This article is based on Liza’s stellar talk at the exclusive Product Marketing Misunderstood event. PMA members can watch the talk in its full glory here.

Hi there! My name is Liza Collin, and I’m a Product Director at Visma. Today, I’ll be talking about the Rule of 78. More specifically, I’ll be talking about how to quantify the cost of delayed launches, as well as some other calculations that are incredibly valuable for product marketing managers. 

So, let's get started! 

The high cost of delayed launches

SaaS companies often launch dozens of new products, modules, and price models each year. Each of these launches is a major cross-functional effort. With so many moving parts and so many different departments to take into consideration, it's not uncommon for launches to end up being delayed

Besides potentially making or breaking the product launch, these delays also have a clear effect on the bottom line. Historically, it’s been difficult to quantify the costs and the impact of those delays, but since postponing launches is such a common occurrence, we need to know how serious the impact is.

With that in mind, my team and I decided to do some digging to find out what exactly the cost is and how we can speed up the go-to-market process. 

That’s how we landed on the Rule of 78.