Product Management
Product Strategy
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A product strategy outlines who a product is for, why they need it, where a product is going, how it will get there, why it will succeed, and what business goals it will achieve.
Product Strategy is part of our Product Management Career Leveling Framework. Explore next steps in your career from this industry-standard model.
Intro to Product Strategy
Product strategy is a critical component of a company's success, as it defines the direction of the company's product offerings and how they will meet customer needs.
How to Define Your Product StrategyThis 12-part articles series goes through a comprehensive product strategy, with a case study and a template at the end using Chegg.
Business Strategy vs. Product StrategyMarty explains the difference between a business strategy and product strategy, why it's important to understand your company's business strategy before developing a product strategy, and how to map them together.
Product Strategy Frameworks
A variety of product strategy frameworks exist, including the Ansoff Matrix, the Product-Market Fit Pyramid, and the Kano Model. Each framework offers a unique approach to developing a product strategy.
The First Principles of Product ManagementBrandon describes the two primary first principles of product management: 1) maximize impact to the mission and 2) accomplish everything through others. These two principles can then be combined together to drive product strategy.
Getting Product Strategy RightDes' product strategy framework uses 4 criteria to frame your product strategy: Are you 1) tackling a significant problem for a 2) growing market? Can you 3) attach it to an extendable brand and 4) defend it with a long-lasting moat?
Come for the tool, stay for the networkChris details a strategy for building a network: use a single-player tool to generate critical mass and enough data so that a network-based product becomes compelling.- The “thin edge of the wedge” strategyThis strategy involves attacking smaller problem first (inside of your overall vision), and then expanding outward from there, rather than attacking the entire problem all at once.
How to Communicate Product Strategy
Communicating product strategy effectively is crucial for ensuring that all stakeholders are aligned and working toward a common goal. This may involve creating a product roadmap, using visual aids, and engaging in clear and consistent communication.
How to Run a Quarterly Product Strategy Meeting: A Board Meeting for ProductGib's quarterly product meeting format brings together leaders from across the company with the goal of balancing focus and discipline vs. innovation and debate around product strategy.- Product Strategy Means Saying NoProduct strategy means focusing on a cohesive vision and Saying No to extra features that don't fit. While good ideas may come from customers or colleagues, adding unnecessary features increases complexity and weakens the product definition. Optional features also hide complexity and lead to a messy interface. Instead of constantly adding new work, product managers should pay down Technical Debt through Refactoring and bug fixes. Competitors' features may not be good fits, and speculation about potential new features is no substitute for making hard decisions. Saying No to even popular ideas is important for delivering the best experience to the majority of users.
Land your strategy by writing great pre-readsBrad explains why a 2-page document, a "pre-read", has led to better product strategy review Meetings than a slide deck. He then provides a process for how to write them, and 9 detailed best practice tips.
Product Strategy Case Studies
This section is a collection of case studies examining different approaches to product strategy.
Thumbtack’s Product StrategyIn this fantastic case study, Noam explains why Thumbtack switched from a forum-esque experience where Pros could bid on any listed project, to an experience where Pros list services, and consumers can immediately find Pros and their pricing for their project.