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“Great user experience, Shardul. But where’s the business case?”
Early in my product career, I led a team building a tool our users loved.
Engagement was off the charts. NPS was solid. Feedback channels were buzzing with praise.
Confident, I walked into an exec meeting to pitch a plan for expansion. I had data. I had a vision. I had user love.
The Product Force was with me.
Or, so I thought.
The questions came fast:
“Why isn't the current Monthly Active Users (MAU) good enough?”
“Will this lead to more sales?”
“Which accounts are likely to renew as a result of this?”
“How does this fit with our strategic goals this year?”
“Does this create a new differentiator for us?”
“What's the revenue potential?”
“Why can’t this happen with the resources you already have?”
“Why do this now?”
I froze. I didn’t have the answers.
All I could say was, “But our users love it!”
The proposal died before it hit the table.
That day, I learned something that changed my career:
Being a great product manager isn’t just about building what users love. It’s about defining monetizable customer value — for the business.
A Product Manager is responsible for driving the sustained business growth of a product by continuously delivering monetizable customer value.
Most PMs are taught to think like builders
The best PMs learn to think like business owners.
And business owners have one thing that sets them apart: commercial acumen.
If you want more influence, trust, impact and respect as a PM, commercial acumen is what will get you there.
That was my failure. Despite all my data and user research, I lacked the business case for the investment I was asking for.
So, today, I’m going to cover:
What commercial acumen is (without the MBA jargon)
Why it’s the difference between being heard and being ignored
How a lack of it stalls careers and products
5 practical ways to start building it today
What is Commercial Acumen?
In plain terms: it’s knowing how your product makes money.
Commercial acumen isn’t just about currency and spreadsheets. It’s a mindset. A muscle. A lens through which you make product decisions.
It includes:
Financial literacy – Understanding revenue, costs, margins, and how your product affects them.
Market sense – Knowing your customers, competitors, and industry trends.
Strategic alignment – Connecting your roadmap to company outcomes, not just user metrics.
Cross-functional fluency – Speaking in the language of sales, marketing, finance, and operations.
You don’t need to be a CFO. But you do need to think beyond features and frameworks. You need to think like a business manager.
Why Product Managers Without Commercial Acumen Struggle
Great ideas die in meetings every day.
Why? Because they’re not backed by business logic. Because PMs focus exclusively on users but forget revenue, costs, ROI, and go-to-market.
When you lack commercial acumen:
Your roadmap misaligns with strategy.
Your proposals fail the “who cares?” and “why now?” tests.
You get cut out of higher-level conversations.
Products get built — but don’t perform.
Your career stalls.
Fortunately, this blind spot is one of the easiest to fix.
5 Ways to Start Building Commercial Acumen (Today)
Here’s how to level up without going back to school:
1. Start with your company’s financials
Read the annual report or earnings calls.
Ask your finance team for a 101 on your unit economics.
Learn the basics of your product’s P&L and pricing.
2. Shadow your commercials teams
Sit in on sales and support calls.
Understand how deals are made (and lost).
Learn how your product is positioned to customers.
3. Know your market like your backlog
Who are your competitors?
Where are they gaining or losing ground? Why?
What macro trends are shaping buyer behavior?
4. Connect every feature to a business goal
Is it driving sales? Retention? Speed to revenue?
Reducing churn? Increasing margin?
If not, question whether it’s worth doing.
5. Practice pitching to business stakeholders
Translate your roadmap into a business case.
Frame product investments in terms of ROI, not just user value.
Role-play exec reviews with peers or mentors.
Bottom Line
You can build the slickest product in the world, but if it doesn’t make business sense, it won’t go anywhere.
Not in the market. Not in the boardroom. Not in your career.
When you build that business muscle, you become the kind of Product Manager leaders trust.
You don’t just ship features. You get recognized for driving results.
You get invited to the “room where it happens.”
You become more than just a release manager. You become a business leader.
And that changes everything.
Have a joyful week, and, if you can, make it joyful for someone else too.
cheers,
shardul
Whenever you’re ready, there are 4 ways I can help you:
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Shardul Mehta
I ❤️ product managers
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