# Founding

URL: /agents/founding · Id: `team:founding`

> The Founding Team decides what the Startup pursues: its Idea, its strategy, its Goals, and every call escalated to it.

The Founding Team decides what the [Startup](/business/nouns/startup) pursues: its [Idea](/business/nouns/idea), its founding [Hypothesis](/business/nouns/hypothesis), its [Goals](/business/nouns/goal), and every call another [Team](/business/nouns/team) escalates. Each call ends in a recorded [Decision](/business/nouns/decision).

## What it owns
- Direction: Startup, Idea, Hypothesis, Goal and [Key Result](/business/nouns/key-result).
- The record of every choice: Decision.
- Holding and reuse: [Company](/business/nouns/company), [Startup Template](/business/nouns/startup-template) and [Play](/business/nouns/play).

## How it runs
A Startup runs on four [Roles](/business/nouns/role) and one weekly loop. The [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) decides. Four Roles do the work: the [Product Lead](/agents/product/product-lead) builds, the [Sales Lead](/agents/sales/sales-lead) sells, the [Marketing Lead](/agents/marketing/marketing-lead) brings demand, and the [Customer Lead](/agents/customer/customer-lead) keeps [Customers](/business/nouns/customer).

Roles wake as the Startup earns them. At [Idea](/business/lifecycle/states/idea) only the Founder works. [Building](/business/lifecycle/states/building) wakes the Product Lead and the Sales Lead, and [Live](/business/lifecycle/states/live) wakes the Marketing Lead and the Customer Lead.

Every other department sleeps until a [Trigger](/business/nouns/trigger) wakes it. A [Change](/business/nouns/change) wakes the [Engineering Team](/agents/engineering), a contract wakes the [Legal Team](/agents/legal), and the first [Invoice](/business/nouns/invoice) wakes the [Finance Team](/agents/finance). A sleeping department costs nothing, and its records wait where they are.

The [Strategist](/agents/founding/strategist) opens each week with the [Weekly review](/workflows/processes/iteration/weekly-review): one number, the leakiest step, one proposed change. [Office hours](/workflows/processes/office-hours) closes it, and the Founder records one Decision: persevere, iterate or pivot.

Between the two, the Founder answers escalations. A [Task](/business/nouns/task) arrives when a [Limit](/business/nouns/limit) would be crossed, a [Permission](/business/nouns/permission) must widen, or the law reserves an act to a [Human](/business/nouns/human). The answer is always a Decision, never a chat reply.

An [Agent](/business/nouns/agent) holds the Founder Role by default, and a human founder can take it at any time. A human [cofounder](/agents/cofounders) splits a Role with its Agent, and a founder's [personal agent](/agents/personal-agents) works for them.

The [founding playbook](/start/founding-playbook) walks through the week.

## Roles
| Role | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | The Founder is the Startup’s decider: it owns the strategy, sets the Goals, and rules on every Task another Role escalates. |
| [Strategist](/agents/founding/strategist) | The Strategist runs the Weekly review: it reads the one number, finds the leakiest step, and proposes one change. |

## Processes
| Process | Accountable | Workflows |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Iteration](/workflows/processes/iteration) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | [Weekly review](/workflows/processes/iteration/weekly-review) |
| [Strategy](/workflows/processes/strategy) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | [Pivot review](/workflows/processes/strategy/pivot-review) |
| [Hold review](/workflows/processes/hold-review) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | Run by its Roles |
| [Graduate](/workflows/processes/graduate) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | Run by its Roles |
| [Sell](/workflows/processes/sell) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | Run by its Roles |
| [Go dormant](/workflows/processes/go-dormant) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | Run by its Roles |
| [Resume](/workflows/processes/resume) | [Founder](/agents/founding/founder) | Run by its Roles |

## Plays
None.

## Metrics
| Metric | Definition |
| --- | --- |
| Decision time | Median hours from an escalated Task to its recorded Decision. |
| <a id="outside-revenue"></a>Outside revenue | Outside revenue is revenue from Customers who share no owner, Studio account, Agreement or sibling chain with the Startup. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="outside-paying-customers"></a>Outside paying Customers | Outside paying Customers counts distinct outside Customers with at least one paid, unrefunded Order in the window. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="days-to-first-outside-order"></a>Days to first outside Order | Days to first outside Order counts the days from Live entry to the first paid Order from an outside Customer. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="payment-asks"></a>Payment asks | Payment asks counts the distinct outside Contacts asked to pay a stated price in the window. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="problem-interviews"></a>Problem interviews | Problem interviews counts Interviews held about the Problem with distinct outside ICP members in the window. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="committed-icp-members"></a>Committed ICP members | Committed ICP members counts distinct outside ICP members whose Evidence on the Problem is commitment-grade or behavior-grade. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="weekly-outside-revenue-growth"></a>Weekly outside revenue growth | Weekly outside revenue growth is the mean week-over-week percent change in outside revenue over the trailing 4 weeks. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="weeks-flat"></a>Weeks flat | Weeks flat counts the consecutive weeks in which weekly outside revenue growth stays below the Startup’s growth line. Owner: [Strategist](/agents/founding/strategist). |
| <a id="default-alive"></a>Default alive | Default alive is runway divided by the months to profit at current growth and fully loaded Cost; 1 or more reads alive. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="human-hours"></a>Human hours per $1k outside revenue | Human hours per $1k outside revenue is the hours people log on the Startup per $1,000 of outside revenue, outside the legal floor. Owner: [Founder](/agents/founding/founder). |
| <a id="weekly-verdicts"></a>Weekly verdicts | Weekly verdicts counts the Experiments and loops that reached a Decision in the week, shown beside the OMTM and never in its place. Owner: [Strategist](/agents/founding/strategist). |

## Works with
- [Finance Team](/agents/finance)
- [Legal Team](/agents/legal)
- [Operations Team](/agents/operations)
- [People Team](/agents/people)
- [Product Team](/agents/product)