Product Reports in Board Decks as Importance Indicator

It was four years into the life of Pardot and I was talking to a local venture capitalist I didn’t know too well. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey, how are things going?

VC: Great, I was at a board meeting earlier today and Pardot kept coming up.

Me: Pardot? What was the context?

VC: Well, it’s completely transformed our sales and marketing. Everyone keeps referring to it. In fact, Pardot reports are now part of every board deck.

Me: Wow, that’s great. Please let me know if I can ever help with anything.

Of course, it’s flattering to hear a compliment about a product. What really excited me is that the product’s reports were so critical to the business that they were included in the package of materials supplied to the board of directors at every meeting.

In the continuum of minimal importance to maximum importance, product reports that are used as part of board meetings indicate high product importance. Products can be important and have nothing to do with board decks but product reports found in board decks almost always indicate an important product.

What else? What are your thoughts on board reports as an indicator of product importance?