3 Questions that a Product Manager Must Ask

I came to realize a pattern on how PMs operate - learning largely on my own experiences and from the peers I have worked with. Out of the many things we do, the core thing that we always are up to is - form a hypothesis, make assumptions & see what drives business & growth. To do this effectively & to navigate through the uncertainty, the PM needs to ask the right questions to deliver high impact.

So, there are 3 key questions that I have identified, we need to constantly ask for each product we build

1. Do people need this product?

This is typically a starting question for new product development. It is the most fundamental question a PM must raise, ask & answer, if there is to be even a remote chance of a small success. The answer to this question leads to a product-market fit.

2. Will the product be profitable? Or has the potential to be profitable?

A starting sequence to this question is - will people pay for this product/service? If they pay, how are the unit economics going to work? Can the business generate profit from this product? If not now, then when? These questions help you to satisfy the business-side stakeholders of your role.

3. Can we execute this?

Typically, most products can be built. The question leads us more towards the feasibility assessment with the current team that you have and also if you need to invest more on the resources (eg hiring, infrastructure, etc). To identify this, you must work closely with engineering to understand how they plan to implement this - if they are not missing on any of your requirements.

While we answer the above questions, an important job is to communicate the answers that you are finding to everyone on the team. To me, this is an important piece on top of the 3 questions you must ask.

Cheers!

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