3 Tips for Entrepreneurs from a TPM

The substantial increase in information available to entrepreneurs prior to starting out is almost as overwhelming as the fear of not knowing what’s next. At Hyperspace Ventures, we’ve helped many entrepreneurs from idea to launch, and have been able to witness firsthand the common pitfalls one can encounter. From the perspective of a Technical Product Manager, here are 3 fundamental tips to help navigate the journey from user discovery to initial development and beyond: 

1. Talking to potential users is an irreplaceable step.

The Why – Many tech products fail because of a lack of user research. Prototyping software is only making it easier and cheaper for startups to test their assumptions regarding their target users and receive actionable feedback that can inform design decisions. Not only does user research reduce the likelihood of failure, but it also reduces design iterations and time. It can be dangerously expensive to skip ahead to design and development without solid feedback from the user – regardless if you consider yourself a part of that user group or if you have deep industry knowledge. 

The How – User research is expansive, and it is easy to feel the need to survey hundreds of your products’ “ideal user.” Actionable insights through qualitative research can come from just about any handful of participants outside your team. To save time and resources, it is good practice to focus initially on user interviews with an emphasis on discovery before transitioning to usability testing during the initial designs. I suggest casting a wide net to catch any potential bugs or issues and remembering the most important part of these conversations is listening to users and keeping your own assumptions in check. 

2. New ideas are exciting but timely execution is vital. 

The Why – Brainstorming is fun, particularly when you’re excited about your solution, but getting the product into the hands of users is key. Shipping features fast and continuously deploying smaller increments of work allows you to quickly get valuable feedback and lower the risk of investing time and money building the wrong thing. While it is important to stay inspired and creative, it is also important to apply constraints and maintain focus. Otherwise, contant new ideas can cause delays and distract from the product’s original goals and intentions. 

The How – As an entrepreneur, it’s important to be clear on what you want and dial in on your specific value proposition. It’s also important to surround yourself with a team whose feedback you trust and appreciate. When debating new ideas, the value added to the customer should lead the discussion and it can’t be discussed in isolation. I believe it’s crucial to understand that any new features will impact the current features, the old features, and most importantly, the overall timeline of development.

3. Balance prioritization between supporting current features and developing new ones. 

The Why – Live products require both innovation to build out new features and investment to improve existing features. It can be easy to grow impatient when time is spent focused on bugs, optimizing legacy code, or updating documentation. But these tasks are a part of a product’s lifecycle and can save time and money later on. Entrepreneurs have to find the balance and understand the tradeoffs between these two priorities, as the amount of time invested in each will always shift. 

The How – As development continues after the app has been launched, it’s still important to maintain perspective and long term vision rather than getting caught up in short term benefits. Ignoring the small issues that add up in core parts of your app can not only increase the time new development takes but also negatively impact the quality of the user experience. I recommend investing the time to support existing features where it creates value for customers and where it provides agility for future development.