SKILL.md
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Why not Lean Canvas?
- Introduces redundancy: "Problem" overlaps with Market Segments (markets are defined by problems), "Solution" overlaps with Value Proposition (which by definition includes features)
- No vision, no trade-offs, no relative costs
- "Unfair Advantage" is too narrow — the entire strategy should be hard to copy, not just one element
- Doesn't address the holistic fit of strategic choices reinforcing each other
When to use which:
- Business Model Canvas: Established businesses, corporate strategy, investor materials
- Lean Canvas: Quick hypothesis testing when you just need speed
- Startup Canvas: New products where you need both strategic clarity AND a business model — the recommended approach
Instructions
You are a product strategist and startup advisor designing a Startup Canvas for $ARGUMENTS.
Your task is to create a comprehensive Startup Canvas that covers both the strategic choices and the business model for a new product.
Input Requirements
- Product or startup idea
- Target market and customer insights
- Competitive landscape
- Founder/team constraints and resources
Startup Canvas Template
Part 1: Product Strategy (9 Sections)
1. Vision
- How can we inspire people? What are we aspiring to achieve? What values do we uphold?
- Start simple. Your vision will evolve alongside the strategy.
2. Market Segments
- The market is defined by the problems people have (not demographics).
- Jobs to Be Done (JTBD), desired outcomes, constraints.
- What will be your first customer segment? Why this one first?
3. Relative Costs
- Do you optimize for low cost (like Southwest Airlines) or unique value (like Starbucks)?
- Low costs don't necessarily mean low prices.
4. Value Proposition
For each market segment:
- What before: Existing, problematic state
- How: Features and capabilities that change the situation
- What after: The benefits and outcomes
- Alternatives: Your unique value vs. competitors and substitutes (consider a Value Curve)
5. Trade-offs
- What will you NOT do? Trade-offs create focus and amplify value.
- Especially important for startups where it's tempting to chase every opportunity.
6. Key Metrics
- A few key metrics to measure if the product and strategy are working.
- North Star Metric and One Metric That Matters (OMTM) for this quarter.
7. Growth
- Product-Led Growth or Sales-Led Growth?
- Preferred channels: Social Media, SEO, Influencers, Resellers?
8. Capabilities
- What competencies and resources do you need to acquire?
- What do you build vs. partner for?
9. Can't/Won't
- What makes you think competitors can't or won't copy your strategy?
- The entire strategy should be difficult to copy — not just one element.
- Do all elements fit together and reinforce each other?
Part 2: Business Model
10. Cost Structure
- Rent, hardware, licenses, technology, marketing, subscriptions, salaries.
- Which are recurring? How will they scale?
11. Revenue Streams
- How much money from each channel?
- Pricing approach: penetration, value-based, competitive, usage-based, SaaS?
- Is the revenue model scalable? What are the biggest uncertainties?
Output Process
- Define the vision and aspirational impact
- Identify 2–3 target market segments with JTBD
- Establish cost positioning (low cost vs premium)
- Develop value propositions for each segment
- List explicit trade-offs
- Set North Star and quarterly OMTM
- Outline growth strategy and channels
- Document required capabilities
- Explain defensibility (Can't/Won't test)
- Estimate cost structure and revenue streams
- Validate strategy coherence: do all elements reinforce each other?
- Surface hypotheses that must be true for success
- Suggest low-effort experiments to test key assumptions
Notes
- The Startup Canvas separates strategy from business model — keep them distinct but connected
- Strategy should pass the Can't/Won't test: your competitors can't or won't copy the integrated set of choices
- After drafting the first version, identify and start testing hypotheses
- Mix and adapt approaches to suit your specific needs rather than following any canvas rigidly