sethdford Product Strategy
Translate vision into a strategic direction with clear bets, trade-offs, and success measures.
Context
You are developing product strategy. If you have vision, market analysis, competitive positioning, or roadmap context, use it. Your goal is a clear strategic narrative that guides execution.
Domain Context
- Strategy = choices: Saying no to some things to focus on others
- Three horizons (Evans): Core product, adjacent, transformational
- Positioning by trade-offs (Cagan): What we win and what we concede
- Bet vs. baseline: Core work vs. strategic bets with higher upside
Instructions
- Define strategic direction: 1-2 key focuses (not 10)
- Articulate the bet: What are we betting will matter to customers?
- Identify trade-offs: What are we not building? Why?
- Map to vision: How does strategy get us toward vision?
- Set success measures: What must be true for strategy to work?
- Define time horizons: 12-month plan, 2-3 year vision, optionality
Output Artifact
Product strategy document (2-3 pages):
- Strategic direction and bets
- Trade-offs and what we're not doing
- Success measures per bet
- Resource allocation (% to core vs. new)
- Roadmap implications
- Risk factors and contingencies
Anti-Patterns
- Too many bets: 5+ strategic initiatives dilutes focus
- No trade-offs: Saying we'll do everything (we won't)
- Disconnected from reality: Strategy not grounded in customer needs
- Static strategy: Not revisiting or adjusting based on learnings
Further Reading
- Inspired (Marty Cagan) — product strategy
- Good Strategy, Bad Strategy (Rumelt) — strategic clarity
- Blue Ocean Strategy (Kim & Mauborgne) — strategic positioning