The Guest – Leeanna Pitt, CPO at Gener8
Leeanna Pitt is the CPO at Gener8, a London-based company that empowers users to understand, control and be rewarded for their data. Previously she led the product department and successfully scaled and exited “We Got Pop” backed by Octopus Ventures, and following the acquisition of WeGotPOP by Entertainment Partners, Leeanna moved into the role of SVP International Product, where she led product globalisation to further territories and acquisitions.
Leeanna’s experience spans from 0-1 discovery as player coach in small startups – right through to leading large global distributed product development teams in a scaled org with enterprise clients.
Scaling Product Management: Strategies and Challenges
Product Management today is a critical aspect of tech companies, that bridges the gap between business strategies and customer needs, but what does it take to start your product management journey on the right foot?
First of all, it is important to start with a deep understanding of the business goals and align the product strategy accordingly. One of the critical challenges in scaling is ensuring that product management does not devolve into a mere delivery function but remains a strategic collaborator within the organisation. The misconception that product management is just about churning out features can inhibit its true potential to drive the business strategy through an effective product roadmap and meet both business goals & user needs.
If utilised and empowered correctly, product management can function as the strategic engine of a business, capable of translating market needs, technical feasibility, and user requirements into a coherent strategy that aligns with the organisation’s objectives.
The Future Role of AI in Product Management
As we look toward the future, Leeanna shares her perspective on AI having a significant role to play in product management, from enhancing core product features to optimising product and delivery processes. Yet, she cautions against the allure of integrating AI without clear use cases, emphasising that AI, like any tool, should be applied judiciously to meet legitimate business needs.
Q: What advice would you give to founders or executives trying to achieve product-market fit within the B2B SaaS domain? What should people focus on and achieve as early as possible?
“It really depends on what stage you’re at. It depends if you’re innovating as part of a big corporation or if you are at that really early stage startup. But what I say in general is, you have to get out of the building, even virtually. Talking to users – you would be really surprised about how many companies don’t actually do enough of this. So it’s not always easy to find your ideal customer profiles, but being super scrappy about it is really important because your assumptions about what to build and what your users need will almost certainly be wrong. And so, your assumptions about how you’ve built it to meet their needs will also almost certainly be wrong.
The game is, have you got enough room? Can you find product-market fit before you run out of runway? The way in which you optimise your chance of doing that is to tighten the learning loops to increase velocity from getting to the point where your assumptions are right.”
Closing Thoughts
This episode is a treasure trove for anyone involved in or interested in the intricacies of product management. Her journey illustrates the significance of strategic thinking, the challenges of scaling, and the future potential of AI in shaping product strategies across industries. For further insights and inspiration, tune into this compelling episode of “Story of Software.”
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