Product validation is no longer a luxury; it's an essential aspect of product strategy, particularly for Series A and B2B SaaS founders and CEOs. While conventional wisdom dictates adherence to industry best practices, my experience has shown that following these practices blindly can lead you astray.
Industry best practices are guidelines distilled from numerous success stories across various companies. They can provide a helpful starting point, a blueprint if you will, for building a product or structuring a strategy. But herein lies the hidden danger: adopting these practices without sufficient scrutiny can result in strategies that are ill-suited to your unique circumstances.
The Problem with One-Size-Fits-All
Best practices, by definition, are generalized solutions. They are crafted in a context that may be vastly different from your own. When founders adopt these practices without tailoring them to their specific needs, they may find themselves struggling to fit a square peg into a round hole. This gap can come at the cost of innovation, responsiveness, and ultimately, the success of the product.
Consider the practice of relying heavily on a fixed roadmap, which is common in many organizations. Such roadmaps communicate false certainty: they imply that these are the optimal features to build, even though their impact may significantly deviate from expectations. A more flexible approach, such as managing by outcomes, allows for better adaptation to changing user needs and market conditions.
The Fallacy of Universal Applicability
Each company, product, and market demographic is distinct. What worked for one company in its specific ecosystem may not necessarily translate well to another. An often-cited pitfall is copying the feature sets of competitors without understanding the underlying logic of why those features were successful in a different context. This approach can lead to feature bloat, where the product becomes cumbersome and less user-friendly, ultimately eroding its value proposition.
The Myth of the Silver Bullet
Best practices are often perceived as foolproof strategies that guarantee success. However, the reality is different. Many of these practices stem from unique sets of circumstances, including the market environment, company culture, leadership style, and even sheer luck. When such practices are mythologized, they can create complacency and discourage critical thinking, leading to poor strategic decisions.
A noteworthy example here is the adoption of Agile and Scrum frameworks. While these methodologies have proven immensely successful for many development teams, they are not without their challenges. Many teams have discovered that short sprints and frequent customer feedback sessions can sometimes lead to burnout and hinder sustainability. Thus, while Agile principles are valuable, they must be adapted to fit the dynamics and capacity of the team.
