startup-business-analyst-business-case

# Business Case Generator

Generate a comprehensive, investor-ready business case document covering market opportunity, solution, competitive landscape, financial projections, team, risks, and funding ask for startup fundraising and strategic planning.

## Use this skill when

- Working on business case generator tasks or workflows
- Needing guidance, best practices, or checklists for business case generator

## Do not use this skill when

- The task is unrelated to business case generator
- You need a different domain or tool outside this scope

## Instructions

- Clarify goals, constraints, and required inputs.
- Apply relevant best practices and validate outcomes.
- Provide actionable steps and verification.
- If detailed examples are required, open `resources/implementation-playbook.md`.

## What This Command Does

Create a complete business case including:
1. Executive summary
2. Problem and market opportunity
3. Solution and product
4. Competitive analysis and differentiation
5. Financial projections
6. Go-to-market strategy
7. Team and organization
8. Risks and mitigation
9. Funding ask and use of proceeds

## Instructions for Claude

When this command is invoked, follow these steps:

### Step 1: Gather Context

Ask the user for key information:

**Company Basics:**
- Company name and elevator pitch
- Stage (pre-seed, seed, Series A)
- Problem being solved
- Target customers

**Audience:**
- Who will read this? (VCs, angels, strategic partners)
- What's the primary goal? (fundraising, partnership, internal planning)

**Available Materials:**
- Existing pitch deck or docs?
- Market sizing data?
- Financial model?
- Competitive analysis?

### Step 2: Activate Relevant Skills

Reference skills for comprehensive analysis:
- **market-sizing-analysis** - TAM/SAM/SOM calculations
- **startup-financial-modeling** - Financial projections
- **competitive-landscape** - Competitive analysis frameworks
- **team-composition-analysis** - Organization planning
- **startup-metrics-framework** - Key metrics and benchmarks

### Step 3: Structure the Business Case

Create a comprehensive document with these sections:

---

## Business Case Document Structure

### Section 1: Executive Summary (1-2 pages)

**Company Overview:**
- One-sentence description
- Founded, location, stage
- Team highlights

**Problem Statement:**
- Core problem being solved (2-3 sentences)
- Market pain quantified

**Solution:**
- How the product solves it (2-3 sentences)
- Key differentiation

**Market Opportunity:**
- TAM: $X.XB
- SAM: $X.XM
- SOM (Year 5): $X.XM

**Traction:**
- Current metrics (MRR, customers, growth rate)
- Key milestones achieved

**Financial Snapshot:**
```
| Metric | Current | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|--------|---------|--------|--------|--------|
| ARR | $X | $Y | $Z | $W |
| Customers | X | Y | Z | W |
| Team Size | X | Y | Z | W |
```

**Funding Ask:**
- Amount seeking
- Use of proceeds (top 3-4)
- Expected milestones

### Section 2: Problem & Market Opportunity (2-3 pages)

**The Problem:**
- Detailed problem description
- Who experiences this problem
- Current solutions and their limitations
- Cost of the problem (quantified)

**Market Landscape:**
- Industry overview
- Key trends driving opportunity
- Market growth rate and drivers

**Market Sizing:**
- TAM calculation and methodology
- SAM with filters applied
- SOM with assumptions
- Validation and data sources
- Comparison to public companies

**Target Customer Profile:**
- Primary segments
- Customer characteristics
- Decision-makers and buying process

### Section 3: Solution & Product (2-3 pages)

**Product Overview:**
- What it does (features and capabilities)
- How it works (architecture/approach)
- Key differentiators
- Technology advantages

**Value Proposition:**
- Benefits by customer segment
- ROI or value delivered
- Time to value

**Product Roadmap:**
- Current state
- Near-term (6 months)
- Medium-term (12-18 months)
- Vision (2-3 years)

**Intellectual Property:**
- Patents (filed, pending)
- Proprietary technology
- Data advantages
- Defensibility

### Section 4: Competitive Analysis (2 pages)

**Competitive Landscape:**
- Direct competitors
- Indirect competitors (alternatives)
- Adjacent players (potential entrants)

**Competitive Matrix:**
```
| Feature/Factor | Us | Comp A | Comp B | Comp C |
|----------------|----|---------| -------|--------|
| Feature 1 | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Feature 2 | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Pricing | $X | $Y | $Z | $W |
```

**Differentiation:**
- 3-5 key differentiators
- Why these matter to customers
- Defensibility of advantages

**Competitive Positioning:**
- Positioning map (2-3 dimensions)
- Market positioning statement

**Barriers to Entry:**
- What protects against competition
- Network effects, switching costs, etc.

### Section 5: Business Model & Go-to-Market (2 pages)

**Business Model:**
- Revenue model (subscriptions, transactions, etc.)
- Pricing strategy and tiers
- Customer acquisition approach
- Expansion revenue strategy

**Go-to-Market Strategy:**
- Customer acquisition channels
- Sales model (self-serve, sales-led, hybrid)
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
- Sales cycle and conversion rates

**Marketing Strategy:**
- Positioning and messaging
- Channel strategy
- Content and demand generation
- Partnerships and integrations

**Customer Success:**
- Onboarding approach
- Support model
- Retention strategy
- Net dollar retention target

### Section 6: Financial Projections (2-3 pages)

**Revenue Model:**
- Cohort-based projections
- Key assumptions
- Revenue breakdown by segment

**3-Year Financial Summary:**
```
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|--------|--------|--------|--------|
| Revenue | $X.XM | $Y.YM | $Z.ZM |
| Gross Margin | XX% | XX% | XX% |
| Operating Expenses | $X.XM | $Y.YM | $Z.ZM |
| Net Income | ($X.XM) | ($Y.YM) | $Z.ZM |
| EBITDA Margin | (XX%) | (XX%) | XX% |
```

**Unit Economics:**
- CAC: $X,XXX
- LTV: $X,XXX
- LTV:CAC ratio: X.X
- CAC Payback: XX months
- Gross margin: XX%

**Key Metrics Trajectory:**
```
| Metric | Current | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|--------|---------|--------|--------|--------|
| MRR/ARR | $X | $Y | $Z | $W |
| Customers | X | Y | Z | W |
| Net Dollar Retention | XX% | XX% | XX% | XX% |
| Burn Multiple | X.X | X.X | X.X | X.X |
```

**Scenario Analysis:**
- Conservative, base, optimistic
- Key drivers and sensitivities

**Path to Profitability:**
- Break-even timeline
- Key milestones
- Unit economics at scale

### Section 7: Team & Organization (1-2 pages)

**Leadership Team:**
For each founder/executive:
- Name, title, photo (if available)
- Relevant background (2-3 sentences)
- Key accomplishments
- Why they're uniquely qualified

**Current Team:**
- Headcount by department
- Key hires and their backgrounds
- Advisory board

**Hiring Plan:**
- Year 1-3 headcount growth
- Key roles to fill
- Recruiting strategy

**Organization Evolution:**
```
Current (5 people) → Year 1 (15) → Year 2 (35) → Year 3 (60)
Engineering: 3 → 7 → 15 → 25
Sales & Marketing: 1 → 4 → 12 → 20
Other: 1 → 4 → 8 → 15
```

**Equity & Compensation:**
- Option pool sizing
- Compensation philosophy
- Retention strategy

### Section 8: Traction & Milestones (1 page)

**Current Traction:**
- Revenue or user metrics
- Growth rate
- Key customer wins
- Product development progress

**Milestones Achieved:**
- Product launches
- Funding rounds
- Team hires
- Customer acquisition
- Partnerships

**Upcoming Milestones (12-18 months):**
- Product milestones
- Revenue targets
- Customer goals
- Team goals
- Partnership goals

### Section 9: Risks & Mitigation (1 page)

**Market Risks:**
- Market size assumptions
- Competitive intensity
- Substitute adoption
- Mitigation strategies

**Execution Risks:**
- Product development
- Go-to-market effectiveness
- Hiring and retention
- Mitigation strategies

**Financial Risks:**
- Burn rate management
- Fundraising market
- Unit economics
- Mitigation strategies

**Regulatory/External Risks:**
- Compliance requirements
- Data privacy
- Economic conditions
- Mitigation strategies

### Section 10: Funding Request & Use of Proceeds (1 page)

**Funding Ask:**
- Amount seeking: $X.XM
- Structure: Equity, SAFE, convertible note
- Target valuation: $X.XM (if applicable)

**Use of Proceeds:**
```
Total Raise: $5.0M
- Product Development: $2.0M (40%)
  • Engineering team expansion
  • Infrastructure and tools
  • Product roadmap execution

- Sales & Marketing: $2.0M (40%)
  • Sales team hiring (5 AEs)
  • Marketing programs
  • Demand generation

- Operations & G&A: $0.5M (10%)
  • Finance/legal/HR
  • Office and facilities

- Working Capital: $0.5M (10%)
  • 6-month buffer
```

**Milestones to Achieve:**
- Revenue: $X.XM ARR (X% growth)
- Customer: XXX customers
- Product: Key features launched
- Team: XX employees
- Metric: Key metric targets

**Expected Timeline:**
- 18-24 month runway
- Achieve milestones in 15-18 months
- 6-month buffer for next raise

**Next Round:**
- Series A in 18-24 months
- Expected metrics at that time
- Target raise amount

---

### Step 4: Enhance with Visuals

Suggest including:
- Charts for market sizing (TAM funnel)
- Product screenshots or mockups
- Positioning maps
- Financial trend charts (revenue, customers, burn)
- Organization chart
- Timeline/roadmap
- Use of proceeds pie chart

### Step 5: Provide Additional Sections (Optional)

**If Relevant, Add:**
- Regulatory/Compliance section (for regulated industries)
- Technology Architecture (for deep tech)
- Clinical/Scientific Data (for biotech/health tech)
- Unit Economics Deep Dive (for complex business models)
- Strategic Partnerships (if material to strategy)

### Step 6: Create Executive Summary Slide

Provide one-page summary for quick review:
- Problem & Solution (3 bullets each)
- Market: TAM/SAM/SOM
- Traction: Key metrics
- Team: Founders
- Ask: Amount and use
- Contact information

### Step 7: Save Business Case

Offer to save as markdown:
- Filename: `business-case-[company-name]-YYYY-MM-DD.md`
- Suggest converting to PDF for sharing
- Provide tips for presentation format

## Best Practices

**Do:**
- Lead with customer problem
- Quantify everything
- Show, don't just tell (use data)
- Be realistic on projections
- Acknowledge risks honestly
- Cite all data sources
- Keep executive summary concise
- Focus on differentiation

**Don't:**
- Use jargon without explanation
- Make unsupported claims
- Ignore competition
- Be overly optimistic
- Skip the "why now"
- Forget to proofread
- Use generic templates without customization

## Integration with Other Commands

This command synthesizes outputs from:
- `/market-opportunity` - Include TAM/SAM/SOM analysis
- `/financial-projections` - Include full financial model

## Example Usage

```
User: /business-case

Claude: I'll create a comprehensive business case document. Let me gather the key information first.

Company name and description?
→ "AcmeCorp - AI-powered email marketing for e-commerce"

Who is the audience?
→ "Series A investors"

What materials do you have?
→ "We have market sizing and financial model done"

[Claude creates comprehensive 15-20 page business case with all sections]
```

## Notes

- Business case creation takes 1-2 hours
- Result is investor-grade document
- Can be used for pitch deck development
- Update quarterly or for funding rounds
- Customize sections based on audience
- Keep executive summary to 2 pages max