Product Assortment Planning

Tanguy Crusson has spent 10+ years at Atlassian, where he's taken several products from zero to one, including HipChat, Statuspage, and most recently, Jira Product Discovery. In this episode, we dive deep into the struggles and lessons of innovating and building new products inside a large company. Tanguy shares candid stories about what's worked, what hasn't, and everything he's learned about successfully building 0 to 1. We cover: 🔸 Why large companies with so many advantages still fail at creating new products 🔸 How to avoid common pitfalls like competitive myopia and premature scaling 🔸 Lessons learned from acquisitions 🔸 Lessons from competing with Slack 🔸 Insights from the success of Jira Product Discovery 🔸 Tactics for protecting your “ugly babies” 🔸 The power of “lighthouse users” 🔸 The importance of having a “why now” 🔸 So much more Listen now 👇 - YouTube: https://lnkd.in/gr9f4D45 - Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gmiuz944 - Apple: https://lnkd.in/gWGAc5ZX Some key takeaways: 1. “Don’t eat your own bullshit.” When launching new products within companies that have already seen some success, it’s easy to assume that your existing playbooks will work again. But what got you here won’t take you there. You need to define, test, and validate your assumptions, because they may very well be wrong—especially when targeting new customer segments. 2. Startups benefit from starving. Starving creates hunger, which drives people to solve problems with resourcefulness and urgency. When exploring new products in a big company with excessive resources, you need to create scarcity to emulate this startup starvation. This generally means operating as a small, scrappy, siloed team. 3. The most likely outcome when launching a new product is failure—even at big companies that appear to have many advantages. It’s important to ground new product launches in this reality so that you can deter the company from over-investing, which ultimately serves to reduce hunger, slow things down, and decrease the chances of success. After all, why invest heavily in something that’s most likely to fail anyway? 4. Success for new products should be measured differently from existing ones, both in terms of metrics and time horizons. In general, new products should be judged by whether the team is answering the right questions at the right pace and whether the team is still excited about the new bet’s potential. It’s a common mistake to judge new products by metrics that a big company is used to, like MAUs or revenue. However, if a team is optimizing for MAUs or revenue before they’ve worked to understand the problem, they will be working on the wrong things. 5. Atlassian uses a four-phase approach to launching new products and deciding whether to invest in them further: Wonder, Explore, Make, Impact

Procurement: Treat suppliers as extensions of your enterprise, not transactions. Procurement Excellence | 23 NOV 2025 - In complex global markets, resilient supply chains demand partnerships built on shared destiny, not just contracts. Here are 9 Steps to Create Long-Term Supplier Partnerships: #1. Transparent Communication ↳ Co-develop comms protocols e.g. QBR ↳ Clearly share expectations, goals & challenges #2. Long-Term Contracts ↳ Replace short-term with multi year agreements. ↳ Share long-term roadmaps & cost-savings initiatives. #3. Shared Performance Metrics ↳ Jointly agree and track SMART KPIs. ↳ Define escalation paths & RCA templates #4. Early Supplier Involvement ↳ Involve and recognize vendor’s contributions. ↳ Include key suppliers in product development cycles. #5. Guarantee Timely Payments ↳ Automate payment & consider early payment discounts. ↳ Audit internal processes for bottlenecks. #6. Co-Create Innovation ↳ Create supplier ideation portals & protect IP collaboratively. ↳ Fund joint proof-of-concept projects. #7. Recognize & Reward Excellence ↳Formally acknowledge & reward outstanding suppliers. ↳Bronze (Operational Excellence), Silver (Innovation), Gold (Strategic Impact). #8. Uphold Fairness & Ethics ↳ Interactions & contractual terms are mutually beneficial. ↳ Ensure cost pressures don't force unethical labor. #9. Jointly Manage Risks ↳ Jointly identify risks & develop contingency plans. ↳ Map tier-2/3 suppliers collaboratively. In today's volatile market, Resilient supply chains are built on deep, strategic supplier partnerships. Achieving lasting, mutually beneficial supplier partnerships requires: ✅️ Deliberate strategy ✅️ Centered on trust ✅️ Shared objectives ✅️ Continuous collaboration ♻️ Repost if you find this helpful. ➕️ Follow Frederick for Procurement insights. #ProcurementExcellence #SupplierCollaboration

🚀 Cost Saving Strategies in Procurement 🚀 true cost savings are not just about negotiating a lower price — they come from strategic sourcing, smarter contracting, and efficient processes. 🔹 1) Sourcing & Vendor Strategies • Vendor consolidation: Bundle volumes with fewer suppliers to unlock scale discounts and stronger partnerships. • Global/alternate sourcing: Explore imports or regional suppliers for competitive pricing and risk diversification. • Multi-vendor strategy: Keep healthy competition alive and avoid supplier dependency. • Long-term contracts / rate agreements: Hedge against inflation and lock prices for stability. • Reverse auctions: Use e-bidding to drive competitive pricing transparently. • Supplier development programs: Support suppliers in cost reduction (lean practices, technology, financing) so benefits flow back to you. This 🔹 2) Negotiation & Contracting • Total Cost of Ownership (TCO): Look beyond upfront cost to include maintenance, warranty, spares, disposal, and lifecycle cost. • Payment terms optimization: Balance cash flow with early payment discounts or extended credit. • Standardization of specifications: Avoid over-engineering and unnecessary customization that inflates costs. • Volume commitments: Offer consistent demand in exchange for better pricing and service. 🔹 3) Process Efficiency • Procurement automation (ERP/PO automation): Reduce administrative effort, save time, and minimize errors in repetitive buys. • Demand planning & forecasting: Align with business needs, avoid stockouts, and reduce urgent “premium” purchases. • Contract compliance monitoring: Prevent leakage and enforce negotiated terms to maximize realized savings. 💡 Procurement cost savings aren’t just about lowering spend — ✔ Improve cash flow & working capital ✔ Strengthen supplier relationships ✔ Enhance resilience in uncertain markets ✔ Build a competitive edge for the business #Procurement #SupplyChain #CostOptimization #StrategicSourcing #Negotiation #ProcessExcellence

Why a promotional agenda for beauty brands? Calendars are a key driver of revenue, acquisition, and engagement. Because beauty products align with gifting, emotion, and seasonal spikes, brands can leverage moments like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and holidays to capture intent-driven purchases when consumers are actively seeking meaningful gifts rather than purely functional products. +96% consumers have gifted beauty/personal care products, and 89% plan to do so again Particularly powerful due to the intersection of gifting, emotion, and self-care. Beauty and cosmetics represent a significant share of gifting categories, accounting for ~22% of women’s gifts globally ~$38B. On average, each shopper buys gifts for multiple recipients (≈1.5 per occasion), expanding basket size. +New Year / Self-care season – January 1 +Valentine’s Day – February 14 +International Women’s Day – March 8 +Mother’s Day – Dates vary by country (e.g., May in EU/US) +Father’s Day – June (varies by country) Spain - March +Summer / Vacation season – June–August +Back to School / Reset period – August–September +Black Friday / Cyber Week – Late November +Christmas / Holiday season – December Calendars work especially well because the category naturally aligns with emotional and social purchasing behaviors. In essence, promotional moments convert beauty from a functional purchase into an emotional, socially driven one. +30% of holiday shoppers purchase beauty products as gifts. A STRUCTURED calendar helps beauty brands capture seasonal demand, align with emotional moments, increase average order value through bundles, and improve acquisition during high-intent periods, while strengthening brand relevance and driving repeat purchases through recurring annual triggers and avoiding missed opportunities when consumers are ready to buy. FUTURE of promotional strategies Shifting from fixed discount-driven periods toward more experience-led, personalized, and value-oriented strategies. Rather than relying solely on price incentives, brands are increasingly designing campaigns around emotional relevance, product curation, sustainability, and data-driven personalization to better align with evolving consumer expectations. +Shift from discounts to experience and value +Growth of self-gifting +Focus on sustainability and refills +Increased personalization and segmentation +Expansion of always-on gifting moments Conclusion For beauty brands, a promotional agenda is a strategic growth lever that aligns with cultural and gifting moments to capture predictable, emotion-driven demand. The most successful brands will move beyond static promotions toward integrated, experience-led, and personalized systems that combine timing, storytelling, and product strategy to drive both short-term sales and long-term brand equity. Featured Brands: Crown Kinship Laneige Ohii Peach & Lily Tamburins Summer Fridays #beautybusiness #beautyprofessionals #beautypromotions #giffting #gift

an underrated marketing strategy for cash-strapped startups? turn your entire team into your marketing engine. here's the thing: while you're stressing about growth channels, your employees are already using dozens of saas tools every day. CRM, customer support software, project management tool, HRIS/ATS. each of these relationships is a marketing opportunity waiting to be activated. three ways to leverage your team for free marketing (that actually drives pipeline): 𝟭/ 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀  get your hr manager to reach out to your hris vendor about becoming a video case study. your sales ops person? perfect candidate to showcase how your crm integration works. your finance team using that new expense tool? boom, another case study opportunity. here's the kicker: prioritise becoming case studies for tools in adjacent industries where your target audience also hangs out. if you're selling to marketing leaders, become a case study for your marketing automation platform. selling to hr teams? showcase how you use your people analytics tool internally. 𝟮/ 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 offer to speak at your vendors' events, webinars, and user conferences. you get free brand exposure to their audience, they get a happy customer story. win-win. 𝟯/ 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 "𝗳𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿" 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁 when you're actively promoting your vendors and being their biggest advocate, you become their favourite customer. first access to beta features, priority support, co-marketing opportunities, better pricing negotiations. 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗻: 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆: ✅ 𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 - exposure to your vendors' established audiences for your brand and for your team ✅ 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 - seo/LLM juice from case studies and event pages ✅ 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘇 - people who are already in-market for solutions will see your brand and product on your vendor’s case study page + at conference and events that your vendors sponsor --- the beauty? your vendors already have the audience you want to reach. instead of building from zero, you're tapping into established communities. what you can do now: get one vendor relationship you could activate for marketing this quarter.

𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬 (𝐁𝐎𝐌)🎯 A Bill of Materials (BOM) is the backbone of any manufacturing or product development process. It’s a detailed list of components, raw materials, and subassemblies required to build a product. Think of it as a recipe—without it, production can face costly errors and inefficiencies. ➤Types of BOMs by Structure: - Single-Level BOM – A straightforward list of parts needed for a product. - Multi-Level BOM – A hierarchical structure showing relationships between components, subassemblies, and final products. ➤Types of BOMs: -Manufacturing BOM (MBOM) – Includes all materials, assemblies, and instructions for production. -Engineering BOM (EBOM) – Created during product design and includes specifications and CAD drawings. -Sales BOM (SBOM) – Defines products as sold, including optional configurations. -Service BOM – Details parts needed for product maintenance and repairs. -Production BOM -Template BOM -Single level BOM -Multi-level BOM ➤Key Elements of a BOM: ✅ Part Number & Name – Unique identifiers for each component. ✅ Quantity – The number of each part required. ✅ Unit of Measure – Defines how materials are counted ✅ Description & Specifications – Provides clarity on components. ✅ Procurement Type – Defines if parts are purchased or manufactured. ✅ Lead Time & Supplier Details – Helps with supply chain planning. ➤10 Steps to Create an Effective BOM: 1️⃣ Define the product structure. 2️⃣ Assign unique part numbers. 3️⃣ List all components with accurate details. 4️⃣ Specify quantities. 5️⃣ Categorize materials (raw, subassemblies, etc.). 6️⃣ Establish procurement methods. 7️⃣ Include engineering & manufacturing instructions. 8️⃣ Track revisions & changes. 9️⃣ Validate BOM with stakeholders. 🔟 Integrate BOM into ERP/PLM systems. 🔥 Key Tips for Implementing BOM: 🔹 Standardize naming conventions & formats. 🔹 Use a centralized system to prevent duplication. 🔹 Ensure cross-functional collaboration between design, production, and procurement teams. 🔹 Regularly update and audit BOMs to reflect changes. 💡 Benefits of Effective BOM Management: ✔ Reduces errors & production delays. ✔ Improves cost estimation & procurement efficiency. ✔ Enhances product quality & regulatory compliance. ✔ Enables seamless collaboration across teams. 📢 Are you using BOMs effectively in your organization? What challenges have you faced? Share your thoughts in the comments! 👇 ========== 🔔 Consider following me at Govind Tiwari,PhD #BillOfMaterials #Manufacturing #ProductDevelopment #SupplyChain #ERP #Engineering #PLM #quality #iso9001 #qms

Everyone in beauty tells you not to launch a new product during Black Friday. Apparently, it’s “bad for business.” That’s not quite how things played out for us. The traditional playbook is simple: Launch at full price, collect the early adopters, discount months later. But indē wild has always been about reinventing tradition. So we launched one of our biggest products to date, the Champi Slick Stick, on Day 1 of our Wild Friday Sale. Any guesses on how that went? It became our biggest single product launch of the year. We sold out and had to reorder stock in the same week, and the product wasn’t even discounted. Which brings me back to this week. Launching a new product inside our biggest sale of the year isn’t usually the most finance-friendly decision, simply because this is when most brands push their existing catalogue, not debut new ones. But this was the product our community asked for in almost every support-group call. For a brand that’s built on listening, ignoring real demand, especially when it’s this loud, could end up being worse for the business. Black Friday is our annual stress test as a small team. Marketing, operations, supply chain, CX, everything gets pushed to its limit. And the team somehow still delivers, with good humour, which I’m told is crucial. In beauty, margins matter, but so does meeting people where they actually are. This week is our attempt to do both. Up to 35% off everything on the website, plus a few extra surprises that will appear straight in your cart. So if you’ve been waiting to try indē wild, or to restock, this is the moment where the economics work entirely in your favour rather than ours, and that’s intentional.

The smartest launch campaigns don’t rely on one story. They build an ecosystem of stories. Samsung’s Galaxy S26 influencer launch is a great example of this approach. Instead of asking one creator to explain everything about the phone, Samsung worked with multiple creators across different verticals — each highlighting the feature that matters most to their audience. Film creators showcased Nightography, capturing cinematic low-light scenes that prove the camera’s power without saying a word. Gaming creators focused on the phone’s AI gaming capabilities, showing smoother gameplay, faster responses, and immersive performance. Lifestyle creators highlighted the privacy display, framing it as a practical everyday feature for people constantly on their phones in public spaces. Why this strategy works → Feature–creator alignment. Each creator demonstrates what they naturally understand best. → Audience relevance. Film fans, gamers, and lifestyle audiences each see the feature that matters to them. → Campaign depth. Instead of one big message, Samsung builds a network of narratives around the same product. Great product launches today aren’t one-off influencer posts. They’re creator ecosystems. Different creators. Different angles. One product story told through multiple perspectives. That’s how you turn a launch into something people actually pay attention to.

Most emerging brands think they have scaled distribution once they are selling on their website, a few marketplaces, and have an offline outlet. But are your channels actually working together, or are they just coexisting? There is a difference between being multi-channel and being omnichannel, and it shows up in your operations before it shows up in your revenue. Omnichannel means your inventory, orders, and fulfillment are talking to each other in real time. I'll share a scenario that most brands at 50Cr+ scale will recognize. You launch on three new marketplaces. Sales look good on paper. But six months in, you start seeing complaints: wrong items shipped, delivery promises missed, stock showing available when it is not. Your ops team is firefighting daily. Your customer returns are climbing. The channels were not the problem, but the backend was always disconnected, and low volume hid it. This is what happens with a multi-channel setup: each channel sees its own slice of inventory. So when a customer buys on Myntra, your warehouse does not know that the same unit was just committed on your D2C site. Someone gets a cancellation. Someone else gets a delay. Both leave unhappy. An omnichannel OMS fixes this at the root, one unified inventory pool. Orders are routed intelligently based on where the stock actually is and where the customer actually is. Your store stops being just a sales point and starts being a fulfillment node. This upgrade directly determines whether your unit economics hold as you scale. A few things to pressure-test before you decide which you actually need: - Can a customer buy online and return in-store without your ops team having to manually reconcile it? If no, you are multi-channel, not omnichannel. - Do your store managers have real-time visibility into what is available in the warehouse? If no, you are losing ship-from-store potential every single day. - When you run a sale, does your inventory across every channel update in real time? If no, you are overselling and you may not even know it yet. The irony is that most brands invest heavily in acquiring customers across channels, but underinvest in the backend that determines whether those customers actually get a good experience. Acquisition without operational unity is just buying problems at scale. We built Fynd OMS specifically for this: for brands that have outgrown spreadsheets and disconnected tools and need one system to run it all. But regardless of what you use, the principle holds. Your channels can only be as good as the infrastructure connecting them.

Nearly 70% of healthtech innovations never reach the market. Launching a product in healthcare is 10x more complicated than regular tech products, so most first-time founders get lost along the way. After building and scaling over 100 healthtech products in the last 2 decades, here's the blueprint I use: ⏵ 1. Start with user needs Don't just survey doctors - observe them in action. Real insights come from watching how they interact with existing solutions. ⏵ 2. Prioritize regulatory compliance Begin documentation on day 1. The FDA looks at your entire development process, not just the final product. ⏵ 3. Clinical validation Get a medical advisory board early. Their expertise will shape your product and lend credibility with stakeholders. ⏵ 4. Establish data security One breach can kill your startup. Have redundant security measures, not just the minimum requirements. ⏵ 5. Design for scalability Your MVP should handle 100x your initial user base. Healthcare products can't afford downtime to rebuild. ⏵ 6. Focus on integration If you can't plug into existing hospital systems in under a week, most clients won't consider you. Period. ⏵ 7. Protect intellectual property File provisional patents before your first pitch. Healthcare giants have armies of lawyers watching startups. ⏵ 8. Plan for funding Budget 3x more time and money than you expect. The average healthtech product takes 18-24 months just to launch. Every step counts, and each decision plays a role in your success. Which step do you find most challenging? #healthtech #startups #innovation