pm-product-canvas

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:

1. Does the solution leverage our distinctive competencies? → Build.
2. If no — can we create it at low cost? → Build.
3. If no — do we have the time to reach a solution? If no → Buy.
4. If yes — are the required skill sets available internally? Yes → Build; No → Partner.

Interview the user (batch questions)

1. The opportunity in one line, the persona, and the market problem + evidence.
2. Strategic fit — which company goal / Strategy-Matrix cell does it serve?
3. Distinctive competencies it leverages; main competitors/alternatives.
4. Rough units, price, time horizon; do you have contribution-margin history or headcount estimates?
5. Any gaps in the solution you'd need to fill (feeds Buy/Build/Partner)?
6. Success metrics leadership cares about.

Artifact template

# 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.