Podcast · ~60 min

Building better product roadmaps (Janna Bastow)

Janna Bastow, Lenny Rachitsky · Lenny's Newsletter Freemium Intermediate

The inventor of Now-Next-Later goes deep with Lenny on how to run a roadmap that stays flexible without turning into chaos. She is practical about handling stakeholders who demand dates and about pruning the roadmap so it does not sprawl. Useful once you have picked a format and need to operate it without backsliding into a wishlist.

  • Treat the roadmap as a prototype of your strategy, not a plan of record
  • Answer date demands with confidence levels, not fake commitments
  • Regular pruning keeps the roadmap from becoming a backlog
Open on lennysnewsletter.com ↗

It answers 2 questions

  1. How do I build a roadmap without over-planning?
  2. Should I share a public roadmap with my early users, or does that just create pressure and expectations I cannot meet?

Read with it

  1. Basecamp's battle-tested, opinionated system for shipping meaningful work in fixed cycles without endless backlogs, a primary... Basecamp / 37signals Book · free online book Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters Ryan Singer
  2. This is the direct answer to the pressure problem in the question: if a public roadmap scares you because of dates you cannot... prodpad.com Article Why I Invented the Now-Next-Later Roadmap Janna Bastow
  3. A clear tour of roadmap styles that shows exactly why a feature by date roadmap sets you up to over promise. Torres contrasts... Product Talk Article · ~15 min read Product Roadmaps: How the Best Product Teams Plan for Uncertainty Teresa Torres
  4. Cagan makes the sharpest version of the argument: replace a list of features with a small set of outcomes you are trying to... Silicon Valley Product Group Essay · ~10 min read The Alternative to Roadmaps Marty Cagan
  5. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  6. Michael Seibel's crisp framing of holding the problem and customer tightly while holding the solution loosely, the mindset that... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~15 min How to Plan an MVP Michael Seibel
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