samarv The 4 BB framework moves roadmap discussions away from debating individual features and toward strategic capacity planning. It forces leadership to align on the balance of investment across four distinct categories of work.
The 4 BB Categories
To use this framework, categorize every initiative in your backlog into one of these four buckets:
- Brilliant Basics (BB1): These are foundational items—technical debt, infrastructure, security, performance, and critical bug fixes.
- Key Principle: "Brilliant" implies these aren't just chores; they are the high-quality foundation upon which everything else is built.
- Bread and Butter (BB2): These are incremental improvements and feature enhancements for your existing product.
- Key Principle: This is your standard backlog that keeps current users satisfied and optimizes existing funnels.
- Big Bets (BB3): These are large-scale initiatives that require cross-functional effort and have the potential for significant business impact.
- Key Principle: These cannot be achieved by one team alone; they require a "Working Backwards" approach and company-wide alignment.
- Breaking Bad (BB4): These are transformative, existential shifts or moonshots that redefine the company’s identity.
- Key Principle: These often involve moving into entirely new categories (e.g., a food delivery app moving into grocery delivery).
Implementation Process
1. Audit the Backlog
Map every proposed item for the upcoming cycle to one of the 4 BBs. Calculate the current "Focus Point" distribution (e.g., 50% Bread and Butter, 10% Brilliant Basics, 40% Big Bets).
2. Design Divergent Allocation Scenarios
Instead of presenting one roadmap, present three divergent scenarios for how the company could spend its "Focus Points":
- The Foundation Play: High investment (40%+) in Brilliant Basics to solve for scale/stability.
- The Growth Play: High investment (60%+) in Bread and Butter to maximize current revenue streams.
- The Visionary Play: High investment (50%+) in Big Bets or Breaking Bad to stay ahead of competitors.
3. Facilitate the Strategic Choice
Present these scenarios to leadership. Do not ask "Which features do you want?" Ask "Which future do you want to invest in?"
- If they choose a "Visionary Play," explicitly state the cost: "This means we will ignore 80% of current bugs and stop optimizing our existing checkout flow."
Examples
Example 1: A Food Delivery Marketplace
- Context: The app is experiencing frequent outages during peak hours, but competitors are launching faster delivery memberships.
- Scenario A (Stability): 50% Brilliant Basics (Backend scaling), 30% Bread and Butter (UI tweaks), 20% Big Bets (Membership launch).
- Scenario B (Aggressive): 10% Brilliant Basics, 20% Bread and Butter, 70% Big Bets (Membership launch + New "Quick Commerce" vertical).
- Outcome: Leadership realizes they cannot have both 100% stability and 100% innovation. They align on a 30/30/40 split.
Example 2: A Neobank/Fintech App
- Context: The team is maintaining a savings account product while trying to launch a credit card.
- Brilliant Basics: Automating KYC compliance to reduce manual overhead.
- Bread and Butter: Improving the "Interest Earned" visualization for savings users.
- Big Bets: Launching the first credit card product (requires cross-team coordination with risk and legal).
- Breaking Bad: Pivoting from a personal banking app to a B2B payroll platform.
Common Pitfalls
- Under-branding Tech Debt: Calling BB1 "Tech Debt" or "Maintenance" makes it easy to cut. Using the term "Brilliant Basics" emphasizes that excellence starts with the foundation.
- The "Everything is a Big Bet" Trap: If you have 10 "Big Bets," you have zero. Limit Big Bets to 1-3 initiatives that the entire leadership team commits to.
- Ignoring the Trade-offs: The primary value of this framework is the "Negative Space"—what you won't do. Ensure the "Won't Do" list is as clear as the "Will Do" list.
- Tactical Drifting: Allowing Bread and Butter items to slowly "bleed" into the capacity reserved for Big Bets. Use strict Focus Point allocations to prevent this.