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Founder Institute: Hong KongProduct Management Class August 4, 2014

Martin Kessler, Founder & Former CEO/MD Phonejoy martin@kessler.hk | @kesslerhk

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Six Development Mistakes We Made1. Did not understand the true cost of manufacturing

and selling.

2. Didn’t completely lay out the entire hardware development process from concept to product.

3. Didn’t use a good planning & project tracking tools.

4. We didn’t factor in complexity cost.

5. Failure to budget for potential delays.

6. Didn’t manage outsourcing well.

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Do Your Homework FirstTest your basic hypothesis about your business

model (customers, channel, pricing, etc.)

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Gantt Charts

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Use Kanban Boards / Scrum to track progress.

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Beware of Complexity Cost1. Every piece you add to your product adds complexity 2. Increases development time and risk for delays 3. Often ends up slowing down your product’s performance

or in our particular case the manufacturing speed 4. Increases QA time and customer support 5. Makes your product harder to use

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Developments Delays1. Unrealistic schedule

2. Unpredictability of tasks

3. Bad time/project management

(no hard deadlines or penalties)

4. Changes to Scope of Work

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Outsourcing Done Right• Don’t outsource key tasks • Start with small projects • Clear description of scope of work (milestones, deadlines,

expectations) • Don’t go for the lowest bid • Evaluate bid (ratings/reviews/portfolio/github) • Have a technical interview & make sure you or someone in

your team can relay technical requirements and judge code/work

• Time zone difference can lead to difficulties. • Use a good project management and communication tool.

For larger projects use scrum. (ex. Trello, Wrike, Basecamp, Mavenlink etc)

• Schedule at least weekly talks (depends on project size)

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7 Key Takeaways1. Do your homework first. Before you even start with your project. Make a plan,

create a Business Model Canvas, talk to customers, etc.

2. Gantt charts allow you to map out your project and identify dependencies. They rarely allow you to be flexible to change and new features however.

3. Split up tasks into subtasks that can be handled by 1 person in less than a day. Hold daily standup meetings to discuss progress and impediments. Allows for more agile project management that can be measured more easily.

4. Use the right tools to track progress (ex. Asana, Trello, Wrike, physical Kanban boards are all great).

5. Beware of adding too many features at once. Create first an MVP, and later run sprints that allow you to build-measure-learn.

6. Especially in hardware development factor in delays in your budget.

7. Outsource wisely (no core tasks, review contractors carefully, be concise in your scope of work, discuss & setup project management process before you start)

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Thank you.

Check out: http://www.slideshare.net/

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