🎙️ Pod Shots

I’ve mentioned previously that I try to avoid just including a write up of Lenny’s Podcast every week, but here we are doing a second in just a couple of weeks. As I don’t always get to cover much about the bigger businesses I had to capitulate and include last week’s episode with Tanguy Crusson. He’s head of Jira Product Discovery at Atlassian and covered his journey and lessons of building products from zero to one in a large organisation. I thought he was great, really humble and absolutely jam packed with practical advice (a running theme of podcasts I like it seems….).

⚒️ Hard-won Lessons Building 0 to 1 Inside Atlassian

🎥 Watch the full episode here 

📆 Published: June 16th, 2024

🕒 Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes. Time saved: 112 minutes🔥 

🚀 Creating Scarcity in a Resource-Rich Environment

Key Advice: Mimic startup conditions by creating a sense of scarcity.

In a large company like Atlassian, resources are abundant, but this can lead to overinvestment and slowed progress. Creating a sense of scarcity helps drive focus and urgency, essential components of a startup environment. Tanguy emphasises the importance of reminding everyone that failure is likely, which helps to keep efforts lean and focused on the most critical tasks.

Takeaways:

• Foster Urgency: Emulate the starvation conditions of startups to drive focus and pace.

• Lean Team Structure: Keep the team small and autonomous to avoid over investment and maintain agility.

• Prepare for Failure: Constantly remind the team that failure is a possible outcome to keep efforts lean and focused.

🏴‍☠️ Breaking Rules Without Breaking Trust

Key Advice: Innovate by breaking established rules carefully to avoid damaging trust.

Starting new projects often requires bending or breaking existing rules. Tanguy highlights the importance of doing this without breaking the trust of the organisation. By leveraging social capital and focusing on essential outcomes, it’s possible to innovate effectively.

Takeaways:

• Build Social Capital: Accumulate trust within the organisation to support rule-bending initiatives.

• Strategic Rule-Breaking: Break rules that hinder progress, but do so transparently and with the support of leadership.

• Focus on Outcomes: Keep the focus on delivering essential outcomes rather than adhering strictly to existing processes.

🔍 Lighthouse Users Program

Key Advice: Develop and iterate products with a small, dedicated group of users.

The Lighthouse Users Program at Atlassian involves working closely with a select group of users to refine the product before scaling. This approach ensures that the product meets real user needs and can scale effectively.

Takeaways:

• Start Small: Begin with a small group of users to test and iterate on the product.

• Focus on Feedback: Use direct user feedback to drive development and improvements.

• Scale Gradually: Expand the user base slowly, ensuring each phase meets quality and usability standards.

🏗️ Innovate Away from the Core Product

Key Advice: Develop new products outside the main product ecosystem to allow for more experimentation and freedom.

Developing new products within the confines of an existing ecosystem can stifle innovation. Tanguy’s team created a separate environment within Jira to experiment with new ideas without affecting existing users.

Takeaways:

• Separate Environment: Incubate ideas in a distinct area for experimentation that doesn’t interfere with core products.

• Iterate Independently: Allow for independent iteration and testing to refine the product concept.

• Integrate When Ready: Only integrate successful innovations into the main product once they are fully validated.

💡 Communicate Progress Effectively

Key Advice: Maintain transparent and frequent communication to keep stakeholders informed and engaged.

Effective communication is crucial in maintaining support for new initiatives. Regular updates on progress, challenges, and user feedback help build trust and keep the momentum going.

Takeaways:

• Regular Updates: Provide frequent, concise updates to stakeholders to keep them informed and engaged.

• Showcase Progress: Use demos and user testimonials to highlight progress and build support.

• Balance Transparency: Be honest about challenges and setbacks to manage expectations realistically.

🧗‍♂️ Managing Competitive Pressure

Key Advice: Focus on user needs rather than competitor actions.

It’s easy to become fixated on competitors, but this can lead to reactive decision-making. Instead, Tanguy advises focusing on understanding and addressing user needs, which ultimately drives better product development.

Takeaways:

• User-Centric Focus: Prioritise user needs and feedback over competitor actions.

• Long-Term Vision: Develop a long-term vision based on user insights rather than short-term competitive moves.

• Avoid Myopia: Resist the urge to react to every competitor update; instead, stay true to your product vision.

🧠 Balancing Innovation and Stability

Key Advice: Protect the core business while allowing for innovation.

Innovating within a large organisation requires balancing the need for new products with the stability of existing ones. Tanguy’s approach of creating a separate innovation space within Jira allowed for experimentation without disrupting the core user experience.

Takeaways:

• Protect Core Users: Ensure that new innovations don’t negatively impact existing users.

• Separate Innovation: Create distinct innovation areas to allow for more freedom and creativity.

• Controlled Rollout: Use a phased rollout approach to manage risk and ensure stability.

🌟 Final Thoughts

Building new products within a large organisation like Atlassian is challenging but achievable with the right strategies. By creating a sense of scarcity, breaking rules strategically, working closely with users, and maintaining transparent communication, product managers and founders can successfully navigate the zero-to-one journey.

Key Takeaways:

• Create Scarcity: Drive focus and urgency by mimicking startup conditions.

• Break Rules Strategically: Innovate by carefully breaking rules without losing trust.

• Engage Users: Develop and iterate with a small group of dedicated users.

• Communicate Effectively: Maintain transparent and frequent communication with stakeholders.

• Focus on Users: Prioritise user needs over competitor actions.

• Balance Innovation and Stability: Protect the core business while allowing for innovation.

Want to know more quickly? Just ask the episode below [web only]👇️ 🤯 
or if you prefer, 🎥 Watch the full episode here 

📅 Timestamps:

• [00:00:54] Creating space for innovation.

• [00:03:14] Product Management at Atlassian.

• [00:09:45] Launching new products in big companies.

• [00:13:09] HipChat as Slack killer.

• [00:18:50] Dealing with startup failure.

• [00:24:23] The power of user influence.

• [00:29:10] Learning from competition's mistakes.

• [00:36:02] Atlassian and operations tooling.

• [00:40:23] Culture shock in acquisitions.

• [00:49:08] Pitching new IT operations product.

• [00:55:11] Drive and Passion in Innovation.

• [01:02:08] Emulating a startup environment.

• [01:08:21] Incubating new product ideas.

• [01:22:13] Safety Funnel concept.

• [01:50:54] Freediving and breath-holding techniques.