product-strategist

What this skill does

# Product Strategist

Strategic product leadership for companies navigating vision, market fit, and competitive positioning — from early ideation to scale.

## Philosophy

Great product strategy isn't about having all the answers. It's about **asking the right questions** and making **reversible decisions** quickly while being thoughtful about **irreversible ones**.

The best product strategies:
1. **Start with the customer problem** — Not with your solution
2. **Create optionality** — Platform thinking enables multiple futures
3. **Make trade-offs explicit** — Strategy is choosing what NOT to do
4. **Compound over time** — Each decision builds on the last

## How This Skill Works

When invoked, apply the guidelines in `rules/` organized by:

- `vision-*` — Product vision, mission, and north star metrics
- `market-*` — Product-market fit, market sizing, opportunity assessment
- `competitive-*` — Competitive positioning, moats, differentiation
- `strategy-*` — Strategic frameworks, decision making, prioritization
- `business-*` — Business models, monetization, pricing strategy
- `build-*` — Build vs buy vs partner, platform decisions

## Core Frameworks

### Product Strategy Stack

```
                ┌─────────────────────────┐
                │       VISION            │  ← Where are we going? (3-10 years)
                │   "The why behind why"  │
                ├─────────────────────────┤
                │      STRATEGY           │  ← How will we win? (1-3 years)
                │   "The path to vision"  │
                ├─────────────────────────┤
                │      ROADMAP            │  ← What are we building? (Quarters)
                │   "Strategy in motion"  │
                ├─────────────────────────┤
                │      EXECUTION          │  ← How are we building? (Sprints)
                │   "Roadmap in action"   │
                └─────────────────────────┘
```

### Strategic Decision Types

| Decision Type | Reversibility | Time to Decide | Example |
|---------------|---------------|----------------|---------|
| **Type 1** | Irreversible | Take your time | Business model, platform choice |
| **Type 2** | Reversible | Decide quickly | Feature prioritization, pricing tiers |

### Product-Market Fit Spectrum

```
Level 0: Problem Fit     → You've found a real problem worth solving
Level 1: Solution Fit    → Your solution addresses the problem
Level 2: Product-Market Fit → Customers pull the product from you
Level 3: Scale Fit       → Repeatable growth engine working
Level 4: Moat Fit        → Defensible competitive advantage established
```

### Market Opportunity Framework

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                        TAM                                  │
│                Total Addressable Market                     │
│       "Everyone who could theoretically buy"                │
│    ┌───────────────────────────────────────────┐           │
│    │                  SAM                      │           │
│    │        Serviceable Addressable Market     │           │
│    │     "Those you could reach and serve"     │           │
│    │    ┌─────────────────────────────┐       │           │
│    │    │           SOM               │       │           │
│    │    │   Serviceable Obtainable    │       │           │
│    │    │   "Realistic near-term"     │       │           │
│    │    └─────────────────────────────┘       │           │
│    └───────────────────────────────────────────┘           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### Competitive Moat Types

| Moat Type | Description | Examples |
|-----------|-------------|----------|
| **Network Effects** | Product improves as more users join | Slack, LinkedIn |
| **Switching Costs** | Painful to leave | Salesforce, Workday |
| **Data Advantages** | Proprietary data improves product | Google, Waze |
| **Scale Economies** | Cost advantages at scale | AWS, Stripe |
| **Brand** | Trust and recognition | Apple, Notion |
| **Regulatory** | Compliance barriers | Healthcare, Finance |

### Business Model Canvas (Simplified)

```
┌──────────────────┬──────────────────┬──────────────────┐
│   VALUE PROP     │    CHANNELS      │   CUSTOMER       │
│   What unique    │    How you       │   SEGMENTS       │
│   value?         │    reach them    │   Who pays?      │
├──────────────────┼──────────────────┼──────────────────┤
│   KEY RESOURCES  │    KEY           │   REVENUE        │
│   What you need  │    ACTIVITIES    │   STREAMS        │
│   to deliver     │    What you do   │   How you make   │
│                  │                  │   money          │
├──────────────────┴──────────────────┴──────────────────┤
│                    COST STRUCTURE                      │
│             What it costs to operate                   │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

## Platform Overview

| Strategic Question | Framework to Use | When to Apply |
|--------------------|------------------|---------------|
| **Where to play?** | Market sizing, opportunity assessment | Early stage, pivots |
| **How to win?** | Competitive positioning, moat analysis | All stages |
| **What to build?** | Build/buy/partner, platform decisions | Growth stage |
| **How to price?** | Value-based pricing, monetization | Pre-launch, repricing |
| **When to expand?** | Adjacent market analysis | Scale stage |

## Anti-Patterns

- **Vision without strategy** — Inspiring destination, no map to get there
- **Strategy without trade-offs** — If everything is a priority, nothing is
- **Copying competitors** — Being a fast follower without differentiation
- **TAM theater** — Using unrealistic market sizes to impress investors
- **Feature parity obsession** — Chasing competitors instead of customers
- **Premature scaling** — Scaling before product-market fit
- **Analysis paralysis** — Researching forever, deciding never
- **Sunk cost fallacy** — Continuing failed bets because of past investment