Product Portfolio

Narrative overview of the product portfolio — which products are growth engines, which are cash cows, which are innovation bets, and which are candidates for sunset. The CEO/CPO articulation of "what game each product line is playing." Frequently structured along the McKinsey Three Horizons framing or the classic BCG growth-share matrix (stars / cash cows / question marks / dogs — per Bruce Henderson's "The Product Portfolio", 1970). Common pitfall: the portfolio narrative does not name horizons, life-cycle stages, or sunset candidates — a portfolio described entirely as "growth engines" is not a portfolio strategy, it is a wishlist. Boards should push for explicit classification of every material product.

Percentage of total ARR contributed by the single largest product line. Diversification-risk indicator at the product level (parallel to customer-concentration risk at the GTM level). Common pitfall: concentration risk is dismissed when the dominant product is performing well — but a one-product company is a one-feature-decision-away from existential risk. Boards should track this number alongside the portfolio narrative; sustained 70%+ concentration in a maturing company should pair with a documented diversification thesis or an explicit decision to remain a single-product company. Frames analogous to customer-concentration discussions in venture diligence (NfX / Bessemer founder essays cover the customer-side; the product-side analogue follows the same logic).

Percentage of the planned roadmap (typically next 1–2 quarters) allocated to offensive bets — net-new capabilities, market expansion, differentiation moats, new monetization. The "what proportion of the plan is about winning" view. Common pitfall: counting "improvements to existing features" as offensive when the change is really table-stakes parity work. Boards should expect a McKinsey-style horizon framing (Horizon 1 = core, Horizon 2 = adjacent, Horizon 3 = transformational) or an equivalent classification, and apply it consistently. Per the original McKinsey "Three Horizons" framing (Baghai/Coley/White, "The Alchemy of Growth", 1999), a healthy portfolio funds all three — over-indexing on any one is a strategic risk.

Percentage of the planned roadmap allocated to defensive work — platform reliability, security/compliance, scalability rearchitecture, table-stakes parity with competitors, customer-retention features. The complement of `offensive_roadmap_pct`. Common pitfall: defensive work is chronically under-funded (less visible to customers, harder to demo) until a quality-churn or scalability event forces a reactive surge. Boards should treat sustained zero or near-zero defensive allocation in a maturing product as a leading indicator of future quality issues — per the standard product-management argument (Marty Cagan and similar product-leadership writing), a healthy roadmap pays both growth and platform-health rent.

Annual Recurring Revenue — the value of all recurring subscription revenue normalized to a one-year run-rate as of the period close. The headline operating metric for a subscription business; every growth and efficiency ratio (NRR, GRR, magic number, CAC payback, Rule of 40) is calibrated against it. Excludes one-time fees, professional services, and non-contractual usage. Common pitfall: confusing ARR (contracted recurring) with revenue (recognized) or with CARR (contracted incl. not-yet-live) — the SMSB standard draws sharp lines between them, and boards expect the same discipline. The KpiVarianceTable widget surfaces forecast / actual / variance / status / future-forecast columns against the same field.