Course 06 · Build Planning

Turn an idea into a build plan — before you write a line.

The mistake that kills most software projects is building before deciding what you're building and what it runs on. Two documents fix that — a PRD and a tech-stack diagram. AI writes both in minutes.

◷ 12 min · ▶ 48-sec video· MentorMe Academy

Why these two documents

  • The PRD answers what are we building, for whom, in what order? — a phased checklist where every phase has a goal and a "done when…".
  • The tech-stack diagram answers what does it run on? — one picture: how people arrive, how they become leads, the platform engine (framework, hosting, auth, database), and what each user sees.
The universal shape: a funnel on an engine — ① Attraction → ② Lead magnet → ③ Platform (framework + hosting + auth + database) → ④ What they see (client dashboard + admin dashboard + payments + measurement). Build engine-first.

The master prompt

You are my senior product manager and solutions architect. Turn my idea into (A) a PRD and (B) a tech-stack diagram. Ask clarifying questions BEFORE writing if anything's unclear. === THE IDEA === - What I'm building / who it's for / the core job it does: [...] - Business model: [one-time / subscription / lead-gen / marketplace / internal tool] - Must-have features / nice-to-have later / constraints (budget, team, my tech level, deadline): [...] === A: PRD === 1) one-line vision; 2) users & goals; 3) what's built (mark built/missing); 4) phased roadmap, engine-first, each phase with a checklist + a "Done when…" test; 5) one flat numbered build-order checklist; 6) out of scope. Plain-spoken, no unexplained jargon. === B: STACK DIAGRAM === four layers (Attraction · Lead magnet · Platform/engine · What they see). Name specific tools for my constraints + why. Output it TWICE: a Mermaid 'flowchart TD' block, and a clean self-contained SVG I can save. Mark new additions. Ask me what you need, then deliver A and B.

Run it

  1. Paste it, answer the questions — that's where the quality comes from.
  2. Get the PRD + diagram. Save the SVG block as stack.svg, open in any browser — your shareable architecture picture.
  3. Build one checklist item at a time: "Now build this one item in my [stack]: [item]." Test, then next. Never batch.
Charge for this: a PRD + tech-stack diagram is the standard first paid milestone of any build — commonly $500–$2,500 as "discovery & architecture," before a line of code.