The Prodify Blog

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. At HelloWallet and Morningstar, we used to reserve some product development capacity each quarter for exploring new ideas and technologies in the form of Innovation Sprints. There were only a few rules for product, design, engineering, and QA during our one-week Innovation Sprints:

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. Octopus Interactive is a rideshare media company based in Washington, DC. Co-Founder and COO Brad Sayler explains the history of the company and an early product feedback issue they encountered their first few years:

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. In late 2017, Elizabeth Weiland heard Ben’s This is Product Management podcast episode on mentorship and reached out to Prodify to find a mentor as she stepped in to become the first Product Manager at MarketSmart. MarketSmart’s products are designed to help fundraising gift officers at nonprofits land more meetings with major and legacy donors, whose donations play a huge part in helping a nonprofit achieve its mission.

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. When I was on Ben’s product team at Opower, my goal was to increase our margins as we prepared for the IPO. My squad was called “SaaSy Ops,” a nod to the fact that we wanted to drive down the personnel costs of operating our product so we got the same valuation multiples as other SaaS businesses when we went public. We did this by automating tasks that our product operations team had to do manually because the product didn’t support them.

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. Since 2000, DrFirst has pioneered healthcare technology solutions and consulting services that securely connect people at touchpoints of care to improve patient outcomes. DrFirst calls its product portfolio the “Healthiverse, an interconnected healthcare universe where information silos are shattered and where all stakeholders aspire to a higher purpose: improving patient care.” Prodify started working with their consumer product managers in July 2019, a few months before they launched Huddle, a mobile app to keep medication and medical records organized. The product manager for Huddle, Valerie Garrison, saw how important a detailed vision and strategy are at product launch:

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. There is one factor that separates the great product managers from the ones who’ve perpetually struggled, and it’s not experience, domain knowledge, or anything else so easily identified on a resume. So, what is it? A product mindset.

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. I had no idea what behavioral science was until I joined Ben at Opower. There, I learned that our entire company was founded on a behavioral experiment by Dr. Robert Cialdini, who found that the most effective way to get people to reduce their home energy usage was to tell them they were using more than their neighbors. This peer comparison was more effective than any message about saving money or the environment.

If the concept behind Jobs To Be Done wasn’t real, we’d all drive the exact same car.

The following is adapted from Build What Matters. After Morningstar acquired HelloWallet, there was a grand vision for how our two products would come together to provide even more value to consumers and clients.

At HelloWallet, we sold web and mobile apps that helped employees improve their financial wellness.  The product was offered as a benefit to employees by their employer, who was our our client.  The B2B2C model is complex to manage – here are some tips I learned along the way: