97: Adam Fishman - Killing Projects for a Living: Mozilla’s Stage-Gating Secrets
Mar 9, 2025
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Adam Fishman, the interim SVP of New Products at Mozilla, dives into the art of project management and product innovation. He reveals Mozilla's stage-gating process for evaluating ideas and resource allocation. Fishman highlights the balancing act between ambition and practicality, and explains why distribution is paramount in today's market. He also shares insights on navigating the double-edged sword of AI in B2B SaaS, cautioning against an inundation of subpar tools while advocating for authenticity and strategic thinking.
Innovative companies must critically evaluate new projects to ensure they align with market potential and long-term strategy before proceeding.
Balancing approachability with high expectations is essential for product managers to foster productivity and navigate the challenges of project termination.
Mozilla's stage-gating process streamlines product development by establishing clear criteria for evaluating ideas at different stages, ensuring focused resource allocation.
Deep dives
Navigating Corporate Innovation
One key insight discusses the challenges of fostering innovation within a large corporation. It highlights the importance of evaluating new ideas retrospectively to determine their market potential, revenue strategy, and long-term relevance. Often, a lack of concrete answers to these questions leads to the discontinuation of projects, shedding light on the necessity for organizations to have a clear vision and strategy before launching new initiatives. This process requires a critical approach to assess which projects should proceed and which ones should be pulled back to avoid wasted resources.
The Role of Leadership in Product Management
The episode emphasizes the dynamic relationship between product management and leadership expectations in a corporate environment. Effective product managers must balance being approachable and relatable while maintaining high standards and expectations for their team. This balance helps cultivate a productive work environment, though it may cause friction when tough decisions, such as project terminations, are needed for long-term viability. Leadership requires resilience as product managers often pitch their ideas to an advisory board and must handle rejection while pivoting swiftly to new concepts.
Introduction of the Stage-Gating Process
A pivotal concept introduced is the stage-gating process, designed to guide product development from initial idea to market readiness. This structured framework addresses historical issues of unclear business strategies and resource allocation for different projects. By establishing specific criteria and evaluating ideas at various stages, the process ensures that teams remain focused on viable projects while promoting iterative development to refine ideas quickly. This not only streamlines decision-making but also prevents teams from investing excessive effort into projects with low potential.
Challenges of AI Integration in B2B
The episode discusses the complexities and rapid changes in how artificial intelligence impacts business-to-business (B2B) sectors. While AI technologies can accelerate product development and solve unique problems, they also introduce risks, such as competition from other businesses leveraging similar tools. There’s an emphasis on the need for companies to validate whether AI genuinely enhances their product offerings rather than merely adopting it to keep up with trends. Companies must critically assess their strategies to integrate AI while avoiding the pitfalls of overly relying on emerging technologies that do not add substantial value.
Shaping Future Product Strategies
Insights into the future of product management are shared, illustrating how current trends and technologies might influence strategic decisions. The conversation indicates a need for product managers to develop innovative solutions that address complex customer problems with clear use cases. Emphasis is placed on understanding market dynamics, including customer expectations and technological advancements, to maintain relevance and competitiveness. As businesses evolve, it becomes vital for product teams to continuously reassess their value propositions and ensure they meet the demands of an increasingly digital marketplace.
Adam Fishman, interim SVP of New Products at Mozilla, shares insights on zero-to-one product development, killing unsustainable projects, and navigating AI’s impact on B2B SaaS. He breaks down Mozilla’s stage-gating process for innovation, the challenges of balancing ambition with practicality, and why distribution often trumps product in today’s crowded market.
Chapters with Timestamps
00:00–03:30
Adam’s role at Mozilla: Building beyond Firefox, managing innovation, and why “killing projects” is critical.
03:30–15:30
Stage Gating 101: How Mozilla’s framework prioritizes ideas, allocates resources, and avoids “innovation theater.”
The 5 stages: Discovery, Exploration, Viability, Growth, and Sustaining.
15:30–30:00
AI’s Double-Edged Sword: Turbocharging prototyping vs. drowning in “wrapper” tools.
Why distribution (not product) is the new battleground for SaaS.
