#8 The GLEe Model
A long-term phased approach to crafting a product vision.
As companies grow, there are a few common criticisms about the product strategy:
- Teams see and understand the projects but not how they fit together.
- Investors complain that there’s not a big enough product vision.
- The product team feels too focused on the short term.
The GLEe model helps product leaders to form a product vision to address these criticisms. The model encourages teams to:
- think big,
- think long-term, and
- describe a phased, step-by-step approach to building a product that “dents the universe.”
The exercise also helps product leaders avoid the “one and done” phenomenon articulated by Jeff Kagan, a financial analyst who reflects on Yahoo!’s demise:
The GLEe model encourages teams to ask, “What’s next?” and forces long-term thinking. To invent the future, you must be optimistic, and long-term thinking enables an “anything is possible” attitude. By long-term, I mean 3–5 years, and most things are possible in this timeframe. However, the GLEe model goes far beyond this to encourage product leaders to think 10–15 years ahead.
Below is an articulation of Netflix's product vision, as described in 2005. (Look carefully at the first letter of each word to understand why I call it the GLEe model.)
Netflix Product Vision
1. Get big on DVDs
2. Lead downloading
3. Expand worldwide
The model is deceptively simple. What follows is more about its derivation and the thinking behind it.
Netflix began as a DVD-by-mail service, and the initial business plan anticipated digital delivery in 2002, but streaming did not launch until 2007. At this time, internet connections were finally fast enough to move beyond postage-stamp-size video. By 2007, Netflix could afford to pay the license fees for reasonable streaming content.
We expected each of the three phases to last 3–5 years. The first phase, “Get big on DVDs,” corresponded with both the launch of DVD players and the growth of e-commerce — two significant trends to “surf.” The initial
The “Get big on DVDs” phase enabled Netflix to establish product/market fit and afford itself the time to build a brand and economies of scale—two critical, hard-to-copy advantages.
The second phase, “Lead streaming,” began in January 2007, and by 2010, Netflix had started its international expansion with a streaming-only service in Canada. Global expansion required a digital-only service as it would have been too challenging for Netflix to integrate its DVD-by-mail service with postal services worldwide.
During Netflix’s streaming chapter, the company also expanded its device partnerships to nearly every TV, game system, DVD/Blu-Ray player, and mobile device worldwide. By 2012, Netflix established a hard-to-copy network effect through its device ecosystem.
In 2012, the fourth chapter of Netflix’s life began: original content. In 2007, Netflix experimented with exclusive DVD content via “Red Envelope Studios” but failed. But in 2012, Netflix launched its first streaming original content, “Lilyhammer.” The next year, a $100M investment in “House of Cards” delivered a worldwide hit. In 2020, Netflix’s hard-to-copy economies of scale powered its $20B investment in original content.
Like product strategies, these three phases are high-level hypotheses; they help tell a story of how a startup might develop over 10–15 years. You’ll occasionally get the stages wrong, but putting a stake in the ground enables teams to see how things fit together and to imagine how big the product might get.
The GLEe model also reinforces that you don’t have to do everything simultaneously. Netflix focused on its DVD-by-mail service for eight years before it launched streaming. They needed to transition to streaming before they could expand globally. Last, Netflix needed the economies of scale that international expansion enabled to make significant investments in original content. Today, Netflix is experimenting with its next step-level innovation—interactive stories—through Black Mirror’s “Bandersnatch” and an interactive version of “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”
Looking at the three phases of the GLEe model and your product strategies, things get interesting. Note the importance of Netflix’s personalization strategy over the four stages of Netflix’s growth:
- As Netflix got big on DVDs, personalization powered the merchandising of high-quality, high-margin titles.
- In the early days of streaming, when Netflix had limited content, personalization helped members narrow down the small number of titles that were “just right” for them.
- As Netflix expanded globally, personalization helped connect members with movies they loved, regardless of nationality.
- Today, with original content, personalization helps Netflix to right-size its content investments. Based on the knowledge of its 185M members’ tastes, Netflix can reasonably forecast that 20M members will watch “Bojack Horseman” while 100M members will likely stream “Stranger Things.” Well-informed forecasts let Netflix invest its $20B in content intelligently. At a ballpark level, they spent $500M on “Stranger Things” and $100M on “Bojack.” The ability to forecast streaming hours based on member tastes enables Netflix to build niche content and an occasional worldwide hit.
It is rare to find a high-level product strategy that supports multiple phases of a company’s growth. But if you accomplish this, you will build a huge, hard-to-copy advantage.
Product Strategy Exercise (#10)
To outline the GLEe model for your product and company, ask yourself three questions:
1) What initial product enables the company and product to “Get Big” over the first 3–5 years of its life? Are there trends that the product can “surf,” much like Netflix rode the wave of DVD players and e-commerce? What are these trends for your company and product?
2) What will you “Lead?” Three to five years in the future, what is the next wave your product or company will ride — the equivalent of internet video for Netflix?
3) Once your product establishes a leadership position, how might it “Expand” even further? Given the brand, network effects, economies of scale, and unique technology your product will have, what is the next wave of activity?
Reflecting on your answers to the questions above, complete the GLEe Model for your product and company:
Product Vision
- Get Big on:
- Lead:
- Expand:
In the next essay, I’ll share the GEM model and how you can help your company to prioritize Growth, Engagement, and Monetization.
Best,
Gib
Gibson Biddle
November 2024 Update: Sign up for my new 3-hour virtual “Product Strategy Workshop” on Maven. (Monthly cohorts from 9–12 am PT.)
PPS. Here’s an index of all the articles in this series:
- Intro: How to Define Your Product Strategy
- #1 “The DHM Model”
- #2 “From DHM to Product Strategy”
- #3 “The Strategy/Metric/Tactic Lock-up”
- #4 “Proxy Metrics”
- #5 “Working Bottom-up”
- #6 “A Product Strategy for Each Swimlane”
- #7 “The Product Roadmap”
- #8 “The GLEe Model”
- #9 “The GEM Model”
- #10 “How to Run A Quarterly Product Strategy Meeting”
- #11 “A Case Study: Netflix 2020”
- #12 “A Startup Case Study: Chegg”
- #13 “TLDR: Summary of the Product Strategy Frameworks”
- Click here to purchase my self-paced Product Strategy Workshop on Teachable for $200 off the regular $699 price. The course includes recorded talks, PDFs, my essays, and pre-formatted Google Slides so you can complete your product strategy independently. You can also “try before you buy” — the first two modules are free.
