Placing bets in product management involves investing in ideas or improvements with calculated risk and potential upside.
Playing it safe by only pursuing 'guaranteed' ROI leads to incremental progress, while well-placed bets can accelerate learning and drive significant value.
Smart product bets are based on real signals, tied to clear hypotheses, time-boxed, measurable, and reversible or low-cost where possible.
Successful examples of high-impact product bets include Instagram Stories, Netflix Originals, and Amazon Prime. Building a culture that supports betting is essential for product teams to innovate and learn from failures.