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SOP-089 — Ideate GTM-viability review

Guide

<!-- last-reviewed: 2026-06-01 · owner: CGEO (Chief Growth & Experience Officer) -->

SOP-089 — Ideate GTM-viability review

SOP · owner: CGEO. Layer: SOP/Runbook (docs/canon.md). On a concept routed by the CPTO at the Ideate→Plan gate, the CGEO returns a written GTM-viability finding — audience fit, go-to-market viability, dealbreakers — within 48h, in parallel with the CPTO’s own assessment (gate criterion (d)). The flywheel model is the lens, not restated (docs/knowledge/growth/flywheel-model.md).

Interface Contract

  • Inputs: concept brief ← from CPTO · trigger: concept routed for GTM review
  • Outputs: GTM-viability finding → to CPTO · trigger: review passed
  • Outputs: approved GTM finding → to Archivist · trigger: artifact approved
  • Handoff trigger (in): the CPTO routes a concept brief for parallel GTM-viability review at the Ideate→Plan gate
  • Handoff trigger (out): the CGEO returns a written finding (audience fit · GTM viability · dealbreakers) to the CPTO within 48h, or an acknowledgment with a specific delay and reason
  • Definition of Done before handoff:
    • [ ] Finding names audience fit — is the target audience consistent with the venture’s flywheel and current acquisition position?
    • [ ] Finding names go-to-market viability — does a credible path to audience and revenue exist for this concept at the current stage?
    • [ ] Finding names dealbreakers — any factor that makes the concept unlaunchable from the CGEO cluster’s perspective regardless of product quality
    • [ ] Returned within 48h of receipt, or an acknowledgment with a specific delay + reason sent so the request does not age silently
    • [ ] Finding interpreted through the flywheel lens (docs/knowledge/growth/flywheel-model.md), not a raw opinion
    • [ ] No personal/learner data declared in any edge (PA-only)
    • [ ] Counterparty verified against the live .claude/agents/ directory (never the legacy roster)
    • [ ] Learnings captured to docs/knowledge/ if the review surfaced one
    • [ ] Finding handed to the Archivist (0 drift)

concept routed for GTM review is registered (docs/handoff-triggers.md, Wave-2 block, Operations-approved 2026-06-01); this SOP declares the CGEO consumer side that closes the CPTO output that reconciled as pending before Wave 4 (Phase-0 F4 / SOP-041 / CPTO operating model l.110). The return-to-CPTO finding uses the registered review passed (an independent reviewer has cleared an artifact); the Archivist edge uses artifact approved.

Purpose

Give the Ideate→Plan gate an audience-and-revenue lens in parallel with the CPTO’s own assessment — so a concept that is architecturally sound but has no credible path to an audience (or fits the wrong audience for the venture’s flywheel) is caught before the gate closes, not after a build is funded. This review is gate criterion (d); it runs alongside the CPTO’s assessment, not as a sequential blocker.

When to use

When the CPTO routes a concept brief with concept routed for GTM review at the Ideate→Plan gate. Not for concepts that are not at a gate, and not as a product/ architecture review (that is the CPTO’s lane).

Flow

flowchart LR
  A["Concept routed<br/>for GTM review"] --> B{"Can I return<br/>within 48h?"}
  B -->|no| ACK["Acknowledge to CPTO:<br/>specific delay + reason"]
  B -->|yes| C["Assess through flywheel lens:<br/>audience fit · GTM viability · dealbreakers"]
  C --> D["Write the finding"]
  D --> E["Return to CPTO<br/>(gate criterion d)"]
  E --> F["Hand finding<br/>to Archivist"]
  classDef s fill:#1d4ed8,color:#fff,stroke:#1e3a8a
  classDef g fill:#0f766e,color:#fff,stroke:#134e4a
  class A,ACK,C,D,E,F s
  class B g

Text fallback: a concept is routed for GTM review → can I return within 48h? (no → acknowledge to the CPTO with a specific delay and reason) → assess through the flywheel lens on three axes (audience fit, GTM viability, dealbreakers) → write the finding → return it to the CPTO as gate criterion (d) → hand the finding to the Archivist.

Steps

  1. Clock the 48h. On receipt, decide whether a finding is returnable within 48h. If not, send the CPTO an acknowledgment with a specific delay and reason — do not let the request age silently (JD Process 2).
  2. Assess audience fit. Is the target audience consistent with the venture’s flywheel and the current acquisition position? (If the acquisition position is undocumented — Phase-0 F8 — name that gap in the finding rather than asserting fit.)
  3. Assess GTM viability. Does a credible path to audience and revenue exist for this concept at the current stage? Reference the readiness order of the revenue-lever strategy, not the concept’s aspiration ladder.
  4. Name dealbreakers. Any factor that makes the concept unlaunchable from the CGEO cluster’s perspective regardless of product quality — a wrong-audience targeting defect, a brand-integrity violation, a lever that cannot be activated at this stage.
  5. Write the finding and return it to the CPTO (gate criterion (d)) — a written finding, not a list of considerations. The CPTO incorporates it; the CGEO does not gate the transition.
  6. Hand off the finding to the Archivist; capture any learning.

Roles / approvers

Run by the CGEO. The CPTO is the gate owner and incorporates the finding as criterion (d); the CGEO returns the finding but does not decide the gate. The Archivist preserves. If the concept implies a monetization decision or a major audience pivot, the CGEO names it as a Principal-level dealbreaker, not a unilateral call.

Guardrails

  • Parallel, not sequential — this review runs alongside the CPTO’s assessment; it is not a blocker the CPTO waits on serially.
  • A finding, not a list — return audience fit · GTM viability · dealbreakers with a recommendation; do not return considerations and call it a finding.
  • Do not own the gate decision — the CPTO gates; the CGEO advises (must-not-own- product-direction guardrail).
  • 48h or acknowledge — never let the request age silently.
  • Personal/learner data is PA-only.
  • Co-create, don’t one-shot — if the finding implies a new rule, route to Golden Rule (GR-3).
  • Do not restate the flywheel model — link to docs/knowledge/growth/flywheel-model.md.

See also: docs/units/cgeo-cluster/operating-model.md · SOP-088 (launch notification) · docs/sop/SOP-041-architecture-review.md / docs/sop/SOP-042-phase-gate-decision.md (the CPTO side) · docs/handoff-triggers.md.