PocketVault · Product proposal · Decision requested
Adopt D14 Rolltop as our flagship product.
A waterproof phone pouch you can actually use through the window — sold wholesale to retail stores.
The ask
Approve the RFQ and demo build. Target: 8–15 stores live by Dec 16 at $19.99 MSRP / ~$10 wholesale.
Bottom line up front
The evidence, the drawing, and the sales motion already exist — what is missing is a decision.
What we are asking for
- Name D14 Rolltop the flagship SKU
- Fund RFQ + dunk-pass demo units
- Authorize wholesale pitching this window
What it buys us
- A product on shelves in the Oct 12 – Dec 16 window
- 8–15 doors, then reorders
- A repeatable wholesale motion, not a one-off
n = 47Buyers surveyed
$19.99Survey-set MSRP
~$10Wholesale to stores
Dec 16Window closes
What changed in the world
Phones went everywhere water is, and protection never followed.
- 55% of surveyed buyers have already ruined something in water.
- 62% carry no protection at all — the default is hope.
- Dry bags solved the wrong half: they protect the phone by making it unusable.
- People will not carry gear that costs them the camera.
PocketVault survey · n = 47 · campus-weighted · Sep 2026
Who we are actually competing with
Our competitor is not a $80 dry bag. It is a sandwich bag and “I’ll be careful.”
What people use today
62% — nothing at all
19% — gear that is not actually waterproof
Remainder — Ziploc bags, or a case that was never rated for water
Every one of these fails the same way: at the worst possible moment, with a $1,000 phone inside.
→
What we put on the shelf
A pouch that seals and lets you use the phone
Priced where an impulse buy lives, not where gear shopping starts
Proven in front of the customer with a dunk demo
We are not asking anyone to trade down. We are asking them to stop using nothing.
What winning looks like
A counter display that empties, and a buyer who texts us for more.
Not a catalog. Not a survey. Reorders.
The product
D14 seals like a dry bag and works like a phone.
- Waterproof — the #1 ranked claim in our survey.
- Touchscreen through the window — the reason it beats a bag.
- Packs flat with a wrist lanyard — a counter SKU, not a shelf hog.
- Obvious close — roll three times, clip two buckles.
Concept render · phone remains usable through the window
How it works
A clerk can demo the whole product in twenty seconds.
01
Load
Phone, keys, cards into the soft body. Window sits over the screen.
02
Seal
Roll the mouth three times. Clip both side-release buckles to the bezel.
03
Dunk it
Drop it in the tank on the counter. Answer the phone through the glass.
Roll-and-clamp closure · dual side-release buckles
Customer evidence · n = 47
We did not guess the price or the claims — surveyed buyers set both.
55%Already had water damage
62%Use nothing today
$15–$25Acceptable price band
≈ $20Indifference point → $19.99
The hangtag says four things. Only four.
- Waterproof
- Touchscreen through the window
- Easy open and close
- Durable
The honest weakness
- Unaided purchase intent at $19.99 is soft: 34% top-2 box.
- So packaging alone will not sell it — the demo is the product.
- Sample is 81% students: start campus-adjacent, not national.
How it makes money
We sell cases to stores, and the margin math is what closes the buyer.
| Level | Price | Who it is for |
|---|
| Shelf price | $19.99 | Shopper — on the indifference point |
| Promo floor | $14.99 | Store latitude on good-value median |
| Wholesale | $9.99–$10.99 | Buyer — about keystone |
| Landed COGS | ≤ $4–$5 | Us — the gate the quote must clear |
Opening order: one case of 12 · reorder by text at 3 left
First doors: campus bookstore, local outdoor, water and fishing shop, high-traffic convenience. After week 4, reorders should outnumber new logos. Economics illustrative until factory quotes land.
What this decision actually costs
Three trade-offs the room has to weigh — none of them are free.
1 · Flagship vs. price point
D14 as drawn carries glass and four load cells and models ~$60–$90 landed. That cannot be a $19.99 case pack. We ship a de-featured store SKU and keep the instrumented unit as the demo.
2 · Working capital
Cases bought are cash frozen until they sell through. We pre-sell opening orders before committing a large factory PO — slower start, far smaller hole if we are wrong.
3 · One SKU, not three
Adopting D14 shelves the wallet roll-up and the rigid case family for this window. That is the real cost of focus, and it should be said out loud.
Claim discipline · no IPX8 until certified
Ship gate · dunk-pass serials only
Decision
Adopt D14 Rolltop as the flagship product.
What changes at yes
We freeze the envelope and send RFQs this week, build dunk-pass demo serials, and walk into the first eight stores with a sample and a sell sheet. A product exists on a shelf inside this window.
RFQ · this week
Doors · 8–15
Proof · dunk-pass
What changes at no
We keep a design catalog and a survey. Campus season and the IBC window close with nothing on a shelf, and the evidence we collected goes stale.
Backup follows — press A for the appendix (drawing, spec, cost bands, risk register) or B for the full Business Model Canvas.
Appendix · pull on request
Engineering freeze · D14-RT-001 Rev A
The product is specified to a drawing, not a mood board.
| Item | As drawn |
|---|
| Packed envelope | 220 × 150 × 25 mm |
| Glass window | 100 × 60 mm |
| Weight (est.) | 210 g |
| Body | TPU-coated 500D aramid |
| Closure | Roll-and-clamp, 3 folds |
| Hardware | Side-release buckles ×2 |
| Sensing | 4× load cells in bezel |
Open item: the drawing reads 210 g / 220×150; the manufacturing plan targets 122 g / 175×95 deployed. One envelope must win before RFQ.
Drawing No. D14-RT-001 · Rev A · 1:1 mm · 24 May 2024
Appendix · pull on request
Cost bands · modeled, not quoted
Only the de-featured SKU clears keystone at $19.99.
| Configuration | Modeled landed @ 250 | Where it can sell |
|---|
| Store SKU — film window, no sensing | $4–$5 target | $19.99 shelf · ~$10 wholesale |
| Custom RF roll-top body only | $5–$12 | Needs volume to hit target |
| D14 as drawn — glass bezel + 4 cells | $60–$90 | $29.99–$49.99 or demo-only |
Source: D14 price estimate model, Sep 2026. Planning bands ±30–50%. Replace with Vancharli / Szoneier / SealWerks quotes before any pricing commitment.
Appendix · pull on request
Risk register
The risk that ends this product is one leak in a store.
| Risk | Response |
|---|
| A unit leaks in front of a retailer | Dunk-QC every lot; ship passed serials only |
| Landed cost breaks the margin stack | Quote gate before any PO — no price promises first |
| Stores will not open a new SKU | Small trial case + first-case swap offer |
| Cash frozen in unsold inventory | Pre-sell opening orders before the factory PO |
| Overclaiming waterproof rating | No IPX8 language until certification exists |
| D2C pulls focus from wholesale | Social is brand proof only; stores get MAP |
Business Model Canvas · wholesale manufacturer
How the business runs behind the product decision.
Osterwalder nine-block · end-user evidence n = 47 · IBC window Oct 12 – Dec 16
Key Partners
- Contract factory — RF-weld, seals, window film
- Materials: TPU/PVC, buckles, float foam
- Freight forwarder + customs broker
- Packaging / print — hangtag, PDQ display
- Load-cell vendor — D14 demo unit only
- Invoicing / Net-30 terms tooling
Why
- IBC capital favors contract manufacturing over owning a plant
Key Activities
- Source, sample, dunk-QC every lot
- Sell sheet + MSRP / MAP sheet
- Retailer prospecting and in-store pitches
- Case pack, label, ship POs
- Reorder support, displays, swaps
Key Resources
- Case-pack inventory — store SKU
- Factory relationship + QC protocol
- D14-RT-001 drawing freeze
- Sell sheet, line sheet, UPC / SKU system
- Demo kit: dunk tank + samples
- ~$3k capital · 25-person team
Value Propositions
For retailers — the buyer
- $19.99 impulse SKU at about keystone
- ~50% margin at ~$10 wholesale
- Compact counter / PDQ footprint
- Dunk demo drives sell-through
- Simple reorder, low risk opening order
For shoppers — the end user
- Protect phone, wallet, keys near water
- Use the phone through the window
- Beats Ziploc and nothing — 62% use nothing
Shelf claims — survey-ranked
- Waterproof · touchscreen · easy open · durable
Customer Relationships
- Account owner per store cluster
- Opening order → biweekly reorder check-in
- COD first PO; Net-15 / 30 once trusted
- First-case swap offer
- Co-op in-store dunk demo day
Channels
- Direct wholesale — door-to-door pitches
- Buyer appointments with sample + sell sheet
- In-store demo days for pull-through
- Local delivery / case drop-ship
- Reorder by text
- D2C — brand proof only, not revenue
Customer Segments
Customer = the store
- Campus bookstore / student market
- Independent outdoor & sporting goods
- Water-sport shops — kayak, fishing, marina
- Travel / pharmacy impulse aisles (later)
Buyer persona
- Owner seeking summer impulse + giftables
- Needs proven MSRP, margin, easy reorder
End user the store serves
- Students and recreators; swim, travel, boat
- Damage-yes shoppers hottest — 3.27 vs 2.76
Cost Structure
- Store-SKU pouch + packaging — must land ≤ $4–$5
- Inbound freight, duties, QC scrap
- Outbound delivery to stores
- Displays, hangtags, samples
- Sales time, demo kit, event cost
- Returns / swap reserve
- Working capital tied in inventory
- D14 NRE — bezel, glass, cells: P1, not case COGS
Revenue Streams
- Wholesale case sales — the core
- Opening orders — trial cases of 12
- Reorders — recurring revenue
- Paid PDQ / display kits
- Seasonal prepacks — swim, travel
- Limited D2C for brand proof
- $19.99 MSRP → $9.99–$10.99 wholesale
- Case of 12 or 24
The model only works if store-SKU landed cost leaves ≥50% for the retailer and healthy contribution at ~$10 wholesale. D14-RT-001 NRE sits on the P1 approval, not in case COGS.
Survey → business-model decisions · n = 47
Every block of that canvas traces back to a survey finding.
| End-user finding | What it decided in the model |
|---|
| Price band $15–$25; indifference ≈ $20 | MSRP $19.99; promo latitude to ~$14.99 |
| Waterproof #1; touchscreen the differentiator | Hangtag and sell sheet lead with four claims only |
| 62% use nothing; 19% carry non-waterproof gear | Shelf story is vs. nothing and Ziploc — not vs. dry bags |
| Damage-yes shoppers score hotter (3.27 vs 2.76) | Clerk script opens “ever ruined a phone?” + dunk video |
| Soft unaided intent — 34% top-2 at $19.99 | Demo-day pull-through; packaging alone will not carry it |
| Sample is 81% students | Campus-adjacent doors first, regional chains later |
Framework: Osterwalder Business Model Canvas · Go-to-market: B2B wholesale manufacturer · Economics illustrative until factory quotes lock COGS.