Building an Innovation Portfolio

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Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Picture your tech stack as a garden bed
Some plants bear fruit, some research what's ahead
Core platform work keeps the harvest flowing
While moonshot projects test what seeds worth sowing
Balance your bets like a seasoned trader
Innovation needs both safe and major

[Chorus]
Three buckets rule the CTO game
Core, Adjacent, Transformational frame
Seventy, twenty, ten percent divide
Research, Emerging, Platform side by side
Portfolio thinking keeps your future bright
Innovation balanced wrong and right

[Verse 2]
Core improvements fix the engine running
Database tuning, performance cunning
Adjacent tech explores the neighborhood
APIs expanding where they never could
Transform means betting on tomorrow's shift
Blockchain, AI, quantum's risky gift

[Chorus]
Three buckets rule the CTO game
Core, Adjacent, Transformational frame
Seventy, twenty, ten percent divide
Research, Emerging, Platform side by side
Portfolio thinking keeps your future bright
Innovation balanced wrong and right

[Bridge]
Track your investments like a hawk watching prey
Metrics reveal what experiments pay
Kill the losers fast, but nurse the winners
Portfolio discipline separates beginners
From leaders who can juggle risk with gain

[Verse 3]
Timeframes matter in this juggling act
Core shows results, that's proven fact
Adjacent bets need quarters to mature
Transform takes years, success less sure
Document failures, celebrate the tries
Learning compounds when ego dies

[Chorus]
Three buckets rule the CTO game
Core, Adjacent, Transformational frame
Seventy, twenty, ten percent divide
Research, Emerging, Platform side by side
Portfolio thinking keeps your future bright
Innovation balanced wrong and right

[Outro]
Seventy-twenty-ten, remember the split
Innovation portfolio, that's how you hit
Balance today with tomorrow's potential
Portfolio management is essential

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