Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.
Current core bet written on one page
Founders who argue about whether to pivot are often arguing about different things, because nobody wrote down what the company is actually betting on. One page naming the customer, the problem, the product, the channel and the business model, each with the belief behind it, gives the whole decision a fixed reference point.
First tasks
- Write the customer, problem, product, channel and model in one line each
- Mark each line with the belief it rests on and a confidence from one to five
- Ask each co-founder to write their own version before comparing
- Merge the versions into one page and date it
Evidence baseline before the direction call
Pivot conversations drift into anecdotes when nobody can say what the numbers were three months ago. A baseline of the handful of figures that bear on the bet, such as weekly active users, paid conversions, retention at four weeks and sales cycle length, means every later review compares like with like.
First tasks
- List the figures that would move first if the core bet were right
- Pull three months of history for each from the product and billing tools
- Note every figure you cannot measure yet and who will fix it
- Refresh the baseline figures and note what moved @recurring(quarterly)
Persevere criteria agreed in advance
Once a team has worked on something for a year, any result can be read as encouraging. Writing down, before the next stretch of work, what results would justify continuing and what would trigger a serious pivot discussion takes the decision out of the mood of the week it is made in.
First tasks
- Draft the results that would make you keep going without hesitation
- Draft the results that would put a pivot on the table
- Describe the grey zone and what extra evidence would resolve it
- Agree the criteria with co-founders in one meeting and record them
