Knowing what to build

Being able to build in hardware or software is extremely critical task that requires skills and hardwork. Engineers are excited about building challenging new hardware and software every day and want to build the next big thing.

What’s even more important is to know what to build. At Google, we(hardware engineers) get the opportunity to define and argue our own projects. The team does not have a marketing dept to provide PRD but instead relies on the tech lead to develop business case and quantify the value of the project just like how a startup has to support its product in front of VC when raising money.

At every level in the company, if the owner of the execution of a product is also the one who initiated the product in the first place, there is a very good chance that the lessons learned on knowing what to build is equally important or more so than knowing how to build.