Business Strategy Questions

Diagrams | Matrices | X List

How can you maximize potential to create, distribute and exchange value?

Instruction

There should be a smoother decision path to start a good business that is focused on delivering real world value to real world people. Follow the checklist of questions below to validate your business ideas against the jobs that need be done right to grow your business.

Clarify intention and focus attention.

• Checklists provide flow of thought and understanding
• People have a need to check items off
• Questions provide space for the imagination to fill
• Questions create a recursive loop in the subconscious
• Start up a new business or revenue stream

Checklist

CATEGORY	QUESTION	AI AGENTS	NOTES
Problem	What problem are you solving?
Problem	How deep and widespread is the pain?
Problem	Who or what represents the enemy?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	Why is it important to you to solve this problem?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	Who or what represents the enemy?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	How are you going to deliver value?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	What long-range benefits are you going to create?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	How can we maximise profits over the long term?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	Are we missing a potential revenue stream?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	What needs to be prioritised?
Purpose - Growth Strategy	Time to consolidate or expand?
Potential - Business Market	How big is the market opportunity?
Potential - Business Market	What percentage of the market share do you hope to get?
Potential - Business Market	Who exactly is your best customer?
Potential - Business Market	How long will this take?
Potential - Business Market	How do you come up with these figures?
Potential - Business Market	What is your PR strategy?
Potential - Business Market	Who do you most aspire to be like?
Potential - Business Market	Who do you least want to be like?
Potential - Business Market	Why is this the right time for this product or service?
Potential - Business Market	What is your marketing strategy?
Business Model	Which specific marketing channels are you using?
Business Model	Why are you using these marketing channels?
Business Model	What is your plan B if these sales channels are interrupted?
Business Model	What profit margins are you operating on?
Business Model	How will scaling impact profit margins?
Business Model	What pivots have you already made up until now?
Business Model	Can you tell me a story about how a customer has decided to choose you and their experience with your product?
Business Model	Who in this organization is most replaceable?
Business Model	What unique features are you working on?
Business Model	What other streams of revenue can be added to this?
Corporate Structure	How is the company currently organized?
Corporate Structure	Who holds which titles?
Corporate Structure	How are shares split?
Corporate Structure	Is there an existing board or advisors?
Corporate Structure	Where is the company registered?
Corporate Structure	Who handles accounting?
Corporate Structure	What unique skills and talents does each owner contribute?
Corporate Structure	Name someone you chose not to include as a founder and why?
Corporate Structure	Who filed the company?
Corporate Structure	Who is the registered agent on record?
Platform	Land and Property
Platform	Physical Assets
Platform	Your tech stack?
Platform	Your business suite?
Platform	Strategy to leverage latest technology?
Processes - IP	What is the first step improvement you can make?
Processes - IP	What Intellectual Property do you need to develop?
Processes - IP	What is unique about the company?
Processes - IP	What big problem does it solve?
Processes - IP	What legal risks do you see?
Processes - IP	Are you aware of any product liability risks?
Processes - IP	What regulatory risks could impact this business?
Processes - IP	What intellectual property do you own?
Processes - IP	Who developed any intellectual property owned?
Processes - IP	Have any employees or partners have left who may challenge these rights?
Processes - IP	Are there any additional patents pending or planned?
Processes - IP	How are any current intellectual assets owned?
People	Who can you help?
People	Who do you want to work with?
People	Who do you need to learn from?
Teamwork - Talent	How can we recruit talent most efficiently?
Teamwork - Talent	Where are your headquarters?
Teamwork - Talent	Who are the founders?
Teamwork - Talent	Who are key team members?
Teamwork - Talent	How do you attract and onboard A Grade talent?
Teamwork - Talent	What key roles may need to be hired for soon?
Teamwork - Talent	What experience do you have in this industry?
Teamwork - Talent	Why are you the right person to bet on to achieve this?
Teamwork - Talent	What motivates people to join your dream?
Teamwork - Talent	Are any of the founders willing to be bought out now?
Teamwork - Talent	Are there any other people who may claim they are owed or responsible for your ideas?
Customer Journey	Have you identified your ideal customer? Understand what they desire? What their triggers are?
Customer Journey	Does your idea have a natural sales appeal?
Customer Journey	Customer value, Can customers afford it? Will they buy it? Is there a timing factor?
Customer Journey	What resistance or difficulties to overcome to make sales?
Customer Journey	Is the market ready for it?
Partners	Who can help you expand into markets?
Partners	What suppliers do you need?
Partners	Have you locked in supply contracts?
Professional Services	What professional services do you need?
Professional Services	Who can fill those roles?
Competition	Who are your competitors?
Competition	What are your strengths and advantages over your competitors?
Competition	What are your weaknesses or disadvantages?
Competition	What barriers to entry or scale are there for you?
Competition	Where is the competition letting down customers?
Competition	Why haven't your competitors done this yet?
Competition	How do your features differ?
Competition	How do you compare on price?
Competition	How do you compare on service?
Competition	How do you compare on customer satisfaction?
Marketing	Strategy Document: How are marketing your product or services?
Marketing	How much is your marketing budget?
Marketing	What are your per customer acquisition costs?
Marketing	How much is your customer lifetime value?
Marketing	What is the competition doing in this area?
Marketing	Is there a clear and obvious need or do customers need education?
Traction	How much feedback have you received so far?
Traction	What changes have you made based on that feedback?
Traction	How many actual users do you have?
Traction	How long do users stay on average?
Traction	How many actual sales have you made?
Traction	What is the annual growth rate?
Traction	Total rate of growth?
Traction	Has growth been linear and consistent?
Traction	What has held back your growth?
Traction	Can you provide a demonstration of the product or service now?
Profit	How much money do you need to get started?
Profit	When will you need a cash injection?
Profit	How soon before you are making money?
Profit	How many revenue streams?
Profit	What risks could change your revenue streams?
Profit	How confident are you in your predictions?
Profit	How do you intend to reinvest profits?
Financials	How much equity and debt has been raised in the past?
Financials	Who participated in earlier rounds of fundraising?
Financials	What is your burn rate?
Financials	How long will it take to become profitable?
Financials	What are the key metrics your team is focused on?
Financials	What stock options have been given already? What is the distribution of equity between founders?
Financial - Use of Funds	How will these funds be allocated?
Financial - Use of Funds	How much will be spent on founders' salaries?
Financial - Use of Funds	How much will be spent on overhead versus expansion?
Financial - Use of Funds	What if you don't get all the money you are asking for?
Financial - Use of Funds	What assets will be invested in with this capital?
Financial - Use of Funds	What are your milestones?
Financial - Use of Funds	What are the biggest risks to my investment?
Financial - Use of Funds	Why are you choosing this method of raising capital?
Financial - Use of Funds	How much of this money will be used for future fundraising efforts?
Financial - Use of Funds	How much are your personal expenses each month?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	What is your exit goal? (i.e. IPO, M&A)
Financial - Existing Financing Round	What is your expected time frame for this?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	Who do you imagine will help you exit?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	When do you expect you will be conducting a follow up round of fundraising?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	How much is your pre-money valuation?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	How are you determining current valuation?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	How much are you trying to raise now?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	How many previous investors will participate in this round?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	What is the next milestone this money will take you to?
Financial - Existing Financing Round	How else do you hope an investor will help beyond money?
Strategy - Critical Thinking	Have you considered all the benefits?
Strategy - Critical Thinking	Have you considered all the risks?
Strategy - Critical Thinking	What variations of this idea might be possible?
Strategy - Critical Thinking	How strong is demand?
Strategy - Critical Thinking	How strong is your appetite for it
Strategy - Decisions	What decisions do you need to make at the moment?
Strategy - Decisions	What metrics do you need to make good decisions?
Strategy - Decisions	What needs to be decided in the next six weeks?
Strategy - Decisions	What needs to be decided in the future?
Prioritisation - Planning	Have you closed standard business process gaps?
Prioritisation - Planning	Have you closed key operations process gaps?
Prioritisation - Planning	How are you going to deliver?
Prioritisation - Planning	How complex will it be to execute strategy effectively?

Make a routine of asking the most insightful questions you can think of.

ABCD with HiTL

Considerations for AI Agent Automation, Blockchain Integrity, Crypto Coordination Incentives, DePIN and IoT Actuation (Robotics).

OPERATIONS	FUNCTION	QUESTION
Human-AI Collaboration	Value Creation	How does your solution combine human judgment with AI efficiency?
Human-AI Collaboration	Transparency	How will you make AI decision-making processes understandable to humans?
Human-AI Collaboration	Agency	What meaningful control points will humans retain in the system?
AI Agent Integration	Autonomy	Which 24/7 tasks can AI agents handle independently?
AI Agent Integration	Security	How will you implement decentralized AI deployment for enhanced privacy?
AI Agent Integration	Interoperability	How will your AI agents interact with other systems and agents?
Blockchain Infrastructure	Trust Architecture	How will you leverage blockchain for transparent decision-making?
Blockchain Infrastructure	Smart Contracts	How can intelligent smart contracts optimize your operations?
Blockchain Infrastructure	Resilience	How does your decentralized structure minimize vulnerabilities?
Community Coordination	Incentives	How will your token system align participant interests?
Community Coordination	Governance	How will you enable community participation in key decisions?
Community Coordination	Resource Sharing	How will you incentivize infrastructure contribution?
DePIN Integration	Physical Infrastructure	How will you connect digital systems to real-world actions?
DePIN Integration	Cost Efficiency	How does decentralization reduce operational overhead?
DePIN Integration	Global Access	How will you extend services to underserved areas?

Mantra

The future is already here but it is not evenly distributed

Context

• Agent Ecosystem
• Asking Questions
• Daily Reflection
• Jobs to be Done
• Thought Audit
• Wisemen