Conduct a product portfolio pruning review

The Portfolio Zombie Problem: Why Nothing Gets Cut

Most product portfolios accumulate features the way attics accumulate boxes — nothing gets thrown out because each item has one champion who argues for keeping it. Reforge's product strategy research notes that maintenance cost on zombie features is the most underreported line item in engineering budgets; teams spend 20-30% of their capacity keeping alive features that produce <2% of revenue. Marty Cagan's "most important thing" argument is that focus is the scarcest resource, and portfolio bloat is the quietest way to lose it.

How the Conduct a product portfolio pruning review Prompt Works

The prompt forces a classification table with explicit revenue % and maintenance cost, then sequences the Sunset conversation before the Maintain conversation so cuts are the default, not the exception. The migration path column is the load-bearing piece — a sunset plan without a migration path is an announcement customers will churn over.

When to Use It

• Engineering is spending >20% on feature maintenance with no growth.
• A new focus strategy needs capacity that today goes to zombies.
• You inherited a portfolio and need a defensible prune plan in 30 days.
• Support load from low-usage features is eroding your NPS.
• A CFO is asking why R&D spend keeps rising without product momentum.

Common Pitfalls

• Sunsetting without a migration path. Customers churn on the announcement, not the sunset date. Always give them the next-best option.
• Letting revenue exposure alone decide. Low-revenue features can be strategic (reference customers, platform hooks). Score on all four dimensions.
• Skipping the internal announcement. Sales and CS find out from customers first. That conversation never goes well.

Sources

• The Most Important Thing — Silicon Valley Product Group
• The Product Strategy Stack — Reforge
• Product Strategy Overview — Silicon Valley Product Group
• Retention, Engagement & Growth: The Silent Killer — Reforge