How product director Bas Grasmayer heads a multinational product team at classical music streaming startup IDAGIO
“A lot of the excitement is in the challenge itself. We all value autonomy, so it’s important to me that all the team members are able to make decisions independently with the confidence that it makes sense in the context of the greater whole.”
1. What is the most exciting (or challenging) part about leading a multi-disciplinary, international product team?
A lot of the excitement is in the challenge itself. We all value autonomy, so it’s important to me that all the team members are able to make decisions independently with the confidence that it makes sense in the context of the greater whole. This means everyone has to be on the same page for product priorities in the next months (and, with some decisions, even years).
This way we can move fast, make decisions quickly, test them with data, and focus on whatever is next. When hiring developers, we look for some product instinct, otherwise this wouldn’t work. I consider myself very lucky to work with all the talent we have assembled here. The challenge regarding the above is making sure that we can keep that speed and autonomy as the company grows and the service matures. I spend a lot of time thinking about this and making sure our processes enable that.
What is most exciting is the opportunity to learn. I’m in a generalist role, working with a big team of specialists. There is something to learn every day: about tools, technology, design, workflows, and, of course, classical music.
2. What are the challenges in developing a music streaming service that caters to such a niche group, such as classical music aficionados?
I actually think it’s easier to build products for specific audiences. They are aware of the problem you are trying to solve and if you are doing it right, they will immediately recognise the value in your product. In our case, it means making sure the structure of our service accommodates the structures of classical music. For example, the ability to search for music by catalogue number.
The challenge is that many people are already paying for streaming services. There, they have collections, playlists, etc., but, most importantly, they have habits. We have to be so good that people are motivated to make the effort to build a new habit, and of course to pay a subscription fee, so we can cover our operating costs and make sure musicians and rights holders get paid.
3. How do you keep yourself up to date with the newest trends in tech — any recommendations?
I follow a lot of great sources of information and inspiration on Twitter. I try to go to meetups and events where these topics are discussed. I also curate a newsletter about innovation in music, through which I do a lot of research and get a lot of tips. Some important sources for me are:
- azeem Azhar’s Exponential View: an excellent newsletter about exponential technology
- The Daily Digest by Motive Unknown: a music business newsletter with a strong tech angle
- Music Ally’s daily mails (the only one on this list that isn’t free)
- Mind the Product’s weekly emails about product management
- The REDEF newsletters about tech, music & media
- Cherie Hu’s newsletter: one of my favourite writers about tech & music
- Amber Horsburgh’s Deep Cuts newsletter about music & strategy
4. What does a typical day for you at IDAGIO look like?
My only typical days are Mondays when I have a lot of sync-meetings with the different teams, but other days follow certain patterns, too. When I come into the office, I try to get a bigger task out of the way first before going through emails or messages on Slack. When I don’t have such a task, I tend to jump on Intercom and help to solve users’ problems or answer questions. I try to spend at least half an hour a day directly in touch with IDAGIO’s members.
Otherwise I’m typically planning features, investigating data and feedback, collecting input from around the company, reviewing job applicants, and talking to users.. A lot of this involves our design team. A big part of my job is communication.
5. Any advice for aspiring product managers out there?
Focus and consistency are very important. You need to be able to lead a product according to clear principles. I think good product managers are good generalists. They may also be specialists, e.g. they used to be developers, but you have to be able to juggle a lot of things and lay out plans and ideas clearly to a large variety of people. In the developers we hire, we find it important that they have a bit of product skill. This means that they are able to think about what they are doing from a lot of different perspectives, and ask questions before jumping to conclusions.
