How we stopped chasing giants' features and found our winning strategy — and what every product manager can learn from it.
Two years ago, I walked into a boardroom at Morphisec. The CEO, VP Sales, and senior leadership were all there. Usually these meetings buzz with energy — new features, big dreams. That day felt like a funeral.
The numbers weren't lying. Sales had dropped quarter after quarter. Our average deal size had eroded to unprofitable levels. And we all knew why: the market had shifted beneath our feet. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint was everywhere, accessible and cheap. CrowdStrike had become a monster. Our message of "we fill the gaps" stopped working — because the gaps had closed.
"We looked at the market, saw everyone rushing to Exposure Management, and said: great — us too."
— The decision that almost killed usAnd so we entered what I now call "The Good Enough Trap." A salesperson would beg: "The customer says if we just add this one feature, they'll drop product Y and buy us instead." So we got to work. Feature after feature, following the playbook — design partners, discovery sessions, all of it. A year later, we had built a shiny new Exposure Management product.
We had 6–7 excellent features. Our competitors had 30. Customers looked at us and asked: "This is nice — but why would I buy this from you instead of Palo Alto?" We had become a Feature Factory. And we were losing.
We all grew up on prioritization methodologies. RICE. Value vs. Effort. MoSCoW. We open Excel, score Value, score Effort, get a magic number. We feel like scientists. I want to say something hard: these frameworks are part of the problem.
They worship Value — and that sounds logical. "Always deliver value to customers." But here's the thing: our Exposure Management features had value. Customers wanted them. They passed every RICE filter. But they didn't help us sell. Why? Because value is table stakes. Your competitors have value too. Sometimes more.
"The question isn't 'how much value does this deliver?' The question is: 'does this make a customer choose us over a competitor?'"
— The shift that changed everythingCustomers happy → but so are your competitors' customers. You end up in a crowded middle where nothing stands out and no one remembers you.
Value makes customers satisfied. Differentiation makes customers choose you. Only one of these wins deals.
We gathered every Product Manager in a room with a giant whiteboard and a thick stack of Post-its. The instruction was simple and brutal: write every feature currently in the Roadmap, Backlog, or in your head. One Post-it per feature.
Then we introduced the framework. Two axes. Every feature gets placed on the grid.
The Spotlight Matrix
← LOW · PARITY (being like everyone) · HIGH →
"When we put the matrix up — 80% of our planned work for the next year was sitting in the bottom right. The commodity trap. We could see it, right there, yellow on white."
— The moment the team understoodThere was resistance. PMs fought for their features. "But we promised this in the QBR!" "The engineers already started!" But as we went feature by feature, the picture became undeniable. We were building things that would make us adequate — not exceptional.
The metaphor that stuck: imagine a huge dark room — your market. Your instinct as a PM is to light up every corner. A small lamp here (email notifications), a small lamp there (custom dashboard). You're running from side to side. But everything is dim. Nothing stands out. The customer can't see anything except chaos.
The Spotlight Matrix says the opposite: turn off all the small lights. Pick the one point where you're strongest, and blast a single massive spotlight on it. That's what customers remember. That's what wins deals.
Our research confirmed it: customers bought Morphisec for one burning problem — Ransomware Protection. The kind that competitors couldn't solve to their satisfaction. We heard phrases like "peace of mind," "I sleep well at night," "I don't even know you're there — and that's exactly what I want."
The features we thought were critical? "Nice." Or: "We already have that in product X." So we made the call: stop building Exposure Management features. Stop chasing. Become the best ransomware prevention product in the world.
Product managers are not order-takers filling Excel sheets based on sales demands or competitor features. We're directors deciding where to point the camera — and which lights to turn off so the spotlight hits what actually matters.
Find your
Spotlight
Open your roadmap tomorrow morning. Don't look for what to delete. Look for what to illuminate. Find the one feature only you can build — and aim everything at it.