Product vision statement: examples and a template

You

The problem lists are all in, and the same three problems keep coming up. Now Ian wants the board slides to open with the vision.

Ian

We already have a mission on the website: “Healthy food for every cat, delivered to your door.” Can't we put that on the first slide and call it the vision?

Alex Tutor

They do different jobs. A mission says what the company does now, and for whom. A product vision describes the future the product is working towards: who benefits and how their life is different.

You

So the mission is what we do every day, and the vision is what it all adds up to?

Alex Tutor

Nicely put. Between them sits the product strategy: the path you choose from here to the vision. Which customers and problems to focus on, which bets to make, which objectives will show progress.

You

And the roadmap?

Alex Tutor

The roadmap is the strategy put in order and written so people can read it. Without a vision above it, it's just a list.

Alex Tutor

Question 1

Match each CatChow statement to what it is.

Tap an answer, then tap the row it belongs to. You can also drag.

“Healthy food for every cat, delivered to your door”
“Cat owners and vet clinics never have to worry about running out of the right food”
“This year, keep the subscribers we have and grow the clinic channel before launching new product lines”
“Cut monthly churn from 9% to 6%”

Answers left to place

You

Ian has a backup idea: “Become the number one pet food brand in Ukraine.” He says the board will love it.

Alex Tutor

The board might. Customers won't notice. That sentence is about CatChow, not about anyone CatChow serves, so it tells the team nothing about what to build or what to skip.

You

But being number one is a real goal for him.

Alex Tutor

A fair ambition, and it belongs in the business objectives. A vision can say what success means for the company too, but it has to start from the customer.

You

What else doesn't belong in a vision?

Alex Tutor

A feature list, a date, a revenue number, and words like “best” or “innovative” that any company could claim.

Alex Tutor

Question 2

“Become the number one pet food brand in Ukraine” is a strong product vision, because it is ambitious and easy to remember.

TrueFalse

You

So how do I get from my draft to something better? “Cat owners never have to think about running out of the right food.”

Alex Tutor

Start wider, then compress. A value proposition spells out who the product is for, what they need, what it gives them and how it differs from the alternatives.

A common template fits it into two sentences: “For [customer] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [benefit]. Unlike [alternative], it [difference].” Each slot forces a choice you might otherwise skip.

You

Let me try the first slot for our subscribers: “For cat owners aged 25 to 40 in big cities…”

Alex Tutor

That's a demographic, not a need. What do they struggle with? Your inputs already say it: food running out between deliveries, and not knowing which food to choose.

Alex Tutor

Question 3

Which option fills the “who [need]” slot of CatChow's value proposition with a need, rather than a demographic or a feature?

Choose one answer“…who are 25 to 40 and live in big cities”“…who want a mobile app for ordering food”“…who don't want the food to run out before the next delivery and aren't sure which food suits their cat”“…who have ordered from us at least twice”

You

Take two. “For cat owners who want their cat on the right food without it ever running out, CatChow is a cat food subscription that…”

Alex Tutor

“…delivers the right food on the owner's schedule.” Now the hardest slot: unlike what?

You

Unlike pet shops and marketplaces? They sell the same bags.

Alex Tutor

Then the difference can't be the bag. What do we do that a shop doesn't? We help people choose the food, and we can make sure it arrives before it runs out.

You

“Unlike pet shops, CatChow helps you choose the right food and makes sure the next bag arrives before the last one is empty.” I like that.

Alex Tutor

Good. It reads a bit mechanically, and that's fine: the template is a thinking tool, not a slogan for the website.

Alex Tutor

Question 4

An online English school for IT specialists is filling the “unlike [alternative]” slot. Which line gives a real difference?

Choose one answer“Unlike general courses, every learner practices on the meetings and code reviews of their own job, with one tutor who knows their mistakes”“Unlike other schools, we offer high-quality lessons”“Unlike other schools, we have a modern app with badges”“Unlike other schools, we are the fastest-growing school in Ukraine”

Brandon

Quick check before this goes to the board: are my clinics in the vision? If it only says cat owners, clinic directors will think we're just a shop for consumers.

You

Ian made the clinic channel one of his two objectives. Leaving the clinics out of the vision would be strange.

Alex Tutor

Agreed. Check it the other way round: could a clinic theme trace back to a vision about cat owners only? Only through a detour. Better to name them.

You

But a vision for two kinds of customers gets long.

Alex Tutor

Not if they share the need. Owners and clinics both want the right food on hand when it's needed. One sentence can hold both.

Alex Tutor

Question 5

Why should CatChow's vision name vet clinics as well as cat owners? Select all that apply.

Choose all that applyBrandon asked for it before the board meetingThe vet clinic channel is one of the two business objectivesClinic themes should trace back to the vision without a detourA vision should list every customer segment the company hasOwners and clinics share one need: the right food on hand when it's neededNaming more customers makes a vision sound more ambitious

Ian

Keep it short. If I can't say it in one breath, the board won't remember it.

Alex Tutor

He's right. Now compress. Keep who benefits and what changes for them. Drop the category and the competitor: they've done their work in the template.

You

Owners and clinics, the right food, never running out… “Every cat eats the right food, and neither owners nor vet clinics ever have to worry about running out.”

Alex Tutor

That's a vision. One breath, two kinds of customers, one need, no features.

You

Much better than “number one brand”.

Alex Tutor

And the difference from shops didn't vanish: it lives in the value proposition, which sales and marketing will use. The vision keeps only what everyone must remember.

Alex Tutor

Question 6

A Ukrainian service for small cafés has this value proposition: “For owners of small cafés who lose hours every week ordering from a dozen suppliers, it is an ordering platform that puts all suppliers in one cart. Unlike phoning each supplier, it tracks what's running low and suggests the next order.” Which is the best one-line vision?

Choose one answerAn ordering platform for cafés with supplier catalogs and order historyBecome the leading B2B ordering platform in Eastern EuropeAdd supplier ratings and a mobile app by the end of the yearCafé owners spend their time on guests, not on chasing suppliers

Brandon

Can I get the clinic version of that template? I'd use it when I talk to new clinics.

You

Sure. The customer is the clinic, and the need is… prescription diets in stock without hours on the phone?

Alex Tutor

That's the pain Brandon heard at PurrPoint. Keep it in the clinic's words, not ours. And think hard about the alternative: who do clinics order from today?

You

Distributors, by phone. So our difference has to be more than “we also take calls”.

Alex Tutor

Exactly. And don't promise a solution we haven't chosen yet. A value proposition states the benefit, not the feature.

Alex Tutor

Question 7Short answer · AI-checked task

Write CatChow's value proposition for vet clinics in two sentences, using the template: “For… who…, CatChow is a… that…. Unlike…, it…”. Name the benefit, not a solution the team hasn't chosen yet.

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Lucy

Nice sentence. But will it help me say no to anything? Every quarter someone brings me something shiny.

Alex Tutor

Good test. A useful vision is specific enough to rule things out. Try it on the spreadsheet.

You

Reminders, flexible delivery dates, the food-picker quiz, Brandon's bulk ordering: all about the right food, on hand. Birthday greetings for cats: cute, but no.

Lucy

Now that I can use in planning.

Alex Tutor

One more job for it: the vision opens every version of the roadmap, for every audience. Ian's first slide should start there and then show how the two objectives serve it.

Alex Tutor

Question 8Short answer · AI-checked task

Write the opening of Ian's first board slide (2–3 sentences): CatChow's product vision in one line, covering cat owners and vet clinics, and how the two business objectives serve it. No features, no dates.

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Alex Tutor

Remember the online bookstore with the quarterly plan? Its head of e-commerce has now drafted a vision slide for the next roadmap.

You

Let me guess: “number one” and a feature list?

Alex Tutor

Close enough. It has a vision, a mission and a strategy line. Each one has a different problem.

You

Then I'll check each line, run the template for their readers and compress it.

Alex Tutor

And then use the vision the way Lucy would: see what it rules out.

Alex Tutor

Question 9Case · AI-checked task

Critique and rewrite Chapterly's vision slide.

Chapterly, a Ukrainian online bookstore, is preparing its next roadmap. The head of e-commerce has drafted the first slide:

Vision: Become Ukraine's number one online bookstore, with one million customers within three years.
Mission: Sell books online at the best prices with the fastest delivery.
Strategy: Redesign the website, launch a mobile app, add animated 3D covers to product pages.

What the team knows:

Most revenue comes from regular readers who buy five or more books a year. Their most common complaint in surveys: not knowing what to read next.
Parents buying children's books often ask support which books suit their child's age.
Big marketplaces sell the same books, often cheaper and faster.
Chapterly's staff are keen readers. The short recommendation notes they add to orders are mentioned in customer reviews more than anything else.
This year's business objectives: more repeat purchases, and fewer “where is my order?” messages.

Write a critique and a rewrite (150–300 words): what is wrong with each of the three lines; a value proposition for one customer group, using the template; a one-line product vision; and one item from the strategy line that your vision would drop or rethink, with the reason.

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You

Ian gets a vision he can say in one breath, Brandon gets his clinics in it and a pitch, and Lucy gets a filter.

Alex Tutor

And every theme on the roadmap now has something to trace back to. That's the vision's job.

Alex Tutor

Next time: the objectives. The board will ask how we'll know the vision is getting closer, and the answer is key results.

Alex Tutor

That’s the lesson. You answered every task — nicely done.

Next lesson: Business objectives and key results