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There is a common sense knowledge in product management that we should pursue low-hanging fruits, that is, solutions that are relatively high-impact and low-effort.

Although there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, low-hanging fruits also come with serious disadvantages we should also consider when prioritizing the next initiatives.

Problem with low-effort solutions

The biggest problem with low-effort solutions is their applicability.

If something is easy for you to implement, it’s probably also easy for your competition to replicate.

On the other hand, high-effort solutions might offer lower ROI in the short term, but big bets are harder to replicate.

Especially if, in the long run, you build big bets on top of other big bets.

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It leads to a strong innovation stack that requires competitors to copy multiple big bets at once to catch up to you.

“If you can develop technology that’s too hard for competitors to duplicate, you don’t need to rely on other defenses. Start by picking a hard problem, then at every decision point, take the harder choice.”

— Paul Graham

So while pursuing ten low-hanging fruits might seem like a better idea than pursuing four high-effort solutions, these low-effort solutions will only help you maximize your local maximum without building a differentiated and competitive value proposition.

You won’t build a robust business on micro-optimizations.

Finding the balance

Of course, you can’t ignore low-hanging fruits and focus only on big bets.

There’s no point in building a robust innovation stack if you run out of resources before that.

It’s all about finding the right balance. You should, on the one hand, pursue big bets to remain competitive and have strong defenses from runner-ups. On the other hand, you should also occasionally capture some quick wins to drive additional impact and gain resources for further big bets.

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The context also plays a big role. If you are in a relatively comfortable situation, you should focus more on big bets to keep a strong position in the long run.

If you are having a hard time and need to boost your results ASAP, focusing more on smaller bets might make sense.

The most important part is to be conscious about what bets you pursue and regularly challenge yourself if that’s the best decision in your current circumstances.