Measuring Product Managers

Marty Cagan argues that the true measure of a product manager is the success of their product, but that picking the right success metric is hard. He proposes the Net Promoter Score (NPS), which asks customers how likely they are to recommend a product and subtracts detractors from promoters. He argues NPS keeps the company focused on happy customers, which drives growth and lowers costs because satisfied customers do the marketing. He also introduces the idea of good versus bad revenue, warning that short-term money that harms the customer experience will erode NPS and long-term growth.

01Key takeaways

• Judge a product manager by the success of the product, and pick a measure that reflects overall customer experience.
• Track NPS by asking customers how likely they are to recommend your product on a 0-10 scale and subtracting detractors from promoters.
• Use NPS mainly to track your own progress over time rather than to benchmark against other companies.
• Evaluate revenue opportunities by their effect on the customer experience, since short-term money that hurts users slows long-term growth.
• Recognize that satisfied customers reduce marketing and sales costs, so product quality contributes directly to profitability.

02Key sections

The problem with measuring PMs

Cagan notes that product success is the ultimate measure of a PM, but common metrics like revenue, users, or page views don't give the full picture.

What Net Promoter Score measures

NPS is computed from a single 0-10 recommendation question, with promoters minus detractors giving a score of how many customers are cheering versus criticizing the product.

Why happy customers drive profitability

Cagan argues that customers who love a product lower acquisition and marketing costs, so focusing on customer happiness supports both growth and profit.

Good revenue versus bad revenue

Revenue deals such as sponsorships can either harm or support the user experience, and the author warns that specials and similar tactics that hurt users are dangerous.

Using NPS as a progress tracker

The most useful application is tracking your own NPS over time to see whether product changes move customers in the right direction.

03From the post

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04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.