How to prioritize features on your product roadmap

Prioritization is one of the most important things a founder does.

Startups are companies with big vision but few resources. If they want to survive, they have to not just build good stuff, they have to build the right stuff.

So what’s the right stuff? Unfortunately, there’s no perfect formula[^1]--but here are a few things to consider as you go:

• ‍Usefulness - Which of these ideas will help our users get their goals done?‍
• Impact - Which ideas will have the biggest positive impact on our customers?‍
• Urgency - Which ideas are both important and need to be done soon? What can wait until later?‍
• Strategy - Which ideas support our company’s big plan for success?‍
• Values - Which ideas are in line with our company’s values?‍
• Mission - Which ideas help us accomplish our long-term goal?‍
• Brand - Which ideas reinforce the reputation we want to build with customers?‍
• Delight - Which ideas will make our customers over-the-moon happy?‍
• Positioning - Which ideas help us carve out a unique place in the market?‍
• Momentum - Which ideas are already working and can be expanded on?

[1^]: But there are some imperfect ones: see RICE scoring, the Kano model, Google’s HEART framework, and Jobs to be Done