The planning kit

The planning kit is a short set of forms. Filled in honestly, they do two things: they make the owner think through decisions that are usually deferred, and they let any engineering firm start a first conversation much further along.

What is in it

1. The strategy questionnaire. Twenty-four short questions about where the product is meant to end up, grouped into seven areas. Engineering decisions depend on business decisions, and this is where the business decisions get written down.

2. The planning worksheet. A one-page structure for the product itself: what it does, who it is for, the constraints, the unknowns, and a first attempt at requirements.

3. What to bring to a first call. A checklist, so the conversation with any firm starts with facts rather than with the firm's assumptions.

How to fill it in

• Short answers are fine. A line or two each.
• "I don't know" is a real answer. Write it. Knowing what is undecided is as useful as knowing what is decided.
• Be candid about money. The point is a plan that fits, not a plan that reaches a ceiling.
• Do not describe how the idea works. Nothing in the kit needs the confidential details. Those come after an NDA with whoever will do the work.

The strategy questionnaire

Goal

1. What is the end state? Licensing the idea, raising money, building a company and selling the product, or something else?
2. If the product succeeds, what does success look like in two years? Units sold, revenue, a licensing deal, an acquisition?
3. What is the deadline, if any, and what is driving it?

Customer

4. Who uses the product? Describe one specific person.
5. What do they do today instead?
6. Where and how often is it used?
7. Who buys it, if not the user?

Product

8. In one sentence, what does it do?
9. What must it do? (These become the "shall" requirements.)
10. What would be nice? (These become the "should" requirements.)
11. What must it cost to make, and what will it sell for?
12. What are the size, weight and environment limits?

Market

13. What exists now that is closest to it?
14. Why would someone buy this instead?
15. What is the price of the closest alternative?

Money

16. What budget is available for development, honestly?
17. Where does the money come from: savings, friends and family, investors, grants, revenue?
18. What would a result have to show to unlock the next round of money?

Protection

19. Has anything been filed with a patent office? Has anything been published or shown publicly, and when?
20. Has a patent attorney been consulted?
21. Is there anything that must not be disclosed, even under NDA, at this stage?

Team

22. Who is working on this, and what does each person bring?
23. What skills are missing?
24. Who makes the final decisions?

The planning worksheet

Field	Answer
Product, in one sentence
The user, in one sentence
The one thing it must do better than anything else
Target sale price
Target cost to make, at what volume
Size and weight limits
Environment (indoor, outdoor, wet, hot, cold, dropped)
Certifications it will probably need
The riskiest assumption
The current phase (see the process)
Five "shall" requirements	1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Three open questions	1. 2. 3.

What to bring to a first call

• The completed questionnaire and worksheet.
• Any sketches, photos or models, with the understanding that the details stay general until an NDA is signed.
• The budget number, and the amount that could be spent on a first phase to find out more.
• The deadline, if there is one, and what is driving it.
• The list of questions to ask the firm. The process pages have a short list for each phase.