business-model-canvas

name: business-model-canvasdescription: >  Build, evaluate, and stress-test a Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder)  across all 9 blocks. Use when designing or refreshing a business model,  auditing a canvas for gaps, exploring monetization, or aligning on the  model's assumptions.license: MIT + Commons Clausemetadata:   version: 1.0.0  author: borghei  category: project-management  domain: strategy-frameworks  updated: 2026-05-27  python-tools: canvas_validator.py  tech-stack: business-model-canvas, osterwalder, strategy  tags:     - business-model-canvas    - osterwalder    - business-model    - strategy

Business Model Canvas

A working Business Model Canvas (BMC) — Alexander Osterwalder's 9-block strategic management template that captures how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value.

When to use this skill

• Designing the business model for a new product or company
• Refreshing the BMC after a strategic pivot
• Stress-testing the assumptions in an existing model
• Aligning leadership on how value flows through the business
• Comparing two or more candidate business models
• Onboarding a new exec / investor to the business

The 9 building blocks

1. Customer Segments — Who do we serve? (mass market, niche, segmented, diversified, multi-sided)
2. Value Propositions — What value do we deliver to each segment?
3. Channels — How do we reach customers? (own, partner; direct, indirect; physical, digital)
4. Customer Relationships — How do we acquire, keep, and grow each segment?
5. Revenue Streams — How does the customer pay? (one-time, subscription, usage, licensing, advertising)
6. Key Resources — What assets are required? (physical, intellectual, human, financial)
7. Key Activities — What do we do to deliver value? (production, problem-solving, platform/network)
8. Key Partnerships — Who helps us? (strategic alliances, JVs, supplier relationships)
9. Cost Structure — Where do costs come from? (cost-driven vs value-driven; fixed vs variable)

Clarify First

Before building the canvas, settle the inputs below. When one is missing or vague and would change the result, ask about it; when it wouldn't, use a sensible default and say which one you used.

• Customer segment(s): who you serve, specifically (drives Value Prop, Channels, Relationships, Revenue — "everyone" collapses the whole canvas).
• Revenue model: how the customer pays: subscription / usage / licensing / advertising (must reconcile against Cost Structure or unit economics break).
• Stage: new model / pivot / mature operating business (determines whether Lean Canvas is the better tool).
• Cost-driven vs value-driven posture: shapes Cost Structure and Key Activities (trying both produces mediocre everything).

Ask about the two or three inputs that matter most for this request, not the whole list. If the user wants a result straight away, produce it and state your assumptions at the top.

Workflow

Step 1 — Draft per block

Start with Customer Segments and Value Propositions (these drive everything else). Then fill: Channels, Customer Relationships, Revenue Streams. Then: Key Resources, Activities, Partnerships. Finish with Cost Structure.

Step 2 — Validate the chain

For each Customer Segment, trace: Segment → Value Prop → Channel → Relationship → Revenue. If you can't connect these, the model has a gap.

Step 3 — Stress-test assumptions

For each block, list the top 2-3 assumptions and rate (high / medium / low) on:

• Evidence (do we know this is true?)
• Riskiness (what breaks if wrong?)
• Testability (can we run a cheap experiment?)

Step 4 — Run canvas_validator.py

Audit the canvas for: empty blocks, ungrounded value-prop / segment matches, revenue / cost imbalance, segment-channel-relationship coherence.

python3 project-management/strategy-frameworks/business-model-canvas/scripts/canvas_validator.py \
  --input canvas.json --format markdown

Step 5 — Iterate

Most first drafts are wrong in interesting ways. Plan to revise 3-5 times.

Decision frameworks

Which type of business model?

Most modern SaaS = multi-sided OR freemium variant.

Cost-driven vs value-driven

Most companies need to pick ONE — trying both produces mediocre everything.

Common BMC anti-patterns

• Generic value proposition. "Better, faster, cheaper" — applies to anything; means nothing.
• One segment listed as "everyone." Forces commodity positioning.
• Revenue streams with no channel. How does money flow?
• Costs that don't sum to revenue model. Unit economics broken.
• Partnerships listed without specific roles. What do they actually do?
• No coherent customer journey across blocks. Segment doesn't connect to channel.

Output expectations

After using this skill, you should have:

1. A populated 9-block canvas with specific (not generic) statements
2. A validation report flagging gaps, ungrounded assumptions, coherence issues
3. 2-3 prioritized experiments to test the riskiest assumptions
4. References to other strategy skills (lean canvas for startup-stage; value-proposition-canvas for the VP block)

Scope & Limitations

In Scope:

• A nine-block Business Model Canvas (Osterwalder), drafted from Customer Segments and Value Propositions outward to Cost Structure
• Chain validation from segment to value proposition, channel, relationship and revenue
• Assumption stress tests per block on evidence, riskiness and testability
• Business model patterns (unbundled, long tail, multi-sided, freemium, open) and the cost-driven versus value-driven choice
• A canvas audit for empty or generic blocks, cross-block coherence and revenue versus cost orientation (canvas_validator.py)

Out of Scope:

• Early-stage startup canvases built around problem and unfair advantage (see project-management/strategy-frameworks/lean-canvas/)
• Deep work on the value proposition block (see project-management/discovery/value-proposition-canvas/)
• Setting prices for the revenue block (see business-growth/pricing-strategy/)
• Financial models and unit economics in numbers (see finance/financial-analyst/)
• Running the experiments that test the assumptions (see project-management/discovery/brainstorm-experiments/)

Important Caveats:

• canvas_validator.py reads a hand-written JSON canvas. It checks completeness, generic wording and coherence by heuristics, not whether the content is true.
• Evidence, risk and testability ratings are the team's own judgments.
• First drafts are expected to be wrong. The skill plans for 3-5 revisions, and a canvas goes stale after a pivot.

References

• references/canvas-framework.md — the 9 blocks deep, patterns, examples
• references/examples-anti-patterns.md — worked examples + common failures

Related skills

• project-management/strategy-frameworks/lean-canvas — startup-stage variant
• project-management/strategy-frameworks/swot-analysis — internal/external strengths-weaknesses
• project-management/strategy-frameworks/porters-five-forces — competitive dynamics
• project-management/discovery/value-proposition-canvas — deeper on the value-prop block
• project-management/execution/north-star-metric — what to measure once model is set
• business-growth/pricing-strategy — pricing depth for the revenue block
• c-level-advisor/ceo-advisor — strategic context for the model