Author: Nataraj Sindam

In the rarefied air of Silicon Valley, product innovation often conjures images of disruptive technologies and billion-dollar valuations. Yet, the real engine of the global economy, and arguably a far more diverse and dynamic testing ground for product strategy, lies in the world of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). To truly understand the pulse of the market and the nuances of user needs, product managers should look beyond the echo chambers of tech giants and venture capital, and engage with the millions of entrepreneurs building their dreams, one customer at a time.

Recently, we had the opportunity to listen to Elizabeth Gore, co-founder and president of Hello Alice, a fintech platform that has quietly become a vital lifeline for 1.5 million SMB owners across the United States. In a conversation on the Startup Project podcast, Gore shared invaluable insights into the challenges and triumphs of empowering this critical segment. Her experience offers a masterclass in product development grounded in empathy, data, and a deep understanding of underserved markets – lessons that resonate powerfully for product managers across all sectors.

Addressing the Fundamental Need: Financial Health as the Core Product

Hello Alice’s mission is clear: to democratize access to capital and resources for SMBs, especially those traditionally marginalized. Gore’s initial focus on micro-businesses in developing nations revealed a fundamental truth that holds true in the US as well: the ability to start and grow a business is a powerful lever for individual empowerment and economic mobility. However, upon returning to the US, she was struck by the persistent barriers SMBs face, particularly in accessing capital.

This observation became the bedrock of Hello Alice’s product strategy. They didn’t start with flashy features or complex algorithms, but with a laser focus on the most pressing need: financial health. Their flagship product, the “Small Business Health Score,” exemplifies this. It’s a simple yet powerful tool that allows any business owner to assess their financial fitness and receive personalized guidance.

For product managers, this underscores a crucial principle: start with the core user need. In a world obsessed with feature creep, Hello Alice demonstrates the power of a product deeply rooted in a fundamental problem. The health score isn’t just a diagnostic tool; it’s a gateway to a suite of services – grants, loans, and business planning resources – all designed to address the identified weaknesses and improve the score over time. This holistic approach, moving beyond a single feature to a comprehensive solution, is a hallmark of effective product thinking.

Data-Driven Empathy: Personalization at Scale

Hello Alice operates at a scale that rivals many consumer tech platforms, yet their approach remains remarkably personalized. Gore highlights their use of data – 60 data points per user – to tailor advice and resources. This isn’t just about generic segmentation; it’s about understanding the nuanced needs of a coffee shop in Oklahoma versus a t-shirt manufacturer in New Jersey.

This level of personalization is achieved through a sophisticated enterprise SaaS product that powers their direct-to-SMB platform and is also sold to banks, large fund managers, and enterprise business services. This dual approach is a testament to smart product architecture and business model innovation. They’ve built a core engine that serves both their direct users and enterprise clients, creating a virtuous cycle of data and value.

For product managers, the lesson is clear: data is not just about metrics; it’s about understanding your users deeply. Hello Alice demonstrates how data can be used to drive hyper-personalization, even at scale, fostering a sense of individual attention and relevance that is critical for user engagement and trust, especially in the sensitive domain of financial services.

Community as a Product Feature: Fostering Connection and Resilience

Beyond financial tools, Hello Alice recognizes the critical role of community in SMB success. They have intentionally cultivated a vibrant ecosystem, highlighted by their Black-owned Business Center and a strong presence of military-connected entrepreneurs. This isn’t just a marketing tactic; it’s a core product feature.

Gore describes the community aspect as the “beating heart” of Hello Alice. This resonates deeply with the understanding that entrepreneurship can be isolating and challenging. By fostering connections and peer support, Hello Alice enhances the value proposition beyond transactional services. The community becomes a source of knowledge sharing, emotional support, and even business opportunities.

Product managers should consider the power of community as an integral product feature. In an increasingly fragmented digital landscape, fostering meaningful connections within your user base can drive loyalty, engagement, and organic growth. Hello Alice’s success highlights how community can be a powerful differentiator, especially in markets where trust and peer-to-peer learning are highly valued.

Adaptability and Resilience: Navigating Uncertainty

The story of Hello Alice is also a testament to product resilience and adaptability. Their explosive growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by their rapid creation of the COVID-19 Business Center, demonstrates their ability to respond quickly to evolving user needs in times of crisis. They pivoted to provide critical resources for PPP and EIDL applications, business closures, and even mental health support.

Furthermore, their recent lawsuit, while “frivolous” according to Gore, underscores the unpredictable challenges businesses face. Her candid advice to be “prepared for the unknown” and to “have money set aside” is a stark reminder that product strategy must encompass risk management and contingency planning.

For product managers, this emphasizes the need for agile product development and a culture of adaptability. The market landscape is constantly shifting, and unexpected challenges are inevitable. Hello Alice’s ability to pivot during COVID-19 and navigate a legal challenge highlights the importance of building products and organizations that are resilient and responsive to change.

Looking Ahead: AI and the Future of SMB Empowerment

Gore expresses excitement about the potential of AI to further empower SMBs. Hello Alice is actively rolling out AI-powered tools to help business owners with tasks ranging from business plan creation to marketing strategy development. This proactive embrace of emerging technologies, coupled with their existing data-driven approach, positions them to continue innovating and expanding their impact.

For product managers, this serves as a reminder to continuously explore and integrate relevant emerging technologies. AI, in particular, is rapidly becoming democratized and accessible to SMBs. Platforms like Hello Alice are playing a crucial role in bridging the technology gap and ensuring that the benefits of these advancements are not limited to large corporations.

Conclusion: Lessons from Main Street for the Product Elite

Elizabeth Gore and Hello Alice offer a compelling case study for product managers seeking to build impactful and sustainable businesses. Their success is rooted in a deep understanding of user needs, a data-driven approach to personalization, the strategic cultivation of community, and a culture of adaptability. By focusing on the fundamental challenge of financial health for SMBs, they have built a platform that is not only commercially successful but also deeply impactful in empowering entrepreneurs and driving economic growth.

As product managers, we often look to the giants of tech for inspiration. But sometimes, the most valuable lessons are found by listening to the voices of those building the backbone of our economy – the small business owners on Main Street. Hello Alice reminds us that product innovation is not just about creating the next shiny object, but about solving real problems for real people, with empathy, data, and a steadfast commitment to making a tangible difference. And in that pursuit, the SMB market offers a wealth of opportunity and invaluable lessons for product leaders willing to look beyond the valley.

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Nataraj is a Senior Product Manager at Microsoft Azure and the Author at Startup Project, featuring insights about building the next generation of enterprise technology products & businesses.

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In a landscape saturated with software solutions and ever-evolving technological demands, effectively marketing a deeply technical product requires a nuanced approach that transcends traditional marketing playbooks. Madhukar Kumar, Chief Marketing Officer at Single Store (formerly MSQL), a cloud-native database powerhouse, recently shared his insights on navigating this complex terrain in a podcast interview. His conversation with Nataraj delved into the intricacies of product marketing, growth strategies, and the evolving role of marketing in a world increasingly shaped by AI.

For Single Store, a company that has garnered over $300 million in funding and serves Fortune 100 clients, the challenge lies in bridging the gap between cutting-edge database technology and the developers and enterprise decision-makers who need it. Kumar’s strategy, built on three pillars – branding, product-led growth (PLG), and product-led sales (PLS) – offers a compelling framework for technical product marketing.

Branding Beyond Buzzwords: The Technical Product Imperative

Kumar emphasizes that branding for technical products, especially those aimed at developers, cannot be divorced from the product itself. While aesthetics and catchy slogans are important, they are secondary to demonstrating genuine value. Developers, he argues, are discerning and pragmatic. They prioritize functionality and technical merit above marketing fluff. Therefore, branding for a database company like Single Store must be product-centric and focus on being “memorable” in a noisy digital world.

This memorability, Kumar suggests, can be achieved through a combination of crisp, direct messaging, a touch of developer-appropriate humor, and, crucially, a clear call to action that encourages product trial. For developers, the brand message must ultimately lead to a tangible experience: “Go try out my product,” not “Come talk to my sales team.” This reflects the bottom-up nature of developer adoption, where hands-on experience trumps marketing promises.

Product-Led Growth: Reaching Developers in Their Natural Habitat

The concept of product-led growth is central to reaching developers. Kumar points out the sheer volume of databases available today, highlighting the challenge of standing out. He emphasizes that Single Store, positioned uniquely between transactional and analytical databases, offers a powerful solution capable of both. However, awareness is the first hurdle.

Traditional marketing methods often fall short when targeting developers. Kumar argues that you cannot simply “market to” or “sell to” developers. Instead, you must engage them where they naturally congregate – online communities, forums, and platforms like Twitter, YouTube, Stack Overflow (despite its current challenges), and Reddit. The strategy is to be present in these “watering holes” and offer solutions when developers are actively searching for answers to their problems.

This approach hinges on a strong product that delivers real value. Kumar stresses the importance of unwavering faith in the product, highlighting his own personal use of Single Store for experimentation. The challenge, he acknowledges, is overcoming the developer preference for open-source databases like MySQL and Postgres. PLG, in this context, becomes about demonstrating superior performance and capabilities through accessible product trials and community engagement.

Product-Led Sales: Navigating the Enterprise Landscape

While PLG focuses on bottom-up adoption, product-led sales targets enterprise buyers through a top-down approach. Kumar underscores the power of customer validation in this realm. He believes that the most compelling value proposition comes directly from existing customers. Connecting prospects with satisfied Single Store users often eliminates the need for extensive marketing pitches.

For enterprise buyers, brand awareness is still necessary, but it serves as a foundation for building trust and credibility. Kumar highlights the “people do what they see other people do” phenomenon. Similar to the neighborly influence on solar panel adoption, enterprise buyers are more likely to consider a product that is already being successfully used by their peers or within their developer teams.

This necessitates a two-pronged approach: nurturing developer adoption within organizations and leveraging account-based marketing to target key decision-makers in enterprises that align with Single Store’s ideal customer profile. The ultimate goal is to create a seamless overlap between developer enthusiasm and enterprise demand, driven by product adoption and demonstrable value.

A Career Forged in Curiosity and Adaptability

Kumar’s own career path, marked by transitions from journalism to engineering, product development, and finally marketing, exemplifies the value of adaptability and a thirst for learning. He describes his journey as organic, driven by a desire to build and create. His willingness to embrace new opportunities, coupled with a diverse background, has equipped him with a unique perspective on marketing technical products.

Marketing Skills for the AI-Powered Future

The rise of AI is transforming every profession, including marketing. Kumar emphasizes that AI tools can significantly enhance productivity, but they cannot replace fundamental skills and experience. He argues that a deep understanding of the “how” behind the “what” is crucial for effectively leveraging AI in marketing.

In today’s landscape, Kumar seeks marketers who are technically proficient, generalists capable of handling diverse tasks, and ideally, specialists in a particular area. This “unicorn” marketer combines broad understanding with deep expertise, allowing them to maximize the potential of AI while retaining strategic insight and nuanced judgment.

Beyond Performance Marketing: Investing in Brand and Inbound

Kumar challenges the conventional wisdom of heavy reliance on paid performance marketing. He argues for a shift towards building a strong brand that drives inbound interest. While acknowledging the immediate gratification of paid campaigns, he questions the quality and sustainability of leads generated through these channels. His preference lies in investing in brand-building activities that cultivate genuine inbound demand and higher-quality leads.

Lessons from Marketing Leaders and the Path Forward

Kumar admires brands like Apple, Webflow, and dbrand for their product-centric approach and cohesive user journeys. He emphasizes the importance of aligning marketing with the entire customer experience, from initial awareness to post-purchase support.

He also notes the changing nature of communication, moving away from overly sanitized, PR-driven messages towards more authentic and direct interactions. While AI can assist in content creation, he cautions against losing the human touch and authenticity that resonate with audiences.

Finally, reflecting on his career, Kumar highlights the importance of prioritizing passion and saying “no” to distractions. He encourages marketers to pursue work that resonates with them deeply, leading to greater satisfaction and impact. His insights offer a valuable roadmap for navigating the complexities of marketing technical products in an increasingly dynamic and AI-driven world.

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The buzz around Artificial Intelligence, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), is deafening. From boardrooms to break rooms, the promise of AI is touted as transformative, revolutionary, even existential. Yet, beneath the surface of breathless headlines and billion-dollar valuations, a more nuanced reality is emerging. To effectively leverage AI for business advantage, leaders must move beyond the hype and adopt a strategic, long-term perspective.

Pedro Domingos, Professor Emeritus of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington and author of The Master Algorithm, offers a critical yet constructive lens through which to view the current AI landscape. In a recent podcast interview, Domingos, a pioneer in machine learning, cautioned against the inflated expectations surrounding LLMs and urged a more balanced understanding of AI’s true potential – and limitations.

1. Acknowledge Progress, Temper Expectations:

It’s undeniable that AI has made “tremendous progress,” as Domingos acknowledges. Transformers, the architecture underpinning LLMs like GPT, represent a significant leap forward. These models demonstrate impressive abilities in language processing, generation, and even creative tasks. Dismissing them as mere “stochastic parrots,” as some critics do, is inaccurate. LLMs are learning systems exhibiting genuine generalization capabilities.

However, the current hype cycle has outpaced the underlying reality. The narrative that we are on the cusp of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) thanks to LLMs is, according to Domingos, “farsal.” He warns of a potential “stock market bubble” fueled by unrealistic expectations, echoing historical patterns of technological exuberance followed by inevitable corrections.

For business leaders, this means celebrating genuine AI advancements while avoiding the trap of over-promising and under-delivering. Focus on practical applications and incremental improvements rather than chasing the mirage of near-term AGI. Remember, as Domingos points out, we’ve traveled “a thousand miles in AI,” but there are still “a million miles more to go.”

2. Look Beyond the LLM Hype to Broader AI Capabilities:

The intense focus on LLMs risks obscuring the broader landscape of AI and its diverse applications. Domingos emphasizes that LLMs, despite their current prominence, are “nothing compared to the major applications of AI today.” He points to recommendation systems as a prime example – the algorithms that curate our online experiences, from e-commerce suggestions to social media feeds. These systems, often built on different machine learning techniques, have already profoundly shaped consumer behavior and business strategies for years.

Furthermore, the assumption that deep learning, and specifically Transformers, is the singular path forward is limiting. Domingos argues that “tweaks on Transformers will not get us to human-level intelligence.” He advocates for exploring diverse AI approaches beyond the current deep learning paradigm, emphasizing that true innovation may lie in uncharted territories.

For businesses, this means diversifying AI investments beyond LLMs. Explore applications in areas like computer vision, robotics, optimization, and traditional machine learning techniques. Consider how AI can enhance existing processes and create new value streams across various functions, not just in language-centric tasks. The most impactful AI strategy is likely to be multifaceted and tailored to specific business needs, not solely reliant on the latest LLM breakthrough.

3. Strategic Investment: Prioritizing Diverse Research and Foundational Capabilities:

The influx of capital into AI is unprecedented, yet Domingos questions whether these investments are being directed optimally. He argues that there’s “too much funding of the same narrow kinds of things” and a concerning lack of diversity in AI research compared to previous decades. He advocates for a “thousand flowers bloom” approach, encouraging exploration across a wider spectrum of AI methodologies.

Domingos also highlights the importance of investing in foundational AI research and hardware. He suggests that the next wave of AI innovation may require specialized hardware beyond GPUs, potentially focusing on “primitives for any possible next thing,” like sparse tensors or relational operations. This forward-looking perspective contrasts with the current industry fixation on optimizing existing deep learning infrastructure.

For investors and business leaders allocating capital to AI, Domingos’ insights are crucial. Avoid the allure of chasing the latest hype cycle and instead consider a more diversified investment strategy. Support research into diverse AI approaches, explore hardware innovations that can unlock new capabilities, and prioritize long-term strategic goals over short-term gains driven by hype.

Moving Forward with Realistic Optimism:

Pedro Domingos’ perspective offers a valuable corrective to the current AI exuberance. It’s not a call for pessimism, but for realism and strategic foresight. AI holds immense potential to transform businesses and society, but realizing this potential requires navigating the hype cycles with a clear understanding of both the current capabilities and the long road ahead.

By acknowledging genuine progress while tempering expectations, diversifying AI strategies beyond LLMs, and strategically investing in diverse research and foundational capabilities, businesses can position themselves to harness the true, long-term power of AI. The future of AI is not about chasing fleeting hype, but about building robust, sustainable value through informed and strategic innovation.