Beauty tech · Product strategy · Workshop
The best product we didn’t build
A beauty tech company was ready to invest in a digital product. We ran a strategy workshop with their full team and helped them realize the product wasn't the right next step. That saved them significant time and money, and pointed them toward a stronger long-term position.
The challenge
Our client helps beauty brands develop and launch physical cosmetic products, managing everything from formulation to retail. They were ready to commit budget to a digital product to streamline their complex multi-party workflow. During the offer phase, we noticed the strategic foundation behind the decision wasn’t fully formed. The business hadn’t clearly defined what long-term differentiation the product would create, or whether digitizing the existing process was actually the right move. We flagged it and proposed a workshop before any build.
Our approach
Together with a close partner specializing in product strategy and the Productfield framework, we ran a full-day workshop with the client’s entire team, not just the founder and CEO. Strategic alignment only works if it runs through the whole organization. The session focused on asking better questions rather than delivering ready-made answers: working backwards from long-term business goals, challenging assumptions about the customer profile, and exploring whether a digital product was truly the next logical step. The answer was clear. The immediate need was to innovate on the process itself, not digitize it. The foundation needed strengthening before any product investment would stick.
The result
The team left with strategic clarity, a defined competitive position, and confidence in how to move forward, without having spent anything on the wrong product. We delivered a structured outcome document covering competitive positioning, a sharper definition of their moat, and clear direction on what to prioritize next. The biggest measurable win was avoiding the cost of building the MVP entirely.
Why this matters to us
Most of our work involves building things. This one involved helping a client build the right thing, and knowing when that means not building at all. We’re proud of this engagement precisely because there’s nothing flashy to show for it. The most impactful work often happens before a single line of code gets written.
TOPIC
Product strategy
INDUSTRY
Beauty / Cosmetics
SERVICES
Strategic workshop, product discovery, competitive positioning
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