Coming up with Product Strategy
Product Strategy is one of my favorite aspects of Product Management. As a Product lead at Lyft, Quizlet and Opower, I have started and led teams on several new product areas. When starting on a new product area, one of my main priorities is to "Map out the space" and figure out our path (The other priority is to bond with the team and understand team dynamics). I aim to share the strategy with my team and execs within 3 months of starting as it informs the roadmap, helps me ramp up and demonstrate product leadership. Repeat practice and feedback have helped me become better and quicker at defining strategy. I have tried to distill my approach into these discrete steps. What is strategy? Strategy is an optimal path to achieving a goal - which can be either solving a problem or realizing an opportunity. Good strategy is usually simple and clear, ambitious but achievable, long-term and durable, leverages core strengths and mitigates risks. Good strategy also explicitly identi...