Who This Helps
Founders and operators who feel stuck in endless planning meetings. The Product Portfolio Strategy course gives you a clear system to size your bets and sequence your work, so you can move from talk to action.
Mini Case
Sam’s team spent 3 weeks debating which new feature to build next. They finally created a one-page portfolio map. In 90 minutes, they sized their 5 potential bets and sequenced the top 2. They launched their first experiment in 7 days, not 7 weeks.
Do This Now (5 Steps)
- List your active bets. Grab a whiteboard or doc. Write down everything your team is working on or considering. No filtering yet.
- Add rough sizing. For each item, note if it’s a small tweak (days), a medium project (weeks), or a big bet (months).
- Score your confidence. Mark each bet as high, medium, or low confidence based on what you know today.
- Define your guardrails. Pick one key metric that must not get worse. This is your non-negotiable.
- Sequence the top two. Look at size and confidence. Pick the two highest-confidence, right-sized bets to run next. Schedule the rest for a future review.
Avoid These Traps
- Don’t try to plan the whole year. You’re just sequencing the next quarter.
- Don’t get stuck on perfect sizing. Rough estimates are your friend.
- Don’t skip the guardrails. They’re your safety net for bold moves.
- Don’t let shiny new ideas jump the line. Park them for the next review.
- Don’t make this a solo exercise. Get your key stakeholders in the room.
- Don’t confuse effort with impact. A small, high-confidence bet often wins.
- Don’t forget to define clear kill criteria before you start. Know when to stop.
- Don’t let the map become shelf-ware. Review it every quarter like clockwork.
Your Win by Friday
By Friday, you’ll have a one-page artifact—your portfolio map—that shows your active bets, their size, and your confidence. You’ll have a clear ‘what’s next’ and a ‘what’s not.’ Your team will have a single source of truth, so you can stop debating and start building. Think of it as a treasure map, but for your product strategy.