Wednesday, October 18, 2006
6:30pm – 8:30pm
(Refreshments served)
Panel Discussion:
If You Build It, Will They Come?
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Register before Oct 18th and save $5
Have you ever been part of a company that built a terrific product no one wanted to buy?
The market is littered with examples of spectacular failures, products that seemed like great ideas before they were built, but ended up just missing the sweet spot of their target market. WebVan, Betamax and the Segway—are just a few of those “almosts” that seemed destined for success—until it became clear that the parts of the strategy didn't all fit together.
Join Robbie Kellman Baxter, Principal of Peninsula Strategies, as she talks with Jeanne Lowell, VP of Applications Development at Oracle, Lisa Pollock Mann, Senior Director of Product Management at Yahoo!, and Karen White, VP of Product Management at PayCycle about some of the key questions that must be answered before spending a single minute on product development.
Key Takeaways:
- How to determine your target solution and value proposition
- How to test your assumptions as you go
- Who the key stakeholders are for your products and what they expect from you
- How to manage conflicting needs among your stakeholders
- How to ask the right questions to make sure you build something unique that customers can find, want and are willing to pay for.
- How to implement a culture of rapid iteration
Learn the secrets of some of the most successful and innovative companies in the Valley from a terrific group of speakers. This is a special event, and promises to be a night of fun and learning.
Event Exhibitor:
The Insight Advantage helps organizations quickly and cost-effectively gain customer insight and inject it throughout their businesses to ensure that they keep their customers by understanding what is important to them—and then delivering it. They provide a wide range of services including web surveys, focus groups, and telephone interviewing.
Moderator:
Robbie Kellman Baxter
Founder and Principal
Peninsula Strategies
Robbie Kellman Baxter is a strategy consultant focused on helping companies assess opportunities to grow their business—either through new markets or new products. She has built her practice around her passion for helping organizations grow faster and with more focus. Since establishing Peninsula Strategies in 2001, she has assessed market opportunities for a range of companies, from fast-growing private companies like MarketTools and PayCycle, to established industry leaders like Netflix, Oracle and Sun MicroSystems. She received her MBA from Stanford in 1996 and holds an AB from Harvard University.
Panelists
Karen White
Vice President of Product Management
Paycycle, Inc
Karen White is vice president of product management for PayCycle, Inc., the leading provider of online payroll for small businesses and their accountants. In her six years with PayCycle, she has led all aspects of product planning and decision-making, from customer insight initiatives to strategic roadmap development. She has seen the company grow from 0 to 25,000 customers during that time. A decade of operations management experience with Tufts University, Portola Packaging and PayCycle has also given Karen a strong appreciation for the value of process improvement and cross-functional collaboration as organizational success factors. Karen received her MBA from Stanford in 1996 and holds a BS from Tufts University.
Jeanne Lowell
Vice President Applications Development
Oracle Corporation
Jeanne Lowell is a vice president of applications development at Oracle Corporation, with responsibility for the project management and real estate applications. With over seventeen years at Oracle, Ms. Lowell is a proven and experienced manager of global development teams, responsible for all phases and disciplines of the software development life cycle. She has been the key visionary and driver behind Oracle's Enterprise Project Management solution, which serves many of the world's largest engineering/construction, professional services, communications, and public sector organizations. She understands the value of working with and listening to customers to deliver the solutions that they need. Ms. Lowell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Stanford University.
Lisa Pollock Mann
Senior Director, Yahoo! Communications
Communities and Front Doors
Yahoo! Inc.
Lisa Pollock Mann is a Senior Director at Yahoo! Inc. where she currently manages areas of business development and strategy for the Communications, Communities and Front Doors business unit. Prior to moving over to a business development role, she was a product management leader in the company, overseeing the development, operations, business management and marketing of key communications services including Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Chat, Yahoo! Greetings, Yahoo Calendar, Yahoo! Address Book, and others. She has been responsible for leading a team of product managers and marketers who create and manage Yahoo!'s core communications services and has overseen all aspects of product development, business relationships, technology acquisition, design and development, marketing and public relations for these products. She holds an A.B. in East Asian Studies from Princeton University and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
Contact president@norcalpdma if you're interested in exhibiting your product or service at this event through our Corporate Sponsorship
Agenda:
6:30 – 7:00 Networking & Refreshments
7:00 – 8:00 Program
8:00 – 8:30 Q&A/Networking
Meeting Cost :
$25 PDMA members and Partners
$35 Non-Members
$5 more at the door
Location and Map
Intuit Campus
Building 5 - Shasta Conference Room
2550 Garcia Avenue
Mountain View, CA 94043