Clarifying questions:

1. Is this a completely new product or a enhanced version of an existing product? This is a new product.
2. Is this product previously announced in any public events or press? No
3. Did this prototype in any shape or form contain any data or access to confidential data? possibly.
4. Was this a working prototype? yes
5. Is this patented technology? – not yet

Let’s understand the consequences of losing this prototype:

Risks:

• This device can be stolen by someone who can gain unauthorized access to the new tech, hardware IP as well as access to confidential data.
• This device can land in a competitors hand, who can reverse engineer the hardware, risking the patent if someone else files it before our MVP is ready.
• Competitors can compare product features, build similar features to capture our market share.
• Tech journals will perform feature comparison with the previous products as well as competitors, creating awareness for the product, get users excited about the new features. Although, this is not the best way you want to release the product information publicly. This may alarm a certain group of users as negligiance these users may loose trust in the brand name.

1. The device needs to be reported as lost to the local authorities.
2. Identify whether the device can be wiped out remotely so there is no unauthorized access to data/new tech.
3. If we are in the process of patenting the technology, the US patents office needs to be alerts with the loss of hardware, follow their process to mitigate the risk on the patent being granted.
4. A press release to assure customers that communicates this was a one off mishap, reminding them of the company’s mission and how important product and data security is for us.
5. Expedite MVP development to launch the product ASAP

Someone left a prototype of your new smart speaker at a cafe, and the tech press is writing all about it. What are some risks that your team and produce now face? How would you mitigate them?

Who am I – Lets assume that I am Google Product Manager

What does the smart speaker do – Lets assume its a smart speaker which is voice based like a Google Home

Lets see what all  can happen because of the leak

1. What do tech leaks usually do – Now a days all brands leak some of their features to ensure engagement of its end users and to hype the product up .

So this obviously is a good outcome in one way that everyone will become about the hyped up features

2. Feature Parity is what most people do these days to keep products in line –

In this case we run the risk of competitors getting to know all the features and including them in their versions of speakers

3. Patent Loss could be another risk if all the new features are not patented and the device falls in the hands of a competitor

4. Hackers may gain access to this device – and you might have more day zero bugs if they have their say

What is our objective – Our Objective is to

1. Reduce the effects of the leak by press

2. Protect our product from from losing out on gains because of the yet unreleased features

Options to Mitigate –

1. Raise a criminal case – follow up with the police department and send in a legal notice to the press to stop writing about this . See if we can retrieve the device . This is the best possible solution as it will stop all the articles and even the device can be gotten back . But this is a legal option and may take more time and generate more noise than necessary
2. See if we can expedite the patents if there are any unpatented tech in there.  This will prevent competitors from patenting our technology
3. If the device is reachable wirelessly – see if there is a way to brick it . This will stop the press from leaking any features apart from the looks
4. See if we can get to the market faster this will make the prototype worthless as the main device is anyway there in the market