We recently acquired a company with a product that significantly overlaps our core solution. Based on the projected growth and typical customer profile, our board has asked that we identify a single platform product and sunset the other offering. However, we need to make a recommendation in 30 days, and we must keep churn at or below 10% through the entire process.

Private Equity is shifting. Firms have a record number of competitors. Asset prices are steep. Dry powder is abundant, and expectations are high. Firms can no longer depend on deleveraging and achieving operational cost synergies. In today’s market, a dollar of growth is worth so much more than a dollar cut. To achieve the multiple expansion LPs are expecting, PE firms must empower portfolio companies to obtain strong revenue and margin growth.

Because of their unique view of the myriad elements of the business, the product management team should be an independent body with equal stature to other functional areas of the business. Only as an equal and independent body can the C-level leadership be assured of unbiased recommendations on product strategy and direction to meet market needs. This, of course, assumes the product management team can perform their jobs effectively.

In most technology companies, "go-to-market" is a throw away phrase; everyone from sales to finance uses it when it’s convenient. It is a catch-all phrase and often used as a placeholder for things related to target customers, product direction, marketing strategy, sales enablement, pricing and launch efforts.

Product management organizations can have a profound effect on a company’s success – or failure – and every C-level executive should thoughtfully and intentionally utilize product management as a key member of the C-team. Simply put, no other person in the company understands all the following better than the product manager

OK – maybe this is extreme (or maybe not), but one thing is clear; when you are missing revenue targets, when your conversion rates are low, or your product adoption is weak, then your Go To Market strategy is failing. The finger pointing means you are not sure what part of your GTM strategy needs work.

When I talk to our clients about how they execute on their Go-to-Market strategy, I usually get a blank look. Other times the reaction is emotional, and I won’t repeat some of the words I have heard to describe it. The challenge for these companies reminds me of the business fable of “The Chicken and the Pig”. For those who are not familiar with the story, the point of the fable is commitment to a project or cause. When producing a dish made of bacon and eggs, the pig is completely committed.