Why should product people care about strategy and research?
We think this is a VERY important question, because we should only be putting time and money into things that will return value.
The short answer is: sometimes you shouldn’t care; you should move fast and break things. But generally, you should consider the argument below which applies to most products…
Strategy debt can be as deadly as tech debt
Without evidence (data) you’re building the right thing, chances are you’re building the wrong thing.
Teams shipping fast — but shipping the wrong things — burn sprint capacity, morale, and market share.
This is very costly (and sometimes impossible) to recover from.
of sprints are wasted on re-work
33%
of projects overrun or fail outright
66%
was wasted on development of unused features in 2024
💰
$29B
There’s a hidden tax on doing nothing
Misaligned work quietly burns resources, talent, revenue, goodwill, and market share.
And it costs 1.5-2x their annual salary to replace them
of employees consider leaving after project failure
👉
40%
Is it smart business to engage in rapid, efficient strategy and research?
If you consider what you’re spending to build, and hoping to achieve, taking a moment to identify and prove (or disprove) your assumptions, and keeping honest along the way is both a more effective and efficient way to build a product.
In fact, when an investment of just 1 % of projected revenue secures a 160 % return, the math is clear: strategic investment isn’t a cost—it’s a catalyst you can’t afford to skip.
Illustrative numbers only—your investment is always calibrated to your specific goals.
