Brendan
195 lines
7.5 KiB
Markdown
195 lines
7.5 KiB
Markdown
# 🌟 NORTH STAR
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> **One Company. One Brain. One North Star.**
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> Every decision, every feature, every research activity, every implementation
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> is evaluated against this single objective.
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---
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## The North Star
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### First paying SaaS customer onboarded and retained for 90 days.
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---
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## Current Stage
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Pre-revenue. Product is feature-complete for launch (155 tables, 159 API routes, 40+ modules, proven multi-tenant architecture with tenant provisioning tool). One user (Brendan's own shop, Cabinet HQ). The system has been built, tested on staging, and proven with real production data from Brendan's operations (~$78.4K monthly revenue).
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**What has been proven:**
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- Multi-tenant architecture with shared-schema + business_id + RLS — works
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- Tenant provisioning tool — 16 verification checks pass
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- PDF compliance service (all 8 AU states) — built, not deployed to fix template defaults
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- Financial planning engine — live on Brendan's real P&L data
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- Email intake with AI parsing — operational
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- SMS notifications (Twilio) — working
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**What has NOT been proven:**
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- Anyone else will pay for it
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- Onboarding pipeline end-to-end (SaaS Admin built, not deployed)
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- Support model for non-Brendan users
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- Multi-tenant performance under load
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---
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## Why It Matters
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Without a paying customer, BoundHQ is Brendan's custom JMS — not a business. A first customer:
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1. Validates the product-market fit hypothesis
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2. Opens revenue generation ($39-199/mo per business)
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3. Provides real feedback to shape the product
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4. Generates case study material for customer acquisition
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5. Proves the multi-tenant architecture works in production
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6. Validates the pricing model
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BoundHQ targets 2,000+ AU cabinet and joinery shops. Customer #1 proves the model works.
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---
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## Current Bottleneck
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**All three P0 blockers require Brendan action — not AI action.**
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| Blocker | Age | Impact |
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|---------|-----|--------|
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| Login bounce (SameSite=Lax on auth cookie) — needs Brendan to test on staging | 14 days | Brendan cannot test — all dev slower |
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| Xero scopes for Financial Stages 1-4 — Brendan enables in Developer Console | 11 days | Blocks SaaS Premium tier revenue |
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| VPS drift — requires VPS access for git operations | 9 days | 13 modified files at risk |
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The AI has completed or is blocked on every task that doesn't need Brendan. Progress depends on Brendan clearing these three blockers.
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---
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## Success Metrics
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| Metric | Target | Current | Owner |
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|--------|--------|---------|-------|
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| SaaS Admin deployed | Done | Not deployed | AI (unblocked) |
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| Login bounce fixed | Verified on staging | Not tested | Brendan |
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| VPS .env permissions set | chmod 600 | World-readable | AI (needs VPS access) |
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| Git parity sweep complete | All changes committed | 13+4 files at risk | AI (needs VPS access) |
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| PDF deposit clause compliant | All 8 states | 4 states illegal | AI (done, needs deploy) |
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| VPS monitoring active | UptimeRobot + rate-limit | Flying blind | AI (unblocked) |
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| First paying customer | $39+/mo | $0 SaaS revenue | Brendan |
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| Customer retained at 90 days | Active + paying | N/A | Joint |
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---
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## Current Priorities
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### Unblock the North Star
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1. **Brendan:** Test login fix on staging (~5 min)
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2. **Brendan:** Enable Xero scopes in Developer Console (~2 min)
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3. **AI:** Deploy SaaS Admin module (2 hours — ready to go)
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4. **AI:** VPS security sweep — .env permissions, git parity, monitoring (3 hours — needs VPS access)
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5. **AI:** Deploy PDF compliance template defaults (30 min)
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6. **Brendan:** Identify and approach first paying customer
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### Protect What Exists
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7. **VPS backup verification** — confirm backups are restorable (30 min)
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8. **Login bounce** — deploy fix, Brendan verifies (20 min)
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9. **Credential rotation** — rotate all exposed secrets (1 hour)
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---
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## Things We Are NOT Doing
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The following are explicitly deprioritised. They are not contributing to the North Star:
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- ❌ **New feature development** — 155 tables, 40+ modules. Feature-complete for launch. New features delay customer #1.
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- ❌ **Mozaik CNC expansion** — Only one potential user (Brendan's shop). Not revenue-critical.
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- ❌ **AI memory system expansion** — v1 complete (37 files, 14 directories). Use it, don't expand it.
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- ❌ **Content marketing, social media, SEO** — Zero customers to market to.
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- ❌ **Mobile apps** — Desktop-first, mobile-compatible. Native apps are not the North Star.
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- ❌ **NZ/UK expansion** — Australia first. 2,000+ AU shops unserved.
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- ❌ **Enterprise tier features** — Target is 2-20 staff shops, not enterprises.
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- ❌ **AI model experimentation** — Current stack works. New models don't move the North Star.
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- ❌ **Documentation perfection** — "Good enough" documentation ships. Perfect documentation doesn't.
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---
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## Founder Focus
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Brendan's highest-leverage activities for the North Star:
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1. **Test login fix on staging** — unblocks all feature verification (5 min)
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2. **Enable Xero scopes** — unblocks Premium tier revenue (2 min)
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3. **Grant VPS access for security sweep** — unblocks 3 P0 security items
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4. **Identify first paying customer** — who is the ideal first customer?
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5. **Review first customer onboarding** — walk through SaaS Admin flow
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6. **Decide on PDF compliance priority** — legal risk vs. deploy delay
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7. **Weekly North Star review** — 2-minute priority check
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**Brendan's role:** Think, decide, validate, sell. AI does everything else.
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---
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## AI Focus
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AI's highest-leverage activities for the North Star:
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1. **Deploy SaaS Admin module** — enables first customer onboarding
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2. **Fix VPS .env permissions** — secures credential exposure (needs access)
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3. **Git parity sweep** — commits all changes to Gitea (needs access)
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4. **Deploy PDF compliance defaults** — makes deposit clauses legal
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5. **Set up VPS monitoring** — UptimeRobot, rate-limiting
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6. **Deploy login bounce fix** — unblocks Brendan's testing
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7. **Close completed handbacks** — reduce noise from 21 active items
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**AI's role:** Execute, remember, inform, maintain, document. Surface problems with solutions.
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---
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## Review Cycle
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| Frequency | Review | Participants | Output |
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|-----------|--------|-------------|--------|
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| **Weekly** (Mon) | North Star progress check | AI produces report, Brendan reviews 2 min | Blockers cleared? Customer pipeline? |
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| **Monthly** | Customer health review | Brendan + AI | Revenue, churn indicators, feedback analysis |
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| **Quarterly** | North Star itself | Brendan | Is "first customer" still the right goal? |
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---
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## AI Decision Filter
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**Before beginning significant work, ask:**
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> *"Does this move the North Star?"*
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**If No:**
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- Question whether the work should be done at all
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- Explain why the work is being performed if proceeding anyway
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**If Yes:**
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- Make the relationship to the North Star explicit
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- Prioritise above non-North-Star work
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---
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## What Success Looks Like
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**30 days:**
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- Login bounce fixed, Brendan testing independently
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- VPS security sweep complete (env perms, git parity, monitoring)
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- PDF compliance deployed (all 8 states legal)
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- SaaS Admin deployed, first tenant provisioned
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- First paying customer identified and approached
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**60 days:**
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- Customer #1 onboarded and active
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- Revenue: $39-99/mo recurring
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- Feedback loop open — product shaped by real customer needs
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- Premium AI tier ($99/mo) operational
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**90 days:**
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- Customer #1 retained (90-day active)
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- Revenue trend established
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- Acquisition channel validated
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- Case study material ready for customer #2
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---
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*This document is maintained by AI. Updated when the North Star changes or when significant progress shifts priorities. Never changed without Brendan approval.*
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