How do you influence the roadmap when everything requires an ROI?

If you haven't tried the RICE framework to help prioritize in a numerical/data-driven way. try this!

RICE Framework (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort)

• Reach: How many users/customers will this feature impact?
  Example: Number of users affected, target segment size.

• Impact: What is the expected benefit?
  Example: Score as High (3), Medium (2), Low (1).

• Confidence: How certain are you about the reach and impact?
  Example: High (100%), Medium (80%), Low (50%).

• Effort: How much work is required?
  Example: Estimate in engineering person-weeks or months.

Formula:
RICE Score= (Reach×Impact×Confidence)/Effort

Example:

Feature: Real-time behavioral data pipeline for enterprise clients.

• Reach: Affects 20 enterprise customers, impacting 15% of revenue.

• Impact: High (3) — Addresses a top complaint and enables upsell opportunities.

• Confidence: Medium (80%) — Based on customer feedback and sales insights.

• Effort: 4 person-months.

• RICE Score: (20x3x0.8)/4=12

When advocating for long-term initiatives, paint a picture of where the company will end up if you don't invest in these areas - the FOMO approach works well for future-focused initiatives.

Forward-thinking companies should already have some longer-term thinking built into their strategic plans, with a percentage of resources dedicated to these initiatives. When proposing long-term strategic initiatives, be explicit about the bet you're making: clearly articulate what you expect to see and in what timeframe. These longer-term projects are essentially hypotheses, so you need to define how you'll measure success. While you might not see full revenue outcomes immediately, identify leading indicators that can show you're on the right track earlier - like early adoption metrics. For each strategic bet, clarify which are irreversible commitments versus reversible experiments, establish the metrics you'll track, and set a future point to evaluate progress. This structured approach helps make long-term investments more palatable when immediate ROI is the norm.

The days of easy growth are over in many sectors due to higher capital costs and industry consolidation, which has actually made product managers more receptive to long-term strategic thinking.

At LinkedIn, we address this by explicitly allocating our resources across different time horizons. We dedicate a percentage of our resources (around 20%) to immediate 'gap to plan' initiatives that help hit current fiscal goals. Another portion focuses on strategic bets that are 1-2 years out but core to our business. We also reserve a smaller bucket for 'venture bets' that might take 3+ years to pay off but could drive turbocharged growth if successful. Beyond this framework, getting product partners in front of customers is crucial - have them participate in advisory boards, focus groups, and industry events where they can hear customer needs firsthand. This often sparks creativity and big-picture thinking that breaks them out of short-term mindsets. Finally, competitive analysis showing where competitors are moving ahead can create FOMO that motivates investment in longer-term initiatives.