Where Great Product Roadmap Ideas Come From
Jun 2019
Analogous businesses in completely different markets often contain the most transferable insights. Rather than studying direct competitors or adjacent markets, examining how unrelated industries solve similar problems can reveal unconventional solutions your category hasn't considered.
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Where Great Product Roadmap Ideas Come From
Jun 2019Don't assume competitors' product decisions reflect strategic insight. Copying what competitors do is listed as a rare source of great ideas because they may be following trends, reacting to pressure, or simply guessing—not executing a masterplan you should replicate.
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Jun 2022When YouTube struggled with whether to link to videos on competing platforms, the answer came from observing how Google Shopping framed a similar dilemma: consistency versus comprehensiveness. Studying how other products make strategic choices—even in completely different categories—provides new mental models for your own decisions.
April Dunford on product positioning, segmentation, and optimizing your sales process
Jun 2022Most teams ask 'why does everyone love our stuff?' which yields opinions, not differentiation. Instead, begin by identifying what you must beat to win: the status quo (spreadsheets, pen and paper, interns) and the short list of alternatives. Only then can you identify capabilities that actually matter.
Jackie Bavaro on getting better at product strategy, what exactly is strategy, PM pitfalls to avoid, advancing your career, getting into management, and much more
Jun 2022Expertise in strategy, data analysis, and product decisions comes from seeing enough examples to instantly recognize patterns. Staying at a company long enough to run multiple experiments, iterate on decisions, and observe results over time builds intuition that no amount of reading can replicate.
Where Great Product Roadmap Ideas Come From
Jun 2019Direct customer conversations beat large brainstorms for generating breakthrough ideas. The closer you are to actual user problems—whether through direct talks, observing behavior, or using the product yourself—the better your roadmap ideas become. Scale of input matters less than quality of signal.
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