Cash Cow
A product or business unit that reliably generates profit with little investment. The danger is that its success breeds complacency about innovation.
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Origin
Bruce Henderson, founder of Boston Consulting Group (BCG), created the term as part of the Growth-Share Matrix in 1968. Alan Zakon first sketched the matrix framework with colleagues, and Henderson popularized it in his 1970 essay "The Product Portfolio" in BCG's Perspectives. "Cash cows" represent products with high market share in slow-growing industries—steady profit generators to be "milked" with minimal investment. The metaphor joined other vivid categories: Stars, Question Marks (or "Problem Children"), and Dogs.
Updated February 22, 2026