The framework
The outside-in sequence
Five rings, read from the outside in. Start with what the market will allow; finish with what AI is allowed to scale.
Outer → core
- Ring 01Locate
Market reality
Who actually buys, what they are replacing, and what the market already believes. Read it from outside your own CRM.
Decision this ring must write down
The one-sentence ICP: who, in what situation, replacing what.
- Ring 02Commit
Motion choices
Choose the motion the market permits (product-led, sales-led, partner-led) and stop funding the ones it does not.
Decision this ring must write down
The primary motion, and the motion you are explicitly not running this year.
- Ring 03Evidence
Proof
Give the buyer believable evidence that this works for someone like them. Find the single thing stopping belief.
Decision this ring must write down
The one constraint on proof: named, owned and dated. Not a list of leaks.
- Ring 04Time
Timing signals
Act on signals that historically preceded wins in your own data, not intent scores borrowed from someone else's market.
Decision this ring must write down
The few signals that trigger action, and the threshold for each.
- Ring 05Compound
AI (the compounder)
Only now does AI earn its place: scaling the decisions above, never substituting for them.
Decision this ring must write down
What AI is allowed to scale, and what stays with a human.
Non-negotiable
Every ring produces one written decision before the ring inside it runs.
Proof names one constraint, not a list of leaks. A list is a backlog. A single constraint is a decision.