Milan Steskal Senior product leader. Director of Product Management at Dynatrace.
Launching a product is the start, not the finish.
Good products have to solve a real pain, but they also need the right strategy and execution to reach the market.
How I see it
Validation gets the product right. Go-to-market gets it to the people who need it.
-
Validation
Problem validation, then solution validation. Make sure the pain is real, and that the answer to it works, before the work starts.
-
Go-to-market
The right strategy, and execution that follows through: who it is for, how you explain it, how people buy it, and how they start using it.
I learned the second half the expensive way. My first company made a product people still use more than ten years later. It never grew past break-even. That lesson shaped everything I have done since.
Where the judgment comes from
Four stages, from writing the code to taking it to market.
Founder drive and enterprise scale rarely sit in one person. I have done both.
- Enterprise 2022 to now
Dynatrace
Director of Product Management, outbound and go-to-market
Outbound product management for Dynatrace, the AI-powered observability platform. Created the positioning and sales material for customers with strict security, privacy, and compliance requirements, and joined many of those customer conversations myself. Now leading launches and positioning for the core platform, including launches at Perform, our yearly user conference.
- Scale-up 2018 to 2021
mySugr, part of Roche
Product Owner, then Head of Therapy Solutions
Led digital therapy products as mySugr worked more and more closely with Roche, including the first mobile app that let people with diabetes control their insulin pump over Bluetooth. Regulated health, where there is no room for guesswork.
- Founder 2013 to 2018
Mentegram
Co-founder, COO, then CEO
Built a digital mental health platform before the category took off. Two funding rounds, customers on three continents. It still runs today.
- Builder 2001 to 2012
Developer to product
Freelance developer, then product and project lead
Wrote the code first. Moved into product on consumer apps, including a Facebook polling app with more than two million monthly users.
Speaking
Lessons from both sides of launch.
Most of my talks have been for the companies I worked for, on stages like Dynatrace Perform and at customer events, including a keynote at the Dynatrace Swiss Summit in 2025. Before that, startup events and Startup Weekend mentoring.
- Are you solving the right problem? How to check that the pain is real, and that your answer to it works, before the work starts.
- Why many good products struggle after launch. How to find the right customers, explain the product clearly, and help people buy it and start using it.