We all heard people, during the dot-com era, bypass tried and true business concepts to champion untried - and untrue - concepts such as “The Internet changes everything” and “The company with first mover advantage wins.” While there is some truth to these concepts (and I think we will learn where to apply them correctly) the problem was that they were built on beliefs that the old rules - the law of gravity, for instance - no longer applied.

We all know, however, that the law of gravity does in fact still apply. And like the law of gravity, the Law of Momentum is one of the most important laws for your product.

The Law of Momentum basically states that you can push a thing to make it go faster, and that as a thing builds up speed, it’s easier to make it go even faster.

One of the top jobs of a Product Manager - and I’ve never seen it on a job description - is to make the product gain momentum. When you make it gain momentum, it catches up to competitors that were ahead, and eventually pulls ahead of the pack. Leading to a more profitable product and a more successful company.

And once you’ve got the momentum, you don’t have to work so hard to increase your speed.

Read on for tips on how to build momentum for your product.