Venture Intentions Page

The production ledger of a venture. It shows what is built, what is in motion, and what is still blank — so a collaborator (or the founder using the page as self-coach) can pick the next concrete dot and ship it. The page exists to cause work, not to report on it.

Primary audience: Collaborator considering helping, or the founder using the page as a weekly scoreboard. Decision-makers and outside readers route to the one-page plan or the pitch page, not here.

Job

The intentions page causes a collaborator or the founder-as-self-coach to claim the next dot at status blank or started, name the concrete next move, and ship it within a named window.

Reader Profile

Role. A collaborator (potential builder, mentor, partner) deciding whether to contribute; or the founder reviewing the production line for the week.

Moment. Has read enough to know the venture is real and wants to know whether there is a place to contribute that matches their capacity. Or it is the start of a work cycle and the founder is choosing where to spend the next unit of attention.

Tension. Wants to contribute meaningfully and to ship something visible; fears claiming the wrong thing or stepping into work that does not actually need them.

Direct Action Contract

The page must answer each of the seven on-surface in two sentences or fewer.

1. What problem matters now? — Named at the top: which gap is the production line trying to close this cycle.
2. What happens if nothing changes? — Named per dot at status started — what stalls if this dot stays at started.
3. What better future is available? — The "built" state of each dot, written as the changed state, not as a checklist item.
4. Why trust this route? — The status legend itself: filled is shipped, outline is started, blank is the next move. The shape proves the route.
5. What is the first action? — Each blank or started dot carries one named next-move with a verb, an owner, and a window.
6. What outcome makes the journey worth joining? — A built dot transitions another dot from blank to started, which the page makes visible by sequencing the dots.
7. What kill signal keeps the bet honest? — A named threshold for production-line stall (e.g. no dot-status transition for a window). If breached, the page is rebuilt or the venture takes the signal and stops.

Output — the artifact shape

Slot	Section	Purpose
1	Eyebrow + venture name	Identity
2	Hero with status counts	At-a-glance state of the production line
3	One-sentence summary of this cycle's focus	Frame for which dots matter most
4	The dot ledger (sequenced)	The production line itself
5	Per-dot card: name, group, status, useful-for, current note, next-move CTA	The unit of work
6	Methodology footer with cross-links	Where the dots come from
7	Close — copyable prompt for the founder reviewing the page	Self-coach affordance

The dot ledger is sequenced top to bottom in build order, not grouped by status. Sequence beats clustering: a reader follows the line, not a category.

Action

Primary action. Pick one dot at status blank or started, name the concrete next move, and ship it. For the founder: claim the next dot for this cycle. For the collaborator: send a one-line message saying "I can take dot N for window W."

Wrong action. Read the page, nod, take no action. The page becomes a status report; the dots stay at started forever; the founder confuses motion-described with motion-happening.

Source affordance. Each dot card carries a one-line current-state note and a next-move CTA. The next-move is the affordance — it names the verb, the owner, and the window. Without all three, the affordance fails and the dot stays at started.

Outcome Cascade

Right action (the bet pays out)

Order	Effect
1° Direct	A dot transitions from blank to started, or from started to built, within the named window
2° Downstream	A receipt of the transition lands in the venture's evidence trail; the next dependent dot becomes ship-able
3° System	The production line compounds; pass-conditions are captured in artifacts that the next cycle inherits
4° Cultural	The team learns that the page is a work surface, not a scoreboard; claiming a dot is normal, not heroic
5° Structural	The venture's iteration cadence becomes predictable; the next-blueprint forecast can name effort, token cost, and time-to-ship with low variance

Wrong action (the page fails its job)

Order	Effect
1° Direct	The reader leaves having claimed nothing; the page registers no transition
2° Downstream	The dot status drift continues; started accumulates because nothing forces a transition
3° System	Founder credibility decays — the page reports motion that did not happen, and the reader notices
4° Cultural	Collaborators learn that the page is decorative; the next collaborator does not even read it
5° Structural	The production line invisibly stalls; the venture's failure mode becomes "looks busy, ships nothing"

Kill Signal

zero dot-status transitions for 90 days → page is decoration; rebuild or delete heuristic

Owner: the venture lead. Measurement: weekly diff of dot statuses. Consequence when the signal fires: rewrite the dots to match what is actually being worked, or delete the page and admit the production line is dormant.

Instrument Flow

Upstream

These instruments feed the intentions page.

• Idea Capture
• Business Idea Checklist
• Operations Scorecard

Adjacent

These instruments strengthen or qualify the page.

• Venture Proof Page
• Constraint Map

Downstream

These artifacts consume the intentions page output.

• One-Page Plan
• Venture Proof Page
• Operations Scorecard

Source Map

Intentions section	Primary source instrument	Supporting instrument	Downstream consumer
Cycle focus line	This cycle's plan	Idea Capture	All other pages
Dot definitions	Business Idea Checklist	Idea Capture	Proof page, One-Page Plan
Dot statuses	Operations Scorecard	Receipts trail	One-Page Plan §9
Next-move CTAs	This cycle's plan	Constraint Map	Operations Scorecard
Kill signal	Operations Scorecard	One-Page Plan §14	Proof page

Procedure

1. Start from a fixed list of dots. The list is the venture's production checklist — not invented per cycle. Reuse a published checklist (the Business Idea Checklist, the Minimum Venture Package, or the venture's own published version).
2. For each dot, write a one-sentence "useful-for" — the function the dot serves when shipped. This is what survives if the dot's contents change.
3. For each dot, set status: built, started, or blank. The legend is binary at the edges; started means at least one artifact exists but the pass-condition has not been met.
4. For each started or blank dot, write the next-move with a verb, an owner, and a window. Three fields. If you cannot name all three, the dot is not actionable and the page is lying.
5. Sequence the dots in build order. Earlier dots feed later dots. The reader follows the line, not a category.
6. Add a one-line summary at the top: this cycle's focus. The cycle focus is the lens through which a collaborator chooses where to help.
7. Test the page weekly: how many dots have transitioned status this week? If zero for two weeks, run the kill signal.

Do Not Include

• Dots without owners. An unowned dot is decorative; it never transitions because no one is accountable.
• Dots without a verb in the next-move. "More research" is not a next-move; "Interview three customers by Friday" is.
• Status without a transition history. If built never has a date, the page cannot prove the production line moves.
• Aspirational dots from outside the production checklist. Aspirations belong on the pitch page; the intentions page is the work surface for the dots that already exist.
• Dot-completion celebration above the fold. The page rewards the next move, not the last one.
• Numeric scores per dot. Scoring belongs on the one-page plan; the intentions page is a work surface, not a measurement surface.

Scoring Rubric

Score each dimension from 1 to 5.

Dimension	1	3	5
Action affordance	No next-moves named	Next-moves named but missing owner or window	Every started/blank dot has verb + owner + window
Sequence clarity	Dots grouped by status	Dots loosely ordered	Dots strictly sequenced in build order
Status honesty	All dots claim started	Some built are unverified	Every built carries a date and a linked artifact
Cycle focus	No frame	Frame named generically	One-sentence frame names the dot the cycle most needs to advance
Transition cadence	No history	Some dots transitioned last quarter	Multiple dots transitioned in the last 30 days
Honesty	No kill signal	Kill signal stated but not measured	Kill signal stated, measured weekly, and the page proves it has not fired

Investor or board standard: no dimension below 4.

CopyablePrompt

For the page builder or the founder reviewing the page:

I am reviewing the intentions page for a venture. Before I claim or assign the
next dot, I want to confirm the page is doing its job — causing the next
concrete move, not reporting on the last one.

For each dot at status started or blank, answer:
- What is the next move? Name the verb.
- Who owns the next move? Name the person or team.
- When is the window? Name the date.

If any of the three is blank, the dot is decorative — either fix it or set the
dot to blank and stop pretending it is in motion.

For each dot at status built, answer:
- What is the linked artifact? Name the URL or file path.
- When did this dot transition? Name the date.

If either is blank, the dot is not actually built; demote it to started.

Finally, the cycle focus question: of all started/blank dots, which one most
needs to advance this cycle? Why this one and not the others? If you cannot
answer, the page has no cycle focus and is a status report; rewrite the focus
line before the next review.

Questions

• Which dot has stayed at started longest — and what is the unstated reason it has not advanced?
• If the kill signal fired tomorrow, which dots are you ready to admit were never going to move?
• Of the built dots, how many have a linked artifact that another person could re-run from scratch?
• If a collaborator opened the page right now, which dot would they pick — and is that the dot the founder most needs picked?