MGMT 8805M Week 10 Investment Memo Example

Course	MGMT 8805M Agile and Disruptive Innovation Management
Week	Week 10
Paper type	Investment memo
Length	About 580 words, 4 pages
Format	Memo, APA 7 citations
School	Walden University
Program	PhD in Management
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for MGMT 8805M Week 10

Memorandum

To: Investment Committee, Brightwater Medical Imaging

From: Handheld Venture Lead

Date: September 12, 2022

Re: Staged funding for the handheld ultrasound venture

Decision Requested

I request $3 million to fund the handheld venture's first stage through June 2023, with the right, not the obligation, to commit a further $12 million and then $25 million if specific milestones are met. I do not request the full $40 million now.

What this page is doingThe memo states the decision and its size in the opening lines, since the committee votes on that and nothing else.

What Is Known and What Is Not

We know that Pocketsound has placed about 14,000 handheld probes, that three of our emergency department customers are trialing them and that its subscription retention after one year is reported at about 80%. We do not know whether anesthesia and obstetric departments will adopt handhelds, whether our brand will win customers Pocketsound already has, or what share of our own emergency cart revenue a Brightwater handheld would take. Those unknowns decide whether the venture is worth $40 million or nothing.

Planning Backward

McGrath and MacMillan (1995) described discovery-driven planning: start from the results a venture must deliver to be worth doing, work backward to the assumptions those results require, and fund the venture in stages that test the most important assumptions first. For the handheld venture to justify $40 million, it must reach about $60 million in annual revenue by 2027, which requires about 30,000 subscriptions at our expected price. That in turn requires assumptions we can test.

[after]

Each stage releases only if its milestones are met; the committee can stop the venture at any review.

Table 1

Assumptions Register and Staged Funding

Stage and amount	Assumption tested	Milestone to release next stage	Test date
Stage 1: $3 million	Anesthesiologists will use guided needle visualization in routine blocks	60% of 40 pilot users scan weekly after 3 months	June 2023
Stage 1	Our hospital sales force can sell subscriptions	10 paid departments without discounts	June 2023
Stage 2: $12 million	Customers who have never bought from us will buy	1,500 subscriptions, half from new customers	June 2024
Stage 3: $25 million	Subscription retention matches the entrant's	75% one-year retention	June 2025

What this page is doingThe memo works from the result the venture must reach back to the assumptions, so each milestone ties to a number the committee already accepts.

Why Not a Single Net Present Value Case

A net present value case would require forecasts of adoption, price and cannibalization five years out. Any figure we put in those cells would be a guess, and the decision would follow the guess. Such a case suits investments whose main uncertainties can be estimated, like our cart platform refresh; it does not suit this one.

The Real Options Logic

McGrath (1999) argued that real options reasoning lets firms pursue uncertain opportunities while containing losses: invest a little, learn and invest more only if conditions turn favorable. Stage 1 buys that option. Adner and Levinthal (2004) cautioned that options lose their value when organizations fail to abandon projects that miss milestones. I ask the committee to hold me to the milestones in the table and to stop the venture if Stage 1 fails.

What Staging Costs

Staging is not free. If every milestone is met, the venture will reach the market about six months later than a fully funded launch, because each review takes time, and Pocketsound will keep selling during those months. I judge that delay a smaller risk than committing $40 million to assumptions no one has tested. If the committee disagrees, the alternative I would support is funding Stages 1 and 2 together, not the full amount.

References

Adner, R., & Levinthal, D. A. (2004). What is not a real option: Considering boundaries for the application of real options to business strategy. Academy of Management Review, 29(1), 74-85. https://doi.org/10.2307/20159010

McGrath, R. G. (1999). Falling forward: Real options reasoning and entrepreneurial failure. Academy of Management Review, 24(1), 13-30. https://doi.org/10.2307/259034

McGrath, R. G., & MacMillan, I. C. (1995). Discovery-driven planning. Harvard Business Review, 73(4), 44-54.

What the MGMT 8805M Week 10 instructions ask for

Week 10 asks you to write a memo requesting funds for a response to an entrant whose eventual reach is unknown. State the decision requested and its size in the first paragraph. Separate what is known about the entrant from what is not. Plan backward from the results the venture must reach, list the assumptions those results require and design stages that test the most important assumptions first. Present a staged funding table and an assumptions register with milestones and dates. Explain why a single net present value case does not fit this decision. Use real options research to justify staging, and acknowledge its limits, including the risk of failing to stop. Include the costs of staging. Four to six pages, memo headed.

How this MGMT 8805M Week 10 example is built

The sample requests $3 million for a first stage through June 2023, with options on $12 million and $25 million. A section lists what is known, units placed and retention, and what is not, adoption in new tiers, brand pull and cannibalization. Following McGrath and MacMillan, the memo works back from $60 million in 2027 revenue to 30,000 subscriptions and the assumptions behind them. The table assigns each assumption to a stage with a milestone and test date. A section rejects a net present value case because its inputs would be guesses. McGrath's real options reasoning justifies staging, and Adner and Levinthal's caution leads to a request for enforced milestones. Staging's cost, a later launch, closes the memo.

Reading the MGMT 8805M Week 10 rubric

Graders look for the decision and its size in the opening lines and for a clear separation between known facts and unknowns. The backward plan should link the venture's required results to specific, testable assumptions. The funding table must tie each stage to an assumption, a measurable milestone and a date. Rejecting a net present value case should be argued in terms of what cannot yet be estimated, not as a general dislike of financial analysis. Accurate use of discovery-driven planning and real options research, including their limits, distinguishes strong memos. Memos that request full funding with vague milestones, or that list assumptions without tying them to stages, score in the middle.

MGMT 8805M Week 10 help: mistakes that cost marks

Start by deciding what result would make the venture worth doing, then work backward to the assumptions that result needs. Rank assumptions by how much the decision depends on them and how cheaply each can be tested. Put the cheapest important tests in the first stage. Write milestones as numbers with dates, so the committee can tell whether they were met. Explain why a single forecast would mislead here. Acknowledge that staging delays launch and that organizations often fail to stop projects. If it helps, a tutor can review your assumptions register and staged table, and the Brightwater memo above shows how the exhibits support a short request.

Get a MGMT 8805M Week 10 example written to your instructions

Provide the Week 10 memo prompt and rubric, the firm, and the threat you have been tracking, and a staged investment memo returns within 24-48h, the first request unbilled. If your section assigns discovery-driven planning, or some other method, say which one. Its tranche sizes are worked examples, not advice about any real budget.

More MGMT 8805M papers and PhD in Management samples

MGMT 8805M Week 10 questions, answered

Where can I find a free MGMT 8805M Week 10 sample paper?

The Brightwater handheld venture memo above, with its staged funding table, is the full Week 10 sample.

What funding does the MGMT 8805M Week 10 sample request?

Three million dollars for the first stage, with options on twelve million and then twenty-five million more.

What is discovery-driven planning?

McGrath and MacMillan's method of working back from required results to assumptions and funding stages that test them.

Why does the memo reject a net present value case?

Its inputs, adoption, price and cannibalization five years out, cannot yet be estimated, so the result would follow a guess.

What risk do Adner and Levinthal raise?

That options lose their value when organizations fail to abandon projects that miss their milestones.