Product Strategy
Product Strategy
Drive business impact through product innovation.
The ability to drive meaningful business outcomes by connecting product improvements to the strategic objectives of the team and the company.
The ability to translate company and product strategy into a compelling vision, then bring that vision to life through a roadmap of highly prioritized features and initiatives.
The ability to understand and contribute to the strategy for the team and the company, and to bring that strategy to fruition through the consistent delivery of business outcomes over time.
In his book, Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters, Richard Rumelt draws an important distinction between goal setting and strategy: “Unlike a stand-alone decision or a goal, a strategy is a coherent set of analyses, concepts, policies, arguments, and actions that respond to a high-stakes challenge.”
Product Strategy can be defined similarly. Unlike a stand-alone feature or OKR, good product strategy requires product builders to consistently deliver product improvements that build toward a coherent roadmap and enable a company to achieve its overall strategy. Put another way, Product Strategy is the glue that connects product development and company strategy — something I discuss in The Product Strategy Stack.
This is the most intense competitive environment I've seen in the history of tech. We're in the middle of a platform shift. Prior platform shifts such as the PC, the internet, and mobile created blue ocean opportunities, opening a window for smart incumbents and agile startups to create new markets and win share in established ones. This time is different. Frontier AI labs provide the technology and infrastructure we all depend on while also competing for the most valuable use cases. Big companies are rushing to fortify their positions against AI-based disruption, while massive amounts of venture capital flow to startups looking to seize the moment.
AI has increased the pace of change, making clear strategic choices critically important. The best builders are prepared for this moment. They direct the speed and energy of AI-accelerated product development toward the outcomes that matter most. They chart a clear vision and a dynamic roadmap to move swiftly toward it, making incisive strategic choices grounded in their company’s advantages and an understanding of the fast-moving competitive environment. They distinguish real customer opportunities from technology looking for a problem, decide where to place bets, and give the organization a clear reason to say no to everything else.