The MOMENTUM manifesto

A Manifesto for Product Teams in the Age of AI

1. Strategy Is a Specification, Not a Story

A real product strategy is a behavioral specification that defines what the product must do (the 'what') and a strategic justification explaining why it matters (the 'why'). It must define this for whom, and under which constraints. It is not a narrative or a deck.

If a product cannot be rebuilt from its strategy with equivalent behavior, the strategy is incomplete.

2. Code Is an Implementation Detail

Code changes faster than intent. Architecture evolves. Tech stacks rotate. Teams change.

Strategy must outlive all of them.

Code implements strategy. It must never define it.

3. Strategy Deserves Version Control

If strategy matters, it must be: • versioned • reviewed • approved • auditable

Strategy that cannot go through a pull request is not strategy – it is opinion.

4. Execution Without Intent Is Just Output

Shipping features is easy. Shipping the right features repeatedly is not.

Velocity without intent produces: • accidental scope • incoherent products • local optimizations • irreversible complexity

Intent comes first. Execution follows.

5. AI Requires Explicit Constraints

AI will happily fill in the blanks.

If your strategy is vague, AI will invent one. If your constraints are implicit, AI will violate them.

AI amplifies structure – or the lack of it.

6. Separate Thinking from Building

Product thinking and code execution are different cognitive modes.

They deserve: • different repositories • different instructions • different review standards

Separation creates clarity. Feedback keeps them aligned.

7. Strategy Changes Deliberately, Not Accidentally

Every strategy change should answer: • What changed? • Why did it change? • What did we learn?

If intent drifts silently, the product is no longer designed – it is grown by accident.

8. Production Reality Grounds Strategy

Prototypes validate hypotheses. Staging validates implementation. Production validates the business.

While pre-production feedback is vital to course-correct, real-world usage is the definitive measure that grounds and evolves the strategy over time.

9. Rebuildability Is the Quality Bar

A good strategy allows the product to be rebuilt: • by a new team • on a new stack • at a later time • or by an AI

Same behavior. Same constraints. Same scope.

Different code is acceptable. Different intent is not.

10. Artifacts Are Disposable. Intent Is Not

Documents, tickets, and prototypes can be regenerated.

Strategy cannot.

Artifacts serve strategy – not the other way around.

Final Statement

Strategy before artifacts. Intent before execution. Constraints before code.

In an age where software is cheap, clarity is the real competitive advantage.