Find the "Why" Behind a Roadmap You Didn't Write

Part of From Feature Manager to Product Leader

Hosted by Brennan Collins

Wed, Jul 15, 2026

4:30 PM UTC (45 minutes)

Virtual (Zoom)

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The Influential PM: Strategy, Stakeholders, Significance
Brennan Collins
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What you'll learn

Recover the strategy hidden in a handed-down roadmap

Apply the five strategy questions backward to surface the why your roadmap assumes but never states.

Distinguish strategy from a queue of features

Use the strategic filters to judge whether a roadmap supports a strategy or is just a list.

Earn leadership's confidence in your direction

Connect each roadmap bet to a customer problem and a business reason, so your direction holds up under questions.

Why this topic matters

Respected product leaders can always answer two questions: why this, and why now. When you own those answers, your team stops guessing and trusts the direction. Most roadmaps never write these answers down. A list of features is not a strategy. It's a queue. I'll show you how to recover that 'why' from a roadmap you were handed, using five questions, worked on an example you can copy.

You'll learn from

Brennan Collins

VP Product before 30, 17 years in product, 500+ coaching sessions

I made VP of Product before 30, and I got there by learning to lead products, not just ship them. The approach that made me successful was a handful of skills not taught in PM certifications: connecting the work to both customer and business needs, and earning the room while I did it.

For 17 years, I built, launched, and scaled products, including a few that generated more than $50M, across high-growth startups and large enterprises, where politics and influence matter as much as the product. Those worlds look like opposites, yet they reward the same skill, and it can be taught.

I've coached more than 500 product managers toward that next level, and many stepped into the leadership and the impact they were seeking. My approach is direct and optimistic. You are already capable. A few learnable moves change how your decisions land and how your work gets seen. Learn one framework, watch it run on a real example, and leave with something you can use Monday. The Influential PM is where we build all of it on your own product, with direct feedback.

Students from

Amazon
PayPal
PwC UK
Capital One
Coda
See all products from Brennan

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