Buffer · Strategy · Senior · 45 to 60 minutes

Should Buffer Start a Second Product Now?

Buffer makes software that helps businesses and creators plan, publish, and manage social media. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

Strategy
Customer discovery
Prioritization
Go to market judgment
Metric design

The situation

In late 2017, Buffer's leadership has asked you, a senior PM, to recommend whether the company should invest in a second product beyond its core social media tools. The company has a broad multi-product vision and sees some adjacent customer problems that seem connected to Buffer's brand and user base. However, evidence is thin: a handful of customer conversations suggest interest, but no one knows whether the pain is frequent, urgent, or worth paying for. Assume leadership is willing to fund a small incubation team for up to two planning cycles if there is a clear plan. The tension is strategic and operational. A second product could open a new growth path and reduce dependence on one business line, but every engineer and designer moved to a new bet slows progress on the core product. Buffer does not have a large sales force to create demand, so any early traction will need to come from direct customer learning and a lightweight go to market motion. You need to recommend if Buffer should pursue this now, how to validate it, and what milestones would justify continuing or stopping.

What to produce

Write a 1,000 to 1,300 word strategy memo to Buffer's leadership team.

Your answer must

State a clear recommendation on whether Buffer should pursue a second product now, later, or not at all, and explain the reasoning.
Define the customer segment and the adjacent problem hypotheses you would test first, and explain why they fit Buffer's brand and strengths.
Lay out a validation plan for the first 6 to 12 months that includes customer discovery, an early willingness to pay test, and the minimum evidence needed before larger investment.
Describe the team shape and operating model for incubation, including how the work stays small and how it interacts with the core product organization.
Specify dated milestones or stage gates with leading indicators, stop or continue criteria, and the risks you would watch closely.

Constraints

Keep the initial effort small, not a large standalone business unit.
You have only limited early signal from customer conversations, not proof of demand or pricing.
The core Buffer product still needs ongoing investment and cannot absorb major roadmap disruption.
The opportunity should stay adjacent to Buffer's existing audience and brand, not enter an unrelated market.

Format

Use clear headings and include one simple milestone table.

How Buffer actually played it

Buffer's product manager for Insights tells how a second product started from the company's multi-product vision in 2017 and took seven months and many customer calls to earn its first 25 dollars. Two years in it serves 1,000 customers and earns more than 500,000 dollars a year. A detailed account of building and growing a new product inside an established company.

A multi-product strategy needs a small team that earns customers one at a time.
Expect a slow start, with hundreds of outreach emails for the first revenue.
Describe revenue milestones with dates so the pace is clear.
Tie the new product to the existing brand's strengths but test willingness to pay early.

Built from Two Years Ago, We Started Building a Product that Now Earns Over $500,000. Here's How We Did It. by Tom Redman, Buffer.