When & How to Build Second Product by Casey Winters

Had a fantastic conversation this week with Casey Winters about the crucial (and often tricky) decision of when to build your second product.

Casey is easily one of the foremost experts on scaling startups after product-market fit, and his insights – honed from his experience at Pinterest, Grubhub, and Eventbrite – were pure gold.

Why the second product matters?

For startups looking to maintain that coveted S-curve growth after Series B/C funding, a well-timed second product launch can be a game-changer. Multi product companies looking to go public are much more likely to be highly priced than a single product company.

Here’s how it played out for some familiar names:

Calm successfully launched Sleep Stories

Instacart introduced Ads as their second product

Canva successfully launched Presentations

Conversely:

Duolingo struggled with Tinycards

Grubhub wasn’t as successful with pickup orders (due to their targeted demographics of densely populated areas and low car ownership)

Figma faced challenges with Figma Community

Key Takeaways:

Timing is key. Don’t rush into a second product just because you have funding. Align it with your user base and market needs.

Know your strengths. Leverage your existing user base and expertise to build a second product that enhances your core offering.

Target the right audience. Consider your demographics and usage patterns when developing a second product.

Here’s the link to full talk: