Strategy question
If you are a PM for a product that will be phased out due to disruption, what will you do?
- Strategy
- Hard
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Tests strategic judgment under decline: can you make a clear-eyed call between managed sunset, pivot, or defense rather than defaulting to 'fight harder'.
How to approach it
- Clarify the disruption: what is displacing the product (a cheaper substitute, a platform shift, a new technology), since the right response depends on the nature of the threat.
- Assess the product's remaining value: is there a durable niche or loyal segment that will keep using it even as the broader market moves on.
- Decide among three paths: managed decline (harvest cash flow, minimize investment), pivot (repurpose the technology or user base for an adjacent need), or defend (double down on a defensible niche the disruptor cannot easily serve).
- Make a call with reasoning, for example if the product still serves a profitable niche with high switching cost, defend that niche rather than chasing the mass market the disruptor has already won.
- Plan the transition for the team and users: communicate timelines clearly, avoid abrupt cuts that damage trust, and redeploy engineering resources toward the new direction deliberately.
- Define success as capital and team efficiency during the wind-down or pivot, not growth metrics that no longer apply to a declining product.
What a strong answer includes
- Names three distinct strategic options (harvest, pivot, defend a niche) instead of a single vague 'adapt' answer.
- Makes an actual recommendation with reasoning tied to a plausible scenario, rather than listing options with no decision.
- Addresses the human side: how to communicate a decline or pivot to the team and existing customers without damaging trust.
- Shifts the success metric appropriately, from growth to capital efficiency, showing understanding that decline-phase products are managed differently.
Common mistakes
- Defaulting to 'invest more to fight the disruption' without evaluating if that is actually viable.
- No clear recommendation, just a list of generic options.
- Ignoring the human and communication side of managing a product in decline.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you decide the point at which harvesting stops being worthwhile?
- How would you retain key team members during a managed decline?
- What would change your recommendation if the disruptor was still unprofitable itself?
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Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 9: Prove it paid off: outcomes, economics, and pricing
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop