The difficulty of the early team of product manager

Most entrepreneurial people are mostly product managers, and product managers face the biggest problem is how to attract technical personnel. An avantgarde idea may not be able to impress technology, and the beginning of the product can not make a cool prototype.

Editor's note: This is the former NetEase photo album project leader Sterling Silver (Guo Ziwei), published in June 2011 on his blog. The original title "Personalization and Huo".

in early June, the United States a new photo app, the framework and Instagram similar but the style is completely different. As soon as I saw it, I clapped my thigh and snap.





this thing has to start from 2009.





in the three quarter of 2009, when I was just taking over the album, chatting with colleagues, mentioning mobile phone photo sharing inconvenience, why not do a focus on this social applications, and add comments, Digg and other interactive systems?





This idea in the interior mentioned four or five times, the listener more silent, do not support nor oppose. Plus my department has no mobile application development Authority, so nothing. Until a year later saw Instagram, sighed, thinking that I was right before the direction, but the lack of corresponding executive power, fantasy fart. Besides, people Instagram design and filter effect is not what I can do, there is no good ideas.




I'm afraid I'm not the only one
to send a similar feeling. At the end of 2009 I had a chat with Sony Ericsson mobile phone to see their new machine demo, has built a similar, mobile phone photo sharing interactive applications. Because I never pay attention to Sony Ericsson mobile phone, also do not know how to follow, think this "specifically for Sony Ericsson Mobile User Service" application, the fate of many Jian also expected.





October 2010, Instagram was born. Initially I was its loyal user, very obsessed with playing for a few months, and then disappointed to quit, only as a post-processing tool used. It seems to me that there are at least three flaws:





1, ordinary people 2.1 line of life, the lack of memorable video theme


2, most photos lack text annotation, thin information


3, based on the first two points, the quality of comments is very low, basically "good picture" "Beautiful" and so on saliva





My solution to this is to give up the unconstrained random route, by default shooting theme, in a specific environment/mood/event to facilitate reflex-type photo sharing. Emphasize that contextual associations bring more text annotations and higher interactive quality. And the size of the theme can not be too broad, so that the lack of appeal, and can not be too narrow, 10 days half a month can not take a picture.





probably in April, I put forward a set of "scene photo sharing" Innovation planning case, write a good product structure, and then find a few friends to talk about whether can cooperate development. It is impossible for a company to support such a avant-garde project and to have to team up on its own. The first planner said the concept is good, but he is not a typical user, a little unsure. The second technical companion felt totally unattractive and unwilling to join. On the safe side, and in order to enhance his persuasive persuasion, I did 10 users interviewed, the result is 8 people are not interested, 2 people are interested. So low a support rate, had to give up. In fact, my heart is not willing to give up the--lbs just out of the current hit rate is not necessarily to 1%, the key is the product is not cool enough, the first batch of users of the content output is contagious.





Forget ... Don't be paranoid, "low initial hit" is a fatal blow to teaming up. It would have been hard to be trusted with fewer companions and to recognise this innovative project. For example, previously said "all unattractive" friends, and I personally very good, but others can not for personal, sacrifice two or three months of rest time to help me develop friendship (pay also not). If you find a strange outsourcing development team, I do not understand the technology, but also afraid of too much risk.





this time, I fully understand why Foursquare's founders taught themselves to program. Before taking out a usable prototype, especially before the entire LBS market is activated, go around telling people about the novelty of "sign in and medal", and I'm afraid everyone is a madman. Personalized new product is just like this-at the beginning of the audience narrow, team encounter is not easy to meet, and in no instance before, it is difficult to produce an effective appeal, empty talk like fart, had to amateurs alone. But my understanding of programming is really idiotic level, you ask me to learn programming, I also ask you to write blog week. People have their own strengths, do not have to storm their shortcomings.





from then on, I changed my perspective and pondered some of the more Huo app ideas. Huo's meaning is not identical, but conforms to the public aesthetic, can be understood and accepted by most people. Otherwise, team companions can be trusted, and willing to invest, but also like your personality concept, that probability and buy lottery what difference? In the end can only "seek the same" as the keynote, finally team success. (The amateur team's first bomb has been finished. Product design, development in progress)





to that "theme photo sharing" After all, is obsessed. Like the night to think of the Maria of the general.





last month, chatting with a colleague about my 8 app ideas, she said, "picture sharing is best." I'm surprised that most people don't like it. She said I like Ah, you say, I immediately think of how to use, like not, you quickly do it for me to play it. I am very frustrated, said no one and I work together, especially engineers do not like, this perceptual and personalized products can not rely on a concept to impress engineers.





Another one months, in early June, the new discovery before the foreign app, soft-hearted is also "scene photo sharing", but since I thought my theme and product framework more than a chip. Even so, it has been reported by foreign scientific and technological media, and has been judged to be quite new.





my mood is also quite bleak.





I said a long time ago that there is no innovation in China's Internet, the biggest obstacle is education. Innovation "Different" place, at first must be lonely, difficult to find to the idea of empathy, can take risks together partners. So the more people need to innovate, the harder it is to reach consensus, and the more impossible it is to make products. It is best to one or two people first to release the prototype, with the user and Word-of-mouth, the work is the best recruitment notices. This must be versatile, generalist, one or two people to handle creative/architecture/planning/interaction/Vision/code/promotion/operation. In China's educational environment, generalists are extremely rare. Once the number of innovative products required more than 4 people, you do not have to team up, you can go to buy lottery tickets, anyway, the probability of success is similar.