Google Nest strategy: pick the smart-home bet to launch next and justify it
Company: Google
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
You have just become chief executive of Nest, Google's smart-home brand. What product would you have Nest build next? Explain how you arrive at the choice, why it beats the other options you considered, and how you would judge whether the bet paid off.
```hint Find the overlap
Before brainstorming devices, list what Nest already does better than its rivals inside the home and which household jobs are still handled by hand or not at all; look for the idea that sits where those two lists meet.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Does "product" have to be new hardware, or could it be a service or subscription built on the devices Nest already sells?
- What should the next product do for the business: bring new households to Nest, add value in homes that already own a Nest device, or create recurring revenue?
- What horizon are we planning for: something that can ship within a year or two, or a longer bet that needs new technology or partners?
- Must it work only within Google's own ecosystem, or should it also support devices and assistants from other brands?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- An honest read of Nest's starting point: what it already sells, where it is strong, and which rivals compete for the same homes
- A strategic goal for the next product, chosen and justified before any brainstorming
- Several distinct product options scored against explicit criteria, including whether Nest has a real right to win
- The chosen product described concretely: target customer, core use case, business model, and how it builds on existing Nest devices and Google's strengths
- How success would be measured, how demand would be tested before committing to hardware, and the main risks for a product that lives inside people's homes
### Follow-up Questions
- What evidence would you gather before committing to manufacture new hardware?
- Would you sell it as a one-time purchase, a subscription, or both, and why?
- If a major rival announced a similar product shortly before your launch, how would your plan change?
Overview: A product strategy prompt that puts the candidate in charge of Google's Nest smart-home brand and asks which product it should build next. It tests setting a strategic goal, weighing options against Nest's strengths and rivals, defining a concrete product and business model, and planning how to validate demand and measure success.