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 What is a RHiNO?

Often, people outside of the product team—especially those in sales and marketing—can be motivated by a high-value new opportunity such as the possibility of making a sale or landing 
 a particular customer. A RHiNO might say something like, “If we just had feature X, we’d be able to make this sale.” And while the RHiNO’s intentions are good, their approach can be myopic and disruptive.

Why are RHiNOs dangerous?

There are a few potential problems with giving in to a RHiNO’s requests. First, while they will often try to tell you that it’s simple, that’s rarely the case. Any new feature you build will take 
 on a life of its own. It can introduce complexities to your codebase, may require modifications to your product training, or present support issues. These unintended consequences are 
 costly and time-consuming.

Second, when you address too many unvalidated requests, you are focusing on solutions instead of identifying core problems experienced by broad range of customers. This clutters your product with features that very few customers use, impacting usability and perceived complexity. Rather than a unified set of products and features, strong go-to-market 
 offerings, and unique differentiators, you’ll have one-offs. Product managers, meet the Frankenstein product.

When all’s said and done, there’s no guarantee that you will even make the revenue that 
 a RHiNO is promising in the first place. 

Great software is a matter of focus. You start with a vision, come up with your strategy, and f inally decide on your tactics. But giving in to a RHiNO flips that approach. It jumps straight into the tactics without testing your assumptions or attempting to get validation that it’s the right direction. Follow the RHiNO and you’ll end up with a wandering roadmap—or worse.

RHiNOs in the wild

ScaleFactor offers a cautionary tale in what can go wrong when a RHiNO rules and you chase money instead of creating value for your customers.

In a single year, the company raised $100 million while claiming to be developing sophisticated AI software that automated bookkeeping for their customers. Instead, they secretly employed accountants who would manually complete their customers’ books. Not only were they failing redo the work or hire someone else to correct the mistakes.

In June 2020, ScaleFactor announced that it would be closing, laying off its employees and returning cash to investors.

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