This podcast episode discusses product strategy, focusing on how to escape the "build trap"—a situation where companies continuously build features without considering whether they solve customer problems. The conversation explores various aspects of product strategy, including defining roles, prioritizing initiatives, and communicating strategy effectively across an organization.
Escaping the Build Trap: The "build trap" occurs when organizations prioritize building features over solving customer problems. Getting out involves focusing on outcomes rather than outputs, understanding customer needs, and aligning product development with overall company strategy.
Product Strategy as a Discipline: Product strategy is a structured process, not simply innovation. It requires a defined company vision, strategic intents, portfolio strategy, individual product strategies, and initiatives, all cascading down to actionable solutions.
Prioritization using Cost of Delay: Prioritizing initiatives involves calculating the "cost of delay" for each project. This means evaluating the potential revenue or metric loss from delaying a project and comparing it to the cost of delaying other projects.
The Role of Product Operations: Product operations supports the strategic decision-making process by providing data, tools, and processes that streamline product management. This becomes crucial as companies scale and have more complex product portfolios.
Communication is Key: Effective communication of product strategy is vital. Methods include memos outlining the vision, current state, and initiatives, followed up by presentations with visuals and data to keep teams aligned.
Melissa describes building a product strategy as a multi-layered process that starts with the company's overall strategy and vision. This high-level vision informs the prioritization of strategic intents, which then guide the product portfolio strategy. Individual product strategies are developed based on the portfolio vision, focusing on customer needs and problem-solving. These strategies are then broken down into actionable initiatives and options, ensuring alignment across the entire organization. She emphasizes the importance of data-driven decision-making, research, and communication at every level.
Frameworks she mentions include: the three horizons model, the McKinsey approach (detailed market sizing and analysis), and various canvases such as the business strategy canvas or lean strategy canvas. She also references Netflix's strategy as a successful example of applying these principles.
