The myth of ‘we’ll figure it out later’

At almost every stage of product development, there is a moment when planning feels optional.

Early founders often rush to design mockups before defining a vision. Mature teams postpone strategy updates because “we already know what we’re building.” Both believe they can “figure it out later.”

But later is usually too late.

Strategy is not a document or a presentation - it’s the shared understanding of why the product exists, who it serves, and how every decision connects back to those two points. Without that foundation, even great design or solid code can start to feel disconnected.

We’ve seen this happen across projects of every size. Startups build mockups that look impressive but lack a guiding purpose. Mature products evolve feature by feature until the team can’t clearly explain what the product is becoming. In both cases, the problem is the same: activity without alignment.

A clear product strategy doesn’t slow things down - it makes progress meaningful. It helps teams make confident trade-offs, talk to investors with conviction, and make design and technical choices that stay consistent over time.

How product strategy evolves across stages

Strategy is not “one thing” you create once and reuse forever. It changes as the product changes. The questions you need to answer at the idea stage are not the same questions you need to answer when you already have paying customers, or when you’re redesigning a product that’s been in production for years.

What stays constant is the need for clarity. What changes is the shape of that clarity.

Let’s walk through the main stages we see, and what “good strategy” looks like in each one.

1. Concept / Pre-MVP

Situation:

“We have an idea. We think the problem is real. We haven’t built yet.”

At this point, the strategy is mostly about learning. You don’t need a backlog of features. You don’t need a 12-month plan. You need to understand:

• Who are we solving this for?

• What pain is big enough that someone would change their current behavior for it?

• How will we know if we’re right?

Good strategy here looks like a strong point of view.

It’s the ability to say, “This is the problem we’re solving, for this type of user, and here’s why it matters.”

When early teams skip this and jump straight into “let’s design screens,” the product often ends up visually polished but built on guesses. Investors can feel that. Users can feel that too.

At this stage, clarity is about problem definition, not feature definition.

2. MVP / First Release

Situation:

“We’re building the first usable version. We need to ship.”

Here, strategy becomes about focus. You’re choosing what to include - and what not to include.

Before defining what to release, it’s worth asking three uncomfortable but essential questions:

• Do people truly need this?

• Would they actually pay for it?

• Is this something they already get somewhere else - and better?

Sometimes, an idea feels unique until you map it against the existing landscape. Another product may have already perfected the exact feature you’re trying to build. Competing with that version might not be worth it - especially if your real strength lies somewhere else.

Good strategy at this stage isn’t about shipping the most features or getting the perfect interface ready for demo day. It’s about understanding where your product truly adds value and focusing energy there.

3. Growth / Scale-Up

Situation:

“The product is live. People are using it. Now we need to evolve.”

This is where things get loud.

Sales wants features for specific customers. Support wants fixes. Leadership wants expansion. Design wants to fix UX debt. Engineering wants to pay down technical debt. Security wants control and auditability. Everyone is right, but not everyone can be first.

At this stage, strategy becomes about coordination.

The questions sound like:

• What are the most important outcomes for the business in the next quarter? (Retention? Activation? Efficiency?)

• Which improvements will actually move those outcomes?

• What dependencies do we need to respect across teams?

If early-stage strategy is “Are we building the right thing?” then growth-stage strategy is “How do we scale this without breaking ourselves?”

This is also the stage where not having a shared strategy hurts the most. You start to feel misalignment in meetings. You hear different versions of “what we’re doing next” depending on who you talk to. People are busy, but pulled in different directions.

Good strategy here creates a single source of truth for priorities. It lets the team say, “We are focusing on X and Y this cycle. Z matters, but not yet - here’s why.” That sounds simple, but internally it’s huge. It protects the team from crash.

4. Mature / Established Product

Situation:

“The product is stable. We have customers. We’re part of someone’s workflow. Now what?”

Here, strategy is about direction over time. You’re not just asking “What’s next?” You’re asking:

• Where does this product go in the next 12–24 months?

• Do we expand into a platform?

• Do we go deeper in one niche?

• Do we open new use cases, or make current ones faster and smarter?

The risk in mature products is quiet drift. You’re shipping things, but you’re no longer intentional about the bigger arc. Features keep getting added because “a customer asked,” not because they support a clear path.

Good strategy here is about narrative clarity.

You should be able to tell a simple story about what the product is becoming. If you can’t do that, the product will slowly turn into a collection of disconnected functions, and that’s usually the moment competitors feel closest.

This is also when technical strategy and product strategy merge. You can’t talk about future value without talking about architecture, scale, security, compliance, performance. Long-term trust becomes part of the value.

5. Rebuild / Redesign

Situation:

“We already have a product, but it’s not working the way we need anymore.”

This might be an interface that’s become too complex. It might be an onboarding flow that doesn’t reflect how customers actually work now. It might be an inherited system that grew fast without a plan.

Here, strategy is about realignment.

The questions are:

• What are we keeping?

• What are we removing?

• Where did our current experience stop matching what our users actually need today?

• What has to change first to unlock everything else?

This stage is sensitive, because people are attached to what exists. They’ve spent months or years building it. But holding onto structure that no longer serves the product just because it’s familiar is how teams get stuck.

Good strategy in a redesign is not “new UI.”

It’s getting everyone to agree on what the product should be now, not what it used to be when it launched.

The pattern across all stages

If you look across these stages, the questions shift - but the goal of strategy stays the same:

• Make sure everyone understands the point of the product.

• Make sure the next steps are intentional, not reactive.

• Make sure the work ties back to outcomes that matter.

That’s why strategy is not just for fundraising decks, not just for feature planning, and not just for “when we have time.” It’s part of keeping the product honest.

Core elements of good strategy

Every product strategy looks a bit different - sometimes it’s a few slides, sometimes it’s a living Notion board, and sometimes it’s just a clear shared understanding between teams.

The format doesn’t matter as much as what it helps you define: clarity, focus, and direction.

Over time, we’ve found a few elements that consistently make a difference.

1. Uncover unmet needs

Start with people, not features. Look for what users struggle with, what they work around, or what they wish existed. Real insight comes from observing patterns of frustration, not from feature requests. That’s what helps you build something useful, not just new.

2. Define a clear north star

Your North Star is the reason this product should exist. It’s a single line that connects everyday work to a long-term goal. When priorities compete or scope grows unclear, this direction keeps decisions consistent.

3. Set measurable, realistic goals

Good strategy turns vision into something you can measure. Replace vague aims like “make it better” with specific outcomes - faster workflows, higher retention, smoother onboarding. Small, concrete targets make progress visible and discussions easier.

4. Build around user stories, not features

Features describe what you’ll ship. User stories explain why it matters. Simple framing like “As a user, I want to ___ so I can ___” keeps focus on value instead of checklists. It helps teams plan by impact, not by volume.

5. Keep it alive

Strategy isn’t written once. It evolves with every release, insight, and change in the market. Review it often, question assumptions, and adjust direction without losing sight of the bigger picture.

How to Create a Roadmap That Actually Works

Why are we talking about roadmaps now? Because a roadmap is what turns strategy into something visible - a shared picture of where you are, what’s next, and why it matters.

It connects ideas, priorities, and outcomes in a way everyone can understand. And while it can take many forms - a board, a document, or a set of milestones - the real goal is the same: to keep the team aligned and confident about the direction.

Here are a few principles that make a roadmap actually work.

Start with outcomes, not features – decide what success looks like before listing what to build. Let goals guide scope, not the other way around.

Involve the whole team – different roles see different sides of the problem. Shared planning keeps blind spots small and ownership strong.

Keep it visual and accessible – use tools your team already works in. The best roadmap is the one everyone can find and understand.

Review and adjust often – priorities shift, markets change. Updating your roadmap means you’re learning, not failing.

Connect everything back to goals – if something doesn’t link to a clear objective or user need, it probably doesn’t belong there.

Conclusion

We know the power of strategy because we’ve seen what happens without it. Across projects and industries, the real turning point always comes when a team slows down to align on purpose - when everyone understands what they’re building and why.

A clear strategy, reflected in a living roadmap, transforms how products grow. It makes direction visible, decisions easier, and collaboration smoother.

If you’re ready to bring that clarity to your product - to build with focus and confidence - we’d love to help you shape it - https://goodcode.us/!