Founder OS
REFERENCE The 24 skill domains behind building a company as a tiny team or a solo founder — frameworks, metrics, templates, progress signals and verified case studies for each, organised across 7 phases from discovery to foundation. Plus a searchable map of 100 sectors and 500 industries.
Static reference only: nothing on this page calls an AI model or a third-party API, and no key is embedded anywhere in it. Filter, search, expand and browse below — use the estate's own Chat with AI (the round button at the bottom of the screen) if you want to talk any of it through.
How phase is shown, without colour
Each of the 24 domains sits in one of 7 phases. Phase is carried by border style and weight, fill and a glyph — never by hue — the same approach the estate already uses for its 4-state developer-website badge. It reads the same in grayscale, in print, or for a colour-blind reader.
24 skill domains
Expand any domain for its frameworks, key metrics, templates, progress signals and case studies. Filter by phase or search across taglines, frameworks and metrics.
24 of 24 domains shown
Idea ValidationDiscovery phaseProve someone will pay before you build it.
Practitioner tip — Talk to people before you write a line of code — and pay attention to what they've already tried, not what they say they'd do.
- Mom Test — Ask about past behaviour and money already spent — never “would you use this?”
- Problem/Solution Fit — Validate the problem hurts enough before touching the solution.
- Riskiest Assumption Test — Find and test the one assumption that kills the business if it's false.
- Concierge MVP — Deliver the outcome by hand before writing software.
- Problem interviews completed — 20–30 before you can pattern-match a real problem
- Willingness-to-pay signal — verbal < written < a real pre-payment, in ascending order of trust
- Landing-page conversion — cold traffic to waitlist/email, a rough demand proxy
- Time-to-first-yes — days from first outreach to first “I'd pay for that”
- Customer discovery interview script (open questions, no pitching)
- One-page problem brief (who, pain, current workaround, cost of inaction)
- Landing-page smoke-test outline
- Assumptions map (desirability / viability / feasibility)
- Early — 10+ structured problem interviews logged, a written problem brief
- Building — a landing page or prototype converts cold traffic at a credible rate
- Established — strangers (not friends) have pre-paid or signed a real letter of intent
- Mature — a repeatable pitch reliably books discovery calls without your personal network
Business ModelDiscovery phaseDecide how the value you create turns into value you capture.
Practitioner tip — Pick the revenue mechanism your best customers already understand — model innovation is a much harder sell than product innovation.
- Business Model Canvas — Nine-block map from value proposition to cost structure.
- Lean Canvas — A startup-flavoured Business Model Canvas that foregrounds problem and unfair advantage.
- Jobs to Be Done — Model the business around the job the customer is hiring you for.
- Wardley Mapping — Locate each part of your value chain by evolution stage to see where to build vs. buy.
- Unit economics (CAC, LTV, contribution margin) — the model has to work on one customer before it works on a million
- Gross margin — how much of each sale survives the cost of delivery
- Payback period — months to recover the cost of acquiring a customer
- Revenue-model fit — % of revenue from the pricing mechanism you actually intend to scale
- Business Model Canvas (Strategyzer format)
- Unit-economics spreadsheet (CAC/LTV/payback)
- Pricing-page draft with 3 tiers
- Assumptions-to-experiments backlog
- Early — canvas filled in, biggest assumption identified
- Building — a pricing page exists and has been shown to real prospects
- Established — unit economics computed from real transactions, not estimates
- Mature — the model has survived a pricing change without breaking retention
FundraisingCapital phaseRaise only the capital the plan actually requires, on terms you can live with.
Practitioner tip — Raise for the plan 18–24 months out, not for the number that feels validating — every extra dollar costs equity or control.
- SAFE / convertible-note structures — The standard early instrument — what a cap and a discount actually do to your cap table.
- The Pitch — Problem, solution, market size, traction, team, ask — in that order.
- Rule of 40 — Growth rate + profit margin, a later-stage fundraising health check.
- Term-sheet literacy — Signal vs. noise in valuation, liquidation preference, pro-rata and board seats.
- Runway — months of cash at current burn
- Burn multiple — net cash burned per dollar of net new ARR
- Meetings → term sheets — conversion rate through the investor funnel
- Dilution per round — % of the company given up for the capital raised
- One-page pitch summary
- Data-room checklist (cap table, financials, contracts, IP)
- Cap-table model with option pool
- Investor update email (monthly, one page)
- Early — a one-page summary and a target investor list exist
- Building — first meetings booked from warm introductions
- Established — a lead investor has issued a term sheet
- Mature — the round has closed and monthly investor updates are a standing habit
Go-to-MarketGrowth phaseTurn a working product into a repeatable path to the right customers.
Practitioner tip — Pick one channel and one segment on purpose — most early GTM failure is spreading thin, not picking wrong.
- Bowling Alley / Beachhead — Win one narrow segment completely before expanding.
- AARRR (Pirate Metrics) — Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue — Dave McClure's funnel.
- Channel–Product Fit — Match the acquisition channel to how the product is actually bought.
- Positioning (“Obviously Awesome” method) — Competitive alternatives, unique attributes, value, target market — April Dunford's method.
- CAC by channel — cost to acquire a customer, split out per channel
- Activation rate — % of signups reaching a defined “aha” moment
- Time-to-value — how long until a new user gets the core benefit
- Channel payback period — months for a channel's CAC to be recovered
- GTM one-pager (segment, channel, message, motion)
- Launch checklist
- Positioning statement template
- Channel-test tracker
- Early — one segment and one channel chosen on purpose, not by default
- Building — the first channel produces repeatable, not one-off, signups
- Established — CAC is known by channel and at least one channel pays back in under 12 months
- Mature — a second channel has been added without breaking the first
Marketing & BrandGrowth phaseBuild the recognition and trust that make the sales/growth motion cheaper over time.
Practitioner tip — Say one thing, everywhere, for a long time — brand is repetition of a clear idea, not a rebrand every quarter.
- Brand positioning statement — For [X], who [Y], our brand is [Z], because [W].
- StoryBrand — Clarify the message by making the customer the hero, not the company.
- Content–market fit — The content equivalent of product–market fit.
- Full-funnel marketing — Awareness → consideration → conversion → loyalty → advocacy.
- Organic/branded share of traffic — how much demand arrives without paid spend
- CAC trend over time — should fall as brand compounds
- Share of voice — vs. named competitors
- Content-to-pipeline attribution — how much of the funnel content actually touches
- Brand one-pager (positioning, voice, visual basics)
- Content calendar
- Messaging house (one core message, three supporting pillars)
- Case-study template
- Early — a consistent name, message and visual identity exist across every touchpoint
- Building — owned channels (email list, content, community) are growing without paid spend
- Established — a measurable share of demand is inbound/branded, not all paid
- Mature — the brand is cited unprompted by customers and press
Growth & AnalyticsGrowth phaseInstrument the funnel, then compound the parts that compound.
Practitioner tip — Instrument before you optimise — a beautifully run experiment on the wrong metric teaches you nothing.
- AARRR funnel instrumentation — Track acquisition through revenue as one connected funnel, not five reports.
- North Star Metric — One number the whole company can rally around.
- ICE scoring — Impact, Confidence, Ease — prioritise growth experiments quickly.
- Cohort analysis — Measure behaviour by signup period, not in aggregate.
- North Star Metric — and its weekly trend
- Activation, retention and referral — rates by cohort
- Experiment velocity — tests shipped per month
- Statistically significant win rate — on experiments actually run
- Experiment brief (hypothesis, metric, minimum sample, decision rule)
- Funnel dashboard spec
- Cohort-retention table template
- Growth-model spreadsheet (inputs → North Star projection)
- Early — basic funnel events are instrumented and trustworthy
- Building — a North Star Metric is defined and reviewed weekly
- Established — a running experiment backlog with a real cadence of shipped tests
- Mature — growth is forecastable from the model within a reasonable error band
ProductBuild phaseBuild the smallest thing that proves the value, then compound it.
Practitioner tip — Ship the ugly version to a real user before polishing — you'll learn more from one paying user's complaint than a month of internal debate.
- Shape Up — Basecamp's fixed-time, variable-scope, six-week cycle methodology.
- Kano Model — Sort features into basic, performance and delight.
- RICE prioritisation — Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort.
- Jobs-to-be-Done story mapping — Map the workflow around the job, not the feature list.
- Activation rate — and time-to-first-value
- Feature adoption — % of active users touching a given feature within 30 days
- Cycle time — idea to shipped
- Bug/regression rate — post-release, tracked per release
- One-page PRD (problem, users, success metric, non-goals)
- RICE scoring sheet
- Release-notes template
- User story map
- Early — a single core workflow works end-to-end for one real user
- Building — a defined roadmap process exists and ships on a predictable cadence
- Established — feature adoption and retention are tracked per release
- Mature — the roadmap is driven by usage data as much as by requests
Technical ArchitectureBuild phaseChoose the boring, correct architecture that won't need a rewrite at 10x.
Practitioner tip — Choose boring technology for anything not core to your differentiation — novelty is a tax you pay in 2am pages.
- Build vs. buy — A decision framework for when to build custom vs. adopt existing tools.
- The Twelve-Factor App — Principles for maintainable, portable services.
- Technical-debt quadrant — Deliberate vs. inadvertent, reckless vs. prudent.
- Scalability checklist — Stateless services, caching, queueing, horizontal scaling.
- Uptime / SLA attainment — measured against a stated target
- Deployment frequency & change-failure rate — the core DORA metrics
- Mean time to recovery (MTTR) — from incident start to resolution
- Infrastructure cost per active user — efficiency of the stack as usage grows
- Architecture decision record (ADR) template
- Incident postmortem template
- System design one-pager
- On-call runbook
- Early — the system works and is documented well enough for a second engineer to onboard
- Building — deploys are automated and reasonably frequent
- Established — DORA metrics are tracked and trending in the right direction
- Mature — the architecture has survived a 10x load event without a rewrite
AutomationBuild phaseAutomate the repeatable so humans handle the judgement calls.
Practitioner tip — Automate a process only after you've done it by hand enough times to know exactly where it breaks — automating a broken process just breaks things faster.
- Process mining before automating — Automate the process you actually have, not the one you assume you have.
- RPA vs. workflow-native vs. AI-agent automation — Choose the mechanism by task shape, not by hype.
- Human-in-the-loop design — For anything with real consequences of error.
- The automation pyramid — Automate the highest-volume, lowest-judgement tasks first.
- Hours saved per month — by an automated workflow, vs. the manual baseline
- Error rate — automated vs. manual
- % of a process completed without human touch
- Cost per transaction — automated vs. manual
- Process map (current state) before automation
- Automation ROI worksheet (hours saved × loaded cost vs. build/maintain cost)
- Exception-handling runbook (what happens when automation fails)
- Human-in-the-loop review checklist
- Early — the highest-volume manual process is mapped step by step
- Building — the first workflow is automated with a human-review fallback
- Established — automated workflows are monitored with alerting on failure
- Mature — automation frees enough time that the team scales output faster than headcount
SalesRevenue phaseDesign a repeatable way to turn a qualified lead into a signed, paying customer.
Practitioner tip — Sell it yourself first — you cannot document or hire for a sales process you have never run.
- MEDDIC / MEDDPICC — Qualification framework for complex B2B sales.
- SPIN Selling — Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff questioning.
- Staged pipeline — Clear entry and exit criteria per stage, not a vague funnel.
- Land-and-expand — Win a small first deal, then grow the account.
- Win rate — closed-won ÷ closed (won + lost)
- Sales-cycle length — first touch to signed contract
- Average deal size / ACV
- Pipeline coverage ratio — open pipeline ÷ quota
- Discovery-call script
- Proposal / SOW template
- Objection-handling cheat sheet
- Pipeline stage definitions (entry/exit criteria)
- Early — the founder closes the first 5–10 deals personally
- Building — a documented sales process exists that someone else can follow
- Established — a non-founder can run the full cycle and hit quota
- Mature — win rate and cycle length are stable enough to forecast from
Customer SuccessRevenue phaseMake renewal and expansion the natural result of delivered value.
Practitioner tip — Renewal is decided in the first two weeks, not the last two — that's where the onboarding budget should go.
- Customer Health Score — A composite leading indicator of churn/expansion risk.
- Onboarding-to-value mapping — The shortest path from signup to the customer's first real win.
- QBR cadence — Quarterly Business Reviews for larger accounts.
- Land-and-expand account planning — Plan the account's growth, not just its renewal.
- Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
- Gross / logo churn
- Time-to-first-value
- NPS / CSAT
- Onboarding checklist
- Customer health-score scorecard
- QBR deck template
- Churn post-mortem template
- Early — every customer is onboarded personally by the founder
- Building — an onboarding checklist exists and is used for every new account
- Established — health scores predict churn before it happens
- Mature — expansion revenue exceeds churn (net negative churn)
OperationsScale phaseBuild the systems that let the company run without your memory as the database.
Practitioner tip — If you've done it more than twice, write it down — the SOP you write today is the hire you don't have to train twice tomorrow.
- SOP-first operations — Write the standard operating procedure before you scale the team.
- RACI matrix — Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed.
- Theory of Constraints — Find and fix the one bottleneck limiting throughput.
- OKRs — For operational alignment across a growing team.
- Cycle time — on core operational processes
- Error / rework rate
- On-time delivery / SLA adherence
- Cost per unit of output
- SOP template (steps, owner, tools, exceptions)
- RACI matrix
- Quarterly OKR sheet
- Vendor/process audit checklist
- Early — the founder is still the SOP; nothing is written down
- Building — the top 5 recurring processes are documented
- Established — a non-founder owns operations end-to-end
- Mature — the business runs for two weeks without the founder without breaking
Talent & RecruitingScale phaseHire slowly for fit and judgement — the wrong early hire costs more than the vacancy.
Practitioner tip — Write the scorecard — what this person needs to have done, know and be like — before you write the job ad, not after the first resume arrives.
- Structured interviews — A fixed scoring rubric per competency, applied to every candidate.
- Topgrading — Reference-heavy hiring focused on a candidate's actual track record.
- The “Rule of Four” — A small, structured interview panel with defined criteria (see verified case study).
- Culture-add over culture-fit — Hire for what's missing, not a mirror of the existing team.
- Time-to-hire
- Offer-acceptance rate
- 90-day and 1-year retention — of new hires
- Interview-to-offer conversion rate
- Structured interview scorecard
- Role scorecard (outcomes, competencies, values) before the job is posted
- Reference-check question set
- 30-60-90 day onboarding plan
- Early — every hire is made personally by a founder, slowly and carefully
- Building — a written role scorecard exists before a role is posted
- Established — a structured interview process with scorecards is used consistently
- Mature — a non-founder can run the hiring process end-to-end and hit the quality bar
International ExpansionGrowth phaseLocalise the parts that matter (payment, language, law) and standardise the rest.
Practitioner tip — Prove the model in one new market before touching a second — international expansion multiplies whatever is already true about your business, good or bad.
- Market-entry mode ladder — Export → partner/agent → local entity → full local operation.
- CAGE distance framework — Cultural, Administrative, Geographic, Economic — for market prioritisation.
- Localisation vs. translation — Adapt the experience, not just the words.
- Land-and-expand by region — Prove one market before touching the next.
- Revenue and CAC by market/region
- Localisation coverage — % of product/marketing surface translated and adapted
- Time-to-first-local-customer — per new market
- Regulatory/compliance readiness score — per market
- Market-entry scorecard (size, competition, regulation, payment rails)
- Localisation checklist (language, currency, tax, support hours)
- Local-entity vs. partner decision matrix
- In-market launch checklist
- Early — one adjacent market chosen deliberately, not opportunistically
- Building — first local customers acquired without a local entity
- Established — local payment, language and support are live for that market
- Mature — a repeatable market-entry playbook exists for the next market
Partnerships & BDGrowth phaseBorrow someone else's distribution or credibility instead of building it all yourself.
Practitioner tip — Prove a partnership works informally, by hand, before you formalise it in a contract — paper doesn't create the value, the relationship does.
- Partnership ladder — Referral → co-marketing → integration → reseller/channel → equity partnership.
- Platform ecosystem strategy — Build on, or build a platform for, others to extend.
- Win-win scorecard — What each side gets, explicitly, before signing anything.
- Channel-conflict management — Protect direct and partner motions from cannibalising each other.
- Partner-sourced / partner-influenced revenue
- Active integration or channel partners — not just signed, but live
- Partner time-to-first-value — their equivalent of your activation metric
- Co-marketing reach / leads generated
- Partnership one-pager (mutual value, scope, success metrics)
- Integration-partner technical checklist
- Channel-partner agreement outline
- Joint go-to-market plan template
- Early — the first informal referral relationship produces a real customer
- Building — a formal partner agreement exists with defined mutual value
- Established — partner-sourced revenue is tracked as its own pipeline category
- Mature — a partner/platform ecosystem produces revenue without founder involvement in every deal
Founder WellbeingFoundation phaseProtect the one resource every other domain depends on: you, functioning.
Practitioner tip — Protect a handful of your best decision-making hours for the handful of decisions that actually need them — and treat rest as part of the job, not a reward for finishing it.
- Sustainable pace over heroics — The marathon framing of founder work, not the sprint.
- Decision hygiene — Protect scarce, high-quality decisions from fatigue and noise.
- Founder support systems — Peer groups, coaches, therapy, clear co-founder division of labour.
- Energy management over time management — Manage physical/mental energy, not just hours in the calendar.
- Self-reported energy/burnout check-ins — informal, but worth tracking on a cadence
- Protected non-work hours per week
- Decisions delegated vs. still requiring the founder
- Co-founder/leadership conflict — resolved vs. left unresolved
- Weekly founder reflection template (energy, wins, risks, one thing to delegate)
- Co-founder working agreement (roles, decision rights, conflict process)
- Delegation checklist (what only I can do vs. what I merely enjoy doing)
- Burnout early-warning checklist
- Early — the founder can name their own top 3 energy drains
- Building — at least one recurring commitment (sleep, exercise, a support person) is protected on the calendar
- Established — a co-founder or trusted advisor can flag burnout risk before the founder does
- Mature — the founder has taken real time off and the company kept running
Finance & AccountingFoundation phaseKnow your numbers before anyone else has to ask.
Practitioner tip — Reconcile the bank account every month, on a calendar reminder, from day one — the habit is worth more than the software you use for it.
- Three-statement model — P&L, balance sheet, cash flow — kept current, not just at raise time.
- Rule of 40 — Growth rate + profit margin, a later-stage health check.
- Zero-based budgeting — For cost discipline as the team grows.
- Cash-flow-first management — Profit is an opinion, cash is a fact.
- Runway — months
- Burn rate — gross and net
- Gross margin
- Days sales outstanding (DSO)
- Monthly financial-close checklist
- Cash-flow forecast template (13-week rolling)
- Board financial-pack outline
- Simple chart of accounts for an early-stage company
- Early — a bookkeeping system exists and is reconciled monthly
- Building — monthly close happens on a fixed schedule with real reporting
- Established — a rolling cash-flow forecast is maintained and trusted
- Mature — finance produces a board-ready pack without a fire drill
Legal & ComplianceFoundation phaseKeep the paperwork clean enough that diligence is boring, not terrifying.
Practitioner tip — Paper the founder agreement (equity, vesting, IP) in month one, while everyone still agrees on everything — it only gets harder later.
- Corporate-hygiene basics — Cap table, IP assignment, founder vesting, board consents.
- Contract lifecycle management — Draft, negotiate, sign, store, renew.
- Privacy-by-design — Build it in from the start — the specific regime depends on where your customers are.
- Risk register — Likelihood × impact, reviewed on a fixed cadence.
- Contracts on current template vs. one-off redlines
- Time to close a standard contract
- Compliance findings — open vs. closed
- IP-assignment coverage — % of founders/contractors/employees with signed IP assignment
- Founder vesting/IP-assignment agreement checklist
- Standard MSA/DPA templates
- Data-room folder structure
- Compliance risk register
- Early — founders have signed IP assignment and vesting agreements with each other
- Building — a standard contract template exists and is used by default
- Established — a data room could be assembled within a week if asked
- Mature — compliance is a scheduled review, not a reaction to a customer's audit request
Historical DataFoundation phaseYou can't analyse, forecast or automate what you never bothered to record.
Practitioner tip — Write the metric's definition down before you argue about the number — most data debates are definition debates wearing a data costume.
- Single source of truth — One system of record per data domain, not five spreadsheets that disagree.
- Data-hygiene basics — Consistent definitions, timestamps and units before volume.
- Event-based instrumentation — Record what happened, not just end-of-period totals.
- Data-retention policy — What you keep, for how long, and why.
- Data completeness — % of key events actually captured
- Historical depth — months/years of clean, comparable data available
- Definition consistency — number of metrics with more than one definition in active use
- Time to retrieve a historical answer — minutes vs. days
- Metrics dictionary (one definition per metric, owned by one person)
- Data-source inventory
- Data-retention and backup policy
- Monthly data-quality checklist
- Early — the core numbers (revenue, customers, costs) live in one place, not five
- Building — a metrics dictionary exists so “active user” means one thing company-wide
- Established — at least 12 months of clean, comparable history exists
- Mature — historical data reliably answers “what happened and why” without a research project
Forecast & ProjectionScale phaseTurn history into a disciplined, testable view of what's likely next.
Practitioner tip — A forecast's value is in the assumptions you can name and test, not the precision of the number it spits out.
- Bottom-up vs. top-down forecasting — Triangulate the two against each other.
- Rolling forecast — Continuously updated, over a static annual budget.
- Scenario planning — Base, upside and downside cases with named assumptions.
- Cohort-based revenue forecasting — For subscription and repeat-purchase businesses.
- Forecast accuracy — actual vs. forecast, by period
- Forecast bias — consistently over- or under-shooting
- Days to produce an updated forecast
- Unvalidated assumption count — still resting on guesswork, not data
- Rolling 13-week cash forecast
- Annual bottom-up revenue model
- Scenario-planning worksheet (base/upside/downside)
- Forecast-vs-actual variance report
- Early — a simple, named-assumption forecast exists, even if rough
- Building — forecasts are revisited monthly against actuals
- Established — forecast accuracy is tracked as its own metric and improving
- Mature — scenario plans actively inform hiring and spending decisions, not just board decks
Trend AnalysisScale phaseSeparate real signal from noise in your own numbers and your market.
Practitioner tip — One data point is an anecdote, three is maybe a trend — build the habit of asking “compared to what, and for how long?” before reacting.
- Moving averages / seasonality adjustment — Before declaring anything a trend.
- Cohort trend analysis — Is behaviour changing by cohort, or just in aggregate?
- Leading vs. lagging indicators — Know which one you're actually looking at.
- External trend triangulation — Your data plus category/market signals — not your data alone.
- Trend statistical significance — vs. noise/seasonality
- Leading-indicator lead time — how far ahead it predicts the lagging metric
- Trend survival rate — % of “trends” that hold up on a second measurement period
- Signal-to-decision time — from detection to an actual decision
- Trend-review dashboard spec (leading + lagging indicators side by side)
- Seasonality-adjustment worksheet
- Signal-vs-noise checklist before acting on a trend
- Monthly trend-review agenda
- Early — someone looks at the numbers on a regular cadence, not just when something breaks
- Building — leading indicators are identified and distinguished from lagging ones
- Established — a trend has to survive a second look before anyone acts on it
- Mature — trend review directly and visibly changes resourcing decisions
Predictive AnalyticsScale phaseUse the data you have to make a specific, testable guess about what happens next.
Practitioner tip — Start with a simple, explainable scoring rule before reaching for a model nobody on the team can debug at 11pm.
- Predictive lead scoring — For sales/marketing prioritisation.
- Churn-prediction modelling — From behavioural and usage signals.
- Simple-before-complex — A well-tuned logistic regression often beats an untested black box.
- Model validation discipline — Train/test split, and honest tracking of accuracy over time.
- Model precision/recall — or simply: accuracy against what actually happened
- Lead time — how far in advance the model flags risk/opportunity
- Model drift — accuracy decay over time as the business changes
- % of flagged predictions acted upon
- Churn-risk scoring worksheet (signals + weights, even a simple version)
- Model validation log (predicted vs. actual, reviewed on a cadence)
- Predictive lead-scoring criteria sheet
- Model-drift review checklist
- Early — a simple, rules-based risk/opportunity score exists, even without “real” ML
- Building — the score's accuracy is checked against what actually happened
- Established — the prediction changes a real decision (who gets a retention call, which lead gets called first)
- Mature — the model is monitored for drift and retrained on a schedule
Prescriptive AnalyticsScale phaseGo one step past prediction: recommend the specific action to take.
Practitioner tip — Don't automate the action until you've proven the recommendation beats a coin flip in a real, measured test.
- Decision rules / playbooks — Triggered by a predictive score — “if churn-risk > X, then Y”.
- Optimisation modelling — For constrained resource-allocation decisions (budget, inventory, staffing).
- A/B-tested recommendations — Before any company-wide rollout of an automated action.
- Human-override design — Always leave an easy way to overrule the recommendation.
- % of recommended actions actually taken
- Outcome lift — measured result of following the recommendation vs. a control group
- Override rate — and why — a high rate is itself a signal
- Time from prediction to prescribed action executed
- Decision-rule playbook (trigger → recommended action → owner)
- Resource-allocation optimisation worksheet
- A/B test design template for a new recommended action
- Override/exception log
- Early — a predictive score exists but no action is yet attached to it
- Building — a simple “if X then do Y” playbook is documented and used manually
- Established — the recommended action is tested against a control group before wide rollout
- Mature — prescriptive playbooks run with a human-override option, measurably improving outcomes
Reporting & InsightFoundation phaseTurn data into a decision someone actually makes, not a dashboard nobody opens.
Practitioner tip — If a report hasn't changed a decision in the last quarter, it's decoration — cut it or redesign it around the decision it should be driving.
- One dashboard, one audience, one decision — The discipline behind reports people actually use.
- The “so what” test — Every report should answer a decision, not just satisfy curiosity.
- Exception-based reporting — Surface what changed and needs attention, not everything.
- Narrative + number — Pair the metric with a one-line explanation of why it moved.
- Report open/usage rate — do people actually look at it?
- Time from “something changed” to “someone noticed”
- Decisions traceable to a specific report
- Dashboards that exist vs. dashboards actually used monthly
- One-page weekly business review template
- Exception-report format (what changed, why, so what)
- Board reporting-pack outline
- Dashboard audit checklist (kill what nobody opens)
- Early — a single weekly number gets looked at by the whole founding team
- Building — a one-page weekly or monthly business review exists and is actually read
- Established — reports are tied explicitly to decisions, not just circulated
- Mature — an audit regularly retires dashboards and reports nobody uses
100 sectors · 500 industries
A browsable, searchable map from broad sector down to specific industry — useful for sizing a market, scanning adjacent categories, or just seeing the economy laid out end to end.
100 of 100 sectors shown
Crop Farming 5 industries
Row CropsFruit & Orchard FarmingVegetable FarmingGreenhouse & NurseryOrganic Farming
Livestock & Animal Husbandry 5 industries
Dairy FarmingPoultry ProductionCattle RanchingAquacultureApiaries & Beekeeping
Forestry & Logging 5 industries
Timber HarvestingReforestation ServicesPulpwood ProductionChristmas Tree FarmingForest Management Consulting
Fishing & Fisheries 5 industries
Commercial FishingAquaculture FarmingSeafood ProcessingFish HatcheriesMarine Bait Supply
Food & Beverage Manufacturing 5 industries
Packaged FoodsBeverage BottlingDairy ProcessingBakery ProductsSnack Foods
Agricultural Inputs & Equipment 5 industries
Fertilizer ProductionSeed DevelopmentFarm MachineryIrrigation SystemsCrop Protection Chemicals
Oil & Gas Extraction 5 industries
Upstream ExplorationOffshore DrillingOilfield ServicesNatural Gas ProcessingPipeline Operations
Mining & Metals 5 industries
Coal MiningMetal Ore MiningQuarrying & AggregatesMineral ProcessingMine Safety Services
Renewable Energy 5 industries
Solar Power GenerationWind Power GenerationHydroelectric PowerGeothermal EnergyBattery Storage Systems
Utilities 5 industries
Electric Power DistributionNatural Gas UtilitiesWater UtilitiesWaste ManagementDistrict Heating
Industrial Machinery 5 industries
Heavy Equipment ManufacturingMachine ToolsIndustrial RoboticsPumps & CompressorsPackaging Machinery
Automotive & Transportation Equipment 5 industries
Passenger Vehicle ManufacturingAuto Parts & ComponentsElectric VehiclesCommercial Truck ManufacturingMotorcycle & Powersports
Aerospace & Defense 5 industries
Aircraft ManufacturingSpace & Satellite SystemsDefense ElectronicsAviation MRODrone & UAV Manufacturing
Electronics & Semiconductors 5 industries
Semiconductor FabricationConsumer ElectronicsCircuit Board AssemblySensors & InstrumentationElectronic Components Distribution
Chemicals & Materials 5 industries
Industrial ChemicalsPlastics & PolymersSpecialty CoatingsAdvanced MaterialsAdhesives & Sealants
Textiles & Apparel Manufacturing 5 industries
Fabric MillingApparel ProductionFootwear ManufacturingTechnical & Performance TextilesLeather Goods
Furniture & Home Goods Manufacturing 5 industries
Residential FurnitureOffice FurnitureMattress ManufacturingHome Décor ProductsKitchenware & Housewares
Metal Fabrication 5 industries
Structural Steel FabricationMetal StampingPrecision MachiningWelding ServicesMetal Casting & Foundries
Industrial Equipment Rental & Leasing 5 industries
Construction Equipment RentalTool RentalGenerator & Power RentalScaffolding ServicesMaterial Handling Rental
Printing & Publishing Manufacturing 5 industries
Commercial PrintingPackaging PrintingLabel ManufacturingBookbindingLarge-Format Printing
Residential Construction 5 industries
Custom HomebuildingProduction HomebuildingHome RenovationManufactured HousingMultifamily Residential
Commercial Construction 5 industries
Office Building ConstructionRetail ConstructionIndustrial ConstructionHospitality ConstructionInstitutional Construction
Infrastructure & Civil Engineering 5 industries
Road & Highway ConstructionBridge ConstructionWater & Sewer InfrastructureRail InfrastructureAirport Construction
Real Estate Development 5 industries
Land DevelopmentMaster-Planned CommunitiesMixed-Use DevelopmentAffordable Housing DevelopmentBuild-to-Rent Communities
Real Estate Services 5 industries
Residential BrokerageCommercial BrokerageProperty ManagementReal Estate AppraisalTitle & Escrow Services
Architecture & Design Services 5 industries
Architectural DesignInterior DesignLandscape ArchitectureUrban PlanningBuilding Information Modeling (BIM) Services
Building Products & Trades 5 industries
Roofing ServicesElectrical ContractingPlumbing & HVACFlooring InstallationPainting & Coatings Contracting
Grocery & Food Retail 5 industries
SupermarketsConvenience StoresSpecialty Food RetailFarmers Markets & Direct-to-ConsumerOnline Grocery Delivery
General & Department Retail 5 industries
Department StoresDiscount & Variety StoresWarehouse ClubsDollar StoresDuty-Free Retail
Apparel & Fashion Retail 5 industries
Fashion Apparel StoresFootwear RetailLuxury Goods RetailAccessories & Jewelry RetailResale & Secondhand Fashion
E-commerce & Online Marketplaces 5 industries
Direct-to-Consumer BrandsOnline MarketplacesSubscription Box CommerceSocial CommerceCross-Border E-commerce
Consumer Electronics Retail 5 industries
Electronics SuperstoresMobile Phone RetailComputer & Gaming RetailSmart Home RetailElectronics Repair Services
Beauty & Personal Care 5 industries
Cosmetics & Skincare BrandsPersonal Care RetailSalons & SpasFragranceMen's Grooming
Home Improvement & Furnishings Retail 5 industries
Home Improvement StoresFurniture RetailDécor & Housewares RetailGarden CentersHardware Stores
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) 5 industries
Household ProductsPersonal Care ProductsPackaged Food BrandsBeverage BrandsPet Care Products
Enterprise Software & SaaS 5 industries
CRM SoftwareERP SystemsHR & Payroll SoftwareProject Management SoftwareBusiness Intelligence Software
Consumer Software & Apps 5 industries
Mobile AppsProductivity AppsSocial Media PlatformsDating AppsConsumer Utility Apps
Cloud Infrastructure & DevOps 5 industries
Cloud Hosting & IaaSDevOps & CI/CD ToolingContainer & Kubernetes PlatformsObservability & MonitoringEdge Computing
Cybersecurity 5 industries
Network SecurityIdentity & Access ManagementEndpoint SecurityApplication SecuritySecurity Operations & Threat Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence & Data 5 industries
AI/ML PlatformsComputer VisionNatural Language ProcessingData Engineering & PipelinesData Labeling & Annotation
Gaming & Interactive Entertainment 5 industries
Video Game DevelopmentMobile GamingEsportsGame Engines & ToolingVirtual & Augmented Reality
Fintech & Payments 5 industries
Digital PaymentsNeobankingLending PlatformsWealth & Investment TechInsurtech
Hardware & Devices 5 industries
Consumer DevicesWearablesIoT DevicesRobotics Hardware3D Printing Hardware
Telecommunications 5 industries
Wireless CarriersFixed BroadbandSatellite CommunicationsTelecom Infrastructure & TowersUnified Communications
Commercial & Retail Banking 5 industries
Retail BankingCommercial LendingCredit UnionsCommunity BankingCorrespondent Banking
Investment Banking & Capital Markets 5 industries
M&A AdvisoryEquity & Debt UnderwritingTrading & Market MakingPrime BrokerageIPO Advisory
Asset & Wealth Management 5 industries
Mutual FundsHedge FundsPrivate Wealth ManagementRobo-AdvisoryPension Fund Management
Insurance 5 industries
Life InsuranceProperty & Casualty InsuranceHealth InsuranceReinsuranceSpecialty & Commercial Insurance
Private Equity & Venture Capital 5 industries
Growth EquityBuyout FundsVenture CapitalFund AdministrationSecondary Markets
Consumer & Specialty Finance 5 industries
Consumer LendingAuto FinanceBuy-Now-Pay-LaterPayday & Short-Term LendingDebt Collection Services
Hospitals & Health Systems 5 industries
Acute Care HospitalsAmbulatory Surgical CentersUrgent CareSpecialty HospitalsRehabilitation Facilities
Physician & Outpatient Services 5 industries
Primary Care PracticesSpecialty Physician GroupsTelehealth ServicesDental PracticesPhysical Therapy Clinics
Pharmaceuticals 5 industries
Branded PharmaceuticalsGeneric Drug ManufacturingSpecialty PharmaceuticalsVaccinesPharmacy Benefit Management
Biotechnology 5 industries
Gene & Cell TherapyBiologics ManufacturingDiagnostics & GenomicsClinical Research OrganizationsSynthetic Biology
Medical Devices 5 industries
Diagnostic Imaging EquipmentSurgical InstrumentsImplantable DevicesWearable Medical DevicesHome Medical Equipment
Digital Health 5 industries
Remote Patient MonitoringHealth & Wellness AppsElectronic Health RecordsAI DiagnosticsMental Health Platforms
Senior Care & Long-Term Care 5 industries
Assisted LivingSkilled Nursing FacilitiesHome Health CareHospice CareAdult Day Care
Health & Wellness Products 5 industries
Nutritional SupplementsFitness EquipmentWellness RetreatsPersonal Health MonitoringFunctional Foods
Film & Television 5 industries
Film ProductionTV Production & BroadcastingStreaming PlatformsPost-Production ServicesAnimation Studios
Music & Audio 5 industries
Music Labels & PublishingMusic StreamingLive Music & ConcertsPodcastingAudio Equipment
Publishing 5 industries
Book PublishingMagazine & Periodical PublishingDigital PublishingNews MediaEducational Publishing
Advertising & Marketing Services 5 industries
Advertising AgenciesDigital Marketing AgenciesPublic RelationsMarket ResearchAd Tech Platforms
Sports & Recreation 5 industries
Professional Sports TeamsSports Media & BroadcastingSporting GoodsFitness & Recreation CentersOutdoor Recreation
Freight & Logistics 5 industries
Trucking & FreightFreight ForwardingThird-Party Logistics (3PL)Last-Mile DeliveryWarehousing & Fulfillment
Air Transportation 5 industries
Passenger AirlinesAir CargoAirport OperationsAviation Ground ServicesPrivate & Charter Aviation
Maritime & Shipping 5 industries
Container ShippingBulk ShippingPort OperationsShip Building & RepairMarine Logistics Services
Rail Transportation 5 industries
Freight RailPassenger RailRail Infrastructure MaintenanceRail Equipment ManufacturingUrban Transit Systems
Ground Passenger Transportation 5 industries
Ride-Hailing ServicesTaxi & Limousine ServicesBus & Coach ServicesMicromobility (Bikes & Scooters)Car Rental
Management Consulting 5 industries
Strategy ConsultingOperations ConsultingIT ConsultingHR ConsultingChange Management Consulting
Legal Services 5 industries
Corporate Law FirmsLitigation ServicesIntellectual Property LawLegal Process OutsourcingLegal Technology
Accounting & Audit 5 industries
Public Accounting FirmsTax AdvisoryAudit & AssuranceBookkeeping ServicesForensic Accounting
Staffing & HR Services 5 industries
Staffing AgenciesExecutive SearchPayroll OutsourcingEmployee Benefits AdministrationHR Technology Consulting
Marketing & Design Agencies 5 industries
Brand Strategy AgenciesWeb & UX Design AgenciesContent Marketing AgenciesSEO AgenciesVideo Production Agencies
Facilities & Commercial Services 5 industries
Commercial CleaningSecurity ServicesLandscaping & Grounds MaintenancePest ControlFacilities Management
K-12 Education 5 industries
Public School SystemsPrivate & Independent SchoolsCharter SchoolsSpecial Education ServicesHomeschool Curricula
Higher Education 5 industries
Universities & CollegesCommunity CollegesOnline & Distance LearningGraduate & Professional SchoolsStudy Abroad Services
Corporate & Vocational Training 5 industries
Corporate Learning & DevelopmentVocational & Trade SchoolsProfessional Certification ProgramsExecutive EducationApprenticeship Programs
EdTech 5 industries
Learning Management SystemsOnline Course PlatformsTutoring PlatformsClassroom TechnologyLanguage Learning Apps
Government & Public Administration 5 industries
Municipal Government ServicesPublic Safety & Emergency ServicesDefense & MilitaryRegulatory AgenciesPublic Transit Authorities
Nonprofit & Social Sector 5 industries
Charitable FoundationsInternational Development NGOsAdvocacy OrganizationsReligious OrganizationsCommunity Services
Hotels & Lodging 5 industries
Full-Service HotelsLimited-Service & Budget HotelsVacation RentalsBoutique & Luxury ResortsExtended-Stay Lodging
Restaurants & Food Service 5 industries
Full-Service RestaurantsQuick-Service & Fast CasualCatering ServicesFood TrucksCloud Kitchens & Ghost Kitchens
Travel & Tourism 5 industries
Tour OperatorsOnline Travel AgenciesCruise LinesDestination ManagementAdventure & Eco-Tourism
Events & Attractions 5 industries
Theme Parks & AttractionsEvent Planning & ManagementConvention Centers & ExhibitionsMuseums & Cultural AttractionsCasinos & Gaming
Environmental Services 5 industries
Waste RecyclingEnvironmental RemediationWater Treatment ServicesCarbon Capture & OffsetsEnvironmental Consulting
Circular Economy & Sustainability 5 industries
Resale & Rental PlatformsUpcycled & Recycled MaterialsSustainable PackagingRepair & Refurbishment ServicesESG Reporting Software
Climate Tech 5 industries
Carbon Accounting SoftwareClimate Risk AnalyticsSustainable Agriculture TechGreen Building TechnologyClean Transportation Tech
Space Economy 5 industries
Satellite Launch ServicesEarth Observation & ImagerySpace ManufacturingSatellite Communications ServicesSpace Tourism
Biotechnology & Advanced Materials (Emerging) 5 industries
Synthetic Biology PlatformsLab-Grown MaterialsAdvanced NanomaterialsBioplasticsPrecision Fermentation
Design & Creative Services 5 industries
Graphic DesignIndustrial & Product DesignFashion DesignPhotography & VideographyAnimation & Motion Design
Personal & Household Services 5 industries
Childcare ServicesElder Care ServicesHouse Cleaning ServicesPersonal Concierge ServicesPet Services & Grooming
Wedding & Event Services 5 industries
Wedding PlanningEvent CateringPhotography & Videography for EventsEvent VenuesParty & Rental Supplies
Arts & Crafts 5 industries
Fine Art & GalleriesHandmade & Craft GoodsArt Supplies RetailCustom & Personalized ProductsArt Restoration Services
Industrial IoT & Automation 5 industries
Factory Automation SystemsIndustrial Robotics IntegrationPredictive Maintenance PlatformsSCADA & Control SystemsDigital Twin Software
Supply Chain Technology 5 industries
Supply Chain Planning SoftwareInventory Management SystemsProcurement SoftwareFreight Tech & Visibility PlatformsWarehouse Automation
PropTech 5 industries
Property Management SoftwareReal Estate MarketplacesSmart Building TechnologyConstruction Tech (ConTech)Real Estate Investment Platforms
AgTech 5 industries
Precision AgricultureFarm Management SoftwareVertical FarmingAgricultural Drones & RoboticsLivestock Monitoring Technology
LegalTech & GovTech 5 industries
Contract Management SoftwareE-Discovery PlatformsCivic Engagement PlatformsDigital Identity & Voting TechRegulatory Compliance Software
HRTech & Future of Work 5 industries
Talent Acquisition PlatformsEmployee Engagement SoftwareRemote Work ToolsGig Economy PlatformsWorkforce Analytics
Marketplaces & Platform Businesses 5 industries
B2B MarketplacesService Marketplaces (Gig/Freelance)Rental & Sharing-Economy PlatformsCreator Economy PlatformsVertical SaaS Marketplaces
Sources for every verified figure on this page
- Dropbox 2007 demo video and beta-waitlist growth — Drew Houston's own account, x.com/drewhouston.
- Klarna AI assistant — Klarna press release.
- Mailchimp revenue and Intuit acquisition — TechCrunch (2019); Intuit investor press release (2021).
- Salesforce partner-ecosystem economics — Salesforce press release citing an IDC study (2021).
- Spotify freemium conversion — Spotify Technology S.A. SEC Form 20-F / 6-K filings.
- Retention and profit — Reichheld & Sasser, Harvard Business Review (1990); Bain & Company.
- GitHub funding and acquisition timeline — SEC Form 8-K (Microsoft, 2018); reported ARR history via TechCrunch/Bloomberg coverage.
- Israeli parole-board study and its critiques — Danziger, Levav & Avnaim-Pesso, PNAS (2011); Weinshall-Margel & Shapard, PNAS (2011); Glöckner, Judgment and Decision Making (2016).
- Google's “Rule of Four” interview research — Laszlo Bock, Work Rules! (2015); CNBC.
- Diversity and financial performance — McKinsey & Company, “Why Diversity Matters” (2015).
Every other framework, template and tip on this page names a well-established, publicly documented practice rather than a statistic — nothing else here rests on a number we could not independently confirm.
Take Founder OS further
Amit Jain — 25+ years across brand strategy, global marketing, AI & education. Individual, corporate & custom programmes, certificate on completion.