The Many Hats of a Technical Program Manager - The Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs create innovations that change the way we live, work, and connect with the world around us. Hmmm, sounds a lot like what a TPM does right? When a TPM puts on the entrepreneur hat, they become the maverick. They sign up to create innovations that impact their customers for the better. The thing about being an entrepreneur is you have to be ready for, and capable of dealing with, anything that comes your way. It could be resourcing, funding, shifting requirements, or environmental threats. You are the single line of defense against anything that may impede success.

The Hat

Before joining Microsoft, I’d already built 2 successful companies and I’ve worn this hat more times than I can count. It's not easy but TPMs can get this experience without betting their life savings on their own endeavors like I did. There is some truth that you only see when you put your own money on the line but mostly that builds tough skin or a healthy case of PTSD. The stuff in the middle can be learned without risking everything and it's just as valuable. I’ve detailed a few of these below.

Business Drivers

These are the reasons businesses do what they do. They are the force behind every operational and financial decision and action a business takes. When properly understood, they become powerful indicators of what’s to come. As TPM’s we are often called on to make smart product and solution decision for our customers. It's important then to understand these drivers and ensure that we align our outputs to capitalize appropriately. Let's say two important business drivers are quality salespeople and website traffic. Knowing this allows me to prioritize those features that increase the productivity of my sellers, and the amount of time customers spend on my website. It aligns my efforts to those drivers that have the greatest impact.

Business Models

Business models are equally important. If business drivers are the force behind decisions, then business model represents the way these decisions manifest to capitalize on these drivers. Some examples include subscription models, direct sales, freemium, and even managed services. Having a clear understanding of your customer business model will help ensure you deliver the right functionality to support that model. For example, if your customer uses a freemium model then you know right away you need different customer tiering to support those premium features. You’ll also need to bake in a sales funnel that pushes customer from the free features towards a premium subscription tier.

Financials

You likely won't need to read a customer’s financial reports but having a level of financial literacy helps. It helps build credibility with the C Suite but, more importantly, it provides you with an additional layer of context about your customers, the market they operate in, and their competition. Some things I consider with my customers include their financial ability to absorb the costs associated with bring new innovative ideas to market. A good rule of thumb is your marketing costs are roughly double your development costs. So, can they see this thing through? How might they fare when the competition takes notice. What about the legal ramifications that may follow?

Legal

Earlier I mentioned legal ramifications. These will pop up sooner or later and your ability to anticipate them can save a lot of headaches later. I worked with a company that wanted to use customer data to help better predict product sales. The company name was signal but the domain name signal was way too expensive, so they went with getsignal instead. The idea was its far cheaper and they can always change it later should they get traction. Then, Jack Dorsey announces he was launching a messaging service called Signal. That was the end of the getsignal name and strategy. We had to pivot and come up with something new because the legal fight wasn’t possible. Another example is the EU’s new AI laws that take effect this year. Understanding what these laws mean, even for companies that are not in the EU, is important because you need to bake governance into your products that protects you from expensive EU violations.

Procurement

How does your customer buy? That seems an odd questions but really think about it. What does the buying process look like? Who is involved? Do they prefer one-time purchases or subscriptions? Who has the authority to make the actual purchase and is that a different person from the one using your product? Are there rule and regulations surrounding the process like we see in government? These are all questions that a TPM should understand. I mean how can you truly bring a product to market if you don’t make it easy for people to part with their money? Here’s a pro-tip: your business model should complement the way your customers buy.

Vision

The single greatest skill that sets the entrepreneur up for success is the ability to create and align others behind a vision. Every other skill we’ve discussed here is employed in support of a well-crafted vision that can be used to align and motivate teams and resources to fulfillment. One most understand the drivers of that vision, the models that capitalize on it, the financial and legal currents that support or resist it, and the way to frictionlessly transfer its value to the customer. In short, the vision must be achievable and sustainable and the TPM must own it.

Sales

At the end of the day, we are all in the sales business. Now before you throw this out the windows just hear me out. We may not be the bag carrying salespeople that pop into our minds, but we are called on to sell ideas and approaches on a daily basis. As TPMs there will be times where we need to convince others to do things they resist on a visceral level. We have to convince them, not only to do it, but that it's a good idea to do it. We need to turn them from naysayers to champions. That is sales my friend and you better get good at it if you want to win.

Conclusion

In conclusion, wearing the entrepreneur hat as a TPM is a challenging yet rewarding endeavor. It requires mastering a diverse set of skills, from understanding business drivers and models to navigating financial and legal landscapes. By embracing this role, TPMs can drive significant innovations and align their teams behind a compelling vision. Ultimately, the entrepreneurial mindset equips TPMs to tackle any obstacle and lead their projects to success.