#194 - Building Loved Products: The Tech Product Marketing Fundamentals - Martina Lauchengco

Tech Lead Journal

“Product marketing’s purpose is to drive product adoption by shaping market perception through strategic marketing activities that align with business goals.”

Are you making the mistake of focusing too much on product and not enough on the market? In this episode, Martina Lauchengo, a partner at Costanoa Ventures and the author of the SVPG book “LOVED: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products”, discusses the often-overlooked importance of marketing in the success of tech products.

Martina challenges the traditional notion of “product market fit,” suggesting “market product fit” instead, because a product’s value is determined by the market’s capacity to absorb it. She emphasizes the critical role of go-to-market strategy in informing product development and driving adoption.

We explore the four fundamentals of product marketing outlined in Martina’s book: ambassador, strategist, storyteller, and evangelist. Martina shares real-world examples of how these principles have been applied successfully, highlighting the importance of understanding customer needs, crafting compelling narratives, and enabling authentic evangelism.

Tune in to discover valuable insights into how to rethink marketing for your tech products and achieve greater success.

Listen out for:

• Career Journey - [00:01:52]
• Market in the Product Market Fit Dimensions - [00:04:02]
• Importance of Go-To-Market - [00:07:02]
• Marketing Tech Product - [00:09:16]
• Product Marketing vs Marketing Campaign - [00:12:17]
• Sales-Marketing-Product Roles - [00:15:52]
• How Product Marketing Collaborate - [00:17:20]
• Product Marketing Metrics & Attribution - [00:21:16]
• 4 Fundamentals of Product Marketing - [00:25:33]
• Ambassadorship - [00:28:40]
• How to Get Customer Insights - [00:31:25]
• Human Aspect of Product Marketing - [00:35:47]
• Directing the Product Go-To-Market - [00:39:03]
• Storytelling - [00:41:53]
• Curating Stories - [00:44:50]
• Evangelism - [00:46:52]
• Authentic vs Authoritative - [00:49:26]
• Product Review Channels - [00:52:16]
• Product Support - [00:54:07]
• 3 Tech Lead Wisdom - [00:56:01]

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Martina Lauchengco’s Bio
Martina spent 30 years as a marketing and product leader. She started her career working on market-defining software, Microsoft Office and Netscape Navigator. She teaches what she’s learned with SVPG and is a lecturer at UC Berkeley’s graduate school of engineering. As a partner at Costanoa Ventures, she sits on multiple boards and coaches startups. She is the author of LOVED: How to Rethink Marketing Tech Products, a #1 Amazon Best Seller. Martina holds a B.A. in Political Science and M.A. in Organizational Behavior from Stanford University. She’s a native Californian, mother of two, and proud wife to Chris.

Follow Martina:

• LinkedIn – linkedin.com/in/martinalauchengco
• Costanoa Ventures – https://costanoa.vc/
• Silicon Valley Product Group – svpg.com
• 📚 LOVED – https://www.svpg.com/books/loved-how-to-rethink-marketing-for-tech-products/

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