Comparison Table
| Criteria | Problem 1 | Problem 2 | Problem 3 |
| Problem description | Product managers face lengthy delays obtaining necessary permissions because approval processes are unclear, they don’t know whom to ask, and PMs’ requests are deprioritized relative to those from engineering teams. | Unclear ownership creates communication gaps. When roles and responsibilities aren’t clearly defined, PMs struggle to figure out who to contact and who has decision-making authority. This leads to repeated back-and-forth and delayed decisions. | PMs have to complete lots of repetitive work by repeatedly gathering and recreating information. PMs also have to manually collect and synthesize updates across tools and conversations, which can interrupt their workflows. |
| Evidence strength | (5)
Yuvna Interview 2, Yuvna Interview 3, Riya Interview 2, Joshua Interview 1, Joshua Interview 2 |
(6)
Roland Interview 2, Yuvna Interview 3, Yuvna Interview 1, Riya Interview 3, Joshua Interview 1, Joshua Interview 2 |
(6)
Roland Interview 1, Riya Interview 2, Riya Interview 3, Yuvna Interview 2, Yuvna Interview 3, Joshua Interview 1, |
| Current workarounds | Use existing tools such as Jira Service Management, ServiceNow, Opal Security, Moveworks | RACI matrices, internally-developed directory, Jira and Asana to get a clear view of task assignments, asking colleagues through Slack/email/other communication tools | Synthesizing information across platforms with LLMs, using their memory/just suffering, building “personal OS” system with Claude |
| Competitive gap | Current tools are siloed per project; for senior PMs or executives in charge of approval, there is no tool to concurrently track the progress/status of products | Tools like Jira are designed for technical PMs or tech companies, so PMs find them lacking in ease of use | Tools like Slack and Drive support integrations, but none serve as aggregators of information from across multiple platforms for synthesis |
| ICP | Junior technical PM at a big tech company, based on Yuvna’s Interview 2 | Junior non-technical PM at a big non-tech company with employees, based on Riya interview 3 | Technical senior PM at a big tech company, based on Roland interview 2 |
| Market size | $52.5M/year SAM
$5.25M/year SOM |
$84M/year SAM
$8.4M/year SOM |
$157.5M/year SAM
$15.7M/year SOM |
| Buildability | This could be quite simple to build if the platform acts as a landing ground for summarising project progress (collating key insights, short progress reports, Jira summaries) | This problem is quite abstract so building a tool that addresses this problem could be difficult – it depends on our method of addressing this problem. It could range from something as simple as a directory to an omniscient AI tool /chief of staff that nudges the relevant team members when their input is needed. | This problem is super buildable and lends itself well to utilising the capabilities of GenAI |
| AI fit | This is a very human problem as AI cannot yet be trusted to make security sensitive decisions like those around access control, so AI may not be a good fit for this problem. However, AI could be used as assistance to draw high level insights on the progress of products for managers. | This is a very human problem though and would require AI having insight into everyone’s workflows to be useful. AI could be useful if it has a shared understanding of each team member’s responsibility and context on their work to decide which issues require which person’s attention. | This is a great fit for AI as it is capable of ingesting large amounts of information and returning detailed summaries of customisable depth and length. |
Leaning Towards
We are interested in this Problem 2 because it combines strong interview evidence with a substantial market opportunity: our current estimates are $84M in annual SAM and $8.4M in SOM. Across 6 interviews, unclear ownership was a barrier to cross-team coordination. This is especially challenging at companies spanning multiple time zones, where contacting the wrong person can prolong delays and leave PMs presenting fragmented information to executives. While the broader PM tooling market is competitive, existing workarounds such as RACI matrices, internal directories, and task trackers suggest an opportunity to connect ownership information with team and leadership updates. A simple solution tailored to PMs at large non-tech companies could help them identify the right contacts, coordinate across time zones, and communicate a clearer picture of progress to leadership.
Week’s Reading
When evaluating the best competitive gap to decide which problem we’re leaning towards, we considered the “Importance of User Need vs User Satisfaction with Current Solutions” from Olsen, The Lean Product Playbook Ch 4. We found a problem that is low in user satisfaction with current solutions, but high in importance. In our ICP, competitive landscape, and comparison table, we applied the template for identifying ICP from Rachitsky, “How to identify your ideal customer profile”. We specifically found the company size, job title, pain point we’re solving, and specific tech used.
