Final Pitch Deck:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1fjjMsRAF6gZRIFzrPCn5wd_31Jh5hDFFnpFd376jtBc/edit?usp=sharing
Reflections:
Naima:
This project helped me understand the gap between knowing product concepts and actually applying them. Choosing a problem space was a little harder than expected because everyone had different ideas, and it took a lot of time to agree on a solution. In the end, I’m happy with what we selected but I am unsure of how novel it is. I really enjoyed doing the revenue modeling because it involves interesting research to make assumptions and we ended up with numbers we liked.
Our team divided work efficiently, although people worked at different paces/times. Dividing slides and tasks worked pretty well but I feel like in the end our pitch was a bit disjointed as a result. Also having 7 people can sometimes feel like too many cooks. Still, everyone contributed meaningfully, and we pulled the final presentation together cohesively. Looking back, I’d push for earlier alignment and a stronger narrative in our pitch.
Also, I love this team. Great energy, great vibe, great fun. Yippee!
Matthew:
This project was useful for understanding how to think about products in practice. Navigating the process of settling on and drilling into the podcast editing market was fairly difficult, particularly figuring out whether we were solving an existing pain point or creating a new workflow category. Working through our positioning against competitors like Descript and Riverside taught me a lot about how to approach market analysis beyond just surface-level research.
The market sizing phase was especially helpful for seeing how assumptions cascade through a business model. Breaking down TAM/SAM/SOM by seats rather than studios, accounting for collaboration rates and pricing, these details showed me how needfinding and financial planning connect in a more professional context. Going through these calculations rather than just reading about them really helped develop my product sense in a tangible way.
Overall, I learned a lot about the gap between understanding product development conceptually versus actually working through it. The difference between knowing how to “do market research” and deciding which specific metrics actually matter was probably the biggest takeaway.
Yosief:
I really enjoyed this project because we got to work on what felt like a real company. There was so much information about the context of the company, the clients that they serve, the issues they’re experiencing and the ideas they have moving forward, and it was really fun to go on a deep dive. Especially with understanding the backstory and trying to figure out how to create a successful outcome the same way that a real PM at a real company might. I think in this process we were able to go through a lot of skills that are transferable to a consulting or PM role: market analysis with competitors, market sizing with TAM/SAM/SOM, or just trying to understand which metrics we want to really dive deeper into. It felt like a very good foundation for a future PM or consulting interviews.
That said, the biggest takeaway for me is to start early and zoom out: which are two things we did that helped this project run smoothly and efficiently. When working on a bigger project with a larger group, it’s really tempting to focus on your individual parts and work on it, but it’s so much more effective to fully understand the entire board in play. What are all the moving pieces? What are all the nuances of the technology in the product? How does market sizing or competitor analysis or personas fit into the larger piece? When you really take a moment to really step back and analyze everything, you’re able to really create a solution that is not only tangible and successful for the use case that you’re looking for, but also works better with a larger picture. It just makes everyone’s workflows easier to complete, and easier to paint a cohesive story: which helped us be successful at this stage.
Last note: Had a great experience with the team. Everyone worked efficiently, thoroughly, and shared great ideas throughout the entire process.
Emily:
Reflecting on the experience of creating and presenting our pitch deck, I think our team was efficient in dividing up the work. However, it might have been more intuitive if we had collaborated in the same space from the start, ensuring that everyone stayed aligned and shared a clear understanding of the project’s direction.
Because we had a large group (7 people), reaching consensus on the concept proved challenging, especially since each of us was attached to the findings of our own research. We wavered between focusing on podcasters or musicians, and our lack of direct experience in either field made it difficult to determine which would create a stronger moat. I also wish we’d had more time to conduct in-depth user research; scheduling interviews with real professionals (or even amateurs) in under a week is hard.
Another challenge was that different team members worked at varying paces, which occasionally made coordination stressful. Still, I think everyone contributed meaningfully, and our final presentation was cohesive and well-delivered. If I could redo it, I’d focus on crafting a more story-driven narrative to better capture the audience’s attention.
Overall, I’m grateful for how well our team got along and how naturally each person fell into a role that played to their strengths.
James:
For Phase 1, I led the problem statement section of our SoundWave Studios pitch deck. Since our team decided to pivot the product toward podcast editing, I focused on defining the new problem space and framing it clearly for our audience. I researched user pain points, synthesized interview insights, and wrote the content for both the problem overview and the user story slides. Because our direction had changed so much, we had to rebuild the narrative from scratch, which meant emphasizing clarity and grounding every claim in credible research.
One of the biggest insights I found was how many podcasters actually use full digital audio workstations (DAWs) for editing, even though those tools were never designed for spoken audio. I had assumed most people relied on simple editors, but discovering how many creators were trying to adapt complex software like Audition and Logic helped solidify our argument about tool overcomplexity. It also showed how much opportunity exists for solutions built specifically for collaboration and dialogue editing.
This project helped me practice distilling research into concise, visual communication. I learned how to balance evidence with storytelling and how to revise based on team and instructor feedback. Going forward, I want to continue improving how I connect user research to product framing by turning complex findings into something both intuitive and compelling.
Rachel:
I learned a lot during the creation of the pitch deck, both by applying product management and business knowledge to a real product and by working with a team of 7 to align on our vision for the business.
I found the most value in conducting user interviews – I conducted 4, and I realized the importance of finding diverse sets of users. Their perspectives were constantly surprising. Before I interviewed them, I thought I could predict what users would behave or think about the product, but they continuously impressed me with fresh insights and expertise. Especially as someone who is not an expert in audio editing, I learned so much about both the product and about how to user interview from my lovely interviewees. If I had more time, I would focus the pitch presentation more on the user journeys rooted in these interviews.
My team worked well together, even though it was difficult at first to align on a vision. We scheduled intentional times and split up deliverables, and this increased organization helped us to discuss and reach a consensus.
Julian:
Our company was a bit harder than some of the others in the class to do because the music space is so saturated, and there are already plenty of solutions in this niche. Maybe it’s changed a lot since SoundWave’s document was written, because I think a lot of new startups like Riverside or Descript have come up and basically do what we wanted to do. So it was difficult for us to reach a reasonable conclusion, but I think we succeeded.
I really enjoyed working with the team; it’s been fun to bounce ideas around, argue, and really switch back and forth up to the last minute. We really came together at the end to get all the slides in and all the research done. Overall, it was a fun project, and I learned a lot.
