Agile Coaches' Corner Making the Shift From Product to Platform with Scott Brinker
In this episode, Dan Neumann is joined by Scott Brinker! Scott is the VP of Platform Ecosystem at Hubspot, the author of the ChiefMartech blog, and the founding program chair of MarTech Conference.
In their conversation today, they explore some topics around approaches with shifting from product to platform, organizational change with distributed agility, and exploring the Flywheel Model at Hubspot. Scott also shares his tips and advice around alignment, distributed authority, and preventing backsliding!
Key Takeaways
Hubspot’s shift from a product company to a platform company:
Hubspot made the shift in order to move beyond just building within their own organization to being able to open up APIs and extensibilities that would allow other companies and developers to build on top of that foundation (in turn, shifting the value proposition to customers)
Expanding from your own team(s)’ ability to innovate and experiment to empowering team(s) around the world to innovate and experiment
They went from focusing on an end-user audience to requiring the product teams to look at another dimension of what they were creating
The value in shifting from product to platform:
The ability to adapt to change at scale is an invaluable skill
This process helps pressure-test your ideas in a variety of different circumstances
Tips for shifting from product to platform:
You want a clear top-down strategy and a sense of where you’re going and why, but also the freedom to experiment and create
You don’t want to have top-down handcuffs but you do want a strategy so people can align
Experimentation is the pathway to greatness and the best way to have a great idea is to have a lot of ideas!
It is ideal to have a blend of a formal/informal experimental framework
Tips regarding alignment:
If you’re going to have a product in the ecosystem, you want to make sure it adheres to some basic governance
You want to make sure that the experience that customers have with anything in the ecosystem is good
You can’t have governance that strangles the teams but you also don’t want a lack of governance that puts your organization at risk — finding balance is key
How distributed authority works plus tips:
Distributed authority refers to giving someone the authority to take something and run with it (in turn, creating a tremendous pace for innovation within an organization)
To make this successful at scale, you need some scaffolding and governance increasingly over time so they are all tying back into a common foundation
When it comes to the product to platform, each individual team needs to come to terms with it (almost like a retail approach to change management)
Pro: Because you have these highly empowered teams, as soon as they “get it,” their ability to move very quickly and do amazing things is greatly increased
Con: ’Tis not a one-shot thing; you have to invest the time and go team-by-team
It may take longer than you think it will, but it leads to strong, genuine change that sticks
Tips and advice around backsliding:
Creating alignment between platform and ecosystem as a way to help your team(s) achieve their goals creates a strong bond
Things diverge for good reason; usually, it is an indicator that that team needs to adapt or that something is not a good fit and needs to be changed
What first might look like backsliding might actually be the discovery of finding a new path or possibility (so don’t quash things too early)
What is the Flywheel Model?
“The Flywheel is a model adapted by HubSpot to explain the momentum you gain when you align your entire organization around delivering a remarkable customer experience.”
“With the flywheel, you use the momentum of your happy customers to drive referrals and repeat sales.”
“Other models think of customers as an outcome — nothing more, nothing less.”
The most successful companies address all three components of a flywheel: how fast it’s spun, how much friction there is, and how big it is (which determines customers’ attraction, engagement, and delight)
Mentioned in this Episode:
Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
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