Article

Should I Publicly Share a SaaS Startup's Product Roadmap?

SaaS Product Chat (saaspm.com) Free Intermediate

A frank product manager take arguing that sharing roadmaps often hurts more than it helps, and offering a lighter alternative: share a rough prioritized list and ask for feedback. It is a useful counterweight to the build in public enthusiasm so you hear the strongest version of the case against. The suggested middle path is close to the 'here is what we are thinking' stance. It keeps you honest about the downside.

  • When plans change, and they will, a published roadmap can make users feel misled
  • Sharing a coarse prioritized list invites feedback without making promises
  • Competitors read your roadmap too, so weigh what you expose

The question it answers

  1. Should I share a public roadmap with my early users, or does that just create pressure and expectations I cannot meet?

Read with it

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  3. Arvid Kahl built and sold a company on radical transparency, sharing his real revenue numbers publicly, so this is not a... The Bootstrapped Founder Essay · ~10 min read The Increasing Risk of Building in Public Arvid Kahl
  4. This is the tool most teams reach for when they want a public roadmap that customers can actually vote on, not just a static... canny.io Tool Canny: Public Roadmap Canny
  5. 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
  6. This tackles the exact question head-on: should you expose the roadmap at all, and what do you actually risk. It is honest... canny.io Essay Should You Have a Public Product Roadmap? Eric Hoppe
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