(2020-05-22) Cagan Moore Transformation In Action

Martin Cagan: Transformation in Action. This chapter was written by SVPG Partner Jon Moore, and is based on his experiences during and after the transformation at The Guardian, which was one of the most impressive transformations I have witnessed.

In June 2007, the world of technology changed forever. Steve Jobs stood on stage and unveiled the iPhone—a device that was limited in functionality but rich in intuition. It was a time of revolutionary change for all businesses, and none more so than the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

Advertising was in freefall, and virtually all other revenue streams were in the process of being replaced by newer, better digital-first rivals.

As newspapers all over the world began the task of moving to online subscription models, the Guardian chose an alternative, ambitious but potentially perilous strategy: to remain free online. “Nothing good ever comes of putting up a wall,” was the message delivered across the organization. (paywall) Reach first, revenue later.

Many of my new colleagues had chosen to leave ambitious startups, Google, or Microsoft, and like me, had also experienced success at scaling other well-known media organizations. All shared a deep desire to ensure the longevity of one of the most exciting and important media brands in the world. But this rapid influx of smart technologists also created cultural chaos.

While most of the competition had launched apps that were at heart essentially advanced RSS readers, we had worked hard to embrace the myriad new possibilities of the touchscreen form.

I was going to need to bridge a growing divide between the editorial and technology teams.

the technology world shifted again. Toward the end of January 2010, Steve Jobs confirmed one of the worst-kept secrets in tech by formally announcing Apple’s new tablet: the iPad.... “We need the app submitted by the last week in March.”

From the get-go, our biggest risk was feasibility.

I’d previously made the decision to put photography front and center in our iPhone launch.

Our new product would focus specifically on news photography, and given timelines, I would “thin slice” the scope. We had a small, empowered product team (five people: product, design, and three engineers).

We would deliver a single, curated photo per day that communicated an important world event.

I figured we could create the world’s first and best digital “coffee table” app.

One other key challenge was the fact we didn’t have any hardware... creative use of cardboard and laptop screens

there was one area remaining that worried me significantly: business viability

Up to that point, very few of the senior stakeholders had had much (or any) visibility of the work.

Alan, a longstanding believer in the power of technology, felt it was time to expose the work fully at the highest level, and invited me to present to the Group’s board.

there was one particularly friendly face: former Apple and Microsoft exec, Judy Gibbons.... With my showcase over, she immediately responded with words that set the tone for approval: “Truly excellent, it looks amazing and how did you manage to move so fast?” With those words out on the table, the rest of the meeting went smoothly. We submitted the app for approval the next day.

“This is a cool app,” he (Steve Jobs) continued, “Guardian Eyewitness. Rather than text, this gives you the day in pictures. And it’s really nice.”

Due to the nature of the content (stunning, family-friendly photographs), we had also unwittingly created arguably the perfect app to showcase the iPad’s then-revolutionary screen technology. As a result, Apple was even more industrious in their use of our app in virtually all early iPad marketing campaigns.