 Hello everyone, thank you for joining me today. My name is Joseph Ting, I am most recently a senior product manager at eBay for the collectibles team. I'm actually in the process of transitioning right now I will shortly be joining META as a product manager for the AR team but catching me at an interesting time in my professional career. I'm here to talk to you today about building products from zero to one. So before we get into it, I'd like to start by doing a little bit of a summary of the top level points of what I'll be talking through. So the first thing to note is that recruiters really value PM candidates with experience building products from zero to one. I'll talk a little bit about what is a zero to one product, what it entails to get there, and also why it is so valuable to have this experience, not only for your resume but also for your skill set and profile as well. Beyond that, selling your zero to one initiative up the internal ladder is the first biggest obstacle. So one of the things that is often understated is how much internal selling you need to do as a product manager, particularly when you are spinning up this initial zero to one initiative from the ground floor all the way through to its inevitable or eventual launch. Long term success hinges on your ability to quickly pivot from selling to execution. So I'll talk a little bit about this pivot and how as a product manager you need to navigate from selling that product and selling the idea and the vision of the initiative to actually being able to execute on it and deliver on it so that you can actually prove out the vision that you sold not only to your internal stakeholders but potentially to external stakeholders as well. I'll also be talking a little bit about ruthless prioritization and negotiation. So these are key attributes that are essential in getting your product from over the finish line and turning it from something that is just an idea into something that is actually tangible that people can use and interact with. And then finally, I'll talk a little bit about some of the risks associated with zero to one initiative zero to one initiatives are inherently risky, and they must always be treated as if they're delay away from being scrapped. So who am I? So I am a consumer technology focused product manager with five years of experience at three different organizations. At each of those three organizations, I have led a zero to one initiative all the way from inception all the way through to launch and post launch support. So I first was a product manager at BlackRock working on financial service products. I was working on their internal customer relationship management platform where I launched two separate zero to one initiatives, one being a client management tool. The other being a pipeline management tool to essentially help our internal sales people navigate the landscape of who they were selling to and how to identify those opportunities. At the RealReal, which is an e-commerce recently IPO company. I think the IPO I want to say two years ago, they are what I like to describe as a luxury end to end eBay. So they will essentially go to your house if you invite them and you can sell your luxury goods through their platform and you'll get a cut of the proceeds. I was a part of the seller experience team over there and I actually worked on their virtual consignment flows. So this was at the height of COVID and essentially figuring out how do we get our representatives over at the RealReal interacting with customers and potential clients in a way that is fully remote. And then most recently, I have been a senior product manager, the founding product manager of the eBay collectibles team and I'll talk a little bit about my experience as part of that team. So what have I worked on? I'm going to use my recent experience as an example of a zero to one initiative that I led all the way from again inception all the way through to launch. So at eBay, I originated the roadmap and the formation of the collectibles initiative. So what does that entail? So essentially what I wanted to bring to the table and what I wanted to develop as part of eBay was how do we build an experience for collectible enthusiasts? That's, you know, things like trading cards, action figures, comic books. How do we create a more engaging experience on platform for users? As part of this in July of 2021, we launched our first product as part of that broader initiative, which was the collection platform. So the way that I like to characterize this is this is essentially a portfolio management tool, first for trading cards later for other products in the future. So this is something that is publicly available in the app today. So if you go to the eBay app and you go to the left hand nav and Android and just the standard navigation in iOS, you'll actually be able to see this product live in the experience today. So my experience involves not only spinning up that initiative from the ground floor and essentially creating the business case around why we should be doing this in the first place, but also launching this platform live to site. So how do we define a zero to one initiative? What is a zero to one initiative? Really, because we'll be talking about this during the entire the entirety of the presentation. So it's helpful to understand how I define a zero to one initiative and how to think about this. So really a zero to one initiative is a brand new product suite of products or initiative where you are essentially leading the entire product development lifecycle from origination, ideation, prototyping, all the way through to execution and actual delivery of that product. Now, in thinking about the differences between a zero to one initiative and a fully matured initiative, you can think about it in a variety of different ways. So there are a couple of key characteristics to look at. Some that I would look at are, have there been any historical product launches? If yes, it's probably, if not a fully matured initiative, at least one that's not a zero to one initiative. Has a roadmap been established at all whatsoever? How well codified, how well established is that roadmap? If it's very well-baked, if it's very well established, then it's probably not a zero to one initiative. PM ownership, does someone own this already? Is there a part of the organization that owns this already? If so, probably not a zero to one initiative. The product mission, how well defined is it? Has someone gone to you and said, this is really what we're looking to do in this very specific way? If so, probably not a zero to one initiative. And then finally, organizational support. So how behind this initiative is the organization? Typically for a zero to one initiative, at its very earliest stage, it tends to have either no support or not meaningful support. So that's something to look for as well. One thing that I should call out is that zero to one initiatives do not have to be wholly original ideas. You don't have to be inventing, you know, the brand, the brandest, newest, most cutting edge technology ever invented, right? This is something where what you need to be focused on is what has your organization, what has your team, what has your division not done successfully or not done already, right? So this is something that is new to your team, new to your organization, but not necessarily new in an objective absolute sense. So just something to bear in mind. So, secondarily, why should you care about zero to one initiative? So we're talking a lot about zero to one initiatives and what they are. But why should you as a product manager, whether you're a junior mid level or senior product manager care about building a zero to one initiative or zero to one product? Well, really it comes down to two things. The first is development of skills and for simplicity sake, we'll just call these zero to one skills. In essence, when you are building something all the way from the beginning, all the way through execution, delivery, launch, post launch support, you are seeing the product, the product development cycle through its entirety. And because of that, you're going to develop an extremely robust, fulsome skillset as a product manager, you're going to see everything that product management has to offer, at least at the individual contributed level. So some of these skills include product ideation and origination, the ability to map out the user competitive landscape, the ability to say is this product feasible, the ability to convince people that a product is feasible or not feasible. Being able to do internal stakeholder management and the selling necessary to get it from just a mere idea that has no sponsorship to a heavily supported vision that can be turned into an actual roadmap and execution plan. And then finally, execution of skills, the ability to just deliver on this project to be able to take the vision, the big picture that you've kind of mapped out and you're trying to sell to people and actually be able to turn it into a real product. And then finally, once the product is actually live and launched, being able to take feedback on that product and be able to continuously iterate after the fact. The second major reason why you're going to want to build a zero to one product is the enhanced profile that that's going to build for recruitment as well. So there are a couple of connotations and implications that come along with building something from zero to one. The first thing to note is that if you're operating in the tech space, which or you have a desire to operate in the tech space, which I imagine all of you or most of you do or are. There's a general culture of entrepreneurship in tech culture and history of entrepreneurship. And that's not to say that every single product manager at every single level is necessarily a board entrepreneur or could even be an entrepreneur. But there is a deep history, culture and fondness of skills that imply entrepreneurship and building something zero to one implies a strong level of internal entrepreneurship. Not necessarily that you could build your own company, but that you could build something from scratch inside of an organization, which for the most part is what most of you should aspire or do aspire to working on. Beyond that, there's just an implied aptitude and all of the zero to one skills that I spoke to earlier, as well as an implied ability to navigate organizational ambiguity and politics. So organizations are complex, the larger the organization, the older the organization, the more complex it's going to be. And even young organizations have their own nuances that need to be negotiated and navigated. So when you build something from zero to one, particularly a big scope, big impact project. That is something that you will have to navigate as you as you go through that experience. And that's something that when you're being recruited for a tech organization, that's something that recruiters will be on the lookout for. And then finally, it's just a proven track record of success. So there are a lot of things that can go wrong in building a zero to one initiative product or or project and taking it all the way through means that you've had to navigate a lot of that risk very, very carefully and very, very well. So, along with that just comes the proven track record of having taken something from merely an idea merely a concept into something that users can actually interact and engage with. So how do you even start how do you take this thing from, you know, maybe just the germ of an idea into something that has sponsorship of a leader or an organization. Well, one of the things that is often understated in terms of spinning an initiative up from the ground floor is product company fit. So product market fit I think is well understood. How well does this product fit within the competitive landscape, how well does this fit with our company's profile and what we're known for. Product company fit is essentially saying is essentially to say how well equipped is this organization to either do zero to one initiatives in general, or this specific zero to one initiative how aligned is it with the objectives of the organization. Right, because one of the things that we talk a lot about in product management is how does this product fit for the user how does it fit for the use case that we're solving for. But what's spoken a little bit less frequently is how well does this fit with the organization's strategic imperatives and the strategic imperatives of leaders within our organization. So a couple things to call out here, you're going to need a balance of both create creativity and salesmanship salesman man woman ship. The idea behind this is essentially that you need the creativity to come up with the idea and define the requirements create an interesting experience that you know has a really exciting one sentence summary. And the salesmanship salesman woman ship comes in in terms of getting advocacy from leaders within your organization because without advocacy from leaders within your organization. Your initiative is essentially going to be dead on arrival. And that's really important to understand that you need a sponsor you need an advocate to get this initiative from zero to one. Beyond that, you are responsible as the product manager to really make a strong business and product case as to why this makes sense. So this involves everything from saying, what is the market opportunity and out the likelihood that we can actually claim that market opportunity, as well as saying, is this something that we could feasibly to do, given the technology that our organization is already leveraging given the things that we've already built. Given the teams competencies that the skills we have on staff or our ability to recruit for those skills. Do we have an ability to actually execute on this. And as I spoke to earlier, some organizations are just better equipped generally to support zero to one initiatives and that can be anything from financial support, strategic support, political support, and or cultural support. So it's not only the element of we can afford to do this or we can afford to do this, but is there the political will, is there the internal drive to deliver on these types of initiatives, or is this something that's going to fall on deaf ears. So these are all considerations you need to make, and work that you need to do as a product manager to make sure that your germ of an idea catalyzes into something much more substantial that can garner support from leadership within the organization. So, so okay, so let's move past that. Let's say that you have come up with your idea, you have successfully sold it up the leadership ladder and, and now you have advocates supporting your initiative. How do you successfully execute on that initiative. So as I spoke to earlier, that pivot is going to be really important and it happens rather suddenly where you all of a sudden go from your selling this big vision you are trying to sell leadership on the, of a zero to one initiative, the idea that you could build something new and you could be first or best or whatever, right. And very quickly you're going to have to pivot from that salesy visionary to someone who is a brass tax executor someone who is just there to build and launch this product. So the first thing you're going to need to do is you're going to need to rank all features and products that you have on your roadmap that were included in your original vision documents, and really come up with a very firmly established point of view from your from where you are in terms of what is are the most important features products to build in what order. Then you always need to be comfortable asking for a little more than you think you're going to get right so when you go into conversations, either with leadership, engineering managers, partner partner stakeholders, internal partner stakeholders. You need to be able to enter that conversation, really understanding what it is you want to get out of that conversation, you know what are you negotiating for what are you willing to give up. And, and that's, that's exactly the thing right you need to be able to enter that conversation from with a very strong point of view, in terms of what you see as the true MVP. And then, finally, you really need to be very disciplined about what knowing when to put your pencil down and essentially say to yourself, you know what requirements are finalized. This is the final MVP that we are comfortable with. This is something that everyone involved is agreed upon. And this is what we're going to execute on. Now, there are always going to be those micro decisions that need to happen in the moment as you're executing. And there's you're also acting upon incomplete information. So there will be decisions that you will need to make in the future tradeoffs and conversations that will happen as you're actually executing on the product. But to the best of your ability, you need to establish a deadline for yourself as to when you say, okay, you know what, you know what, this is it. This is the final prioritized list. This is what we're moving forward with. So finally, let's talk about some of the risks associated with a zero to one initiative. So when I presented that initial definition of a zero to one initiative, you might have been asking yourself, saying to yourself, it sounds like there's not a lot there, there, and that's exactly right, right? Because with a zero to one initiative, you're essentially building this thing from the ground up. And when there's not a lot to go off of, there's a lot of unknowns that you're going to have to address straight out of the get go. So a couple of things. The first thing is very early in a zero to one initiatives life cycle. That zero to one initiative is particularly vulnerable to changes in decision making processes and changes in decision makers. Right. So let's say that today you're talking to Steve, and Steve is the decision maker, and he really supports your initiative. And then tomorrow, Janet is the one responsible for making the decision and Janet doesn't support your decision. Well, guess what, today is today and Janet is the decision maker today. So today, you, you don't get sponsorship, you don't get funding. So it's really important to know, you know, who is the decision maker, what is the decision making process, and being able to push it through that decision making process as quickly as possible. You know what, it kind of doesn't matter that Steve was the decision maker and Steve formally agreed with your decision. Today, Janet is the one who makes that decision. That kind of ties into my second point, which is to say that management changes in New York's can completely shift a business's strategic priorities. So while I've been at eBay, as an example, there have been some pretty major management shifts. There was a new CEO who was introduced to their company pretty shortly before I joined. So that led to a series of reorgs within the organization. Any, any one of those changes could have completely shifted the business's priorities to not align with the initiative that I had in mind. So that's really important to keep in mind at any point in time, you are one rear of the way from your initiative being absolutely canned. The other thing to consider is if you fail at a zero to one initiative, that will negatively impact your credibility within the organization. So let's say that you have gotten a bunch of leaders on board with supporting your zero to one initiative and you oversold the product viability by way too much. And it turns out as the team is executing on this, the project is way more time intensive, way more costly than they anticipated, and they end up deciding halfway through execution. They say, you know what, we thought this thing was going to take six months and, you know, a team of 15 engineers to work on, and it's turned out taking a full year and a team of 30 engineers. So, you know what, we're going to cut our losses and not do this initiative anymore. All of that wasted time essentially comes at the expense of your credibility within that organization. So essentially, you know, the next time that you maybe have a great zero to one initiative to bring to leaders, they may be a little bit more reticent to support you, just given that they've put their political capital online investing in you and your initiative. And then finally, even if a zero to one initiative is successful, a lot of times it'll draw unwanted attention from people who are trying to gravitate around that initiative's newfound success. So even though you put in all the work to build it up and, you know, make it what it was, you want to make sure that the people who ultimately are involved with the initiative actually care about making it successful, actually care about making the best possible product for your users, right? You want to make sure that the people who become involved with your project actually want to make a better product and don't just care about having the success associated with building a zero to one initiative, right? So just build all of that in mind. That's not to say that you shouldn't do a zero to one initiative. You know, again, I think I've been pretty strongly positive I'm building a zero to one initiative for all of the aforementioned reasons. But it is important to be aware of these risks as you go about this. And as you think about what something that you might want to build might look like in the future. So let's let's go to some of the final takeaways. So building a zero to one initiative crucial for building your profile and your skill set as a product manager. Zero to one initiatives are everywhere. So a lot of times people will say, you know, I have a really hard time finding a zero to one initiative. It is part of your responsibility as a product manager to identify these opportunities and to be able to bring them to light. That's part of the creativity element I spoke to earlier. Product company fit is as important as product market fit. So don't just think about the business opportunity. Don't just think about the competitive landscape and you know where the product fits within the product fits within this broader suite of products that your company offers. Really think about culturally, politically, organizationally, how does this fit within the context of your organization and what you're trying to sell the vision deliver the MVP. So really make sure that when you are trying to promote your initiative internally and get it off the ground to get advocates that you're selling, selling, selling, selling. And then finally make that pivot to delivery, executing on the MVP and the minimally viable products. So that's crucially important there. And then finally, always, always, always approach these initiatives as if they could be scrapped at a moment's notice because the truth is they can and they will. So not every zero to one initiative is going to be successful. Not everything you work on is going to be successful. But you need an urgency as the product manager to be able to say to yourself, this is something that is important to the organization, it's important to our users. So, you know, you have an urgency as a product manager to keep pushing keep promoting your initiative up until the moment it's delivered and even then continue to push on it, even if the initiative itself is successful. So I'd like to thank all of you for attending. You can feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. My LinkedIn link is here at linkedin.com forward slash I am forward slash Joseph each day. So thank you all for taking the time to listen to me today. And I hope you all go out and build your zero to one initiatives. I'm excited to see what each of you builds in the future. Thank you so much.