Lessons from product failures: Why commercial feasibility matters

In the world of product development, the failures of Apple's Newton MessagePad and Amazon's Fire Phone illustrate the crucial importance of understanding commercial feasibility, which focuses on a product's ability to generate revenue rather than just its technical capabilities. Both products, conceived as visionary projects by their respective CEOs, ultimately failed due to their inability to accurately assess market demand and commercial viability, resulting in significant financial losses. The article emphasizes that product failures often occur when companies overlook commercial feasibility in favor of technical development or executive vision, leading to a mismatch with market needs. It introduces Marty Cagan's framework of four risks—delivery, usability, desirability, and business viability—to highlight how companies can better evaluate their products' potential success. To mitigate these risks, it suggests decentralizing decision-making, documenting processes, building incrementally, and focusing on solving real user problems rather than fixating on specific features or technologies. These strategies aim to align product development with genuine market needs, ensuring that innovative ideas are grounded in commercial reality.