Any phase · Craft
Build a product strategy
Strategy is how you plan to reach the vision: which problems to focus on, which to ignore and why. Good strategy is mostly about saying no.
About 5-10 daysEvergreenLast reviewed 5 November 2026
Who this applies to
- Skills it builds
- Strategy and vision
- PM types
- All
- Product types
- All
- Starting points
- All
- Ways of working
- All
- Experience
- Intermediate (1 to 4 years)Experienced (5+ years)
- Size of organisation
- All
Steps, by experience
Beginner (under 1 year)
- Start from the vision and company goals.
- List the biggest problems standing in the way.
- Pick two or three to focus on.
- Say what you will not do.
- Share it and use it to prioritise.
Intermediate (1 to 4 years)
- Analyse users, market, competitors and your organisation's strengths.
- Identify the few insights that give you an edge.
- Choose two or three focus areas and explicit non-goals.
- Turn focus areas into objectives and roadmap themes.
Experienced (5+ years)
- Diagnose the core challenge before choosing actions.
- Make hard trade-offs visible and get leadership to commit to them.
- Sequence bets so early ones create advantage for later ones.
- Review strategy regularly against results and change course when evidence demands.
Who can do this
Owner: Product manager
Can be delegated to
- Data Analyst or Performance Analyst: Supply market and usage analysis
- Business Analyst: Gather competitor and market information
Reviewed by: Tech Lead, Delivery Manager
Tool examples
- Google Docs
- Write a short strategy narrative: diagnosis, focus areas, non-goals and how you will measure progress.
- Miro
- Map the challenges and cluster them before choosing focus areas.
- Claude
- Paste your strategy and ask it to find the weakest assumption.
Definition of done
- Core challenge diagnosed
- Focus areas and non-goals agreed
- Strategy linked to objectives and roadmap
Common pitfalls
- A list of goals called a strategy
- No non-goals
- Strategy written once and never revisited