--- name: strategy-sprint description: Create product strategy in 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month timeframes. Progressive strategy development framework. disable-model-invocation: false user-invocable: true --- # Strategy Sprint: Write Strategy in 1 Day / 1 Week / 1 Month **When to use:** When you need to create or update product strategy quickly, align stakeholders, or prepare for planning cycles **Framework source:** Aakash Gupta's "How to Write a Product Strategy in 1 Day/Week/Month" ## Quick Start 1. Tell me: "I need a [1-day / 1-week / 1-month] strategy for [topic]" 2. I will check `thoughts/shared/pm/frameworks/` and `thoughts/shared/pm/context/business-info-template.md` for existing context 3. I will ask 3-5 clarifying questions about scope, stakeholders, and constraints 4. We build progressively -- even a 1-month sprint starts with the 1-day foundation first 5. Output goes to `thoughts/shared/product/strategy/strategy-[topic]-[date].md` **Which tier should you pick?** - **1-Day:** You need a quick strategic POV for a specific question. An exec asked for direction, a new opportunity appeared, or you need to align the team before deeper work. Output: 1-page doc. - **1-Week:** You are building a full strategic plan for a new initiative, quarterly planning, or cross-functional buy-in. Includes research, validation, and rollout planning. Output: 3-5 page doc with research backing. - **1-Month:** You are defining annual/quarterly strategy for the entire product, planning a major pivot, launching a new business line, or preparing for board-level decisions. Includes financial modeling, competitive analysis, and full stakeholder socialization. Output: 10-15 page comprehensive strategy doc. ### Tier Escalation Triggers Sometimes you start at one tier and realize you need a bigger sprint. Here's when to escalate: **1-Day → 1-Week Escalation:** Escalate when any of these appear during your 1-day sprint: - You discover the problem is not well-defined (you're debating WHAT to solve, not HOW) - Competitive landscape has shifted significantly and you need fresh research - Key stakeholders disagree on the strategic direction (not just the tactic) - The "snap strategy" keeps changing scope as you work -- sign of insufficient framing **1-Week → 1-Month Escalation:** Escalate when any of these appear during your 1-week sprint: - The strategy requires cross-functional alignment that can't happen in a week (e.g., pricing changes, platform shifts) - You need primary research (user interviews, market data) that takes time to collect - The strategy touches 3+ product areas and each needs its own analysis - Leadership wants a Board-level strategy document, not an internal working doc **How to escalate gracefully:** 1. Don't restart -- use what you've already produced as input to the higher tier 2. Frame it: "The 1-day sprint surfaced that this is bigger than a tactical fix. Here's what I found so far. I recommend a 1-week sprint starting with [specific question we need to answer]." 3. The 1-day output becomes Day 1 of the 1-week sprint --- ## Overview Strategy doesn't always need to be a month-long exercise. Depending on your timeline and context, you can create effective strategy in three different timeframes: - **1 Day:** Snap strategy for quick alignment - **1 Week:** Iteration with design sprints and validation - **1 Month:** Full socialization with all stakeholders --- ## The Framework ### 1-Day Strategy (Snap Strategy) **Use when:** - New opportunity emerges suddenly - Executive asks for quick direction - Need to align team before deeper work **What to include:** 1. **Problem/Opportunity** (2-3 sentences) - What's the core issue or opportunity? - Why does it matter now? 2. **Target Customer** (1 paragraph) - Who are we solving this for? - What's their current pain? 3. **Hypothesis** (1 sentence) - If we build X, then Y will happen because Z 4. **Success Metric** (1 metric + target) - What number moves if this works? - Example: "Increase activation from 45% to 60%" 5. **Key Risks** (3 bullets) - What could prevent success? - What assumptions are we making? 6. **Next Steps** (3 action items with owners) **Time investment:** 4-6 hours **Output:** 1-page doc that gets everyone pointed in the same direction --- ### 1-Week Strategy (Iteration Strategy) **Use when:** - Quarterly planning cycle - New product area exploration - Need cross-functional buy-in **Build on 1-day foundation with:** 1. **Jobs-to-Be-Done Analysis** - What job is the customer hiring our product to do? - What progress are they trying to make? - Reference: [[jtbd-canvas]] 2. **Competitive Positioning** - How do we differentiate? - What's our unfair advantage? - Reference: [[7-powers-framework]] 3. **User Research Validation** - 5-10 customer interviews - Survey existing users - Review support tickets and feedback 4. **Technical Feasibility Check** - Sync with engineering leads - Identify major technical risks - Get rough effort estimates 5. **Success Criteria (expanded)** - Primary metric + 3-5 guardrail metrics - Leading indicators to track early - Definition of "good enough" to ship 6. **Rollout Plan** - Phased approach or big bang? - Beta testing strategy - Kill criteria (when to stop) **Daily Breakdown (1-Week Sprint):** | Day | Focus | Deliverable | Hours | | ------------- | --------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------- | | **Monday** | Foundation + Research Setup | 1-day snap strategy draft; schedule 5-8 interviews; pull support tickets and NPS data | 5-6 hrs | | **Tuesday** | Customer Research | Conduct 3-5 interviews; review survey data and support themes; draft JTBD canvas | 5-6 hrs | | **Wednesday** | Competitive + Technical | Competitive positioning analysis; engineering feasibility sync; identify top 3 technical risks | 4-5 hrs | | **Thursday** | Synthesis + Strategy Draft | Combine research into strategy doc; define success criteria and guardrails; draft rollout plan | 5-6 hrs | | **Friday** | Review + Finalize | Get feedback from 2-3 key stakeholders; incorporate feedback; finalize 3-5 page doc with clear next steps | 3-4 hrs | **End-of-week deliverable:** 3-5 page strategy doc with JTBD analysis, competitive positioning, success metrics, and rollout plan. **Time investment:** 20-30 hours across 5 days **Output:** 3-5 page doc with research backing --- ### 1-Month Strategy (Full Socialization) **Use when:** - Annual planning - Major product pivot - New business line - Board-level strategic decisions **Build on 1-week foundation with:** 1. **Market Analysis** - TAM/SAM/SOM sizing - Market trends and forces - Competitor deep dives (3-5 players) - Reference: `/competitor-analysis` 2. **Strategic Fit** - How does this ladder up to company vision? - Resource allocation tradeoffs - What are we NOT doing as a result? 3. **7 Powers Analysis** - Which power(s) does this unlock? - Network effects, brand, scale, switching costs? - Reference: [[7-powers-framework]] 4. **Financial Model** - Revenue projections - Cost to build and maintain - Payback period and ROI 5. **Org & Resourcing Plan** - Team structure needed - Hiring requirements - Dependencies on other teams 6. **Risk Mitigation** - For each major risk, what's the mitigation plan? - What experiments can de-risk early? 7. **Roadmap (6-12 months)** - Phased milestones - Key decision points - Go/no-go criteria at each phase 8. **Stakeholder Alignment Sessions** - Engineering review - Design review - Executive review - Sales/CS input (if relevant) - Legal/compliance check **Weekly Breakdown (1-Month Sprint):** | Week | Theme | Key Activities | Deliverables | | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | **Week 1: Foundation** | Discovery + Snap Strategy | Complete 1-day snap strategy; kick off market research; schedule all stakeholder reviews for weeks 2-3; begin competitive analysis; pull baseline metrics | Snap strategy doc (1-page); research plan; stakeholder review calendar | | **Week 2: Deep Research** | User Research + Market Analysis | Conduct 8-10 user interviews; complete competitive deep dives (3-5 players); TAM/SAM/SOM sizing; engineering feasibility assessment; 7 Powers analysis | Research synthesis; competitive landscape doc; market sizing; technical feasibility report | | **Week 3: Synthesis + Socialization** | Strategy Draft + Stakeholder Reviews | Write full strategy doc; run stakeholder alignment sessions (engineering, design, exec, sales/CS, legal); build financial model; draft roadmap | Strategy doc v1 (10-15 pages); financial model; stakeholder feedback log | | **Week 4: Finalization** | Incorporate Feedback + Finalize | Incorporate all stakeholder feedback; finalize roadmap with go/no-go criteria; create executive summary; build FAQ doc from all questions received; present final strategy | Final strategy doc; executive summary; FAQ; presentation deck; risk mitigation plan | **Key milestones within each week:** - **Week 1, Day 3:** Snap strategy shared with leadership for early alignment - **Week 2, Day 5:** Research synthesis complete, major insights shared - **Week 3, Day 2-4:** Stakeholder reviews (do NOT push these to Week 4) - **Week 4, Day 3:** Final draft circulated for async comments - **Week 4, Day 5:** Strategy approved and shared broadly **Time investment:** 60-80 hours across 4 weeks **Output:** 10-15 page comprehensive strategy doc --- ## How to Use This Skill ### Step 1: Determine Your Timeline Ask yourself: - How much time do I actually have? - What's the decision we're trying to make? - Who needs to be aligned? **Don't default to 1-month if 1-week will do.** --- ### Step 2: Use This Prompt Pattern ``` Use /strategy-sprint and reference thoughts/shared/pm/context/business-info-template.md I need to create a [1-day / 1-week / 1-month] strategy for: [describe the opportunity/problem] Timeline: [your actual deadline] Key stakeholders: [who needs to approve this] Main decision: [what decision does this strategy inform] Help me work through the appropriate framework step by step. ``` --- ### Step 3: Build Progressively - Start with 1-day version FIRST (even if you have a month) - Get early feedback on the snap strategy - Then layer in additional depth based on timeline - **Don't skip the foundation** --- ## Pro Tips **For 1-Day Strategy:** - Write the hypothesis FIRST - everything else supports it - If you can't articulate it in one sentence, you're not clear yet - Get feedback from 2-3 key people before sharing broadly **For 1-Week Strategy:** - Do customer interviews EARLY in the week (Mon-Tue) - Leave Fri for synthesis and doc writing - Use `/user-research-synthesis` to process interviews quickly **For 1-Month Strategy:** - Schedule stakeholder reviews in weeks 2-3, not week 4 - Build in time to incorporate feedback - Create a FAQ doc as you go (capture all questions you get) - Use sub-agents for multiple perspectives: [[engineer-reviewer]], [[executive-reviewer]] **Universal tip:** - Always include "What we're NOT doing" - strategy is about tradeoffs - Make your assumptions explicit - call them out directly - End with clear next steps and owners --- ## Common Mistakes ❌ **Spending a month when a week would work** - Strategy should be "just enough" to make a decision - You can always add depth later ❌ **Skipping the 1-day foundation** - Jumping straight to detailed analysis without clarity - Results in unfocused strategy documents ❌ **Writing strategy in isolation** - Strategy needs conversation and debate - Get input early and often ❌ **Treating this as final** - Strategy evolves as you learn - Plan to revisit quarterly --- ## Example Workflow **Scenario:** You need a growth strategy for Q2 **Week 1:** Create 1-day snap strategy - Define problem, hypothesis, success metric - Share with team leads for initial feedback - Time: 4 hours **Week 2:** Expand to 1-week strategy - Run 8 customer interviews - Get technical feasibility input - Draft rollout plan - Time: 20 hours **Week 3-4:** (Optional) Expand to 1-month if needed - Build financial model - Run competitive analysis - Socialize with all stakeholders - Time: 40 additional hours **Result:** You have a clear strategy in 2 weeks instead of rushing a half-baked doc in 1 month --- ## Related Skills - `/prd-draft` - Turn strategy into PRDs - `/competitor-analysis` - Research competitors - `/user-research-synthesis` - Process customer insights - [[jtbd-canvas]] - Understand customer jobs - [[7-powers-framework]] - Identify unfair advantages --- ## Output Quality Self-Check Before delivering the strategy document, verify: - [ ] **Hypothesis is one sentence:** Can you state the core hypothesis in a single, clear sentence? If not, sharpen it. - [ ] **Tradeoffs are explicit:** Does the doc include a "What we are NOT doing" section with real tradeoffs, not just obvious non-starters? - [ ] **Success metric is measurable:** Is there at least one concrete metric with a baseline and target (not "improve engagement")? - [ ] **Risks are specific:** Are risks named with probability/impact, not vague ("market risk")? Each risk should have a mitigation action. - [ ] **Next steps have owners and dates:** Every action item has a name attached and a deadline, not just "follow up." - [ ] **Appropriate depth for tier:** 1-day = 1 page max. 1-week = 3-5 pages. 1-month = 10-15 pages. If you are significantly over or under, adjust. - [ ] **Stakeholder input reflected:** If stakeholders were consulted, their feedback is visibly incorporated (not just "we talked to engineering"). - [ ] **Progressive build verified:** If doing a 1-week or 1-month sprint, confirm the 1-day foundation was completed first and is consistent with the expanded doc. - [ ] **Tier escalation triggers noted:** If scope expanded beyond the chosen tier during the sprint, flag the escalation triggers that were hit and recommend the appropriate higher tier. --- **Framework credit:** Adapted from Aakash Gupta's strategy framework. Read the full article: https://www.news.aakashg.com/p/strategy-in-1-day-week-month