Product strategy for founders
How early-stage founders pick what to build, what to cut, and how to know whether a product is actually working.
Strategy is what you choose not to do
Most early product decisions go wrong because founders try to keep every option open. A strategy is a list of bets and a list of things you're explicitly not chasing this quarter.
Signals that matter
Repeat usage, willingness to pay, and unprompted referral. Vanity metrics — signups, follower counts, press — predict almost nothing about whether the product matters.
Common questions
- When should we hire a product leader?
- Once the founder is the bottleneck on roadmap decisions for more than a quarter, and not before.