Identifying company goals in strategy

Product strategy should reflect company goals, but the real work is understanding how those goals translate into product choices. Company goals often fall into a few categories, and each shapes strategy in different ways:

• Financial goals, such as revenue or margin targets, guide which product levers to focus on, like retention, conversion, or expansion.
• Market goals influence positioning and differentiation. If the company aims to defend against competitors or enter a new segment, product strategy may emphasize unique capabilities or tailored experiences.
• Operational goals shape how teams design for scale, efficiency, or cost reduction, which in turn affects priorities like automation or platform investment.
• Brand goals connect directly to product experience. A brand built on trust and reliability requires product decisions that reinforce transparency, usability, and quality.

Translating goals into strategy means looking at how product decisions can move the right levers. A revenue target might lead to improving onboarding flows to increase conversion, while a brand goal might drive investment in more transparent privacy controls. The overlap between user needs and company objectives is where strategy becomes actionable.^[1]