From f53ec0ee14b0c4f22bf0c9ee3d79aa7ab5b49f8b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Spitz Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2026 16:06:52 -0400 Subject: [PATCH 1/2] docs: explain CauseStarter role-based adoption --- docs/end-user/causestarter/index.md | 8 +- docs/end-user/causestarter/start-a-cause.md | 19 ++++ docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md | 30 ++++- .../causestarter/why-this-isnt-lame.md | 6 + docs/end-user/commonality/index.md | 2 +- .../commonality/vision-and-strategy/README.md | 2 +- .../getting-people-to-switch.md | 13 +++ .../vision-and-strategy/pitches.md | 21 ++++ .../vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md | 8 ++ .../why-its-better/README.md | 2 + .../why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md | 82 ++++++++++++++ docs/end-user/tldr-for-llms.md | 4 +- docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md | 106 ++++++++++++++++++ docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md | 7 ++ docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md | 5 +- specs/product/README.md | 1 + specs/product/founder-first.md | 5 +- specs/product/how-to-convey-this.md | 32 ++++++ specs/product/marketing.md | 13 +++ workflow/roles/founder.md | 1 + 20 files changed, 357 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-) create mode 100644 docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md create mode 100644 docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md diff --git a/docs/end-user/causestarter/index.md b/docs/end-user/causestarter/index.md index 56127fd2d..e2970958e 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/causestarter/index.md +++ b/docs/end-user/causestarter/index.md @@ -29,11 +29,17 @@ More of the same shape — short answers to the next objections — is in **[Que We’ve tried very hard to split the work so you can do the part you’re inclined to do, and not do anything else: - **Pledge money** without having to pick projects. Put up $X/month (or a one-shot amount) and [delegate the picking](../shared/key-ideas/delegation.md) to a person you already trust. Revoke anytime. -- **Direct money** — yours, or other people’s if they have delegated to you — without having to identify winners in advance. Directing can be *initial* funding so the work can happen, or *reimbursement* of people who already paid for work that delivered. Directing well is a real contribution even if your own check is small. +- **Scout promising work** by directing initial funding — yours, or other people’s if they have delegated to you. Directing well is a real contribution even if your own check is small. +- **Recognize proven work** without having to predict winners. Find projects that delivered, vouch for their success, or reimburse their early contributors at cost so that giving capacity can fund the next attempt. - **Start a project** if you have useful skills and a piece of work that advances one of these claims. You do not need a grant officer. Publish it, get an alignment vouch from someone a hop better-connected, and it can appear on every cause board that includes that statement. - **Vouch** that a project is aligned with a statement (or that it actually delivered). People who trust you will then see it. That is how work gets onto the list without a platform verdict. - **Sign a statement** you actually mean. Optional. Cheap. Useful: it feeds your home board and shows that more than one person cares about that exact claim. +Money, judgment, trust, distribution, and skilled work do not have to arrive in one +all-purpose organization. Different people can supply them separately. If you have an +unusually large amount of *one* of those things, that is enough to be unusually useful; +you do not also need the other four. + The catalog of “I’d be happy to X, but ugh Y” is **[Do the part you’d do anyway](./the-jobs.md)**. Organizers who want a different mix: **[Start a cause board](./start-a-cause.md)**. ## If “support a cause” still makes you roll your eyes diff --git a/docs/end-user/causestarter/start-a-cause.md b/docs/end-user/causestarter/start-a-cause.md index 43d5c5cf1..e2f0c0b7f 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/causestarter/start-a-cause.md +++ b/docs/end-user/causestarter/start-a-cause.md @@ -17,11 +17,30 @@ You are not recruiting people into an organization. You are publishing a place w - Signers who like *some* of the statements - Donors who will pledge and maybe delegate +- Scouts who spot promising projects or direct initial funding +- Evaluators who vouch for work that actually delivered +- Later donors who reimburse the people who funded successful work early - Doers who publish projects and get an alignment vouch +- Trusted connectors whose vouches put work in front of their network - Mediators who write bridges when wording does not line up If someone hates your combination of statements, they should start their own cause and reuse the overlapping planks. That is success, not a fork to suppress. +## Bootstrap one role at a time + +Use whatever places your cause already gathers to find participants. CauseStarter does +not build that audience for you. What it changes is the ask: a potential contributor +does not need to join an organization or take responsibility for every part of it. + +Start with whichever capacity is available. Visible pledges attract builders. Visible +projects give donors something concrete to fund. A trusted delegate makes hands-off +giving credible. Successful work gives cautious donors something they can inspect +before contributing. Each partial success makes the missing roles easier to recruit. + +The practical rule is: map the people who already have money, prospective judgment, +retrospective judgment, execution ability, trust, or an audience; then make each one an +ask that uses that capacity without demanding the others. + ## Bridges If another camp’s published cause is close but not implying yours, create a bridge from the cause board. You publish the cluster under *your* key. CauseStarter does not message the other organizer; the citation is public on their board if they look. diff --git a/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md b/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md index b66fab475..2f6b69c4d 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md +++ b/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md @@ -4,6 +4,11 @@ The core vision is simple: **people who agree should be able to cooperate on tha What used to block that was never a shortage of people who *cared*. It was a pile of extra jobs. “I’d be happy to do X, but ugh, Y.” CauseStarter and the rest of this substrate are mostly that ugh-removal kit. If you remember one thing, remember: **you only contribute the part you would contribute anyway.** +Ordinarily a cause needs one organization capable of raising money, choosing a +mission, finding talent, evaluating work, and maintaining everyone's trust. Here those +capacities can come from different people. You do not have to become that organization; +you only have to supply the part you have. + ## Money **I’d be happy to contribute $X/month (as long as enough others do too), but…** @@ -14,15 +19,29 @@ What used to block that was never a shortage of people who *cared*. It was a pil In CauseStarter this lives on a cause’s **Pledges** page and on **Delegation**. -## Attention and judgment +## Spot promising work **I’d be happy to watch for worthwhile projects, but…** - **…I don’t even know what projects are out there.** Sign the statements you mean. Your CauseStarter home is then a **fundable-projects board** of work vouched as advancing those claims — not a club you joined. You can also follow (or start) a cause board whose mix you want to watch. You do not need a special introduction. -- **…I can’t tell whether this creator is a scammer or incompetent.** Be a delegate who mostly [funds proven work](../lazyGiving/retroactive-funding.md). You reimburse early contributors at cost after results, instead of betting on a pitch. - **…I can’t put that much of my *own* money on it.** Be an early funder who asks for reimbursement. If later donors close the loop, that giving budget can go to the next attempt. Your receipt is a track record, not a payout. -The cause board’s **Fundable Projects** list (the fundable-projects board) is the watch surface on a circulated mix. After you sign, the same kind of list on **home** is your everyday watch surface. Trust settings (the gear) control whose vouches you see. +The cause board’s **Fundable Projects** list (the fundable-projects board) is the watch surface on a circulated mix. After you sign, the same kind of list on **home** is your everyday watch surface. Trust settings (the gear) control whose vouches you see. Direct your own money, or become a delegate so other people can entrust funds to your judgment. + +## Recognize work that delivered + +**I’d be happy to help good completed work get recognized, but…** + +- **…I don't want to predict winners or detect scams from a pitch.** Don't. Follow the + **Not yet reimbursed** list and inspect results that already exist. +- **…I don't have much money to contribute.** Vouch that a project actually delivered. + That helps people whose trust networks reach you discover it. +- **…I can contribute money but still want evidence first.** Reimburse early + contributors at cost. You support a proven result and free their giving budget to + scout the next attempt. + +Prospective scouting, success evaluation, and reimbursement are separate jobs. You +may do all three, but the system does not require it. ## Work @@ -56,6 +75,11 @@ Cause boards have a **Bridges** section. Suggesters you opt into appear on Home. Project-doers can get money for worthwhile work. Donors can help financially without becoming grant officers or trusting a black-box charity. People with time or expertise can contribute those without writing a check. All of that information and money can move **without everyone agreeing on every idea or electing leaders.** +It also means one exceptional contribution is enough. Someone with substantial money +does not need to assemble a foundation; someone with exceptional judgment does not +need to be wealthy; someone exceptionally good at execution does not need to become a +fundraiser. CauseStarter connects those separate strengths around concrete work. + That is why “there are *so* many of us — why can’t we get anything done?” was never a law of nature. It was coordination tax. This ecosystem is the claim that the tax was optional. The spoken pitch (bulletin board, two twists, separable jobs) is **[CauseStarter](./index.md)**. The eye-roll objections are **[Why this isn’t lame](./why-this-isnt-lame.md)**. For the longer argument (late aggregation, organic coalitions, why it is hard to stop), see [Why Commonality?](../commonality/vision-and-strategy/README.md). Role-by-role one-liners also live in [pitches](../commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md). diff --git a/docs/end-user/causestarter/why-this-isnt-lame.md b/docs/end-user/causestarter/why-this-isnt-lame.md index 47298aaf9..06f570630 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/causestarter/why-this-isnt-lame.md +++ b/docs/end-user/causestarter/why-this-isnt-lame.md @@ -14,6 +14,12 @@ Most “support a cause” products ask you to join something, trust a black box **Judgment is a first-class job, not a hobby bolted onto writing a check.** If you follow a field and can tell what helped, others can route money through you. You build a transparent track record. You do not incorporate a nonprofit. If you can’t put much of your *own* money on it, you can still be the person who spots the work and asks to be reimbursed later. +**One exceptional strength is enough.** The usual alternative is an organization that +somehow combines money, mission, trusted judgment, an audience, and people who can +execute. Here those can be different people. A major donor need not invent a +foundation. A domain expert need not be rich. A capable builder need not become a +professional fundraiser. Each can bring the leverage they actually have. + **Wording fights don’t have to kill the funding.** If someone else’s sentence is close but not quite yours, write your own. Implication and [bridges](../tally/suggestions-and-nudges.md) can still connect the two, so signers and projects are not stranded on a blank petition. You are cooperating on agreement, not recruiting members. That is the whole trick: money, work, and attention meet on the overlap. Nobody has to elect leaders. The extra jobs that used to make “there are so many of us — why can’t we get anything done?” feel like a law of nature were optional. diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/index.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/index.md index 393281430..deb18d92b 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/index.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/index.md @@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Commonality is one of several connected sites: This site is for the funding side: pledging, delegating, getting projects funded, and the broader case for why a new approach is needed. -**CauseStarter** is the organizer-facing front door: publish a cause (a set of signable statements) and let people attach only the jobs they would actually take. Start with [Do the part you’d do anyway](../causestarter/the-jobs.md). +**CauseStarter** is the organizer-facing front door: publish a cause (a set of signable statements) and let people attach only the jobs they would actually take. Money, judgment, trust, distribution, and execution can come from different people instead of one all-purpose organization. Start with [Do the part you’d do anyway](../causestarter/the-jobs.md); organizers can [start a cause](../causestarter/start-a-cause.md) one role at a time. ## See it in action diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/README.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/README.md index 414d2b054..a830e0703 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/README.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/README.md @@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ In the past we've needed government or big private charity orgs to do this kind **"Okay, but why bother? We already have government and private charities for funding public goods."** -Because [it's better](./why-its-better/README.md) in various important ways: better signal (doing what people actually want), preserves real commonality rather than polarizing, more effective (retroactive funding, crowdsourced project surfacing/evaluation), less need for coordination, no need to approach centralized gatekeepers, plus all the onchain benefits like transparency and trustlessness and censorship-resistance. +Because [it's better](./why-its-better/README.md) in various important ways: better signal (doing what people actually want), preserves real commonality rather than polarizing, more effective (retroactive funding, crowdsourced project surfacing/evaluation), less need for coordination, no need to approach centralized gatekeepers, plus all the onchain benefits like transparency and trustlessness and censorship-resistance. In particular, it **[unbundles the organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md)**: money, judgment, trust, distribution, and skilled work can come from different people instead of needing to coincide in one institution. **"Even if it's better, getting people to switch is hard."** diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md index 5086945f7..f5e8827e1 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md @@ -2,9 +2,22 @@ "Getting people to switch - even to something [better](./why-its-better/) - is hard." +CauseStarter does not try to create motivation for a generic system. Motivation is +already abundant around particular causes, and their communities already gather in +their own social networks, institutions, and media. Distribution remains the cause +organizer's job. The narrower adoption claim is that, once reached, a motivated person +can make one useful contribution without joining a new organization or accepting all +of its other jobs. + Yes. But: - First, [traditional collective action is frustrating](./legacy-frustrations/README.md) in ways that Commonality specifically fixes. So we might draw in people who are fed up with the legacy system, or abstaining from it. - Second, switching is [remarkably easy](./ease-of-adoption/README.md). We can eliminate a lot of the friction. - And third, switching [generates value right away](./immediate-value/README.md) (or at least *almost* right away, in the case of a pledge to an assurance contract, which is at least costless if it fails). And once you've switched, you've also built the infrastructure for [credible threats](./hard-to-stop/credible-threat.md) — the ability to visibly demonstrate independent funding capacity, which shifts negotiating power even if you never spend a dollar. The [walkthrough](/docs/end-user/shared/use-case-walkthroughs/defunding.md) shows how a community naturally moves from "getting on the rails" to "credible independence." + +For founders, this turns adoption into a staged bootstrapping problem rather than an +all-at-once institution-building problem. Visible money attracts projects; visible +projects attract money; trusted judgment makes both easier to use. See [Unbundle the +organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md) and [Activate a cause one +role at a time](../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md). diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md index b8aef5e72..6fb6b7ecf 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md @@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ Of course a cause still does need to actually gather users — get donors to ple "Know your field well enough to spot good projects? Become a delegate. People who trust your judgment route funds through you, you direct them toward the best projects, your track record is transparent onchain. Start small — direct a few small delegatable notes — and let your track record speak for itself. No need to incorporate a nonprofit." +## Success evaluators (people who recognize results) + +"Don't want to predict winners? Follow completed work instead. When something +demonstrably delivered, vouch for its success so people whose trust networks reach you +can find it. Later donors can reimburse its early contributors at cost. Careful +retrospective judgment is useful even if you never select a proposal or write a large +check." + ## Alignment attesters (people with opinions) "Want to help aligned projects gain visibility? Just vouch for a few people you trust — not even in any major way, just 'if he says project P is aligned, it's probably aligned.' Or attest directly that a project aligns with a cause. Whoever trusts you sees it. Your influence grows linearly with followers." @@ -26,6 +34,14 @@ Of course a cause still does need to actually gather users — get donors to ple "Use Commonality as your operational backend. Keep doing what you're good at — evaluating projects — but shed the overhead. Accept donations via delegatable notes, direct funds toward aligned projects, and let the blockchain handle the transparency and accounting. Start as the sole trusted attester (identical to your current process), then gradually open up to external suggestions if you want." See [for-established-orgs.md](./ease-of-adoption/for-established-orgs.md). +## Cause organizers (people with a network) + +"You do not have to assemble money, mission, talent, judgment, and distribution in one +new organization. Find the people who already care, then invite each to contribute the +one capacity they have. Money attracts projects; projects attract money; trusted +judgment makes both easier to use. Recruit one role at a time." See [Activate a cause +one role at a time](../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md). + ## Scouts (people with foresight) "Good at spotting promising projects early? Fund them before anyone else does. If the project delivers, later donors can reimburse your contribution at cost so your giving budget can fund another attempt. Your public track record can also attract larger delegated budgets. You're a scout for public goods: the projects you spot get early funding, and good judgment earns trust and responsibility." @@ -34,4 +50,9 @@ Of course a cause still does need to actually gather users — get donors to ple Every pitch is about something individually useful. Nobody needs to be told "join our movement" or "here's our plan to persuade half the country." It's "here's this one small thing you can do, it's useful to you right now, and it doesn't depend on what anybody else does." +This applies to unusually large contributors too. A person with exceptional capital, +judgment, execution ability, trust, or distribution can contribute that one thing +without assembling the other four. The strategic explanation is [Unbundle the +organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md). + The same idea, written as the “I’d be happy to X, but ugh Y” obstacles the substrate removes: **[Do the part you’d do anyway](../../causestarter/the-jobs.md)** ([strategy note](./the-jobs.md)). diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md index 7ecf6d203..7223e08ff 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md @@ -4,6 +4,14 @@ The simple vision: people who already agree should be able to pool money and ski The invention is not a new kind of organization. It is **splitting the work into jobs people would already take**, and removing the extra job each role used to demand (pick every project, trust a big org, elect a board, know a grant officer, swallow someone else’s wording, wait for critical mass). +A conventional organization bundles money, judgment, mission, trust, distribution, +and execution. That makes collective action depend on finding leaders who can assemble +the whole bundle. Commonality lets different people supply those capacities +separately. A major donor need not start a foundation; a domain expert need not be +wealthy; a great builder need not know a grant committee. **[Unbundle the +organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md)** is the full strategic +argument. + Late aggregation is *how* that is allowed: you do not have to agree on a leader or a manifesto first. Organic coalitions are a *bonus* of not forcing a bundle. Neither is the headline. The headline is: **do the part you’d do anyway.** The user-facing catalog — money, attention, work, wording, “my own cause page” — lives in CauseStarter’s **[Do the part you’d do anyway](../../causestarter/the-jobs.md)**. Role-by-role one-liners: [pitches](./pitches.md). diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/README.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/README.md index 1b45b9798..fa734d9f0 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/README.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/README.md @@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ First, a scoping question worth answering head-on: we already *have* governments - **[Openness](./openness.md):** Anyone can publish projects, statements, attestations. Filtering happens through social signals rather than gatekeepers. If you care more about the cause than about control, this is strictly better. And there are many public-good projects that *aren't* getting funded by our current system of centralized gatekeepers; the openness of Commonality lets us simply bypass those systems. + - **[Unbundling the organization](./unbundled-organization.md):** Money, judgment, trust, distribution, and execution do not have to arrive in one foundation or leadership team. Each person can supply the one scarce contribution they have, and every visible contribution helps recruit the missing roles. + - **Transparency and trustlessness:** Everything is onchain and auditable. No need to trust a charity's annual report or a government's budget numbers. The blockchain *is* the report. - **Censorship resistance:** No bank accounts to freeze, no platform to deplatform, no organization to shut down. See [hard-to-stop](../hard-to-stop/censorship-resistance.md). This is also what makes [credible threats](../hard-to-stop/credible-threat.md) possible — the backup plan can't be squashed. diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..0513f19c1 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md @@ -0,0 +1,82 @@ +# Unbundle the organization + +People who care about a cause rarely lack motivation. What they usually lack is one +organization that has all of the things needed to act: money, judgment, trusted +connections, an audience, and people who can do the work. + +That bundle is difficult to assemble. A conventional cause organization has to raise +money, choose a mission, recruit talent, evaluate proposals, administer grants, and +remain trusted enough to do all of those things on everyone else's behalf. A promising +effort can stall because no one person has the whole combination. + +CauseStarter does not try to manufacture a following or replace the places where a +cause already gathers. It does something narrower: **it lets different people supply +those ingredients separately.** + +- Someone with money can pledge without learning to evaluate every project. +- Someone with judgment can direct other people's pledges without first becoming a + major donor or incorporating a foundation. +- Someone who understands past work can identify what actually delivered without + taking responsibility for predicting the next winner. +- Someone trusted in the community can vouch for alignment or success without + controlling a grant program. +- Someone capable of doing useful work can find visible demand without knowing the + right grant officer. +- Someone with an audience can point followers to those jobs without turning the + audience into members of a new organization. + +The result is not an organization with its departments removed. It is a way for money, +judgment, trust, distribution, and skilled work to meet around individual statements +and projects when they are useful. + +## One exceptional contribution is enough + +Most funding systems recognize one kind of unusually powerful participant: a person +or institution with a great deal of money. But causes have several kinds of scarce +capacity: + +- **Capital:** the ability to commit a large amount of money. +- **Judgment:** an unusually thorough understanding of what the ecosystem needs. +- **Execution:** the ability to deliver ambitious work reliably. +- **Trust:** a reputation whose vouches and funding decisions carry weight. +- **Distribution:** an audience of people who already care. + +Traditionally, a new organization needs several of these to coincide. A funder needs a +mission and staff; an expert needs access to a budget; a builder needs fundraising and +connections. CauseStarter makes room for each exceptional contribution on its own. A +large funder does not have to invent a foundation, and the best-informed person does +not have to be wealthy for their judgment to direct substantial resources. + +## Partial success recruits the missing roles + +The pieces reinforce one another as soon as any of them appears: + +- Visible pledged money tells builders that useful work can be funded. +- Visible projects tell donors that their money has somewhere concrete to go. +- A trusted delegate lets hands-off donors participate. +- A credible success voucher makes retroactive funding easier. +- A strong builder makes the funding opportunity more credible. +- A person with an audience can send each follower directly to the job that fits. + +This changes how a cause gets started. The organizer does not need to recruit a whole +institution before anything is useful. They can recruit one contribution at a time, +and each contribution makes the pitch to the other roles more concrete: “There is +$1,000,000 available for useful work,” or “Here are projects that could put $1,000,000 +to use.” Smaller contributions create the same flywheel at a smaller scale. + +## Motivation still comes from the cause + +CauseStarter is not a social network and does not promise to build an organizer's +audience. A community might gather on X, in churches, in professional networks, in a +neighborhood association, or somewhere else entirely. Those places create attention, +identity, and motivation. + +CauseStarter becomes valuable after that: when someone already inclined to organize +asks how the people they know can turn their different kinds of capacity into action. +The organizer's pitch is not “please adopt this system.” It is “here is one useful +thing you can do for the cause you already care about, without taking on all the other +jobs.” + +That is the everyday version of the larger idea: **[do the part you'd do +anyway](../../../causestarter/the-jobs.md)**. For the organizer's version, see +**[Start a cause](../../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md)**. diff --git a/docs/end-user/tldr-for-llms.md b/docs/end-user/tldr-for-llms.md index 84a176a8b..4200677ac 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/tldr-for-llms.md +++ b/docs/end-user/tldr-for-llms.md @@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ Each entry follows the same shape: [Full page](/docs/end-user/causestarter/index.md) -- **What it is:** The spoken newcomer briefing. A cause board is a bulletin board of crowdfundable projects (Kickstarter-style refunds if the goal is missed), plus two twists: [delegate](shared/key-ideas/delegation.md) so you don't watch the board, and a **Not yet reimbursed** tab so you fund proven work instead of pitches. Almost everyone arrives via a circulated URL, not a catalog. Causes are ordinary-language statements; the board is a mix, not a club. Jobs are separable: pledge, direct, start, vouch, optionally sign. After signing, CauseStarter **home** is a personal fundable-projects board (including implied statements). +- **What it is:** The spoken newcomer briefing. A cause board is a bulletin board of crowdfundable projects (Kickstarter-style refunds if the goal is missed), plus two twists: [delegate](shared/key-ideas/delegation.md) so you don't watch the board, and a **Not yet reimbursed** tab so you fund proven work instead of pitches. Almost everyone arrives via a circulated URL, not a catalog. Causes are ordinary-language statements; the board is a mix, not a club. Jobs are separable: pledge, scout/direct initial funding, recognize or reimburse proven work, start a project, vouch, optionally sign. Money, judgment, trust, distribution, and execution need not come from one organization. After signing, CauseStarter **home** is a personal fundable-projects board (including implied statements). - **When a user encounters it:** In-app `/docs`, or when they ask what this cause page is; returning users on CauseStarter `/`. - **What they might want help with:** What they can do without joining; how projects get on the list; pledging vs signing; when to start their own page vs using this one; finding “my” projects vs an organizer’s mix. Next objections: [faq.md](/docs/end-user/causestarter/faq.md). Eye-roll “support a cause” objections: [why-this-isnt-lame.md](/docs/end-user/causestarter/why-this-isnt-lame.md). @@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ Each entry follows the same shape: [Full page](/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md) -- **What it is:** The everyday pitch for CauseStarter / Commonality. Cooperate on agreement; split the work into jobs people would already take (money, attention, work, wording); remove the extra job each role used to demand. Not “join a movement.” +- **What it is:** The everyday pitch for CauseStarter / Commonality. Cooperate on agreement; split the work into jobs people would already take (money, prospective scouting, retrospective evaluation/reimbursement, work, trust, wording); remove the extra job each role used to demand. Not “join a movement.” It is the user-facing form of “unbundle the organization”: one exceptional contribution is enough; a capital holder need not supply mission and talent, and an expert need not be wealthy. - **When a user encounters it:** CauseStarter landing, empty states on cause/project/statement pages, `/docs/the-jobs`. - **What they might want help with:** Which job to take; why they don’t need a committee, grant officer, or matching manifesto; how delegation / refundable pledges / retroactive funding / bridges / reusing statements unblock the matching “ugh.” diff --git a/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md b/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..c57912b47 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md @@ -0,0 +1,106 @@ +# Activate a cause one role at a time + +CauseStarter does not create motivation or build an audience for a cause. Use the +places where your people already gather: social media, professional networks, local +groups, churches, newsletters, conferences, or existing organizations. + +What CauseStarter gives you is a much easier answer to the next question: **how can +those already-motivated people cooperate?** + +You do not have to recruit an organization that combines money, mission, judgment, +talent, and distribution. Recruit one useful contribution at a time. The system makes +those contributions visible and lets them connect. + +## Start with the people you already know + +If you are inclined to organize this cause, you probably already know the names of +some of its unusually capable people. Make a short map: + +| Capacity | Who might have it? | The ask | +| --- | --- | --- | +| Money | Major donors, companies, foundations, many small donors | Pledge without also running a grant program | +| Prospective judgment | Domain experts who spot promising work early | Scout or direct initial funding | +| Retrospective judgment | People who can verify what actually delivered | Vouch for success and surface work for reimbursement | +| Execution | Builders, researchers, writers, operators | Publish a project against visible demand | +| Trust | Respected connectors in the community | Vouch for alignment or success so work reaches their network | +| Distribution | Influencers, newsletters, community leaders | Send each follower to the role that fits them | + +One person may fill several rows, but your plan should not require that. The point is +to make an ask that fits the capacity they already have. + +## Invite jobs, not members + +Do not lead with “join our platform” or ask everyone to understand the entire system. +Send each person a self-contained invitation: + +- **Hands-off donor:** “If you would put in $20 a month but do not want another + responsibility, pledge it and delegate the project choices to someone you trust.” +- **Large funder:** “You can make substantial capital available without inventing a + mission, staffing a foundation, or personally selecting every recipient.” +- **Prospective scout:** “You know this field well enough to spot promising work early. + Fund it yourself or direct delegated funds; your record can earn greater trust.” +- **Retrospective evaluator:** “You do not have to predict winners. Find work that + demonstrably delivered, vouch for its success, and help later donors reimburse its + early contributors at cost.” +- **Builder:** “There is money looking for work that advances this cause. Publish the + project and get it vouched onto a statement people already watch; you do not need an + introduction to a grant committee.” +- **Trusted connector:** “Your vouch can put worthwhile work in front of everyone whose + trust network reaches you. You do not have to fund or perform the work.” +- **Person with an audience:** “Point followers to a clear menu of useful jobs. Each can + do one thing without joining an organization or inheriting the other roles.” + +The public catalog to link is **[Do the part you'd do +anyway](/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md)**. When possible, quote or link the +specific role instead of making a newcomer read every conceptual page first. + +## Bootstrap from whichever side appears first + +An empty board is an abstract promise. Any real contribution gives you a more concrete +next pitch: + +- If pledges appear first: **“There is $X available for projects serving this cause.”** +- If projects appear first: **“Here is work that could put $X to good use.”** +- If a respected delegate appears first: **“You can contribute without personally + evaluating every proposal.”** +- If successful work appears first: **“Here is a result you can inspect before giving.”** +- If a trusted voucher appears first: **“Projects can reach this community without + winning over a central committee.”** +- If an audience appears first: give its members the role menu and see which capacity + becomes visible. + +Do not wait for a perfect launch containing all of them. Each role creates demand for +the others. Small contributors prove the loop; an unusually large contribution in any +one role can accelerate it dramatically. + +## Show supply and demand plainly + +The board should help a visitor answer two questions immediately: + +- If I might build something, how much money is looking for useful work here? +- If I might pledge, what projects could put my money to use? + +Use concrete numbers and projects in outreach as soon as they exist. “A new funding +protocol” is abstract. “$80,000 is available for Ethereum client diversity, and these +three teams are looking for funding” is a reason to act. + +The same principle applies to nonfinancial capacity. Name the respected delegates, +show who vouched that a project delivered, and make successful work legible. Visible +capacity is recruitment material for the missing capacity. + +## Keep the boundary honest + +You still own distribution. CauseStarter will not create a following, decide which +influencers matter, or persuade people to care about the cause. It narrows your +coordination problem after you reach them. + +That is a substantial reduction. Instead of asking, “Who can build and legitimate a +complete new organization?”, you can ask: + +> Who would do one useful part for this cause if doing so did not saddle them with all +> the other parts? + +For the product setup, continue with **[Standing up a +vertical](./standing-up-a-vertical.md)**. For the underlying strategic argument, see +**[Unbundle the +organization](/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md)**. diff --git a/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md b/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md index 969422c7c..daf21a214 100644 --- a/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md +++ b/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md @@ -22,6 +22,13 @@ people who care about civil political media are not reached the same way as peop who want to fund local public goods — so distribution is the *vertical founder's* job, not the platform's. +That does not leave the founder with the traditional job of assembling a complete +cause organization. CauseStarter lets money, judgment, trust, distribution, and +execution come from different people. The founder can recruit one useful role at a +time, and each visible contribution makes the missing roles easier to recruit. See +**[Activate a cause one role at a time](./activating-a-cause.md)** for that adoption +playbook; this page covers the product and operator setup. + That makes the founder the platform's real customer. Everything below exists to make a founder's job easier. It also gives a sharp triage rule for platform work: diff --git a/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md b/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md index 1a29e2bd1..e2d84e241 100644 --- a/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md +++ b/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md @@ -55,7 +55,10 @@ works. under `docs/end-user/`. - **A distribution plan.** Explicitly his job, not the platform's — that's the whole premise of [ADR 0005](/specs/decisions/0005-founder-first-verticals.md). It is also - the only item here that no doc or tool in this repo does for him. + the only item here the platform cannot perform for him. The coordination playbook + after he reaches people — identify money, judgment, execution, trust, and audience; + recruit one role at a time — is [Activate a cause one role at a + time](./activating-a-cause.md). ## 3. Third-party accounts and infrastructure diff --git a/specs/product/README.md b/specs/product/README.md index 0d3ee346e..f55ac769c 100644 --- a/specs/product/README.md +++ b/specs/product/README.md @@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ Product-manager-level planning documents. These describe *what* to build and *why*, not *how*. - **[founder-first.md](founder-first.md)** — The vertical-founder posture: our customer is the founder standing up a vertical, not the end user of the generic sites. Carries the triage rule for all platform work, a map of which doc holds which piece, and the consolidated pivot backlog. Frozen rationale in [ADR 0005](/specs/decisions/0005-founder-first-verticals.md). +- **[Activating a cause](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md)** — The founder's adoption playbook: use the cause's existing distribution, recruit money/judgment/trust/execution one role at a time, and let each visible contribution attract the missing roles. - **[causes-as-publications.md](causes-as-publications.md)** — Accepted target model for AI-assisted cause creation: causes are mutable, shareable publications over immutable statements; organizers and vertical operators are distinct roles; anchors remain optional semantic statements rather than page identities. Frozen rationale: [ADR 0009](../decisions/0009-causes-are-publications-over-statements.md). Implementation work: [plan](causes-as-publications-implementation-plan.md). Copy/weighting of that publication: **[cause-page-not-a-club.md](cause-page-not-a-club.md)** (direction; two-step rename; not a sweep yet). Returning-signer home: **[personal-dashboard.md](personal-dashboard.md)** (derived fundable-projects union; not a roster). - **[how-to-convey-this.md](how-to-convey-this.md)** — Landing/docs conversation log: what the system *is*, the jobs pitch, and later naming of the organizer page. - **[use-cases.md](use-cases.md)** — The canonical inventory of what people come here to *do*, organized by user goal rather than by subsystem. Each entry carries a status (Smooth / Rough / Missing / Compose / Blocked / Speculative) and its gap. Start here when prioritizing product work. diff --git a/specs/product/founder-first.md b/specs/product/founder-first.md index 0ea2ac329..6d57e6976 100644 --- a/specs/product/founder-first.md +++ b/specs/product/founder-first.md @@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ being the universal operator to whom every conduct element attaches) and product | Role/strategy statement for internal devs | [workflow/roles/founder.md](/workflow/roles/founder.md) | | What a founder needs: decisions, artifacts, accounts, obligations | [docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md](/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md) | | "Now actually build one" guide for a founder | [docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md](/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md) | +| How a founder activates the cause after reaching its existing community | [docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md) | | How a founder fills an empty cause board | [cause-taxonomy.md](./cause-taxonomy.md) | | What a cause is made of: planks, views, anchors; what cause-assist should suggest | [shaping-your-cause-statements.md](/docs/founder/shaping-your-cause-statements.md) | | Recruiting collateral / worked pitches | [christian-pitch.md](/docs/founder/christian-pitch.md), [docs/founder/csm/](/docs/founder/csm/) | @@ -48,7 +49,9 @@ authoritative copy; this list is the map. - [ ] Build the founder-recruiting funnel: where do prospective founders hear about Commonality, and what do they land on? [standing-up-a-vertical](/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md) - is step one; the rest of the path is unspecified. (from [marketing.md](./marketing.md)) + covers setup and [activating-a-cause](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md) covers + recruiting the cause's participants; the discovery and landing path remains + unspecified. (from [marketing.md](./marketing.md)) - [ ] Improve the [Christian pitch](/docs/founder/christian-pitch.md) and write more pitches along those lines for other audiences. *(Adam — [inbox.md](/inbox.md))* - [ ] Have an AI generate a batch of imaginary founders and causes, as a breadth check on diff --git a/specs/product/how-to-convey-this.md b/specs/product/how-to-convey-this.md index 90d7deeec..2493ff006 100644 --- a/specs/product/how-to-convey-this.md +++ b/specs/product/how-to-convey-this.md @@ -258,3 +258,35 @@ leftover: **cause page**); first rename today’s “cause board” (the project to **fundable-projects board**. A cause board can cover multiple causes. Reserve **dashboard** for the personal surface. Full write-up: [cause-page-not-a-club.md](./cause-page-not-a-club.md). + +--- + +# 2026-09-01 — unbundle the organization + +The jobs story also answers the adoption question more sharply. CauseStarter does not +create generic motivation or replace the social ecosystem around a cause. A founder +uses X, newsletters, churches, professional networks, and so on to reach people who +already care. CauseStarter changes what the founder can ask them to do. + +The conventional alternative requires one organization to combine money, mission, +prospective judgment, retrospective evaluation, execution, trust, and distribution. +CauseStarter lets those capacities come from different people. This matters especially +for unusually large contributors: a major funder need not assemble a foundation, a +domain expert need not be rich, and an exceptional builder need not become a +fundraiser. One exceptional contribution is enough. + +That gives the founder a staged bootstrapping motion rather than an all-at-once org +launch. Visible pledges attract projects; projects give funders somewhere concrete to +put money; trusted delegates make hands-off giving credible; success vouches and +completed work attract cautious retroactive donors. Each role that appears strengthens +the pitch to the missing roles. + +Canonical homes: + +- Public strategic argument: [Unbundle the + organization](/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md). +- Participant-facing roles: [Do the part you'd do + anyway](/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md). +- Public organizer entry: [Start a cause](/docs/end-user/causestarter/start-a-cause.md). +- Internal founder playbook: [Activate a cause one role at a + time](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md). diff --git a/specs/product/marketing.md b/specs/product/marketing.md index b752395ed..1de0ab2ef 100644 --- a/specs/product/marketing.md +++ b/specs/product/marketing.md @@ -14,6 +14,16 @@ But I'm not particularly interested in doing marketing to try to get end-users t The UI domain called Commonality is the one that's meant to be for those founders, to show them the vision and help them get their own verticals started. +This boundary is not the claim that adoption takes care of itself. CauseStarter does +not manufacture motivation or replace X, newsletters, churches, professional networks, +or the other places where a cause already has attention. It gives a founder a better +ask once he reaches those people: contribute money, prospective judgment, +retrospective judgment, execution, trust, or distribution without also taking on the +other jobs. The mechanism and flywheel are documented in [Unbundle the +organization](/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md) +and the organizer playbook is [Activate a cause one role at a +time](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md). + Anyway, the point is that there's two kinds of marketing here: - Aimed at end-users of Civility or CSM. - Aimed at founders who might want to start a vertical. @@ -24,6 +34,9 @@ Anyway, the point is that there's two kinds of marketing here: - Treat the pitch docs as recruiting material: [Christian pitch](/docs/founder/christian-pitch.md), [CSM founder docs](/docs/founder/csm/). These are examples of vertical positioning *and* recruiting collateral. - Build a founder-recruiting funnel: where do prospective vertical founders hear about Commonality, and what do they land on? (The [standing-up-a-vertical](/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md) guide is step one of that funnel.) +- Give founders role-specific collateral they can send to capital holders, scouts, + success evaluators, builders, trusted connectors, and people with audiences. The + message is the useful job, not adoption of the generic substrate. ## Vertical GTM for Civility & CSM diff --git a/workflow/roles/founder.md b/workflow/roles/founder.md index d1322ace4..12f1bd41e 100644 --- a/workflow/roles/founder.md +++ b/workflow/roles/founder.md @@ -1,6 +1,7 @@ # Founder-level documentation - [Standing up a vertical](/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md) — the "now actually build one" guide, using Civility/CSM as worked examples + - [Activating a cause](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md) — recruit money, judgment, trust, distribution, and execution one role at a time - [Shaping your cause's statements](/docs/founder/shaping-your-cause-statements.md) — what a cause is made of: planks, views, and anchors, and how implication direction constrains each (working proposal, still open) - [Helping a human write a bridge cluster](/docs/founder/bridge-cluster-wording-help.md) — one-shot wording help + export-to-your-LLM; not a hosted mediation chat - [How a mediator sets up “the Other Cause”](/docs/founder/the-other-cause.md) — stand-in parents when the other camp has no published cause From 6acb229f31fcff9379868632413ccab6e9b80856 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Adam Spitz Date: Tue, 1 Sep 2026 16:14:02 -0400 Subject: [PATCH 2/2] docs: address role-adoption review notes Separate vertical operator from cause organizer, retie the switch-page objection list, use Start a cause for the public page, and reuse one capacity list (money, both kinds of judgment, execution, trust, distribution). --- docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md | 9 +++++---- .../getting-people-to-switch.md | 20 +++++++++---------- .../vision-and-strategy/pitches.md | 11 +++++----- .../vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md | 14 ++++++------- .../why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md | 12 ++++++----- docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md | 15 +++++++++++--- docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md | 11 +++++----- docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md | 8 +++++--- 8 files changed, 58 insertions(+), 42 deletions(-) diff --git a/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md b/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md index 2f6b69c4d..28b775c4f 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md +++ b/docs/end-user/causestarter/the-jobs.md @@ -4,10 +4,11 @@ The core vision is simple: **people who agree should be able to cooperate on tha What used to block that was never a shortage of people who *cared*. It was a pile of extra jobs. “I’d be happy to do X, but ugh, Y.” CauseStarter and the rest of this substrate are mostly that ugh-removal kit. If you remember one thing, remember: **you only contribute the part you would contribute anyway.** -Ordinarily a cause needs one organization capable of raising money, choosing a -mission, finding talent, evaluating work, and maintaining everyone's trust. Here those -capacities can come from different people. You do not have to become that organization; -you only have to supply the part you have. +Ordinarily a cause needs one organization capable of raising money, judging work +ahead of time and after the fact, executing it, remaining trusted, and reaching an +audience. Here those capacities can come from different people. Choosing a mission is +what publishing statements already does; it is not another person-job. You do not have +to become that organization; you only have to supply the part you have. ## Money diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md index f5e8827e1..9c3b1cd10 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/getting-people-to-switch.md @@ -2,14 +2,12 @@ "Getting people to switch - even to something [better](./why-its-better/) - is hard." -CauseStarter does not try to create motivation for a generic system. Motivation is -already abundant around particular causes, and their communities already gather in -their own social networks, institutions, and media. Distribution remains the cause -organizer's job. The narrower adoption claim is that, once reached, a motivated person -can make one useful contribution without joining a new organization or accepting all -of its other jobs. - -Yes. But: +Yes, for a generic platform. CauseStarter’s claim is narrower. It does not try to +create motivation for a generic system. Motivation is already abundant around +particular causes, and their communities already gather in their own social +networks, institutions, and media. Distribution remains the organizer’s job. Once +reached, a motivated person can make one useful contribution without joining a new +organization or accepting all of its other jobs. And even then: - First, [traditional collective action is frustrating](./legacy-frustrations/README.md) in ways that Commonality specifically fixes. So we might draw in people who are fed up with the legacy system, or abstaining from it. - Second, switching is [remarkably easy](./ease-of-adoption/README.md). We can eliminate a lot of the friction. - And third, switching [generates value right away](./immediate-value/README.md) (or at least *almost* right away, in the case of a pledge to an assurance contract, which is at least costless if it fails). @@ -19,5 +17,7 @@ And once you've switched, you've also built the infrastructure for [credible thr For founders, this turns adoption into a staged bootstrapping problem rather than an all-at-once institution-building problem. Visible money attracts projects; visible projects attract money; trusted judgment makes both easier to use. See [Unbundle the -organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md) and [Activate a cause one -role at a time](../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md). +organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md) and [Start a +cause](../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md). The operator playbook after you reach +people is [Activate a cause one role at a +time](/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md). diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md index 6fb6b7ecf..0d35566f0 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/pitches.md @@ -36,11 +36,12 @@ check." ## Cause organizers (people with a network) -"You do not have to assemble money, mission, talent, judgment, and distribution in one -new organization. Find the people who already care, then invite each to contribute the -one capacity they have. Money attracts projects; projects attract money; trusted -judgment makes both easier to use. Recruit one role at a time." See [Activate a cause -one role at a time](../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md). +"You do not have to assemble money, prospective and retrospective judgment, +execution, trust, and distribution in one new organization. Find the people who +already care, then invite each to contribute the one capacity they have. Money +attracts projects; projects attract money; trusted judgment makes both easier to +use. Recruit one role at a time." See [Start a +cause](../../causestarter/start-a-cause.md). ## Scouts (people with foresight) diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md index 7223e08ff..37511655b 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/the-jobs.md @@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ The simple vision: people who already agree should be able to pool money and ski The invention is not a new kind of organization. It is **splitting the work into jobs people would already take**, and removing the extra job each role used to demand (pick every project, trust a big org, elect a board, know a grant officer, swallow someone else’s wording, wait for critical mass). -A conventional organization bundles money, judgment, mission, trust, distribution, -and execution. That makes collective action depend on finding leaders who can assemble -the whole bundle. Commonality lets different people supply those capacities -separately. A major donor need not start a foundation; a domain expert need not be -wealthy; a great builder need not know a grant committee. **[Unbundle the -organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md)** is the full strategic -argument. +A conventional organization bundles money, prospective and retrospective judgment, +trust, distribution, and execution. That makes collective action depend on finding +leaders who can assemble the whole bundle. Commonality lets different people supply +those capacities separately. A major donor need not start a foundation; a domain +expert need not be wealthy; a great builder need not know a grant committee. +**[Unbundle the organization](./why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md)** is the +full strategic argument. Late aggregation is *how* that is allowed: you do not have to agree on a leader or a manifesto first. Organic coalitions are a *bonus* of not forcing a bundle. Neither is the headline. The headline is: **do the part you’d do anyway.** diff --git a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md index 0513f19c1..2ac4c01f4 100644 --- a/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md +++ b/docs/end-user/commonality/vision-and-strategy/why-its-better/unbundled-organization.md @@ -1,13 +1,15 @@ # Unbundle the organization People who care about a cause rarely lack motivation. What they usually lack is one -organization that has all of the things needed to act: money, judgment, trusted -connections, an audience, and people who can do the work. +organization that has all of the things needed to act: money, prospective judgment, +retrospective judgment, execution, trust, and distribution. That bundle is difficult to assemble. A conventional cause organization has to raise -money, choose a mission, recruit talent, evaluate proposals, administer grants, and -remain trusted enough to do all of those things on everyone else's behalf. A promising -effort can stall because no one person has the whole combination. +money, judge work before and after it happens, do the work, remain trusted, and +reach an audience — and it usually treats “choosing a mission” as yet another +department. A promising effort can stall because no one person has the whole +combination. Here the mission is the published statements; the recruitable jobs +are the capacities above. CauseStarter does not try to manufacture a following or replace the places where a cause already gathers. It does something narrower: **it lets different people supply diff --git a/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md b/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md index c57912b47..11f6bf7a1 100644 --- a/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md +++ b/docs/founder/activating-a-cause.md @@ -1,5 +1,12 @@ # Activate a cause one role at a time +This playbook is for **cause organizers**: people who publish a mix of statements +and recruit jobs onto that board. A **vertical operator** (the founder who owns a +branded front end, policies, and distribution) is a different role. One person may +fill both, but they do not collapse. The operator still owns distribution; the +organizer still recruits one useful contribution at a time. See +[ADR 0009](/specs/decisions/0009-causes-are-publications-over-statements.md). + CauseStarter does not create motivation or build an audience for a cause. Use the places where your people already gather: social media, professional networks, local groups, churches, newsletters, conferences, or existing organizations. @@ -7,9 +14,11 @@ groups, churches, newsletters, conferences, or existing organizations. What CauseStarter gives you is a much easier answer to the next question: **how can those already-motivated people cooperate?** -You do not have to recruit an organization that combines money, mission, judgment, -talent, and distribution. Recruit one useful contribution at a time. The system makes -those contributions visible and lets them connect. +You do not have to recruit an organization that combines money, prospective +judgment, retrospective judgment, execution, trust, and distribution. Choosing a +mission is what publishing statements already does; it is not a sixth person to +hire. Recruit one useful contribution at a time. The system makes those +contributions visible and lets them connect. ## Start with the people you already know diff --git a/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md b/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md index daf21a214..0e80cdc5d 100644 --- a/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md +++ b/docs/founder/standing-up-a-vertical.md @@ -23,11 +23,12 @@ who want to fund local public goods — so distribution is the *vertical founder job, not the platform's. That does not leave the founder with the traditional job of assembling a complete -cause organization. CauseStarter lets money, judgment, trust, distribution, and -execution come from different people. The founder can recruit one useful role at a -time, and each visible contribution makes the missing roles easier to recruit. See -**[Activate a cause one role at a time](./activating-a-cause.md)** for that adoption -playbook; this page covers the product and operator setup. +cause organization. You still own distribution, policies, and the branded front +end. Cause organizers on your vertical — which may include you — recruit money, +prospective and retrospective judgment, execution, and trust one role at a time +onto published boards. See **[Activate a cause one role at a +time](./activating-a-cause.md)** for that organizer playbook; this page covers the +product and operator setup. That makes the founder the platform's real customer. Everything below exists to make a founder's job easier. It also gives a sharp triage rule for platform work: diff --git a/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md b/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md index e2d84e241..e9eefc2b2 100644 --- a/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md +++ b/docs/founder/what-a-founder-needs.md @@ -56,9 +56,11 @@ works. - **A distribution plan.** Explicitly his job, not the platform's — that's the whole premise of [ADR 0005](/specs/decisions/0005-founder-first-verticals.md). It is also the only item here the platform cannot perform for him. The coordination playbook - after he reaches people — identify money, judgment, execution, trust, and audience; - recruit one role at a time — is [Activate a cause one role at a - time](./activating-a-cause.md). + after he reaches people — identify money, prospective and retrospective judgment, + execution, trust, and distribution; recruit one role at a time — is [Activate a + cause one role at a time](./activating-a-cause.md). Organizers on the vertical + (which may include the founder) follow that playbook; the founder still owns + distribution. ## 3. Third-party accounts and infrastructure