Bring the messy brief.

The useful brief is rarely tidy. It holds tension: pace vs. substance, vision vs. numbers. Our job is to hold that tension with you — name the trade-offs early, put a better option on the table.

Where budgets usually break

We see the same pattern: scope written as a wish list, timeline written as a press date. The rescue is sequencing — not heroics.

• 40% — scope cut before build (median workshop)
• 2 — must-win outcomes (per quarter max)
• 1× — honest contingency (not hidden padding)

A decision table worth printing

Ambition vs. constraint (example)

Score the venture, not the slide

Sometimes the answer is build. Sometimes it’s sequence. Sometimes it’s consciously let go. A simple score keeps the conversation honest.

// venture-score.ts
type Score = 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5;

type VentureCheck = {
  demand: Score;      // who already feels the pain?
  economics: Score;   // unit economics plausible?
  capacity: Score;    // can the team own it?
  timing: Score;      // why now, not next year?
};

export function worthDoing(v: VentureCheck): "go" | "sequence" | "pass" {
  const sum = v.demand + v.economics + v.capacity + v.timing;
  if (sum >= 16 && v.economics >= 3) return "go";
  if (sum >= 12) return "sequence";
  return "pass";
}

Bring the messy brief. We’ll sort the edges together — without pretending the spreadsheet was ever the whole story.