Gibson Biddle on his DHM product strategy framework, GEM roadmap prioritization framework, 5 Netflix strategy mini case studies, building a personal board of directors, and much more

Gibson Biddle, former VP of Product at Netflix and Chegg and a longtime product-strategy teacher, joins Lenny Rachitsky to walk through his 'delight customers in hard to copy, margin enhancing ways' strategy model. The conversation applies the model to several Netflix case studies, then covers prioritization (the JAM model), building a personal board of directors, and career advice for PMs.

01Key learnings

• Frame product strategy as a set of testable hypotheses about how to delight customers in hard-to-copy, margin-enhancing ways, and expect many to fail.
• Use A/B tests to check what customers say they want; Gibson's new-release test showed that faster delivery barely moved retention, so the cost was not justified.
• Estimate the value of a feature by multiplying affected customers by lifetime value and a word-of-mouth factor, then weigh it against the cost to see whether it pays off.
• Be skeptical of features that only reach a tiny share of users; Gibson's rule of thumb was that a 2% feature adds complexity without enough impact, so consider killing it.
• Ask whether a decision is high or low stakes and whether it is reversible before agonizing over it, and treat reversible choices as lighter-weight experiments.
• Use the JAM model (Journey/Growth, Engagement, Monetization) to force leaders to stack-rank growth, engagement and monetization so teams stop pulling in opposite directions.
• Start strategy work with a quick 'stupid wild-ass guess,' then refine it through one-on-one feedback from colleagues rather than spending months on a perfect plan.
• Build a personal board of directors of peers and mentors, and be helpful to them first, since that is how you get reliable advice and insight into what's coming.

02Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.