Product Strategy: Finding and Sequencing Revenue Streams for a Park
Company: Microsoft
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
As a product manager, you have been handed the job of making money from a park. How would you approach it? Explain what you would want to know first, which revenue opportunities you would pursue and in what order, and how you would decide whether the effort is working.
```hint Pin down the park and the purpose
"Park" could mean a free neighborhood green, a large city park, a national park or a privately run attraction, and the money could be meant to cover upkeep or to earn a profit. Settle those first, then look for things visitors and organizations already want from the park and would gladly pay for.
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### Clarifying Questions
- What kind of park is it (a neighborhood green, a large city park, a national park or a private attraction), and roughly how many people visit, and when?
- Who owns it, and what is the money for: covering maintenance, funding improvements, or profit?
- Must entry stay free to the public, and are there rules that limit commercial activity, such as permits, vendor caps or advertising bans?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A clear goal for the money and the constraints that come with the park's ownership and public purpose, settled before any ideas
- A map of who could pay (visitors by activity, event organizers, vendors, sponsors, donors) and which groups to focus on first
- Revenue ideas grounded in what those groups need, compared on revenue potential, cost, effort and fit with the park's purpose, then sequenced
- Success metrics that pair net revenue with visitor experience and access guardrails
- Risks such as public backlash over commercialization, fair access for lower-income visitors, overcrowding and seasonal revenue
### Follow-up Questions
- Local residents worry that paid features will crowd out people who cannot pay. How do you respond, and what would you change?
- How would your plan differ for a large national park whose visitors are mostly tourists arriving by car?
- Most of the revenue turns out to arrive on summer weekends. How would you make it steadier through the year?
Overview: A product strategy question asking how a product manager would make money from a park. It tests clarifying the park's type, ownership and purpose, identifying who might pay, comparing and sequencing revenue ideas against public access and visitor experience, and defining success metrics with guardrails.