To create the best product experience, we must align product-building and business operations. To do this, we need to find the most important (one to three) business outcomes for a definite timeline. The reason I'm saying one to three outcomes is because in early stages of product development, it is best to steer our resources toward fewer outcomes. Going after too many goals can be counter-productive and can result in a loss of focus.
Quoting Eric Ries, author of The Lean Startup, here:
"There is no reason why a product cannot have both high margins and high retention. However, in my experience, successful startups focus on just one engine of growth, specializing in everything that is required to make it work."
Even when we focus only on growth, sustainability, or influence as our high-level goals, we may still need to refine to one to three outcomes within these high-level goals, to ensure that we direct our efforts constructively. Based on...