How to move away from top-down, template-based, product strategies into ones that deliver and capture value. Learn how to build effective strategies through experimentation and learning.

1. Product Strategy
Itamar Gilad
Itamargilad.com
@itamargilad

2. Product Strategy
What is it?
What product strategy should we use?
How do you define the strategy?
itamargilad.com

3. Strategy =
A plan of action designed to achieve
a long-term or overall aim
Image: Tambako The
Jaguar/Flickr/CC BY-ND 2.0
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4. No plan survives
first contact with the
enemy.
Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke
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5. Today Everything is a Strategy
Partner strategy
Growth Strategy
Sales strategy
Legal strategy
Product strategy
Expansion strategy
Pricing strategy
Marketing strategy
Platform strategy
Acquisition strategy
Ad strategy
PR strategy
Content strategy
Funding strategy
Market strategy
itamargilad.com

6. Text-book Strategizing
Business Strategy
Business goals
Markets
Channels
Pricing
How to win
Sales Strategy
Marketing Strategy
Product Strategy
Roadmaps
Product lines
Products
Action
itamargilad.com

7. Examples
Marketing-centric Low Cost
Lock In Stickiness
Direct Sell
Copycat
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8. In the world of
Software + Internet
+ Infinite choice
there is really just
one strategy
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9. Value Strategy
Deliver Value
Capture Value
Org Product Market
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10. Value Strategy
Deliver Value
Capture Value
Org Product Market
What are Our
Business Goals?
What Value Should we Create?
How should we Deliver it?
How do we capture value? What Types of
products should
we build?
What Market are
we targeting?
itamargilad.com

11. Planning Waterfall
Mission
Strategy
Roadmap
Product
Leadership
Product Management
Vision
Requirements
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12. The Most Successful Product
iPhone v1 (2007)
Premium
Carrier independent
App Store
Platform
iPod Cannibalization
Mobile
Post-PC
Multi-Touch
iOS
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13. iPhone - The True Story
Idea Project Strategy
Protect the iPod
business from mobile
phones
Motorola Rokr e1
Integrate iPod functionality into 3rd party
phones + upsell
iPod phone with
click-wheel interface
Project “P1” Not defined
Develop new UI
paradigm using multi-
touch
Multitouch
Web demo
Not defined
Powerful smartphone
w/multitouch and Mac
OS X -like OS
iPhone v1
iOS
Launch exclusively with AT&T
Closed platform
Cannibalize iPod
Application store iPhone App Store Open to 3rd party devs
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14. Tactical results in
battle form the base
for new strategic
decisions.
Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke

15. Ideas
How Strategy Really Works
Business Model
Business Goals
Opportunities
Threats
New Technologies
Customer Feedback
Learnings
...
Market segmentation
Value Model
Solution
Ideas
Ideas
Inspiration
Projects
Learning
Ideation
Experimentation
itamargilad.com

16. Ideas
How Strategy Really Works
Business Model
Business Goals
Opportunities
Threats
New Technologies
Customer Feedback
Learnings
...
Market segmentation
(source: strategyzer.com)
Value Model
Solution
Ideas
Ideas
Inspiration
Projects
Learning
Ideation
OKRs
Experimentation
itamargilad.com

17. Ideas
How It Really Works
Business Model
Business Goals
Opportunities
Threats
New Technologies
Customer Feedback
Research
...
Market segmentation
Value Model
Solution
Ideas
Ideas
Inspiration
Projects
Learning
Ideation
Experimentation
OKRs
itamargilad.com

18. Takeaways
Strategy is a plan
Plans tend to fail
Business and product strategies are no
separable
Focus on value strategies
Strategy is born from inspiration, ideation,
experimentation and learning.
itamargilad.com

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Itamar Gilad is a product, strategy and growth consultant with
over 20 years' experience in product management, lean startup,
agile development and design thinking. He held senior product
management and engineering roles in Google, Microsoft and other
companies. @ Google he launched Gmail's Tabbed Inbox and lead
Gmail's growth team.