What it Means to Have a Product-First Company
Is your company a product-first company? Do you know what that means? Does it even matter?
Absolutely yes, it does.
Product-first companies nurture and appreciate authentic product thinking. They work to create a culture that empowers innovation and rewards disruption. They enable product managers to learn more and make a substantial impact.
Stripe, Slack, Evernote, and MailChimp are some of the best examples of product-first companies. I recommend reading their blogs to understand their cultures.
Let's jump right in and understand - what makes a company product-first.
Product-Minded Leadership Team
- Product-first company's leadership has a background in product rather than sales.
- Most of the teams in a product company are product teams (e.g. engineering, UX, PMs)
Product Engagement Drives Conversions
- Product companies trust that the right users who have used the product will purchase. They purposely keep the barriers to entry to their product very low.
- They focus on long-term gain over short-term. That is why these companies offer flexible pricing and monthly plans. Not something that sales companies do.
- They inspire users to use the product without any pressure to purchase. This freedom builds trust and loyalty, which converts users to customers and customers to promoters.
Cross-Company Alignment on Mission
- Product companies have a laser-focused mission which powers all decision making
- User delight is always the highest priority. But, product teams make difficult decisions to stay true to their mission, even if that means "firing" a customer or turning a high-revenue customer's requests down.