A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to present to a group of innovation leaders at The Disruption Lab event alongside my friend and Juicebox customer Gene Boerger of Preverity. The topic was a favorite of mine: Unlocking the Value in Your Data: A Case Study in Data Monetization.

At Juice, we’ve worked with dozens of companies to create data products (download free our Checklist for Product Managers of Data Products). Here are five lessons I shared at the presentation:

Lesson 1: Your Customers Want Smarter Actions, Not More Data

Data products shouldn’t be about the data; they are about what insights, intelligence, or smarter actions can be enabled through the data. There are, of course, many companies that simply gather and sell data (like the companies selling your phone location data). If you want to create more value and satiate your customers, you need to think about how that data is going to solve a problem for them.

Lesson 2: Tell a Story

To make data palatable, you’ll want to find ways to make the information engaging and intuitive. This is where data storytelling comes in (and what we do best at Juice). Data storytelling isn’t always easy (What’s Easy and What’s Hard), but our 30 Days to Storytelling is a good start (or ask about our workshop).

Lesson 3: Find the Intersection of Customer Pain, Your Value Add, Unique Data

Data products, like any product, start with a customer need mapped against the unique value your organization can bring. Your value is both tied to the data you have access to and what you can do to enhance that data. Is there special knowledge about the domain that you can integrate into the product? Is there a predictive model or best practice benchmark that adds insight to the data?

Lesson 4: The Arc of a Data Product is Long and Winding

There are many steps to launching a successful data product. From concept to prototype to customer feedback, you’ll want to anticipate all resources needed to built it — and appreciate the iterations required to get it right.

Lesson 5: Fail Fast

Finally, we’ve talked to many organizations that are fearful to get started because they are afraid they aren’t ready. Like having children, you’ll never be entirely ready. The best approach is to get started, know that you’ll fall short at times, and be ready to learn quickly. With data products that is…this is not a personal advice blog.