Evan Michner

Title: Principal Product Manager

Company: Atlassian

Connect with him: Twitter or LinkedIn

How does SaaS product management differ from traditional software product management?

The nature of SaaS implies that your customer is constantly re-evaluating your product — weekly, monthly, or yearly. Switching has become easier. And for a PM, differentiation becomes more critical. It’s a reminder to go back to the basics of ensuring we’re solving the right problems to create products that customers love.

If there was one thing a SaaS PM needed (tool, process, skill, etc.) to survive, what would it be?

For any PM, I think it’s the art of discernment. Looking at a problem carefully from all angles to pave the right path forward. Empathy is critical in that process — putting the customer at the center of your decision.

As a SaaS PM, how are you measuring success?

When a PM can go on vacation and trust the team to make the right decisions for the customer, that’s success in my book! It means that the PM has done a great job of communicating the problem and metrics of success for that project.

The data you focus on seems to be a key differentiator in SaaS product management. What’s the top metric a SaaS PM should focus on?

The AARRR framework is always a solid starting point: acquisition, activation, retention, referral and revenue. For example, take referral. Your job as a PM would be to move the business forward by building a product your customers love so much that they’re recommending it to their friends over and over again. A clear goal that impacts business.

From your time as a SaaS PM, what is a mistake you actively try to avoid today?

All of the time I wasted chasing the perfect product! I’m a perfectionist. It took me far too long to realize that a team could deliver more value to customers by shipping the first version than by sitting around perfecting it. Cast the vision, build the version. Keep iterating, keep shipping!

What’s one way to guarantee failure as a SaaS PM?

Never talking to your customers. And treating them as a number…or a dollar sign.