Strategy question
Where is Google underinvested today?
- 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
Strategic judgment and market awareness: identifying a real gap in a large company's portfolio with a defensible rationale.
How to approach it
- Clarify the interpretation: pick one specific area rather than listing many, to go deep.
- Name a plausible underinvested area, such as consumer hardware ecosystem cohesion or enterprise collaboration tools versus Microsoft.
- Explain why this is underinvested, citing observable evidence like fragmented product lines or slower feature parity.
- Explain the opportunity cost, such as losing enterprise customers to a more integrated competitor offering.
- Propose a direction Google could take, with a concrete first step and a way to measure early traction.
What a strong answer includes
- Picks one specific, defensible area rather than a scattershot list, showing depth over breadth.
- Grounds the claim in observable evidence, like Google Workspace's smaller enterprise share compared to Microsoft 365.
- Proposes a concrete next step, like deeper integration between Google's hardware and software ecosystem.
- Uses an assumed metric, e.g. targeting a measurable increase in enterprise seat share within two years.
Common mistakes
- Naming a vague or unfalsifiable area with no supporting evidence.
- Listing many areas instead of going deep on one.
- Proposing a fix with no way to measure whether it's working.
Likely follow-up questions
- What evidence would confirm or disprove this being underinvested?
- Why hasn't Google already fixed this if it's a real gap?
- How would you measure progress if Google invested here?
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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