How do I create an effective product strategy, quickly?

1. Do it as a team: take these steps together with your team.
2. Answer this: “Where are we?”: Define the status of your product, its place in the market. You can use a SWOT, or a PORTERS, and summarize the state of the market.
3. Answer this: “What is our best guiding policy to conquer the market?”: Where are the opportunities? Where should you focus.
4. Answer this: “What are the immediate actions we must prioritize to address points 2 and 3 above?”. This is your immediate action list!
5. GO!

1. Avoid jargon that doesn’t actually guide decisions or directions. Test your strategy out on friends and colleagues – does it give a clear idea of what your company should do?
2. Avoid mission statements or vision statements that just talk about profit and growth. This is not strategic.
3. Avoid the “If we all work really hard, we will prevail” strategy.

These two principles will ensure your best chances of success:-
1. Focus all of your effort on building the elements that are your expertise, and that differentiate you from the competition. All effort here will accelerate your advantage.
2. Buy-in, or partner, on everything else – i.e. do NOT re-invent, or re-build the wheel!!