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Write an investment thesis

The investment thesis is the core of the Business Case: the problem worth solving, the outcome you expect, and the return you underwrite. This guide shows you how to capture it.

Before you start

Section titled “Before you start”
  • You need edit rights on the project — the Jira project lead or a nominated editor.
  • While the business case is in Discovery (Exploring) or Draft, you can edit the thesis.
  • Once submitted, approved, or in realisation, the thesis locks and becomes read-only corporate memory.

Steps

Section titled “Steps”
  1. Open the project’s Tollgate tab and select Business Case.
  2. Go to the Investment thesis section. The fields edit in place — there is no separate editor to open.
  3. Complete the core fields:
    • Business problem — what’s wrong today, in the sponsor’s language.
    • Outcome — what “done and worth it” looks like.
    • Return expected — the payoff you underwrite, written as prose. Tollgate does not compute or score a return figure.
  4. Pick a Theme from the site’s curated list.
  5. In the Charter section, set the scope on both sides:
    • Scope — in scope — what this investment will deliberately deliver.
    • Scope — out of scope — the boundaries you deliberately exclude.
  6. (Optional, also in Charter) Add design principles — short decision heuristics the team commits to up front.
  7. In the Governance section, name the seats: Decision authority (sponsor), Project manager, and — where relevant — Customer representative and Supplier representative.
  8. Each section saves on its own — choose its Save button (Save investment thesis, Save charter, Save governance).

Themes group the investment on the Portfolio. If your project already has a custom Theme value, Tollgate preserves it. Design principles give a mid-project call something to decide by.

Next steps

Section titled “Next steps”