Product Canvas / Business Case (Pragmatic Framework: Business → Business Plan)
Rule: the Business Plan is an objective analysis of a market opportunity that
provides the basis for investment. Articulate what you learned in the market,
quantify the risk with a financial model, and end with a go/no-go recommendation.
Opinion is irrelevant; the case is built on validated market evidence. See
../pm-copilot/references/framework.md for the market-problem test and primitives.
Check the feature dossier first (see ../pm-copilot/references/artifact-output.md)
and reuse the market problem, personas, positioning, competitive picture, and
distinctive competencies already established there. Where they're missing, gather
them (run pm-market-problems, pm-personas, pm-positioning,
pm-competitive-landscape, pm-distinctive-competence) — the canvas synthesizes them.
The Product Canvas — three parts
1. Value Proposition — why this, why us, why now
- Market opportunity — the urgent, pervasive, willing-to-pay problem.
- Buyer / user persona — who has the problem and who pays.
- Positioning statement — the ≤25-word "For [persona], [product] [verb] [problem] by [verb] [benefit]."
- Strategic alignment — how it supports company strategy (tie to the Strategy Matrix).
2. Value Creation — can we win, and at what cost
- Distinctive competencies — the valued + different + provable strengths this leverages.
- Competitive landscape — alternatives, their strengths/weaknesses, our winning strategy.
- Impact to buyers/users — the positive/negative consequences; the ROI to the buyer.
- Investment level — resources (people, material, facility) required.
3. Value Capture — what the business gets back
- Market size — see sizing below.
- Revenue generation — projected units × price over the horizon.
- Costs / profits — see cost models below.
- Distribution strategy — the channels aligned to how the market buys.
- Success metrics — how you'll know it worked (Value / Quality / Progress / Satisfaction).
Market sizing & financials
- Revenue = projected number of units × unit price (build a simple multi-period model).
- Cost — pick one model:
- Percentage-of-Revenue model — estimated revenue × historical contribution margin.
- Estimation model — sum the loaded costs of dedicated headcount across Engineering, Services, Support, Sales, Marketing, Data Science, etc.
- Quantify risk: state the key assumptions and what would break the model.
Buy, Build or Partner decision tree
Work top to bottom:
- Does the solution leverage our distinctive competencies? → Build.
- If no — can we create it at low cost? → Build.
- If no — do we have the time to reach a solution? If no → Buy.
- If yes — are the required skill sets available internally? Yes → Build; No → Partner.
Interview the user (batch questions)
- The opportunity in one line, the persona, and the market problem + evidence.
- Strategic fit — which company goal / Strategy-Matrix cell does it serve?
- Distinctive competencies it leverages; main competitors/alternatives.
- Rough units, price, time horizon; do you have contribution-margin history or headcount estimates?
- Any gaps in the solution you'd need to fill (feeds Buy/Build/Partner)?
- Success metrics leadership cares about.
Artifact template
markdown# Product Canvas / Business Case — <Opportunity> **Company:** <company> · **Feature / Product:** <feature / product name> **Author:** <author> · **Date created:** <date> · **Version:** 1.0 **Recommendation:** <GO / NO-GO / GO WITH CONDITIONS> — <one-line rationale> ## 1. Value Proposition - **Market opportunity (problem):** <urgent, pervasive, willing-to-pay problem + evidence> - **Buyer persona:** <who pays> • **User persona:** <who uses> - **Positioning statement:** For <persona>, <product> <verb> <problem> by <verb> <benefit>. - **Strategic alignment:** <company goal / Strategy-Matrix cell it serves> ## 2. Value Creation | Dimension | Assessment | | :--- | :--- | | Distinctive competencies leveraged | <valued + different + provable> | | Competitive landscape | <alternatives, strengths/weaknesses, our winning strategy> | | Impact to buyers/users | <ROI / consequences> | | Investment level | <people, material, facility> | ## 3. Value Capture - **Market size:** <TAM/segment sizing basis> - **Revenue model:** | Period | Units | Unit Price | Revenue | | :--- | ---: | ---: | ---: | | Y1 | <#> | <$> | <$> | | Y2 | <#> | <$> | <$> | - **Cost model:** <Percentage-of-Revenue @ __% margin | Estimation: headcount × loaded cost> - **Projected profit / contribution:** <$> - **Distribution strategy:** <channels> - **Success metrics:** <Value / Quality / Progress / Satisfaction metrics> ## 4. Buy, Build or Partner <Walk the decision tree; state the recommendation and why.> ## 5. Risk & assumptions - <key assumption> — <what breaks the model if wrong> - > TODO: <unvalidated inputs to confirm> ## 6. Recommendation <Go / No-go / conditions, tied to the evidence above.>
Deliver the artifact
Follow ../pm-copilot/references/artifact-output.md: confirm inputs, ask Markdown
or .docx, write the .md, and convert to .docx on request via your environment's native document-creation capability. Then offer the next stage: turning the approved opportunity
into a pm-product-roadmap.
