Product
Metrics and gating frameworks to prioritize feature deprecation, prevent product bloating, and ensure feature-level profitability.
Observed Evidence
The Direct Experience
"During product portfolio audits, I watched teams continually build complex AI capabilities that customers never actually used. I noticed a consistent feedback loop: engineers shipped buttons to hit sprint targets, but the carrying cost of maintaining those features slowly strangled roadmap velocity. The mechanism is Feature Bloat - unused code paths requiring continuous testing, dependency updates, and compute power. This leads to the principle of the Product Debt Index (PDI): the carrying cost of legacy features decays long-term valuation. Ultimately, companies must systematically deprecate their bottom 20% of features to restore EBITDA and engineering throughput."
Core Analytical Axioms
Forensically proven concepts in this operational boundary.
Product Debt Index
A quantitative metric representing the drag of backlog maintenance load on product exit valuation.
Product teams continually ship new features without auditing legacy carry, leading to a bloated system that stalls velocity and compresses Exit multiples.
Provides private equity partners and boards with a dollar-value discount index during due diligence.
Feature Deprecation
The systematic removal of low-value, high-maintenance features to recoup margin and velocity.
Product managers are rewarded for adding buttons, never for removing them, creating exponential codebase carrying costs.
Deprecating the bottom 20% of unused features restores up to 30% of engineering throughput.
AI Margin Collapse Point
The specific threshold where user volume and API usage cost exceeds subscription price.
Pricing is modeled on flat SaaS formulas, meaning high-frequency power users actively bleed capital on every query.
Predicts structural insolvency of specific product tiers, enabling value-based caps or credits.
Want to apply this to your organization?
Run a free diagnostic first. If the numbers concern you, book a session to build a remediation plan.
Richard Ewing - AI Economist & Capital Auditor