Revenue Lever Mapping

Overview

Use this skill to answer one question precisely: which lever does this move, and how would we know? It forces a single primary revenue/value lever, names the metric that would prove it, a usable proxy for early signal, and the risks to the claim. It carries no proprietary framework; the value lens is resolved via the strategic_framework knowledge slot when available, generic otherwise.

It is one of the capabilities orchestrated by feature-value-governance. Use it standalone when the value claim itself is contested.

When to Use

• An opportunity or feature is proposed and the value claim is vague ("users will love it").
• Two bets compete and you need to compare the lever each one actually pulls.
• A roadmap item lists no measurable mechanism of value.

When NOT to Use

• The lever is already named, measured, and uncontested.
• There is no problem framing yet (nothing whose value can be mapped).
• The decision is pure execution planning (use feature-planning).

Core Moves

1. Frame and resolve knowledge. State the opportunity in one line. Read the resolved strategic_framework capsule if present; otherwise run generic and mark it.
2. Name the primary lever. Exactly one: acquisition, activation, retention, expansion, efficiency, margin, or strategic_defense.
3. Name secondary levers. Zero or more, clearly subordinate to the primary.
4. Attach a metric. The metric that would prove the lever moved, with a direction.
5. Pick a proxy. A faster, cheaper early signal when the true metric is slow.
6. State risks and uncertainty. What would make this lever the wrong story; what is not yet known.

Optional Modules

• Driver decomposition — Break the lever into its driver model (which funnel step, which cost line) when the value claim is contested.
• Lever conflict check — When a feature claims multiple co-equal levers, force a primary and explain the trade-off.
• Proxy validity note — When the proxy could mislead, state the conditions under which it diverges from the true metric.

Activation Triggers

• Always declare and attempt to resolve strategic_framework; run generic loudly if unsatisfied.
• Use driver decomposition when stakeholders disagree on whether value exists.
• Use the lever conflict check when more than one lever is claimed as primary.

Inputs (minimum)

• Problem, target ICP, value proposition, business context.

Outputs (minimum)

• Primary lever, secondary levers, metric(s), proxy, risks — mappable to the revenue_lever, primary_metric, and evidence_level fields of the Feature Value Governance Contract.

Expected Output

revenue_lever_map:
  opportunity: <one line>
  mode: generic | knowledge_aware
  strategic_framework_ref: <pack_id@version | generic>
  primary_lever: acquisition | activation | retention | expansion | efficiency | margin | strategic_defense
  primary_rationale: <short>
  secondary_levers: [ ... ]
  metric:
    name: <metric>
    direction: <up | down>
  proxy:
    name: <early signal>
    validity: <when it can mislead>
  risks: [ ... ]
  uncertainty: <what is not yet known>

Verification

• Exactly one primary lever.
• The metric has a direction and is tied to the lever, not to activity.
• Uncertainty is stated, not hidden.

Handoff Signals

• The lever maps a tree of bets → hand to opportunity-tree-alignment.
• Permanent cost is now the deciding factor → hand to feature-complexity-audit.
• A worth-doing verdict is needed → hand back to feature-value-governance.

Pairs Well With

• feature-value-governance
• opportunity-tree-alignment
• business-design

Anti-patterns

• Claiming every lever at once.
• Measuring activity ("clicks") as if it were value.
• Treating a proxy as proof.