Who This Helps
This is for founder operators who have the data but struggle to get stakeholders to say yes. You know your product portfolio needs work, but convincing the board or your co-founders takes forever. The Product Portfolio Strategy course is built for exactly this moment.
Mini Case
Imagine you run a SaaS startup with 4 products. Your team spends 40% of engineering time on a legacy tool that brings in only 12% of revenue. You have the numbers, but the CEO loves that product. Sound familiar?
One founder used the Portfolio Guardrails mission from the course to frame the conversation. She set a clear rule: no product can consume more than 25% of engineering without generating at least 20% of revenue. Suddenly, the data wasn't an opinion—it was a guardrail. The team agreed to deprioritize the legacy tool in 2 weeks.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- Pull your last 3 months of engineering hours per product. Write them down. No fancy tools needed.
- List revenue per product for the same period. If you don't have exact numbers, estimate. Rough is better than nothing.
- Calculate the ratio of engineering effort to revenue for each product. This is your efficiency score.
- Define one guardrail. For example: "No product gets more than 30% of engineering unless it generates 25% of revenue."
- Share this one-pager with your stakeholders. Say: "Here's our portfolio map. Let's decide together."
Avoid These Traps
- Don't overcomplicate the data. A simple table beats a dashboard that nobody reads.
- Don't skip the guardrails. Without them, every conversation becomes a negotiation about feelings.
- Don't present without a recommendation. Stakeholders want a decision, not a report.
- Don't forget to include the "kill criteria" from the course. It makes hard conversations easier.
- Don't wait for perfect data. You'll never have it. Start with 80% accuracy.
- Don't assume everyone agrees on priorities. Use the portfolio map to make it visual.
- Don't present alone. Bring one ally from the team who supports the data.
- Don't forget to celebrate small wins. Even one product re-prioritized is progress.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you'll have a one-page portfolio map with clear guardrails. Your stakeholders will see the same picture you see. Decisions that used to take 3 meetings will happen in one. You'll walk into the quarterly review with confidence, not anxiety. And honestly, that feels pretty good.
Remember: the Product Portfolio Strategy course gives you the exact framework. The Bet Sizing mission alone can save you weeks of back-and-forth. Use it.