Working Backwards Framework

A practical startup strategy system built around Amazon's Working Backwards method.

This repo is not just a copy of Amazon's PR/FAQ process. It separates:

• the core Working Backwards artifacts I think are foundational
• the strategic extensions I added because a startup eventually needs more than a customer-facing narrative

The goal is not to produce a stack of pretty documents. The goal is to pressure-test startup ideas before they absorb too much time, money, and attention.

What Is In This Repo

Core Working Backwards

These are the documents closest to the original spirit of Working Backwards:

• core/pr-faq.md
• core/mrd.md
• core/prd.md

They answer three different questions:

• PR/FAQ: What is the customer promise?
• MRD: What does the market need?
• PRD: What are we actually building?

Strategic Extensions

These are not canonical Amazon artifacts. They are extensions I use when the idea survives the first stage and needs deeper pressure-testing:

• extensions/market-analysis.md
• extensions/competitive-analysis.md
• extensions/investor-landscape.md
• extensions/ma-analysis.md

They answer questions like:

• Is the market large and attractive enough?
• Where do we actually win?
• Who would fund this?
• Who would buy this and why?

How I Use It

Stage 1. Validate the customer story

Start with:

1. core/pr-faq.md

Do not skip this step.

If the PR/FAQ is weak, vague, incremental, or internally framed, stop there. Most ideas do not deserve the full stack.

Stage 2. Validate the market and product logic

If the PR/FAQ survives:

2. extensions/market-analysis.md
3. extensions/competitive-analysis.md
4. core/mrd.md
5. core/prd.md

This is where customer promise, market reality, positioning, and product requirements start checking each other.

Stage 3. Pressure-test financing and exit logic

Only after the idea still looks coherent:

6. extensions/investor-landscape.md
7. extensions/ma-analysis.md

These are optional early and much more useful once the product and market story are sharper.

Why This Structure Exists

PR/FAQ alone is excellent for customer clarity, but it is not enough for full company strategy.

A startup idea can survive the PR/FAQ and still fail because:

• the market is too small
• the buyer is wrong
• the positioning is weak
• the product requirements do not support the promise
• the investor case is unconvincing
• the likely exit logic is poor

That is why this repo is structured as a system instead of a single template.

How To Use These Files With LLMs

These templates are designed to work well with LLMs, but the LLM is not the strategist.

Use an LLM for:

• first drafts
• critique
• alternative framings
• consistency checks across documents
• fast iteration after new evidence

Do not use an LLM to:

• invent customer truth
• replace user research
• skip judgment
• fill weak sections with generic confidence

How To Avoid Doc Rot

Documents like these go stale quickly unless they stay coupled to reality.

At a minimum, each working doc should have:

• an owner
• a status
• a last updated date
• a reason it changed

Good update triggers include:

• new customer interview patterns
• a major competitor launch
• a product-direction shift
• pricing changes
• new evidence that invalidates a prior assumption
• fundraising timing changes

The point is not to update constantly. The point is to keep the documents alive enough that dead assumptions do not masquerade as current strategy.

Suggested Reading Order

Start here:

1. core/pr-faq.md
2. core/mrd.md
3. core/prd.md
4. docs/template-index.md

Then use the extension docs as needed.

Important Note

The extension documents are my adaptation, not a claim about what Amazon formally does.

That distinction matters.

The repo is best understood as:

• Working Backwards as the spine
• additional strategy documents as the surrounding system