The Cost of
Misalignment.
A structured mandate is not bureaucracy. It is your only insurance against the silent killer of early-stage ventures: unmitigated people risk.
The Anatomy of
Failure.
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.
Vague Roles
Searching for a 'technical co-founder' without defining specific functional scope leading to skill mismatch.
Unclear Equity
Negotiating equity without a vesting schedule or performance cliffs, creating dead weight on the cap table.
Misaligned Rights
Failing to agree on decision-making authority (product vs. GTM) before the pressure hits.
Rushed Commitments
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."
Readiness Checklist
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.
The Archetype.
We engineer the missing piece of your founding team using four structural pillars.
Role Clarity
Specific functional scope, KPIs, and day-to-day responsibilities.
Ownership Envelope
Defined equity range, compensation, and 4-year vesting with 1-year cliff.
Decision Rights
Explicit authority matrix: who owns Product, Tech, GTM, and tie-breaks.
Success Metrics
Clear 60-90 day trial objectives and operating cadence expectations.
The
Standard.
"We protect the network by enforcing strict liquidity and commitment gates. Access is not a right; it is a verified status."
Commitment
Existing founders engaged full-time with skin in the game.
Evidence
Clear problem thesis, insight, and traction evidence.
Governance
Willingness to adopt trial, decision rights, and cooling-off norms.
Integrity
Openness to reference checks and alignment with the Code.