Your Roadmap is a Fantasy.
I want to share a difficult truth with you.
Your product roadmap feels like a safe, strategic plan.
But it is often the most dangerous document in your company.
It looks like a map to the future.
But it is a trap.
It makes you feel in control.
But it leads your team to build products nobody will pay for.
It wastes your money, your time, and your people’s energy.
Many leaders are caught in this trap.
The signs are always the same.
You celebrate launching new features, even if they don't increase revenue.
Your teams argue about which feature to build next.
They do not argue about which risk to solve next.
The result is always the same: you launch to silence.
This is not a problem with your team.
It is a problem with the map you gave them.
There is a better way. A simpler way.
Stop managing a long list of features.
Start managing a short list of risks.
A great business is built on 5 key bets.
Before you build anything, you need answers, not guesses.
The Problem Bet: Is the customer’s problem urgent and painful?
The Solution Bet: Is your idea the simplest way to solve that problem?
The Pricing Bet: Will people pay a high price for this solution?
The Demand Bet: Can you get people to commit before you build it?
The Investment Bet: The final decision to spend money, made only when the first four are answered with "yes".
Your roadmap ignores these questions.
It jumps straight to the end.
This week, I want you to do one thing.
Look at your roadmap with your team.
For each feature, ask a simple question:
"What is our proof that customers will pay for this?"
Do not accept opinions. Ask for real proof.
Like a signed contract (LOI) or a pre-payment.
P.S. The honest answers will show you where the real risks are.
In our next email, we will talk about how to fix them.