Time to Money: How to Connect Product Metrics to Revenue

Summary

This video outlines the journey of Microsoft Teams' growth, from 2 million to over 300 million monthly active users. The speaker shares their experience in enabling user adoption, identifying friction points, and automating processes for scalability. They emphasize the importance of leadership clarity, connection across teams, and the focus on achieving business outcomes. Despite early setbacks like the failure of Windows Phone, the leadership and strategic focus on user growth helped drive Microsoft Teams' success. The speaker advocates for tools like driver trees to align teams with larger company goals, ultimately driving customer success and company growth.

Takeaways

• 😀 Focused leadership is key to driving successful growth at scale, especially in large organizations like Microsoft.
• 😀 Empowerment through connection with teams (designers, developers, product managers) helps deliver impactful customer outcomes.
• 😀 Scaling from 2 million to 250 million Monthly Active Users (MAUs) in Microsoft Teams required a shift from basic enablement to automation and streamlined processes.
• 😀 The initial stages of growth involved hands-on customer success, helping users through the basics of the product to identify use cases and friction points.
• 😀 Transitioning from small-scale to large-scale growth involved integrating APIs and automation to sync identity systems and improve team collaboration.
• 😀 As Teams grew, the role of the product manager evolved from direct enablement to optimizing growth at scale, managing MAUs from 1,000 to 10,000 or even 40,000.
• 😀 Leadership’s focus on clear connections between work and company goals (such as MAU growth) helped keep teams aligned and motivated.
• 😀 In 2017, Microsoft faced challenges, notably the failure of Windows Phone, yet leadership’s focus on connection helped pivot the company toward success.
• 😀 The time-to-money transformation mindset emphasizes creating connections between different teams to drive business outcomes efficiently.
• 😀 Driver trees are a valuable tool for helping teams understand how their individual work contributes to larger organizational goals and customer outcomes.
• 😀 The speaker’s journey shows how leadership choices and strategic focus can turn a product from failure to massive success, highlighting the importance of focus and adapting strategy.

Q & A

What role did the speaker initially play in growing Microsoft Teams' user base?

The speaker's initial role involved working with large strategic customers to enable them to use basic features like chat messages and scheduling meetings. This allowed the team to identify use cases and friction points to improve the product and increase monthly active users (MAUs).

How did the speaker help scale Microsoft Teams' user base from 1,000 to 10,000 MAUs?

The speaker focused on automation and integration, such as creating APIs that synced with identity systems. This allowed for smoother onboarding, enabling users to be added to the right teams at the right time, reducing friction and supporting growth.

What was the key challenge Microsoft faced before the success of Microsoft Teams, according to the speaker?

Before Microsoft Teams, Microsoft had experienced the failure of Windows Phone, which had a significant impact on the company. Despite the investment of time and resources, the Windows Phone ecosystem eventually became irrelevant.

What did the speaker identify as the core factor behind Microsoft Teams' eventual success?

The core factor behind Microsoft Teams' success was leadership focus on creating connections across teams—designers, developers, and product managers—and ensuring that everyone’s work contributed to the larger goal of driving customer and business outcomes.

How did the speaker’s role evolve as Microsoft Teams grew?

Initially, the speaker focused on enabling basic product usage for small customers. As the product scaled, their role shifted to driving MAUs at a larger scale, focusing on automation and platform experiences to support continued growth.

What does 'time to money' refer to in the context of the speaker’s experience at Microsoft?

'Time to money' refers to the process of aligning product development and team efforts in a way that quickly generates value, both for the customer and the business. This includes helping teams work efficiently and connecting their efforts to broader business outcomes.

What tools did the speaker suggest for aligning team efforts to business goals?

The speaker recommended using driver trees, a tool that helps teams understand how their individual work contributes to larger business outcomes. This ensures alignment and facilitates a focus on achieving the overall goals.

What was the impact of leadership focus on connection at Microsoft, according to the speaker?

Leadership’s focus on connection—fostering collaboration across teams—had a significant impact on driving success. It helped to ensure that everyone’s work was aligned with the company’s goals, which played a crucial role in Microsoft Teams' growth from 2 million to over 300 million MAUs.

How did the speaker’s experience at a startup and scaling companies contribute to their perspective on leadership?

The speaker’s experience at both startups and scaling companies, including Microsoft, helped them see the value of leading through connection. They recognized that leadership is a choice, and that creating strong connections across teams is essential for driving success at any company size.

How did Microsoft Teams’ user growth progress during the speaker’s time there?

During the speaker’s time at Microsoft, Teams’ user base grew from 2 million to 250 million MAUs. The product’s success continued as it evolved, eventually surpassing 300 million active users.