| name | pant-business-case-review |
| description | Pressure-test a product investment business case and rehearse its review. Use for benefits, costs, alternatives, economics, uncertainty, adoption, ownership, and decision conditions; not a whole business model. |
| license | CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0 |
| type | workflow |
| category | strengthen-the-decision |
| phase | 3 |
| status | review |
| modes | ["feedback","dialogue"] |
| entry_paths | ["direct","guided","best-effort"] |
| pressure_levels | ["constructive","skeptical","resistant","hostile-room"] |
| audience | ["Product Manager","Product Owner","Business Analyst","Product Leader","Investment sponsor"] |
| best_for | ["Testing whether a defined product investment is justified at the requested commitment level","Challenging benefit, cost, timing, adoption, risk, and sensitivity assumptions","Rehearsing an investment or funding review"] |
| not_for | ["Designing or reviewing an entire business model, pricing system, or company strategy","Market sizing without a defined investment decision"] |
| evidence_required | ["Investment, commitment, or decision requested","Claimed benefits, costs, timing, alternatives, and evidence","Known adoption, delivery, operating, and risk assumptions"] |
| produces | ["Prioritized business-case pressure test","Investment decision brief with sensitivity and evidence needs","Investment review rehearsal and debrief"] |
| estimated_time | 20-60 min |
| depends_on | [] |
| combine_with | ["pant-executive-decision-review","pant-market-sizing-review","pant-strategy-review"] |
| sources | ["Phase 0 Product and Research Synthesis, PANT, 2026"] |
PANT Business Case Review
Purpose
Test whether the evidence justifies the requested product investment, not merely whether a spreadsheet contains benefits and costs. Match the burden of proof to the size, reversibility, and consequence of the commitment. Apply the bundled runtime contracts independently.
When to Use
Use for funding requests, capacity investments, build-versus-buy recommendations, new-product bets, expansion proposals, modernization cases, and requests to move from probe to scale.
When Not to Use
Use pant-market-sizing-review for the integrity of TAM, SAM, SOM, or reachable-market estimates. Use pant-strategy-review when the strategic choice itself is undefined. Use pant-executive-decision-review to rehearse the broader executive room after the economics are strengthened. This skill does not replace finance, legal, tax, accounting, or investment advice.
Supported Modes and Entry Paths
- Feedback: Apply shared feedback mode and the investment output.
- Dialogue: Rehearse one investment challenge at a time using shared dialogue behavior.
- Direct: Begin from the supplied case, model, memo, or compact brief.
- Guided: Explain value, evidence, full cost, alternatives, uncertainty, and decision conditions; ask one consequential question at a time.
- Best effort: State assumptions, avoid filling absent numbers with inventions, and identify the smallest responsible decision.
Decision Being Prepared For
Prepare a decision to fund, staff, continue, expand, defer, narrow, stop, or investigate a defined product investment.
Typical Audiences
Executives, finance and investment partners, portfolio councils, product and technology leaders, sponsors, founders, and governance groups.
Inputs
Best input includes the ask, baseline, benefits, causal logic, cost range, time horizon, alternatives, opportunity cost, adoption assumptions, risks, sensitivity, and evidence. Minimum input is a proposed investment and claimed reason.
Direct example:
Use pant-business-case-review to test whether this proposal supports a pilot, full investment, or neither. Challenge benefits, full cost, adoption, timing, opportunity cost, and sensitivity.
Sparse example:
I need three engineers for an AI feature because two customers asked for it. Help me build a defensible case.
Quick Start
- Name the exact investment decision and commitment level.
