Strategic context worksheet to define why, what, and success metrics before any technical work begins
Cadence: Dedicated context sprint (typically 1-3 days, longer when multiple business units join) Who It's For: Startups aligning GTM, growth-stage product orgs, and enterprises steering complex initiatives Key Principle: Capture WHY before touching HOW—every minute here saves hours in Phase 4
Adapting Phase 0 to Your Company
Startups / Teams < 50
Fill the template in a single working session with founders + product.
Combine stakeholder and user sections—capture real customer names.
Focus on one KPI and one segment; depth beats breadth.
Growth-Stage / Scale-Ups
Run a two-day workshop with product, GTM, finance, and ops leaders.
Document 2-3 customer segments and note how success differs per segment.
Use constraints to align resourcing across squads and markets.
Enterprise / Regulated
Expect Phase 0 to last 1-2 weeks; treat it as a formal governance gate.
Capture compliance owners and required artifacts in the stakeholder grid.
Create separate rows per business unit/region; attach evidence in the context folder.
1. Business Problem Statement
# 1. BUSINESS PROBLEM STATEMENT
## The Problem We're Solving
**Current State (What's broken?):**
- Describe the business problem in 2-3 sentences: _______________
- Quantify the pain (cost, time, customer impact): _______________
- Include frequency/scale of the problem: _______________
**Root Cause Analysis:**
- What's actually causing this problem? (Go beyond symptoms): _______________
- What have we tried before? Why didn't it work?: _______________
- What's changed that makes solving this urgent now?: _______________
**Business Impact:**
- Revenue impact: $____________ per month/quarter/year
- Cost impact: $____________ per month/quarter/year
- Customer impact: ____________ customers affected
- Strategic importance: [ ] Critical [ ] High [ ] Medium [ ] Low
# 8. EXIT CRITERIA FOR PHASE 0
**Phase 0 is complete when:**
☐ Business problem clearly articulated with quantified impact
☐ Success metrics defined with baselines captured
☐ Executive sponsor has approved and committed
☐ Stakeholders aligned on objectives and constraints
☐ Investment thesis shows positive ROI
☐ Value hypothesis is testable in Phase 1 prototype
☐ Context documented in format AI can consume
☐ Team understands WHY we're building this, not just WHAT
**Go/No-Go Decision:** [ ] Proceed to Phase 1 [ ] Needs refinement [ ] Kill initiative
**Decision Date:** ____________
**Decision Maker:** ______________________________
**Next Steps:** ______________________________
Complete Phase 0 Template
# PHASE 0: BUSINESS CONTEXT & OBJECTIVES TEMPLATE
**Project Name:** ______________________________
**Date Created:** ______________________________
**Created By:** ______________________________
**Executive Sponsor:** ______________________________
---
# 1. BUSINESS PROBLEM STATEMENT
## The Problem We're Solving
**Current State (What's broken?):**
- Describe the business problem in 2-3 sentences: _______________
- Quantify the pain (cost, time, customer impact): _______________
- Include frequency/scale of the problem: _______________
**Root Cause Analysis:**
- What's actually causing this problem? (Go beyond symptoms): _______________
- What have we tried before? Why didn't it work?: _______________
- What's changed that makes solving this urgent now?: _______________
**Business Impact:**
- Revenue impact: $____________ per month/quarter/year
- Cost impact: $____________ per month/quarter/year
- Customer impact: ____________ customers affected
- Strategic importance: [ ] Critical [ ] High [ ] Medium [ ] Low
---
# 2. TARGET OUTCOMES & SUCCESS METRICS
## Primary KPIs (Pick 1-3 max)
**KPI #1:**
- Metric name: ______________________________
- Current baseline: ______________________________
- Target value: ______________________________
- Target timeframe: ______________________________
- Measurement method: ______________________________
**KPI #2:**
- Metric name: ______________________________
- Current baseline: ______________________________
- Target value: ______________________________
- Target timeframe: ______________________________
- Measurement method: ______________________________
**KPI #3:**
- Metric name: ______________________________
- Current baseline: ______________________________
- Target timeframe: ______________________________
- Measurement method: ______________________________
## Secondary Success Indicators
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
---
# 3A. AUDIENCE & SEGMENT DEFINITION
## Primary Audience or Market Segment
- Segment name: ______________________________
- Size / revenue contribution: ______________________________
- Key job-to-be-done or pain: ______________________________
- Adoption blocker we must address: ______________________________
## Secondary Segments or Personas
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
## Tiered Requirements
- Tier 1 (launch-critical): ______________________________
- Tier 2 (important, can follow): ______________________________
- Tier 3 (nice-to-have/backlog): ______________________________
## Regional / Compliance Nuance (if relevant)
- Regions impacted: ______________________________
- Regulatory or localization needs: ______________________________
- Customer promise we cannot break: ______________________________
---
# 3. VALUE HYPOTHESIS & INVESTMENT THESIS
## Value Hypothesis
**We believe that** [solution approach] **will result in** [target outcome]
**for** [target users/customers] **because** [key assumption].
**Validation Criteria (Phase 1 Prototype):**
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
## Investment Thesis
**Estimated Investment:**
- Development cost: $____________
- Infrastructure cost: $____________
- Change management cost: $____________
- **Total investment:** $____________
**Expected Return:**
- Annual benefit: $____________
- Payback period: ____________ months
- 3-year ROI: ____________%
**Risk-Adjusted Value:**
- Probability of success: ____________%
- Expected value: $____________
- Acceptable risk level: [ ] Yes [ ] No
---
# 4. STAKEHOLDER ALIGNMENT
## Executive Sponsor
- Name: ______________________________
- Title: ______________________________
- Commitment level: [ ] Champion [ ] Supportive [ ] Neutral [ ] Skeptical
- Key concerns: ______________________________
- **Sign-off:** ________________ Date: ____________
## Key Stakeholders
| Name | Role | Impact Level | Support Level | Key Requirements |
|------|------|--------------|---------------|------------------|
| | | High/Med/Low | 1-5 | |
| | | High/Med/Low | 1-5 | |
| | | High/Med/Low | 1-5 | |
## User/Customer Representatives
- User research completed: [ ] Yes [ ] No
- Representative users identified: ______________________________
- User pain points validated: ______________________________
---
# 5. CONSTRAINTS & NON-NEGOTIABLES
## Technical Constraints
- Must integrate with: ______________________________
- Technology stack limitations: ______________________________
- Performance requirements: ______________________________
- Security/compliance requirements: ______________________________
## Business Constraints
- Budget limit: $____________
- Timeline constraint: ____________ (hard deadline? Yes/No)
- Resource availability: ______________________________
- Market/competitive pressure: ______________________________
## Quality Gates (What would make us stop?)
- If KPIs don't improve by ____% in ____ weeks, we pivot/stop
- If cost exceeds $____, we stop
- If ____________, we reassess
---
# 6. SCOPE DEFINITION
## In Scope (What we ARE building)
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
## Out of Scope (What we are NOT building)
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
## Phase 1 Prototype Scope (Validate in 1 week)
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
- ______________________________
---
# 7. RISK ASSESSMENT
| Risk | Probability (H/M/L) | Impact (H/M/L) | Mitigation Strategy |
|------|---------------------|----------------|---------------------|
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
---
# 8. EXIT CRITERIA FOR PHASE 0
**Phase 0 is complete when:**
☐ Business problem clearly articulated with quantified impact
☐ Success metrics defined with baselines captured
☐ Executive sponsor has approved and committed
☐ Stakeholders aligned on objectives and constraints
☐ Investment thesis shows positive ROI
☐ Value hypothesis is testable in Phase 1 prototype
☐ Context documented in format AI can consume
☐ Team understands WHY we're building this, not just WHAT
**Go/No-Go Decision:** [ ] Proceed to Phase 1 [ ] Needs refinement [ ] Kill initiative
**Decision Date:** ____________
**Decision Maker:** ______________________________
**Next Steps:** ______________________________
---
**Template Version:** 1.0
**Part of:** BVDLC Framework (bvdlc.ai)
💡 Pro Tips:
• Spend 2-3 days getting Phase 0 right—it saves weeks downstream
• If you can't articulate business value in 2 sentences, you're not ready for Phase 1
• Get explicit sign-off from decision makers before proceeding
• Make success metrics specific and measurable (no "improve user experience")