How to "rise above" Product Sense frameworks for L6+?

"Rise Above" Frameworks and Stand Out as an L6+ Candidate

What separates the solid candidate from the stand-out L6+ candidate?

It comes down to seeing how you “rise above” the frameworks that showcases your strategic thinking.

The Traditional vs. The 10x Approach

Let’s walk through an example - “Improve Instacart”.

1. The traditional way:

• Lay out how Instacart works.
• Discuss user motivations and pain points.
• Suggest product improvements, like recipe bundles or better browsing and cart features.

2. The new way that leads to 10x thinking:

Identify the real crux and essence:

• Users want more than grocery delivery.
• What they really want is time back in their day.
• They want things to get done without leaving their homes.

Now we can 10x the thinking, and improve Instacart by expanding into services (cleaning, childcare, or meal prep) so Instacart becomes a “stay-home-and-get-it-all” platform.

In the traditional approach, you’re checking the boxes.

It’s fine, but it’s also common and familiar.

Most of the other candidates would say similar things.

In the new approach, you’re showing strategic 10x thinking and that is how you stand out.

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Mock interviews are great at telling you what you did wrong, but not necessarily how to elevate your thinking to exceed the L6+ bar.

When you see what great looks like, you can more easily replicate it.

And that is when you:

• think bigger and faster on the spot,
• actually frame the strategy (and not just check things off a framework),
• and add the next-level narratives from one section to another section in the case interview.

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