Pick a product likely to become obsolete within a decade and advise its maker

Name one product or service that you expect to become obsolete within the next five to ten years and defend that prediction. Then imagine you are advising the company or creator that makes it: what should they do as the market shifts? ### Clarifying Questions - Does "obsolete" mean gone entirely, or no longer the mainstream choice and reduced to a niche? - Should the advice be for the market leader in that category or for a smaller producer, since their options differ? - Is any industry fair game, or should the example connect to the interviewer's own industry? ### Part 1 — Make the prediction Pick one product or service, define what obsolete means for it, and argue why it will happen within five to ten years rather than sooner or later. ```hint Find the substitute A product rarely fades on its own; something else takes over the job it does. Ask what that replacement is, how fast it is improving and what still holds customers back from switching. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A clear definition of obsolescence and criteria for choosing among candidates. - The forces behind the decline (substitute, cost, behavior, regulation) and why they play out on this timeline. - Honest counterarguments: the segments or uses where the product survives. ### Part 2 — Advise the producer Give the company or creator behind this product a concrete plan for the coming years. ```hint Separate what fades from what lasts Ask which assets the producer owns that stay valuable after the product itself declines: customers, data, distribution, brand or know-how. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A strategic choice, such as harvesting, pivoting, retreating to a niche or cannibalizing, with reasons. - A phased plan with near-term and longer-term moves. - Signals or metrics that tell the producer when to speed up the shift. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A specific, defensible pick: neither something already obsolete nor something decades away. - Reasoning grounded in the customer's job and the substitute, not technology hype alone. - Advice that fits the producer's real assets and confronts the risk of cannibalizing current revenue. - Clear priorities over time and a way to measure progress. ### Follow-up Questions - What evidence over the next two years would show your prediction is wrong? - The board refuses to cannibalize the company's most profitable product line. How do you make the case? - How would your advice change for an independent creator rather than the market leader?