Four BB Framework
The Four BB Framework is a product strategy investment-allocation model developed by Anuj Rathi (Swiggy, Jupiter Money). It divides a product team’s portfolio into four named buckets — each with a distinct risk-return profile and decision-making process — to make trade-offs explicit between the head of product and the CEO.
The four buckets
| Bucket | Covers | Risk / return | Process |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brilliant Basics | Infrastructure, tech debt | Low risk, hygiene-level return | Routine sprint allocation |
| Bread and Butter | Feature backlog, optimisation, experiments | Incremental | A/B testing, quarterly roadmap |
| Big Bets | Cross-team, high-stakes initiatives | High potential, high investment | PR/FAQ with mandatory cross-team sign-offs |
| Breaking Bad | Existential pivots, business model shifts | Transformational or fatal | CEO-led; restructures the company’s core identity |
Swiggy’s move from food delivery to a convenience company was a Breaking Bad initiative — it changed the company’s fundamental identity, not just its product offering.
The allocation conversation
The Four BB Framework is an executive-level tool, not a PM-level one. The conversation about how many focus points to allocate across the four buckets belongs between the head of product and the CEO.
Rathi recommends creating three alternative allocations — not one — and presenting them as options. This makes trade-offs visible rather than presenting a single plan that invites negotiation at the margins. The same logic applies to Big Bets: write three divergent PR FAQs before committing to a direction.
Renaming as strategy
Brilliant Basics is a deliberate rebrand of “tech debt” and “infrastructure investment.” Teams that use the label “tech debt” lose budget battles because the name signals remedial work. Renaming to Brilliant Basics frames the investment as foundational capability — pro-growth rather than anti-debt.
OKRs and three-way marketplaces
In three-way marketplaces (buyer, seller, platform), OKRs fail as the unit of strategy because all three parties’ goals conflict structurally. Big Bets — with explicit PR/FAQ sign-off from each party — are a more appropriate unit for cross-party initiatives. At Swiggy, consumer, restaurant, and delivery-partner OKRs were structurally incompatible; Big Bets gave a workable alternative.
See also
- Anuj Rathi
- Anuj Rathi on the Full-Stack PM, Four BB Framework, and Building for India
- OKRs — Four BB replaces OKRs as the strategic unit in three-way marketplaces
- Product Operations — operational execution within each bucket
- 7 Powers — complementary: 7 Powers maps strategic positions; Four BB maps investment allocation
- Roger Martin on Strategy — both treat strategy as a series of explicit choices with alternatives made visible