# MVP Ads Playbook

**Core principle: every dollar buys information, not users.**

---

## Three-Stage Budget

| | Phase 1 | Phase 2 | Phase 3 |
|---|---------|---------|---------|
| **Purpose** | Is anyone interested? | Will interested people actually use it? | Can we acquire users profitably? |
| **Budget** | $100 | $400 | $1500/mo |
| **Duration** | 5 days | 14 days | 21 days min |
| **Channels** | Meta | Meta + Google | Multi-channel |
| **Approval** | None | Alan + Grimace review | Alan + Grimace review |
| **Pass** | 30+ visits and signup rate >= 3% | 3+ activations | CAC < 3x industry benchmark |
| **Kill** | signup < 1% or CTR < 0.5% | signups < 3 after $200 spent | LTV:CAC < 1:1 |

Max spend per experiment: $100 + $400 + $1500 = **$2000**. Most will be killed at Phase 1.

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## Three Rules

1. **KILL = stop spending immediately**
2. **PIVOT gets one chance.** Try a new angle with one more Phase 1 ($100), then must SCALE or KILL
3. **Must pass Idea Generator first**

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## Budget Controls

- Max **3 concurrent experiments** per person

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## Tracked Metrics (Quarterly)

We track these metrics to understand team rhythm. No hard targets this quarter:

| Metric | How to measure |
|--------|---------------|
| **Experiments completed** | Count of experiments that were deployed + ran ads >= 5 days + ran /iterate |
| **Discovery rate** | Experiments entering Phase 2 / total experiments |
| **Avg decision speed** | Days from deploy to first /iterate |
| **Avg spend per experiment** | Total ad spend / experiments completed |

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## Workflow

```
Idea Generator → /spec → /bootstrap → /deploy
  ↓
/distribute (Phase 1: $100, 5 days)
  ↓
/iterate → verdict
  ├─ SCALE → Phase 2 ($400, Alan + Grimace review)
  ├─ PIVOT → new angle, one more Phase 1
  ├─ TOO EARLY → keep running
  └─ KILL → next experiment
```
