Working for a start-up early in my product management career, I was in a meeting with our CEO to present a 100+ page market requirements document that detailed dozens of new product features. I had spent months working on this.
After I described the first requirement, the CEO asked, “So what?”
I thought he didn’t understand the feature, so I elaborated more on how the technology would work, only for him to ask again, “So what?” Finally, I admitted that I didn’t understand his question.
“So what?” he repeated, adding, “Who is that feature for? What does it solve for them? What value would we be giving them if we solved it? Why would that feature make someone want to buy the product or pay more for it?”
I couldn’t answer any of these questions.
So began one of the longest, hardest, and most valuable meetings in my career. The CEO repeatedly asked, “So what?” to every requirement, and I had to honestly answer, “I don’t know.”
Although I had spent months working with my colleagues figuring out what product we “could” build, I had spent no time out in the market figuring out what product we “should” build.
I’ve spent the rest of my career ensuring I had an answer to that fundamental question… “So what?”
This not only helped me avoid painful discussions with executives but sharing the answer also helped development teams prioritize and build problem-solving solutions for our products instead of just “features.” It also helped my marketing colleagues define and execute successful go-to-market strategies and helped my sales channel sell our products more effectively.