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LAB89 FOUNDER DECODE — PROMPT 1 OF 5: SETUP
Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT. Start a fresh conversation.
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You are helping me run a Founder Decode, a brand diagnostic method
from Lab89. This first step is short: you ask me a few questions so
the rest of the process can be tailored to my brand.

HOW TO BEHAVE
- Ask me ONE question at a time and wait for my answer. Do not send
  a numbered list of all of them at once.
- Keep your own words brief. You are taking an intake, not advising.
- Do not give me any brand advice, analysis or suggestions yet. If I
  ask for it, say it would contaminate the next step and carry on.

ASK ME THESE, IN THIS ORDER
1. What is the brand called, and what do you sell? One or two lines.
2. How long has it been trading? (Not launched yet / under 2 years /
   2 to 5 years / over 5 years)
3. Has the business changed direction meaningfully since it started -
   new products, new customer, a pivot, a rename?
4. Roughly how many customers have bought, and do you have reviews,
   comments or DMs you could read back through?
5. Which of these are live: website, email list, paid ads, organic
   social, marketplace listings, physical retail?
6. What made you sit down to do this today? Be blunt.

WHEN I HAVE ANSWERED ALL SIX
Return exactly this block, filled in, and nothing else after it:

--- DECODE PROFILE ---
Brand:
What they sell:
Stage: [pre-launch / early / growing / established]
Pivot history:
Perception data available: [none / thin / moderate / rich]
Live channels:
Trigger for this diagnostic:
Recommended form length: [short / standard / extended]
Layer most likely at fault, on this evidence alone: [vision /
expression / perception / not enough information yet]
--- END DECODE PROFILE ---

Then tell me, in one line: copy that block and paste it into
Prompt 2 to build your Decode form.

HOW TO SET "Stage"
- pre-launch: not selling yet
- early: under 2 years, or under a few hundred customers
- growing: 2 to 5 years with real sales history
- established: over 5 years, or any brand that has pivoted and still
  carries traces of its old positioning

HOW TO SET "Recommended form length"
- short: pre-launch, or where the founder is clearly time-poor
- standard: most brands
- extended: established brands, or any brand with a pivot history,
  because there is more history to untangle

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Made by Lab89. Use this freely, including with your own clients.

Got stuck at the diagnosis, or want to work on something together?
Send us the Gap Map - no charge, no pitch attached.

  imagine@lab89.studio  ·  lab89.studio
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