Essay · 8 min read

Discovery vs. Delivery

Marty Cagan · Silicon Valley Product Group Free Intermediate

A tight essay separating the work of figuring out what to build (discovery) from building it well (delivery), and arguing you must do both in parallel. It reframes what to build next as an evidence question you answer with cheap tests, not a bet you make once. Short and clarifying if you tend to jump straight to shipping.

  • Discovery answers what to build, delivery answers how to build it well
  • Gather evidence with opt in customers before committing to production work
  • Run discovery and delivery in parallel, not as strict phases
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The question it answers

  1. How do I decide what to build next?

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