Senior PM at Meta: Trade-Off Analysis

Senior-Level Prioritization Scenario

Context:

You’re a Senior PM at Meta leading Facebook Groups. Your VP has tasked you with improving creator monetization to compete with Reddit’s growing creator economy. You have Q1 (one quarter) and significant engineering resources (15 engineers).

Strategic context:

• Facebook Groups has 1.8B monthly users, but creator churn is 25% annually
• Reddit’s creator revenue program is pulling away top creators
• Meta’s overall strategy is “Year of Efficiency” - focus on revenue and retention
• Groups currently generates $200M annual revenue (ads in groups)

Your Q1 priority must be ONE of these:

Option A: Creator Subscriptions in Groups

Enable group admins to charge $4.99-$9.99/month for exclusive content and features.

Potential Impact:

• Revenue: Could generate $30M in Q1 (10% of top groups monetize, 100K subscribers avg)
• Creator retention: High-value creators stay on platform (vs leaving to Reddit/Discord)
• User friction: Paywall creates two-tier experience, may reduce engagement in paid groups

Strategic considerations:

• Directly addresses creator churn
• Competes with Reddit Premium and Discord Nitro
• Requires App Store integration (30% fee)

Option B: Group Tipping & Donations

One-click tipping for group posts, fundraising for group causes.

Potential Impact:

• Revenue: $10M in Q1 (lower take rate, more casual usage)
• Creator retention: Benefits smaller creators, not just top groups
• User behavior: Low friction, feels altruistic (higher adoption)

Strategic considerations:

• Enables monetization for long-tail creators
• Lower revenue ceiling than subscriptions
• Doesn’t create defensible revenue moats (easy to replicate)

Option C: Brand Partnerships Marketplace

Connect group admins with brands for sponsored posts and campaigns.

Potential Impact:

• Revenue: $50M in Q1 (Meta takes 15% of brand deals, high $ value deals)
• Creator retention: Top creators earn significantly (average $5K/campaign)
• Platform health: Sponsored content may degrade user trust, feel inauthentic

Strategic considerations:

• Highest revenue potential
• Creates advertiser dependency (if brands leave, creators lose income)
• Regulatory risk (FTC disclosure requirements, brand safety concerns)
• Competitive moat: Brands already trust Meta’s ad platform

Option D: Membership Perks & Gamification

Exclusive badges, early access to features, priority support for active group members.

Potential Impact:

• Revenue: $5M in Q1 (upsell to Groups Premium tier)
• Creator retention: Doesn’t directly monetize creators (may not stop churn)
• Engagement: Could increase retention and time spent in groups

Strategic considerations:

• Long-term engagement play, not revenue-focused
• Doesn’t address core problem (creators leaving for better monetization)
• Strengthens group ecosystem for future monetization

Your Task:

Provide a senior-level prioritization decision that includes:

1. Your recommendation - Which option and why
2. First-order effects - Immediate impact on revenue, creators, users
3. Second-order effects - What happens 6-12 months later?
4. Stakeholder impact analysis:
   • Group admins/creators
   • Group members/viewers
   • Meta’s business
   • Advertisers/brands
5. Long-term vs short-term trade-offs - What are you optimizing for?
6. Optionality analysis - Does this choice enable or block future options?
7. Quantified trade-offs - Size the opportunity cost of NOT doing the other options

Meta-specific calibration:

• Bias to action: Pick something that ships fast and proves value
• Data-driven: What would you measure to validate your bet?
• Ecosystem thinking: How does this fit into broader Meta monetization strategy?

Take your time. Show me how a Senior PM at Meta thinks through a high-stakes prioritization decision with competing options that are ALL defensible.