#product-strategy

#product-strategy

If you've ever worked in or around startups, you've definitely seen it: a small team, new funding, great enthusiasm, and a whiteboard full of objectives and key results (OKRs). Everything appears polished, strategic, and "grown-up." However, for early-stage products, the polish might be a trap. In the early, messy, uncertain stages of product development, narrative always outperforms strategy. A compelling story not only guides your team, but it also persuades investors, early adopters, and potential hires to believe in something that doesn't exist yet.

Remember the Apple Vision Pro? Remember? It was a big, ambitious swing from Tim Cook and Co. - a $3,500 headset that lets you experience "augmented reality" - or, if you follow Apple's demands for branding - " spatial computing." Apple first showed off the Vision Pro in the spring of 2023, and then started selling the device in February 2024, and since then ... you really haven't heard much about it.

Where the Nothing Headphone (1) was all sharp angles and see-through panels, the CMF version is chunky, colorful, and aggressively normal. Where the flagship cost almost three hundred bucks, this one will probably land somewhere around the hundred-dollar mark. Most telling of all, where the original headphones seemed designed to make you explain your choice to everyone who saw them, these new ones look like they're trying to blend into every coffee shop and college campus in America.

More than a decade ago, Jason Citron took the Disrupt stage to pitch his early-stage company in the Startup Battlefield competition at TechCrunch Disrupt as a scrappy founder pitching his vision. Today, he's built Discord into one of the most successful consumer platforms of its era - valued in the billions and redefining how communities connect, game, and share online.

At the heart of Nothing's plans is AI. Pei said the company is "building the foundations for the future" on a focused "AI OS" to deliver a "hyper-personalized experience." However, it's unclear if Nothing's operating system ambitions are built on top of Android like Nothing OS. We've reached out for clarification. This "AI-native platform" will run hardware in widespread use today like smartphones, headphones, and smart watches, Pei said,

We've heard various reports about it having planned two more generations at least, but then we also heard those were canceled. Now, the company itself has finally acknowledged the situation and confirmed that it's given up on tablets "until it figures out a meaningful future for the category", according to a Bloomberg report, which goes on to say that "at least for the foreseeable future, Google doesn't imagine a scenario where users are carrying much more than their phone".

It makes sense because these users are easier to source for research and quick to adopt new features. However, many teams miss out on an important opportunity by developing for so-called "niche" or "edge" users. These users, whether they're first-time digital users (FTDUs), persons with low literacy, older adults, people with disabilities, or those in low-connectivity situations, constitute a sizable proportion of the global population. In many markets, they even make up the majority.

The artificial intelligence boom is creating billion-dollar brands almost overnight. From workplace productivity to AI-generated art, there's a tool for just about everything. But while many companies chase the mass market, a growing number are focusing on a different strategy: going small. These are the "niche AI" products - built for highly specific audiences and purposes. Some carve out profitable, loyal user bases. Others burn bright and fade quickly.