The Mission Statement Builder

A Ventures At Play reader asset — Case 3: The Question on the Table

Romane's mission statement was three sentences. She wrote it for herself, not for investors — on a Sunday evening when she needed to understand what she was actually building. It was not a pitch. It was a compass.

When she read it against the Margot agreement, she wasn't asking whether the deal was good. She was asking whether it was hers.

This tool helps you write your own version — three sentences that can do the same work for you.

How to use this

Work through the three questions below in order. Write your answers in rough first — don't edit, don't polish. The goal is to find the honest version, not the presentable one.

When you have answers to all three, assemble them into three sentences at the end. That's your mission statement.

It should take about fifteen minutes. If it takes longer, you're probably trying to make it sound good rather than trying to make it true.

Question 1 — The origin claim

What exists because of you that wouldn't exist otherwise?

Not what you produce or sell — what you make possible that wasn't possible before you started. Think about the gap you're closing, the problem you're solving, or the thing you're making real that was only an idea before.

Romane's answer: Racine exists because the best things come from somewhere specific — and most of the time, the consumer never knows where.

Your answer:

Write it down. Don't start with "I" or "We." Start with what's true about the world that you're responding to.

Question 2 — The relationship claim

Who do you work with or serve — and what do they deserve that they're not currently getting?

This is about the specific people on both sides of what you build: the people who make it possible (producers, partners, contributors) and the people who receive it (customers, readers, users). What do each of them deserve that the current market, system, or arrangement isn't giving them?

Romane's answer: We source ingredients at origin, from producers who have tended the same land for generations — and we bring those ingredients into products that carry their story, not as a label or a marketing claim, but as the actual reason the product is what it is.

Your answer:

Write it down. Be specific about who. "People" or "customers" is too broad. Name the relationship.

Question 3 — The experience claim

What should someone feel when they encounter what you've made?

Not what they should think, not what they should know — what they should feel. The specific quality of experience that would tell you the thing you built is working as intended.

Romane's answer: The customer who opens a Racine product should be able to close their eyes and smell where it came from.

Your answer:

Write it down. Make it sensory if you can. Abstract feelings ("inspired," "empowered") are harder to build toward than specific ones ("understood," "surprised," "certain").

Your mission statement

Take your three answers and write them as three connected sentences. They don't have to be elegant. They have to be true.

Sentence 1 — the origin claim (what exists because of you):

Sentence 2 — the relationship claim (who you work with and what they deserve):

Sentence 3 — the experience claim (what someone should feel):

The test

Read your three sentences back.

Then ask: if someone offered me a partnership tomorrow that required me to set these sentences aside for two years — would I know immediately whether that was a problem?

If yes: you have a mission statement.

If not: go back to Question 1. The origin claim is usually where the real answer lives.

A note on honesty

Romane wrote her mission statement before she knew whether Racine would work. That's what made it useful — it was written in the absence of evidence, from conviction alone, which meant it couldn't be justified by outcomes. When she read it against the Margot agreement, it wasn't contaminated by what had already succeeded.

If you've been building for a while, there's a risk that your mission statement will describe what you've done rather than what you came to do. Watch for that. The sentence that starts with "we help people..." is often a description of your current customer, not your founding conviction.

Write toward the thing that made you start. Even if the business has moved. Especially if the business has moved.

Ventures At Play Cases are thinking tools, not professional advice. All characters and situations are fictional composites.