When product vision becomes useful
Even small steps need a big direction.
Good product development starts with validation, baby steps, and adding on top of it.
We all know MVPs and assumption testing are cool. But shouldn’t we also have big visions? Or better, how can we use those big visions in our day-to-day work, even when we’re starting small?
1. Vision = North Star
Vision isn’t your roadmap. It’s your direction. Think of it like the mountain you’re climbing, not the steps you’ll take to get there.
Spotify’s vision wasn’t “streaming in 180 countries.” It was simple: “instant access to music.”
In the early years, the team obsessed over speed. No buffering. Press play, music starts. That was the job.
Spotify launched in Sweden in 2008 and didn’t enter the U.S. until 2011, a three-year gap. Not because they weren’t ambitious, but because they wanted to prove the core experience worked in its first market before scaling.
Every time you face a decision, the question should be: “Does this move us closer to the vision?”
2. Translate vision into one assumption
Once you have a vision, make one clear bet that proves or kills it.
Dropbox’s vision was: your stuff, anywhere.
Their early assumption was simple, a working folder that synced seamlessly between devices. They didn’t launch with a big product. They launched with a demo video. That video went viral, validated demand and gave them the signal to build.
One clear bet. One real problem. A big vision proven.
3. Make vision a decision filter
When you don’t have unlimited resources, your vision is one of the most powerful tools for saying no.
Amazon wanted to be “Earth’s most customer-centric company.” At launch in 1995, they could have sold anything. They picked books.
Books gave them the perfect sandbox to build logistics, pricing, and delivery excellence before touching anything else. They said no to everything that didn’t serve that core.
A clear vision makes trade-offs obvious.
4. Use vision as glue between teams
As teams grow, people work on very different things. A clear vision keeps them rowing in the same direction.
Netflix had one shared obsession from the early days of streaming: member engagement.
Every team worked to answer the same question: “Does this increase the likelihood that someone will keep watching?”
Product decisions, personalization, and content strategy all laddered up to that single shared focus.
WeWork had the opposite. A vague vision, “elevate the world’s consciousness”, meant different teams had different interpretations and chased different goals. No shared north star, no real alignment.
If some teams can’t understand how their work contributes to your north star, or worse, if it doesn’t at all, you’re probably chasing the wrong one.
5. Vision shouldn’t be frozen
A strong vision doesn’t change every week. But your understanding of it should get sharper as you learn.
Instagram started as Burbn, a check-in app with a photo feature on the side. Users loved photos, not check-ins. So they stripped everything else away.
The vision stayed the same: a simple way to share beautiful photos from your phone.
The path to it changed.
A good vision survives pivots. It sharpens with every step.