Most founding teams don't fail because of the market. They fail because of structural silence.
A mandate forces difficult conversations about power, money, and roles to happen before you sign, not in the middle of a crisis.
Searching for a 'technical co-founder' without defining specific functional scope leading to skill mismatch.
Negotiating equity without a vesting schedule or performance cliffs, creating dead weight on the cap table.
Failing to agree on decision-making authority (product vs. GTM) before the pressure hits.
Marrying on the first date. Skipping the trial phase leads to expensive divorces later.
"The partnership is only as strong as the mandate that defines it."
Binary gates. If you cannot tick these, pause operations.
Validated problem thesis with proprietary insight
Early traction signals (pilots, customers, or prototype)
Funding or runway to support operations for 90+ days
Full-time commitment from existing founders
Willingness to adopt structured governance frameworks
Gatekeeper Rule: Incomplete mandates are the #1 cause of rejection.
We engineer the missing piece of your founding team using four structural pillars.
Specific functional scope, KPIs, and day-to-day responsibilities.
Defined equity range, compensation, and 4-year vesting with 1-year cliff.
Explicit authority matrix: who owns Product, Tech, GTM, and tie-breaks.
Clear 60-90 day trial objectives and operating cadence expectations.
"We protect the network by enforcing strict liquidity and commitment gates. Access is not a right; it is a verified status."
Existing founders engaged full-time with skin in the game.
Clear problem thesis, insight, and traction evidence.
Willingness to adopt trial, decision rights, and cooling-off norms.
Openness to reference checks and alignment with the Code.
