Reflections of a 4th-Year PMM

Self-introduction: A 4th-year business professional working at a SaaS startup. Currently, as a PMM, my main mission is to handle new business development, focusing on company-wide brand strategy and talent management.

January–March 2023

➡ The beginning of a turbulent year. While preparing for the expansion of the invoice SaaS business that had been underway since the end of the previous year, the company decided to focus on the HR domain, leading to the closure of that business. Since I had taken ownership of the launch, I also took ownership of the closure process.

■ Actions and Events
・ Closing the invoice SaaS business
⇒ Due to the decision to focus on HR SaaS from an ROI perspective, I was in charge of closing the business. I managed the to-do list for the closure, created plans from the perspectives of the business divisions (FS, CS, PS), and scheduled everything, including customer explanations. We were able to close it successfully without any major issues.

・ Preparation for the new business proposal contest
⇒ At the beginning of the year, the company held its first-ever new business proposal contest. I had a concept I had been thinking about for a while, so I gathered information, created product overview materials, and developed a business plan to bring it to life.

■ Emotional changes and reflections
・ Turning point
ー This was the period when I started exploring job changes or starting my own business, as I hadn't felt a sense of growth or that I was doing work that aligned with my 'Will' since the end of 2022. At that moment, the news about the business closure and the new business contest emerged, allowing me to experience things I had never encountered before in a short period. This made me decide to move forward and do my best at my current company, making this period a very important turning point in my professional life. (Discovering that there was something I could be passionate about in the new business contest was also a major point.)

・ Perspective on company management
ー During this time, there were other major movements in the company besides the business closure. I felt once again that an organization continues to function regardless of who leaves, and I realized that for better or worse, everything is decided by the management team. I felt this as a student, but it was a moment where I strongly felt that it is true that the top leadership shapes the organization.

April–June 2023

➡ I used the internal transfer system to switch from business planning to the product development organization. This was the period when the scope of my domain expanded significantly. In a good way, there was a lot to learn from scratch, and it was a period where I felt a moderate amount of pressure, similar to when I was a new graduate. From here on, projects shifted from short-term to long-term ones.

■ Actions and Events
・ Product planning for a workflow product
⇒ I was in charge of product planning for a workflow product that allows for various application and approval tasks, which the company is focusing on. Based on the Kano model, I was able to examine the priorities for development and formulate the MVP.

・ Brand Design
⇒ As part of the focus on HR SaaS, I was entrusted with a branding renewal project. Although I was inexperienced, I introduced 3C analysis tools and defined the scope of coverage. As a result, it became a long-term project that lasted until around November, but thanks to this project, I was able to expand awareness among stakeholders and the PMM group.

・ UX Writing
⇒ With the goal of creating our own ubiquitous language, I was in charge of defining the company's terminology. I defined terms used outside the service, such as particles, as well as terms that had different names for the same meaning within the service, and compiled them into a dictionary. This was then rolled out company-wide.

■ Emotional changes and reflections
・ WCM
ー I had been forced to write 'Will-Can-Must' sheets during job hunting and immediately after joining the company, but I was never really convinced. However, at this point in my fourth year as a professional, I felt for the first time that I was working at the intersection of these three circles. Regarding the Brand Design project, I was so engrossed in it that it even appeared in my dreams; it was a project that I felt the company simply had to do, and one that I personally wanted to do. It was also a moment when I felt I wanted to build my career along this axis.
https://www.tobi-kikaku.jp/method/will-can-must

・ Winning the new business proposal contest
ー At the company-wide general meeting in May, I received the top prize in the product planning category of the new business contest. It was my first time being officially recognized in front of the entire company, so I was genuinely happy. At the same time, this experience significantly raised my perspective. It was decided that the product would be commercialized, and I wanted to take responsibility for the external release.

July–September 2023

➡ This was the busiest period of the year. Multiple projects were running simultaneously, and I had to take ownership of almost all of them, leading to an excessive workload. Given this background, I recruited personnel from other departments and delegated some of the hands-on project work to other members, which required me to use my brain in ways I hadn't before. Looking back, I gained a lot of good experience from a manager's perspective.

■ Actions and Events
・ Human capital survey
⇒ In preparation for the release of a new talent management product, I conducted research on human capital and reflected it in the development. Our previous products were mainly essential tools without which work couldn't function, but talent management is a field where you can't compete if you don't advocate for its necessity, as many customers would just buy it because it's a superficial trend. Therefore, I spent most of my time on this research.

■ Emotional changes and reflections
・ The poaching incident
ー When launching the PMM organization, I needed to recruit members, and I somewhat forcefully brought in internal members without consulting their supervisors. This adjustment failure was my biggest mistake of the year.

・ On customer understanding
ー This was the period when I focused on interviewing customers as part of the Brand Design project. Previously, I worked in planning and didn't talk to customers directly, relying on sales or sales meeting videos to understand them. By directly testing hypotheses with customers and hearing about their current issues, I was able to build hypotheses based on real-world experience.

October–December 2023

➡ A period where both work and private life were fulfilling. It was an opportunity to re-examine my career.

■ Actions and Events
・ Brand equity survey
⇒ As part of the Brand Design project, I commissioned an external research firm to conduct a brand equity survey for our company. I was able to consistently handle everything from creating the survey form and questionnaire items to the hypothesis building that preceded them.

・ Brand book and brand site
⇒ As part of the Brand Design project, I created materials and a site to promote the defined values for both internal and external branding. As a result, I was selected for the first-half MVP.

・ Preparation for the sales of the evaluation product
⇒ As sales activities for the personnel evaluation product began, I handled all aspects related to sales, such as study sessions and material creation.

・ Formulation of requirements for the personnel data analysis product
⇒ I carried out various tasks such as MVP formulation and requirements definition for the product that allows for personnel data analysis.

■ Emotional changes and reflections
・ Changes in private life
ー From around this time, various environmental changes occurred outside of work. It became a trigger for me to rethink my market value and way of life.

2024 To-Do List (Business)

Theme: Create multiple inviolable domains
・ Gain knowledge in technical marketing
ー It would be best to gain experience through a side job.
・ Gain knowledge in the AI domain
ー Stay at the cutting edge of generative AI information.
・ Ensure reproducibility of product strategy
ー Become able to systematically execute product strategy, from product vision formulation to roadmap creation and product evaluation.
・ Graduate school revenge
ー Move toward obtaining an MBA.
・ Have assets of OOO million yen
ー Study stock investment a bit more.

2024 To-Do List (Private)

Theme: Beauty & Health & Delicious Food
・ Get Botox
- Eliminate forehead and frown lines
・ Start kickboxing
・ Eat at a restaurant I've researched once a month
・ Buy one bottle of wine around 10,000 yen per month
・ Beauty trip to Korea
- Something like Juvelook or Potenza
・ Camping revenge
- Once each in May, July, and October
・ Watch professional baseball games
- Go a total of 10 times (twice a month from May to October)