VENTURE ARTIFACT FOUNDRY

No team advances because its story is compelling. A team advances when the next venture claim is supported by a product artifact, a market artifact, or a verified receipt.

What must this company be able to show — not merely say — at MVP, pilot and V1?

• Problem evidenceIs the problem real, consequential and repeated?
• Product evidenceDoes the product perform the promised workflow?
• Adoption evidenceCan developers and design partners use it?
• Venture evidenceCan this become a defensible, scalable company?

• Phase 0 — Founder-Market ThesisWorkshop kickoff

  Establish the candidate-specific reason this company should exist.

  Founder-market fit memorandumConsequential workflow mapPrimary user and economic buyer mapExisting-system mapEvidence-gap statementWhy now memorandumClaims and non-claims registerInitial investor archetype hypothesisMVP exclusion list

  One narrow workflow in which an existing actor cannot reliably prove what occurred, who performed it, under whose authority, using what evidence, with what result, and whether the result can be independently verified. No product build starts until this boundary is explicit.

• Phase 1 — Pre-MVP Venture Thesis PackWeeks 1-2

  Turn the founder thesis into an investable product hypothesis.

  One-page venture thesisVertical workflow diagramFive-receipt taxonomyDeveloper persona cardDesign-partner profileMarket wedge memorandumCompetitive alternative matrixInitial pricing hypothesisTechnical boundary diagramFirst-meeting VC proof-package outline

  One vertical workflow, one receipt family, one Rails user path, one direct Rust-kernel call path, one verification experience, one exported Evidence Room packet. No completed-product claim.

• Phase 2 — MVP Artifact PackWeeks 3-6

  Prove the company can execute its narrowest consequential workflow.

  Working Rails applicationDirect Rails-to-Rust native bindingOne canonical vertical schemaDeterministically signed receiptLocal verifierGolden test vectorExample Evidence RoomSeeded demonstration companyFive-minute developer quickstartClaims limitation statementOne end-to-end demo scriptTen developer interviewsFive design-partner interviewsTwo design-partner LOIs or structured test commitmentsPricing-page prototypeSelf-service onboarding flowInitial usage instrumentationMVP cost-to-serve estimateTwelve-month operating budgetInitial capitalization requirement

  Claimable: one bounded, consequential workflow implemented and locally verified for one defined developer and design-partner segment. Not claimable: broad market validation, regulatory acceptance, enterprise deployment or repeatable revenue.

• Phase 3 — Pilot-Ready Artifact PackWeeks 6-9

  Convert the MVP from an internal demonstration into a controlled external test.

  Design-partner pilot agreementPilot acceptance criteriaBefore-and-after workflow baselineIntegration guideSecurity and data-flow diagramData-retention statementKey-management boundaryIncident and exception procedurePilot evidence logProduct telemetry definitionPilot pricing memorandumProcurement FAQDesign-partner success report templateUpdated market mapBottom-up market modelInitial cohort-retention thesisDeveloper acquisition-cost modelOpen-core conversion modelPricing sensitivity analysisFinancing use-of-funds planEighteen-month milestone ladderInvestor objection registerCandidate-specific founder narrative

  A design partner must evaluate the product without an oral explanation from the founder. The packet states what is and is not being tested, required data, success, failure, who verifies the evidence and how the pilot concludes.

• Phase 4 — V1 Venture-Readiness PackWeeks 9-12

  Establish evidence for a scalable product and an institutional pre-seed or seed narrative.

  Stable Rails application boundaryVersioned Rust receipt schemaMigration and compatibility policyMulti-tenant workspace supportAPI keys and developer accountsUsage meteringBilling hooksEvidence Room exportProofMail or equivalent deliveryRole and authority controlsError and exception receiptsReproducible test suitePublished integration recipesProduct limitation documentationThree to five pilot resultsDeveloper activation dataTime-to-first-receipt dataVerification-success ratePilot conversion dataCustomer-value case studyV1 pricing architectureInstitutional pitch deckTechnical architecture appendixThree-year financial modelHiring planCapital allocation planDilution scenariosInvestor target matrixData-room indexRisk and claims registerEighteen-month board plan

  Claimable: a working, versioned product; external users have completed the target workflow; the resulting evidence can be independently verified; early evidence of a repeatable developer-led distribution path.

• 01VentureProofFounder readiness must be measured through actual operating evidence rather than self-reported accelerator milestones.Matt
• 02CFOReceiptsCFO judgment and recurring finance deliverables must become traceable, investor- and lender-readable evidence.Dylan
• 03TreasuryProofSmall and middle-market companies become more bankable by converting treasury operations into lender-readable evidence.Dan
• 04AcquireProofAcquisition diligence can be faster and more trustworthy without pretending to replace legal, accounting or quality-of-earnings professionals.Parker
• 05ProofFoundry StudioVertical founders and developers must be able to use Bankabil without understanding the entire kernel or building evidence infrastructure from scratch.Aaron
• 06CareProof FieldOpsField-care and mobile-service workflows must become provable without making clinical or insurance determinations.Rachel
• 07ChannelProof CFO NetworkA repeatable channel in which fractional CFOs deploy evidence products across multiple client companies.Jeff
• 08MarginProof ManufacturingManufacturing improvement claims must become evidence suitable for operators, CFOs, lenders, boards and private-equity owners.Tom