The Future and The Floor: Framing Investments for Growth
Blog post from Honeycomb
Choosing the right investments in R&D can be overwhelming due to the vast array of possibilities across different domains, but a strategic focus on "the future" and "the floor" can simplify decision-making. The future involves delivering new value quickly, aligning with company growth drivers, such as expanding the customer base in a B2B SaaS context, and prioritizing investments that have the most significant impact on growth. The floor, on the other hand, entails maintaining a Minimum Respectable User Experience (MRX) by ensuring reasonable levels of system performance and user satisfaction. By defining and aligning on these concepts, teams can evaluate potential investments based on their ability to drive future growth and maintain existing service quality. This approach echoes Andy Grove's principle of pairing indicators to balance speed and quality, ensuring that new developments do not compromise the foundational quality of the product.