What Type of Job is This: My First Year as Chief Product Officer
The writer has recently become Eventbrite’s Chief Product Officer (CPO) and is reflecting on their first year in the role. They emphasize the importance of understanding the type of work that needs to be done as a product leader, which can be categorized into four types: feature development, product/market fit expansion, growth, and scaling work. The writer also notes that it is vital for a product leader to understand the company’s current priorities and strategy to know which type of work to focus on. In the case of Eventbrite, the writer found that too many initiatives were going on and that the product strategy lacked focus, so they spent their first few months understanding the different techniques and determining which ones to prioritize. The writer also notes that they had the advantage of having been an advisor for the company for a couple of years before becoming CPO, which helped with aligning on culture and avoiding misalignment in vision and execution roles.
It discusses their findings on the self-service business at Eventbrite, which was growing steadily and profitably but had issues with product/market fit, customer acquisition and retention, and a lack of understanding about the needs and behaviors of self-service customers. They found that Eventbrite’s product/market fit was strongest with single event hosts, but most of the growth and profit came from frequent event creators hosting small events. They also identified the core competencies and competitive advantages of the Eventbrite product, which included a wide range of event data, low acquisition costs, and consumer demand driven by channels such as SEO and distribution partnerships. The writer also shares insights from the team about the various strategic initiatives underway at Eventbrite, including the upmarket music vertical expansion, consumer marketplace, technical scaling, developer platform, and new SaaS products. Based on these findings, the writer discusses developing a new product strategy for Eventbrite, including the critical dimensions to consider, the importance of alignment across the company, and the role of experimentation and iteration in the process.
The original article is “What Type of Job is This: My First Year as Chief Product Officer.”