When and How to Build Second Products

Few companies can ride one product to an IPO anymore, and business model is a weak guide to when a company should start building a second product. Timing instead depends on competition, market size and growth, and how natural adjacencies are for the first product. Pinterest and Snapchat, consumer businesses that scaled at about the same time, show the difference: Pinterest iterated on its core product while its new products failed, whereas Snapchat's second product, Snapchat Stories, was a huge hit.