7 Reasons Products Fail (and How Product Managers Can Prevent Them)

Why do so many products fail—and how can product managers prevent it before launch?

Short answer:
Most product failures are predictable. They happen when teams skip customer insight, misjudge value, mistime the market, or launch without a clear path to business impact.

In this Productside Product Management Leadership Series webinar, Jake Yingling (Client Services Lead, Productside) and Kenny Kranseler (Principal Consultant & Trainer, Productside) break down the seven most common, recurring reasons products fail—and what product managers can do differently to reduce risk and increase success.

This is not theory or hype. It’s a practical, execution-focused walkthrough of real product failure patterns seen across B2B, B2C, enterprise, and startup environments.

What you’ll learn:
• Why 65–90% of products fail—and how to beat the odds
• How lack of customer insight quietly kills products
• Why targeting the wrong market guarantees failure
• How weak value propositions stall adoption
• The role of business models in long-term product survival
• How poor execution and MVP mistakes derail momentum
• Why bad timing (too early or too late) can doom great ideas
• How weak go-to-market strategy and messaging undermine launches
• Why working backwards from the customer experience reduces failure
• How dashboards and metrics align teams around outcomes

Key takeaway:
Product failure isn’t random—it’s the result of avoidable decisions. When PMs define success early, validate real value, and stay outcome-focused, products succeed far more often.

280 Group is now Productside.

Featured speakers:
• Kenny Kranseler, Principal Consultant & Trainer, Productside
• Jake Yingling, Former VP, Client Services, Productside and Director of Product Management, The Cigna Group

About Productside:
Productside (formerly 280 Group) is an outcome-driven product partner helping teams build products that matter through training, consulting, and advisory services.
Learn more: https://www.productside.com

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