Risk in Product Management

Without an appetite for risk, you really can't build an exceptional product.
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Product Managers strive to optimize their product across 4 dimensions:
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1. Desirability - will people buy it?
2. Feasibility - can we build it?
3. Viability - will our business benefit?
4. Usability - will users figure out how to use it?

However, the stars rarely align perfectly.

PMs will find they will have to take a leap of faith on one or two of these aspects.

E.g. Airbnb's business plan had all sorts of risks.

It was feasible (tech wasn't that complex) and usable (interface was like any other marketplace).

The viability part worked alright on paper but the real risk was desirability.

Would home owners be willing to rent out their private spaces? Will travelers be comfortable in staying there?

Of course, without rolling the dice, Airbnb wouldn't have struck gold.

Google Glass had a different blueprint.

They had desirability (people were in awe) and feasibility sorted (they had a working product) .

Business viability (will we be able to sell at scale among legal issues?) and usability (will people wear these all the time?) were the question marks and ultimately, it fizzled out.

Risk is that constant wall between massive upsides & failure.

Embrace it.