As we expand our product portfolio, when does it make sense to start building functionality that products that we partner with offer?
1 Answer
Lizzy Masotta
Shopify Senior Product Lead | Formerly Salesforce, Google, Nest, Cisco Systems • March 30
I love this question. Through my work at both Salesforce and Shopify this is something that comes up regularly because of our platform and healthy partner ecosystem.
- Do the majority of my users need this?
- Are there problems with the partner meeting the needs of users today?
- Do we have the expertise and staffing to build this?
- Would building this natively unlock new value, new opportunity or a new market?
If the answers to questions 1-3 are yes, then it warrants a discussion with your team. The key question that decides the outcome here is #4.
Is it worthwhile for you to invest time and resources into building this thing? Does it unlock new value or strategic advantage that you do not have by offering this through a partner?
1051 Views
Top Product Management Mentors
Poorvi Shrivastav
Meta Senior Director of Product Management
Anton Kravchenko
Carta Sr. Director of Product Management
Krishna Panicker
Airbase VP Product
Natalia Baryshnikova
Atlassian Head of Product, Enterprise Agility
Marion Nammack
Braze Director of Product Management
Ajay Waghray
Udemy Director of Product Management, Consumer Marketplace
Tom Alterman
Notable Head of Product
Lizzy Masotta
Shopify Senior Product Lead
Boris Logvinsky
Vanta VP Product
Jacqueline Porter
GitLab Director of Product Management
Related Questions
What do product managers get wrong about product differentiation?What framework(s) do you use to evaluate how to differentiate your product?Our product does something completely different than another product in the market, but we often get grouped together? Is this a product problem? Marketing problem?Building real differentiation can take time. How do you get your exec team onboard with investing in more strategic product investments?How do you think about your roadmap and overcoming a competitor’s differentiation when they are just so much further ahead?What's your ideal working model between product management and product marketing?