Example data. Fieldnote is a fictional company used to fill all 61 boards, so the examples tell one consistent story.
Mature Fieldnote, 1.1 M€ ARR with growth slowing. Élise, Karim, Nadia and finance split next year's investment.
What the team took away
Split agreed: 65 % H1, 25 % H2, 10 % H3. Recurring contracts moved from bet to extension once Nadia showed 40 companies already ask for it.
How to run it
Preparation
Leadership and product leads, six to eight people. Finance must be in the room or have validated the current spend split beforehand.
List every initiative currently funded or staffed, with its headcount or budget. Twenty to forty stickies, prepared before the session.
Compute the current split of spend across the three horizons as best you can. The number will shock someone; that is the point.
Send the three-horizon definitions with one example from your own industry per horizon two days before.
Agenda
15 min
Define the horizons for us H1: what pays salaries today. H2: what will pay them in 2 to 3 years, already started. H3: bets with a 5-year payoff. Agree the definitions in your own words before placing anything.
35 min
Place the portfolio One initiative at a time into a column. Disagreements settle on one question: 'when does this pay back?'. Write the headcount on each sticky.
15 min
Read the split Sum the headcount per column. Compare with the target split the group believes in (often around 70/20/10). Name the gap out loud.
35 min
Rebalance What moves? Which H1 initiatives are protecting revenue that is not at risk? Which H3 bets have no owner? Decide 3 to 5 moves with headcount attached.
20 min
Owners and review Each horizon gets a named owner who reports on it quarterly. The H3 owner gets a kill-or-continue date for each bet.
Pitfalls
Calling everything H2 to avoid the conversation. Force the payback question; anything paying in the next 12 months is H1.
An empty H3 column means the company has no future beyond its current product. Do not leave without at least two bets, even small.
Rebalancing on paper without moving people. A move that does not change someone's calendar next month did not happen.
Afterwards
The split and the moves go into the annual plan and the next Business Model Canvas review. H1 initiatives get RICE-scored; H3 bets get an Experiment board each with a kill date.