PMM Interview: Kevin Wu
When I started this blog, I knew exactly who I wanted to talk to for my first interview. I am so honored to be featuring Kevin Wu as the first product marketer on Product Marketing Mother. Kevin, AKA KWU, is an experienced product marketer specializing in category design, positioning, and messaging that helps his clients break through the noise. He has over 14 years of experience in not only product marketing but product management and entrepreneurship and has put in his time at places like Salesforce, AppDynamics, WeWork, and Airtable. Today, he runs Harmonic Message, his own product marketing consulting firm.
Our paths crossed when we were both at WeWork. I was inspired by his work ethic and go-getting energy. He was always willing to sit down with me and walk through a project I was working on and help me find a solution—even when we working in completely different areas. It only took a few conversations, and his willingness to share photos of his adorable children with me, to know this was the person I wanted to mentor me and help me become a better PMM.
So without further adieu, let’s learn from an incredible human being and my mentor, KWU!
How did you get your start in product marketing?
I had never planned on being a marketer, and I did not know what product marketing was. In college, I studied electrical engineering and computer science. My dream was to start a company and be a founder. I quit my first job out of school to build one of the first photo-sharing apps on the App Store. This was two years before Instagram! Even though we signed up about 40,000 users, we didn’t know what we were doing. No one knew what anyone was doing when it came to mobile. We ended up folding the company.
At that point, it was the bottom of the Great Recession, and my only goal was to find a job in San Francisco. I applied to a technical marketing role at Salesforce and started my product marketing career by building demos for Dreamforce and major Salesforce clients.
What do you love most about product marketing?
I love that product marketing is a strategic leadership role at the center of marketing with many wide-ranging responsibilities. The life of a product marketer is always exciting. There are an infinite number of problems to solve. I also love that PMMs own the positioning and messaging. What is a company without a compelling story?
What is the most challenging part of product marketing?
The reason why I love product marketing is also the reason why the job can be so challenging. The demands on a product marketer’s time are infinite and come from almost every area of the business. PMMs sit between marketing, sales, and product. Whenever anything GTM-related goes wrong, PMMs are often driving a solution. The problem is almost all of our work is done through influence, not authority. We have to convince other teams to align against a plan and execute.
What is your advice for someone who is brand new to product marketing or wants to switch career tracks and get into product marketing?
I would tell a new PMM to get exposed to as many areas of the business as possible. Work on launches, releases, activation, sales enablement, events, demand gen—everything. Take your time. Focus on building core skills related to communication: analysis, synthesis, writing, deck design, pitching, etc. When you’re ready, take a step into strategy and think critically about what the company needs to do to solve a specific problem it has in the market.
If you want to switch career tracks into product marketing, read everything you can online. None of these materials were available to me when I started. Then leverage your network and get connected to product marketing leaders. Ask them for opportunities to interview. If you can land a non-PMM role in marketing, use that as a springboard into a PMM role at the same company. You have to show you have the intelligence and drive to succeed as a PMM.
What do all good product marketers have in common?
All PMMs are great communicators and great storytellers. Whether you’re trying to move the needle on sign-ups, activation, demand generation, or sales productivity, you must be great at persuading people to your point of view and taking action. You have to make people care about things you want them to care about.
Personally, I think you’re one of the most captivating public speakers I’ve had the honor of witnessing. Do you have any advice for someone like me who still breaks a sweat just thinking about having to present in front of a large audience?
Some people are natural-born presenters. I still get nervous whenever I get in front of a large audience. You have to force yourself to do it 500 times until you get used to it, and even then, you might not be a pro. I took a public speaking course which helped a lot. I highly recommend it!
What would you say to a CEO who says her organization doesn’t need a product marketing function?
I would tell the CEO to let me talk to their sales and marketing leader to better understand their problems. I would say 99 times out of 100, if they don’t have a product marketing function, there will be evident and glaring problems related to the company narrative and messaging effectiveness. This CEO may be that 1 out of 100, but I doubt it. To this day, I have not met a B2B software company without PMMs that didn’t have any challenges related to product marketing.
Can you tell us more about Harmonic Message? What is it and what inspired you to take the leap into consulting?
Harmonic Message is my new product marketing consulting firm. We focus only on solving one problem: strategic positioning and narrative development for tech companies. In other words, we help our clients develop the story they need to reach their next level of growth. Two reasons why I started Harmonic Message:
First, I’m addicted to positioning puzzles. We have not had a single client with an easy positioning problem. They are all thorny and highly complex. They are multi-faceted and involve as much emotion as they do logic. It’s a rush for me.
Secondly, I believe the demand for high-quality product marketing vastly outstrips the supply. Any product marketing (or marketing) leader will tell you that product marketing is one of the hardest roles to hire for.
If the above is true, there is an opportunity for me to build the best product marketing firm in the Bay Area.
Learn more about KWU and Harmonic Message at www.harmonicmessage.com.