlooked and hidden cause of tension and bad culture in organizations—workflows.Kirsten Butzow is a product management enthusiast, passionate mentor, leader, and former Pragmatic Instructor.   During this episode, Kirsten and Rebecca Discuss: How to determine if a perceived cultural issue is actually rooted in a problem with workflow Why unexpected rework is a sign of a workflow problem Why starting with customer data will bring clarity to workflows The importance of agreeing to adjust either scope or date deadlines to better manage resource and time constraints   Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you’ll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“The whole point of doing a positioning document is to clearly and concisely say, ‘who are we solving problems for? What are those particular problems, and why do those people care so much that we solve those problems for them?’”   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Dan Corbin about positioning.   Dan explains that positioning helps to align the organization by clearly communicating the target audience, their problems, and the solutions to those problems. This is particularly important for product management teams, often at the organization's center and playing a pivotal role in driving alignment.   During this episode, Dan and Rebecca Discuss: Why position documents are essential for the entire organization and why it makes the product team’s job easier What to include in a positioning document and why the order of the sections is so important How many positioning documents should you create per product Who should own the positioning document Additional Resources: Enroll Foundations to learn more about positioning from expert instructors like Dan Corbin. Take the first step in truly understanding the market and the problems it faces. In this course, you’ll also master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“I think every company should be thinking about is create a product-led growth strategy. You don't have to implement it. You don't have to say, "this is how we're going to run our company." But I think if you step back to think about what it would look like if we use product-led growth in our company, you would probably build much better products.” - Mark Stiving   What trends will shape the future of pricing? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews pricing guru Mark Stiving about pricing trends and predictions for 2023.   They discuss: Companies moving toward usage-based pricing What is product-led growth Why net-dollar retention is the single most important KPI The importance of compensation for the sales team that grows customers Pricing and AI Additional Resources:   Enroll in the Pragmatic Price course today to learn how to evaluate the competitive and market environment, create effective price segmentation strategies, and implement and measure pricing strategies that support your organization's goals.   Is your subscription business stuck in neutral? Shift into high gear with the on-demand course, Accelerate Your Subscription Business. Led by pricing expert Mark Stiving, this course will help you streamline your business for success and give you the clarity and certainty you need to drive growth.   Keep Learning About Pricing From Mark Stiving Pricing Case Study: Why Disney Should Charge MORE for Their $6,000 Hotel Room Pricing Case Study: The Housing Market Teaches Why Cost Plus Pricing is a Bad Idea Pricing Case Study: When Will You Unsubscribe to Netflix? Pricing Case Study: Shrinkflation and Why You’re Getting Less but Paying More

Steve Goodyear, the founder of Realizer Services, is the first person to earn a PMC VIII certification. Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, and Steve discuss the variety of courses offered through Pragmatic Institute, and how each plays a role in elevating the work he does at his company. They discuss How the courses help Steve answer the question: "How do I turn professional services into more of a product." His lessons from the Design course How he uses the Pragmatic Alumni Community to build his network and talk through ideas. Additional Resources Foundations on Demand Begin your product training experience with the course Foundations. Even better, this course is both live and on-demand. You’ll also gain your membership to the growing and active Pragmatic Alumni Community. Course Overview: Understand the market and the problems it faces Use market knowledge to build and sell products people want to buy Master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market Learn to listen to the market, prioritize projects and drive result Learn More

In this episode, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, hosts Sandy Orlando, the senior VP of product management at CDK Global, an automotive retailing software company. Sandy explains that her objective with NIHITO visits is to listen to the customer rather than to talk to the customer, and to test a hypothesis without trying to inform it. She said that while building personas people try to prescribe a conclusion and then prove it rather than exploring. When done well, personas can lead a product team to create solutions that lead customers to desired outcomes. At times, she said she's received feedback from customers that she didn't deliver one single thing the customer asked for but instead delivered exactly what they needed.

“What I also have noticed is without clarity, people are literally moving in very different directions, in the wrong direction. They're moving fast, but it's not really making an impact on where they want to go.” - Yasmeen Turayhi   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Yasmeen Turayhi, founder of the consultancy firm Modern Product and author of Product Marketing Debunked.   They Discuss The importance of the product marketing role How to manage pressure and the importance of mental health Strategies to build clarity and prioritize tasks Why the best product marketers are curious and diversify their knowledge Follow Yasmeen Turayhi on Medium   Additional Resources Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar Join us as we welcome Sandi Olson, Senior Marketing Content Manager at Microsoft for a conversation on how utilizing the right asset assessment techniques can help you to analyze, prioritize and make forward-thinking pivots before your competitors. In this conversation Sandi will share: How to approach asset assessment through a lens that allows you to revive, streamline and support any business strategy Ways you can utilize assessment to better integrate positioning and messaging How healthy asset hygiene enhances strategy development Archive, archive, archive Tools and processes you can leverage to ensure you are finding meaningful opportunities within your assets

Validating market problems isn’t about listening only to the noisy 20 percent of the market. Instead, it’s about understanding the needs of the quiet 80 percent too. Without validation, product teams can invest valuable time and resources into an idea that is destined to fall flat. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Terry Sadowski who candidly shares his experience with a launch failure. They discuss: How pressure and novelty can cause you to ignore established processes that protect against launch failures The ways hindsight reveals all the missteps overlooked in a moment of excitement and energy How to move forward after a big failed launch Key advice to avoid a failed launch Want to learn more about effective launches? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

“Go-to-Market work is delayed compounding work, meaning there's delayed gratification, and it compounds over time. So if you're changing up your execution, it’s because there's no strategy. So if you create the strategy and then you do consistent execution, and you do the marketing math to understand what's working and what's not, then you start to get that delayed compounding effect.” -TK Kadar   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews TK Kadar, founder of TK Unstoppable where he advises SaaS Founders on how to build scalable Go-To-Market strategies. TK has an extensive background in strategy, marketing, and he specializes in building, scaling and exiting SaaS businesses   They discuss: Three pillars of a successful business Why the market can make or break any product What makes a great market How to drive alignment in a company How to get out of the “one more feature” trap The difference between strategy and execution To hear more from TK, subscribe to his YouTube channel. He published a new episode every Sunday. You can also check out his programs at getunstoppable.com.   Keep Learning with Pragmatic Training:   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

“Just because you hit the metrics for a couple of months doesn’t mean you will be instantly promoted. You need to hit those standards and maintain those standards for a period of time. For the more advanced roles, we want them to maintain those standards for a year. Others maintain those higher standards for six months, etc.” - Corban Wells   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic Corban Wells, director of product management at Primary Residential Mortgage about the most important thing a product manager can do for their team today. Corban has been involved in product management for 30 years. His current team consists of 13 product managers responsible for managing four product verticals. Each vertical has a different tech stack, and the team’s job is to make those systems better and more efficient for the 2,500 employees at Primary Residential Mortgage.   In this episode Corban and Rebecca discuss How to define product manager and product owner Building development and career paths for product professionals based on KPIs How clear expectations for each role improve one-on-ones and make the feedback more objective Pragmatic Provides Training Opportunities for Your Team: Foundations on Demand Foundations is the first step to understanding the market and its problems. With that knowledge, you can build and sell products that people actually want to buy. You’ll also learn to master the Pragmatic Framework and the activities needed to bring a successful product to market. Learn More

“Product teams should stay out of the how and focus on the what, who and why. If we can bring all that context to the table and then we can give our development teams the space to think creatively. To start with a blank canvas. It is a best practice to have a separation of duties between the how and the what.” - Amy Graham   Product managers need to be good partners and create good teams to create great products. We all want to be a part of a high-performing team, we want to build them, and it’s not something that happens accidentally.   So, in this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Amy Graham about some best practices for building high-performance teams.   They discuss: The importance of having clarity around roles and responsibilities and understanding what type of team you have (e.g., high market knowledge vs dependent) How to build trust and collaboration between product and development Some of the key areas where teamwork starts to break down in companies. Foundations on Demand In this course, students learn how to become market-driven by exploring concepts such as how to uncover strategic opportunities, define product team roles and responsibilities, prioritize actual vs. desired business goals, and how to talk to and observe the market in action. Learn More and Enroll

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar Join us as we welcome Anand Arivukkarasu, Product Leader (formerly of FB) for a conversation on how you can use measurement to ensure success throughout every stage of the product lifecycle. In this conversation, Anand will share: Key KPIs and metrics you should be paying attention to through the development, GTM, growth and product end-of-life phases Ways to apply measurement to employ strategies and align stakeholders How to utilize metrics to gain buy-in for current and future initiatives How to decipher insights between the metrics to ensure you are staying ahead of the curve

“It's useful to look at metrics, but metrics are a lot more useful and meaningful if we frame them around why we're measuring that thing to begin with. You want to measure a thing because it's meaningful. And OKRs are how teams put meaning behind the measurement.” - Paul Young   What is your product team measuring to determine progress? What should they be measuring? And what makes a good OKR? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Pragmatic instructor Paul Young about OKRs because you can’t manage what you can’t measure.   They discuss: The qualities of a good objective Why you might have multiple key results for each objective Why you should set a confidence score (on a scale of 1-10) and why every objective should be difficult but not impossible The difference between OKR and KPI How many OKRs should you have on your team Additional Resources Foundations | The first step to become truly market-driven This course emphasizes how to develop an understanding of your market and effectively share that information throughout the organization. Learn More

What’s the hallmark of a strong product team? Anna Turner, VP of Products at Paycor said there are two: being market-driven and stewardship of time and resources.   In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing and product strategy for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Anna about empowering and supporting effective product teams   They discuss: What to look for when hiring a product manager How product teams can leverage data to improve collaboration and decision-making in the organization Strategies for nurturing emerging leaders Training For Your Team | Enroll in Foundations This course will teach your team how to identify and listen to the entire market and uncover strategic opportunity. They’ll also learn how to implement the Pragmatic Framework. After completing the course, students are invited to join the robust and active Pragmatic Alumni Community where they will have access free learning opportunities and a library of Pragmatic tools and resources. Learn More

“Win/Loss is a garbage-in, garbage-out exercise. There needs to be careful curation and vetting of the information in the program. Otherwise, information is going to be unreliable at best and misleading it worst.”   Not every win-loss program is the same. So how do you build the right one for your company? In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews two win/loss experts from Anova Consulting: Zach Golden, director of client management, and Will Young, senior research analyst. Anova Consulting is a market-leading win/loss analysis firm. They build win/loss programs by combining technology with high-tough professional services and consulting.   They discuss: The importance of getting strategic alignment before starting a win/loss program When is it appropriate to use open-ended or leading questions How to leverage data and then go beyond the data by bringing together cross-functional teams Determining how many win/loss interviews are sufficient for gathering insights Here are Anova's latest articles: Win/Loss: A Tool Used to Identify Your Company’s Distinctive Competencies Going Beyond Win/Loss Data   Additional Resources   There is a new course update to Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so, you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More

This episode is from our latest Product Chat webinar >> watch the webinar   Going to market is an exciting yet often anxiety-provoking moment in product development. And there is an onslaught of questions like, will users adopt? Are we articulating our messaging appropriately, and how can we best measure the success of our endeavors?   So how can you utilize phased marketing initiatives to motivate your market to buy a newly launched product or service without breaking the bank or depleting resources?   Arnaud Berube, Senior PMM at Zillow discusses how to approach go-to-market in a way that aligns objectives across your organization and reduces risk.   In this conversation, Arnaud shares: A framework for connecting business objectives to marketing executions Ways to use research to size, position and name your products/features A four-phased GTM approach to prove marketing value and reduce risk Ways to apply the same methodologies to create a product marketing function to utilize moving forward Keep Refining Your Go-To-Market Strategies You can learn more about go-to-market approaches at Pragmatic Institute by enrolling in the Market course.   Market helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn how to align across go-to-market teams by effectively sharing and leveraging your buyer knowledge to prioritize the right product marketing strategies. Learn More

“In the past, it's been a little bit of a nebulous process and people trying to grab from Lean Startup and all these different things that are not cohesive as a journey.” - Daniel Elizalde   Innovation work can feel ambiguous and daunting, but Daniel Elizalde is working to bring clarity with a well-defined innovation journey. In this episode of Pragmatic Live, Rebecca Kalogeris, VP of marketing for Pragmatic Institute, interviews Daniel Elizalde, product executive, advisor and author of the B2B Innovators Map.   During this conversation, Rebecca and Daniel explore in-depth the six stages of the B2B innovator map, which are: Strategic alignment Market discovery User discovery Solution planning prototyping Early adopter They also emphasize a market-first approach where conversations about feasibility happen toward the end of the innovation process, not at the beginning.   “If you can build it, and if you can make money, it doesn't matter if nobody wants it.” —Daniel   You can learn more about Daniel’s work and purchase his book on his website https://danielelizalde.com/   Additional Resources   Market. This course helps you gain a thorough understanding of your buyers and how they like to buy so, you can build the product marketing strategies that deliver results. Learn More   Want to learn more about effective launches? Launch is a course that helps you create a more strategic approach to exceed your business objectives. Learn to execute successful launches that align your entire organization around the same strategies and goals. Enroll Today

This episode is an excellent conversation originally recorded in 2015.    “Sales is a big part of distribution strategy, but we talk about distribution strategy differently at Pragmatic. Distribution strategy is how customers prefer to receive, use and buy your product” - Paul Young This episode features Pragmatic instructor Paul Young, who shares examples of distribution strategy and the different models around them. He discusses: Why distribution strategy can be innovative Indirect or direct distribution strategy examples Integration as a distribution strategy Am outside-in approach to distribution strategy