Google Product Strategy Interview: Photo Storage

Watch our mock Google product strategy interview. Kevin Wei (Coinbase PM) asks Facebook PM Halim a question about product strategy related to unlimited storage: if Amazon launched unlimited free photo storage, how would Google respond?

Chapters -
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:14 Question
00:01:38 Clarifying questions
00:02:52 Answer
00:04:30 Mission
00:05:51 Competitors
00:07:56 Use cases
00:11:29 Strategy
00:17:09 Potential features
00:28:08 Success metrics
00:30:17 Interview analysis
00:32:52 Tips

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[princessdipi]

The first exponent mock interview that I've seen which is not "rehearsed" or pre-prepared. Good job there!

[umg]

I was waiting, for one thing, for the entire interview - Power of Vertical Integration Android integrates to Google Photos seamlessly, it also has apps on iOS, because people have Gmail, many Apple users have Gmail. That is the power no one One strength that keeps them going, and maybe be able to push pricing over to customers as well.... Also he looks like Sebastian Vettel (damn cannot unsee it)

[Theartsygalslays]

I would also add AWS / S3 as a huge play in the photo storage ecosystem, and iCloud as a powerful competitor on device. Amazon’s other weakness then is lack of device persistence where photos are taken.

[buffalotuber]

I agree with some of the other commenters that this interview was not well done. He basically identified "opportunities" that were features Google Photos already has. A big mistake was not thinking through the existing pain points for users of photo products, and attempting to exploit those. He could have asked the interviewer about this, which may have provided guidance. If no guidance was given, then think through the journey. User actions are: taking pictures; determining which photos I want to add to google photos; getting from my phone to google photos; organizing them (this could be done either before or after uploading to photos); finding photos; sharing photos. Think about a time in a group conversation thread when you wanted to share a hilarious picture of someone - it can be really difficult to find that picture in your photos. So how can we leverage our search and recognition capabilities to solve that problem in the best way possible.

It's also a really bad idea to switch the Pros/Cons table to Effort/ Risk/Impact mid-flight. That would be a huge red flag and show that you aren't a structured thinker, and don't have confidence in your decision-making.

[ЮляБас-пн]

When he mistakes calling the interviewer Steven not Kevin, I was like “what a relief. He is a human”😅

[airliu]

Nice interview, very good job thinking on the spot and responding to Kevin's answers.

[mayankbitsmech]

Why would you force fit Porter's five forces here ?

[ashwinkumar]

Umm yeah I’m Kevin😆😂 epic!
Great video as always.

[JBShortzz]

Watching Kevin not blinking tricked me a couple of times that the video was frozen on the right side :)

[ferritafreshi]

I really liked this mock interview. Really a good one and I got the feeling that it was not rehearsed or scripted. Thank you.

[DiptarkaSaha-sd]

This is hands down the best strategy mock interview I have seen. The flow of thought is so clear and structured that I feel like I am watching a movie with a great story unfolding.

[tigerrx]

Like real estate agents say location, location, location; PMs need to re-center on users, users, users. One of Amazon’s LP is to not focus on competitors too much, there’s a reason for that.

P.S. These interview sessions are NOT easy.

[CaliLuke]

IMHO this wasn't a good interview. The candidate should have analyzed the situation from first principles and explain the baseline tactics on how to react to a pricing war, and then figure out the competitive landscape more thoroughly and then decide on a plan of action. For example, there's already a similar paid service Google Photos sought to undermine for a while, Apple Photos. What happened there? Is the situation similar now or not (IMHO it's not for a few interesting reasons). Then once you understand what's the competitive situation, you can make suggestions.

[batmakshimohan-arvind]

Isn't it the case all the ideas mentioned here are already existing features in Google photos? Is it not the expectation that we need to build a new strategy rather than exploring the current features of the application?

[zekoomrkva]

He was very knowledgeable about details in both offerings, how often does that happen in real interviews?

[barkhabhatia]

I will throw in Users pain points like Laziness to keep photos organized, photos are all over the place iphone, icloud, print media, instagram, Facebook etc, Ability to click a good photo I mean tell me how many people you think take a good photo of you :), creating engagement through photos e.g. if there is any latest trend on social media, how to engage with your family and friends on regular basis through photos etc. Some aspect of how to make photos more engaging for people with special needs.

[OnionKnight]

the white-board in this example seems to be sooo helpful to the interviewee. is that a good way to do it in an actual interview? it almost seems like a cheat sheet 🤔

[devendradceite]

I think the biggest miss in the approach was to ask clarifying question about Amazon photos: Why they are launching it? for Brand building, for engagement and retention as a prime member (sell more prime membership), strengthening ecosystem. monetisation as a stand alone product, or as an ancillary product to funnel users into their e-commerce store and

[generalog]

Does anyone what tool is being used for whiteboard ?

[shrutianand]

i think the interviewee was well prepared in advance things like google has 1.2 b users, , you might not know this all the time or on the fly and saying amazon has confusing ux/ui doesn't make sense..we can;t measure it