This is the presentation I gave at the Products Are Hard 2013 conference in San Francisco, CA.

1. How Bad Products
Happen to Good Startups
Charles Hudson
SoftTech VC
@chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

2. About Me
• General Partner, SoftTech VC
• CEO and Co-Founder, Bionic Panda Games
• VP Biz Dev, Serious Business (Zynga)
• Biz Dev, Gaia Online
• Founder, Virtual Goods Summit (WEBM)
• Biz Dev, Google
• In-Q-Tel (CIA VC)
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

3. Bad Products Happen
• Nobody sets out to build (or launch) a bad
product.
• Not every bad product launch is preventable;
sometimes the market changes.
• There are some consistent patterns I've
observed around bad product launches.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

4. 4 Ways Bad Products
Happen to Good People
Friday, April 5, 13

5. #1 Too Much M in the MVP
• Never forget the real goal of an MVP - it
should allow you to learn about your product
and market.
• You won't learn much from launching a
broken product - people won't use it.
• Speed matters, but it isn't everything.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

6. Investors and MVPs
• Investors and outsiders are often poor judges
of what your MVP should be.
• Investors often push companies to launch so
you (and they) can get feedback on the
product as quickly as possible.
• Launching a poor product too quickly can
lead investors to lose faith in your product
organization.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

7. #2 Focus on Wrong Metrics
• Prior to launch, identify the metrics you think
really matter for your product or service.
• On launch, you will get a lot of data about
usage, not all of which actually matters.
• You can fool your investors and the press, but
don't fool yourself.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

8. Investors and Metrics
• Some of your investors will be enthralled by
vanity metrics. Don’t be surprised by that.
• Part of a founder’s job is to help investors
understand the few numbers that really
matter.
• Spend the time required to get alignment
around what really drives the business.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

9. #3 The Weight of
Expectations
• Raising money and announcing your company
to the press raises your public profile.
• A brighter spotlight increases the pressure to
have a successful launch.
• Pivoting in public is hard and really ugly.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

10. Managing Pre-Launch
Expectations
• Keeping your team on an even keel as you
head toward launch requires finesse.
• If launch is not going as planned, let your
investors know sooner rather than later.
• Beware of fanning the hype flames too heavily
in the press - it can come back to bite you.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

11. #4 Failure to Launch
• Launching is a very, very scary thing for many
companies.
• You can always make the product better -
that's not a reason not to launch.
• If your gut is telling you that the product
hasn't yet hit the mark, listen to your gut.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

12. Dealing with Investors
• Few things undermine investor confidence in
product teams like a failure to launch a
product.
• Do not let investors pressure you into
launching product prematurely if you know
the product isn’t ready.
• If something about your products or the
market has changed, communicate that early.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

13. What Can Work
(YMMV)
Friday, April 5, 13

14. Build the Smallest Satisfying
Experience
What reasonable constraints can you put on
your product to prove that it works?
• Constrained domain or use cases
• Constrained geography
• Constrained platform availability
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

15. Build Product Release
Rhythm
• Launch is a singular event and one of several
times you'll release product to the world.
• Build a product organization that releases
product on a regular basis.
• Develop standards for what feels right for
your company.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

16. Obsess About the Flow, Not
the Launch
Launch is a singular event - focus on the total product
experience:
• Distribution and Discovery
• Registration
• Activation
• Usage
• Re-engagement
• Monetization
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

17. Only a Few Stats Really
Matter
• How frequently should your active users use
your product?
• What's your conversion / activation funnel?
• How important is viral / network distribution
for success in your category?
• What small set of metrics will give you a
sense of overall product health?
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13

18. Have Conviction About Your
Core Beliefs
• Identify the core beliefs you have about your
product or market and stick to them.
• Not everything worth doing lends itself to
testing or analytics.
• Make sure you work with investors who
share your core beliefs around your product.
Products Are Hard 2013 #PAH2013 @chudson
Friday, April 5, 13