You Don’t Need a Roadmap. You Need a Compass.
Everyone loves a good roadmap. It makes progress feel real. It looks great in a deck. It gives the illusion that you know exactly what’s coming.
But at Foundric, we’ve learned that early-stage products rarely follow the path you map out. The market shifts. The feedback surprises you. The thing you thought mattered… doesn’t.
So instead of clinging to roadmaps, we use compasses.
A roadmap is a sequence. A compass is a direction.
We always want a clear sense of:
- Who we’re building for
- What outcome we’re aiming for
- What principle should guide our next move
That’s the compass.
From there, we navigate based on:
- What we’ve learned this week
- What signals users are giving us
- What blocks we’re facing now
It’s not reactive. It’s adaptive.
We still make plans. But we don’t get emotionally attached to them. We know the real path will reveal itself one step at a time.
Some of our best pivots started with, “This wasn’t on the roadmap, but…”
And some of our biggest wins came from following the compass, even when the plan said otherwise.
So yes, plan. Yes, prepare. But don’t mistake structure for clarity. What matters is knowing where you’re headed — even if the trail keeps changing.
