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A product manager prepares an executive summary at the launch of a new product. An executive summary is part of a business case that will motivate the management to invest in developing a new product. The product manager will act as the salesman for the new product. The management is the customer. The executive summary is the sales pitch. It is important for the executive summary to be concise but covers the points of interest for all the stakeholders. A product company would generally invite the following personnel to review the executive summary of a new product:

Engineering Manager/CTO: The executive summary will require a short speculation on the technology the product will be based on. It should help decide if the product is entirely new or is a variation of an existing product. This in turn will help make decisions on resource allocation.

Sales Manager: It is usually a good idea to invite the sales manager to be a co-author of the executive summary. The sales manager can help post some numbers on the expected sales volume and profit margin of the product.

Operations Manager/COO: An operations manager will use the executive summary to detect any red flags in the operational front. Will the product require a risk buy? The Operations manager will probably have some follow-up questions on the components that go into the product.

Finance Manager/CFO: The Finance Manager will be looking at the sales numbers to make sure it falls within the cost model advocated for new products.

The decision on a green signal usually resides with the personnel mentioned above. The executive summary invites some dialog to better understand the business case.

Executive Summary

<A brief introduction on the product hierarchy relative to the company>

<A decent speculation of the (potential) customer(s)>

<A small synopsis of the technical details associated with the product>

<Recommendation on sales potential>

<Research on possible competition>