Most candidates are overwhelmed by the thought of a strategy question. We get soo used to memorizing the product sense/design case question, most candidates want the same for strategy. Sadly, it isn’t that simple.

There are so many factors that impact strategy. Today I am going to discuss why identifying the company strategy is crucial to nailing a product strategy prompt.

It is commonly accepted that a product team can’t build a thoughtful product strategy without an overall company strategy. How many times have we struggled in our real lives to build a product strategy because our leaders haven’t shared their company strategy? (Sadly, too many times for most of us.)

Why would you do the same in an interview? When you get a product strategy question, don’t forget to anchor on the company strategy.

Strategic approaches need to take the company strengths, weaknesses and situation into account.

A great way to test this is ask should X do Y, yes or no.

Now take that single prompt, and replace in X:

• Google

• Meta

• Amazon

• Microsoft

• Twitter

• etc.

You will immediately see how things change and it should click, even if it takes you a minute or two to articulate what is running through your brain.

For example:

• Should Google buy Perplexity.ai?

• Should Meta buy Perplexity.ai?

• Should Amazon buy Perplexity.ai?

• Should Microsoft buy Perplexity.ai?

• Should Twitter buy Perplexity.ai?

Even if your answer is No, it is always different. It is always anchored on the strengths and weaknesses as well as positioning of the different companies.