The first thing is to start from scratch. Treat it as something that where you've got a blank slate. The best product strategy exercises can go from essentially a blank slate to a really clear set of goals for the next couple of quarters in about four weeks. Then i recommend having like one or two slides, which are logical plan for how the company going to achieve that mission. You can accomplish really great things that are documented in a very clear way in a small amount of content. I think amazon has done really well with their six pages. So ultimately, you know, it's not anex able thing. It's not a measurable thing, but having a clear aspirational mission that
Today’s episode is with Ravi Mehta, who is formerly the Chief Product Officer at Tinder, and taught product strategy as an Executive in Residence at Reforge.
In today’s conversation, we dive exceptionally deep into product strategy, starting with what Ravi sees as the most common disconnect between product strategy and what product teams actually work on day-to-day. In the bulk of our discussion, we walk through the core tenants of what he calls the product strategy stack, which includes the company mission, company strategy, product strategy, product roadmap, and product goals.
Next, he unpacks his alternative approach to OKRs, called NCTs. He makes the case that outlining narratives, commitments, and tasks sidesteps some of the most common headaches when it comes to OKRs, and gives suggestions for implementing NCTs within your own product teams.
Strategy is often misunderstood and has come to mean all sorts of different things. What struck me about Ravi is how clearly he’s able to articulate these amorphous ideas like “mission” or “vision.” He’s also got plenty of examples from his own career at TripAdvisor and Tinder, plus his work as an advisor for other fast-growing startups.
You can follow Ravi on Twitter at @ravi_mehta.
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