spec
Phased Plan
A 6-phase team ramp plan growing from 2 people in May to 7+ at launch, with hard milestone gates controlling when each new team member joins MemberIntel full-time.
Drafted: April 30, 2026
Owner: Blair Williams, CEO
References: MemberIntel SPEC v1, Cindy & Seth JDs, Caseproof 2026 VTO (Rock 3)
Why a phased ramp
The team grows when the work for them is ready — not before. Pulling Meo, Sarah, or Kalpesh in on day one means they sit waiting on PRDs and architecture decisions. The phased model gives:
- Focus — fewer people in early phases means clearer ownership and faster scoping
- Dedication — when someone joins, they’re 100% on MemberIntel for their phase, not matrixed
- Bounded disruption — Russ and Thomas know exactly when they lose Meo and Kalpesh, and for how long
- Cost discipline — full team only forms when the work justifies it
The shape is: start small (2 people), grow the engineering core (4 people), pull in design + content (6 people), pull in web build (7 people), all-hands launch ramp.
Phase Overview
| Phase | Months | Team Size | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 — Scoping & Foundation | May 2026 | 2 | Customer interviews, PRDs, architecture, privacy counsel |
| 2 — Build Kickoff | June 2026 | 3–4 | Engineering core forms; pipelines start |
| 3 — Design & Content | July 2026 | 5–6 | Design + content workstreams begin |
| 4 — Website + Beta | August 2026 | 6–7 | Site build; closed beta opens |
| 5 — Launch Ramp | September – mid-October 2026 | 7+ PR firm | All-hands GA prep |
| 6 — Post-Launch | November 2026+ | 4 ongoing | Matrixed contributors taper back |
Phase 1 — Scoping & Foundation (May 2026, ~4 weeks)
Dedicated team (2)
- Cindy Thoennessen — Product Lead, MemberIntel
- Seth Shoultes — Lead Architect, MemberIntel
Cindy’s deliverables
- 10–15 customer discovery interviews completed (per SPEC §13 Phase 0)
- Engage outside privacy counsel by June 1 (hard deadline — if this slips, GA slips)
- Initial PRD drafted for the highest-priority feature (likely the Free → Pro upgrade flow + chat experience)
- Beta cohort selection criteria proposal
- Decision-rights matrix signed off by Cindy, Seth, and Blair
- Cross-functional partner kickoff meetings (Curt, Wray, Russ, Thomas, Paul C, Ally) scheduled
Seth’s deliverables
- Technical architecture for the brain (global + per-customer + cross-pollination)
- Data pipeline architecture (MP sync, Stripe Connect, public site analysis)
- AI/ML approach: model routing strategy, tool surface design, prompt scaffolding
- Vendor decisions: hosting (GCP vs Heroku), vector store (pgvector vs Pinecone), telemetry stack
- Lightweight prototyping to de-risk material architectural choices
- Senior AI Engineer hiring — search active, Danielle running cultural/operational fit interviews
- ADR (Architectural Decision Records) for each material choice, written and committed
Cross-functional engagement (light, not full-time)
- Santiago — sets up GitHub-based ticket tracking for MemberIntel
- Danielle — Senior AI Engineer search posted, cultural fit interview process defined
- Paul Carter — confirms MP-side API surface available for V1 sync (per SPEC Open Q7)
- Outside privacy counsel — engaged by June 1
Phase 1 milestone (gate to Phase 2)
- ☐ Architecture documented and approved by Blair
- ☐ At least 2 PRDs drafted and approved by Blair
- ☐ Privacy counsel engaged
- ☐ Decision-rights matrix signed
- ☐ Senior AI Engineer hire pipeline has 3+ qualified candidates in late-stage interviews
If these aren’t met by May 31, do not kick off Phase 2. Slip the schedule rather than pull people into work that isn’t ready.
Phase 2 — Build Kickoff (June 2026, ~4 weeks)
Dedicated team grows to 3–4
- Cindy + Seth (continuing)
- Ronald Reymundo — joins Member Intel as primary engineering focus (his prior work has been canceled, so this is where his time goes)
- Senior AI Engineer (new hire, ramping — target close mid-June, productive by July)
Engineering scope (per SPEC §13 Phase 1)
- Auth (MP-license-based + standalone with email/password fallback)
- Customer-data ingestion pipeline (MP sync — live for Pro, monthly snapshot for Free; Stripe Connect / OAuth)
- Per-customer warehouse + initial schema (Postgres)
- Global brain seed: index existing MP docs + KB + blog
- Per-customer brain scaffolding: storage, retrieval, basic update mechanisms
- Initial AI tool surface implementation
- Public site analysis pipeline (Claude-based, weekly cached)
Cindy’s scope (Phase 2)
- Continue PRD authoring
- Beta cohort outreach begins
- Privacy compliance work in flight (ToS/DPA/Privacy Policy drafts)
- Brand identity decision (with Blair approval, with Russ’s input)
- Marketing site planning (begin)
Phase 2 milestone (gate to Phase 3)
- ☐ Auth and data ingestion working end-to-end (live MP sync demo)
- ☐ Senior AI Engineer onboarded and contributing
- ☐ Initial chat advisor working with Haiku model (basic Free experience)
- ☐ ToS / Privacy Policy drafts in legal review
Phase 3 — Design & Content (July 2026, ~4 weeks)
Dedicated team grows to 5–6
- Cindy + Seth + Ronald + Senior AI Engineer (continuing)
- Meo LaTao — joins MemberIntel full-time for design (manager Russ Williams stays; Meo’s 100% allocated to MemberIntel through Phase 5)
- Sarah Olaleye — joins MemberIntel full-time for content (manager Katelyn Gillis stays; Sarah’s 100% allocated through Phase 5)
Design scope (Meo, with Russ design-system review)
- Analytics dashboard mockups (Free vs Pro variants per SPEC §9.2)
- Brand visual identity (logo, color, type, voice — all needs Blair approval)
- Marketing site / microsite mockups (memberintel.com)
- Chat panel UI
- Brain editor UX (Pro feature)
- Tier upgrade-prompt surfaces (chat cap hit, insight cliffhanger, etc. per SPEC §5.3)
- In-MemberPress-admin banner / menu integration design
Content scope (Sarah, with Curt’s brand-consistency review)
- Marketing site copy
- Launch blog series (5–10 posts) — what is MemberIntel, why it matters, customer outcomes
- AEO-optimized content (overlaps with Rock 1)
- Customer education content: FAQs, knowledge base, onboarding email sequence
- Email campaigns for existing customer base
- Post-launch case studies from beta cohort (begin in Phase 4)
Engineering scope (Phase 3)
- Continue Phase 2 carryover
- Sonnet-tier chat experience for Pro
- Tier-gated AI model routing fully working
- Entitlement service operational
- Quota tracking
- Standard dashboard with tier-gated insight cards
- Self-serve billing integration with Ally
Cindy’s scope (Phase 3)
- PRDs continue (cross-pollination, weekly digest, advanced reports)
- Beta cohort identification finalized
- Marketing site coordination intensifies
- PR plan: decide internal vs outside agency by end of July; if outside, source and engage
Phase 3 milestone (gate to Phase 4)
- ☐ Chat experience working with Haiku (Free) and Sonnet (Pro) routing
- ☐ Dashboard visible with tier-gated cards
- ☐ Brand identity locked
- ☐ Marketing site copy approved
- ☐ Beta cohort identified (10–20 customers, mix of Free + Pro)
- ☐ Outside PR agency engaged (if going that route)
Phase 4 — Website + Beta Launch (August 2026, ~4 weeks)
Dedicated team grows to 6–7
- Cindy + Seth + Ronald + Senior AI Engineer + Meo + Sarah (continuing)
- Kalpesh Baghat — joins MemberIntel for website / microsite build (manager Thomas Levy stays; Kalpesh’s 100% allocated through Phase 5)
Website scope (Kalpesh + Meo + Sarah)
- memberintel.com build on Maurice framework or standalone — Cindy decides with Rocco’s input
- Pricing page with Free vs Pro comparison table
- In-MP-admin banner integration
- Marketing site sections: positioning, features, pricing, FAQs, blog
- Honest copy per SPEC §4 honesty rules
Engineering scope (Phase 4)
- Cross-pollination job (weekly schedule + content-lead review queue)
- Weekly digest email generation (Haiku for Free, Sonnet for Pro)
- AI eval suite operational
- Cost monitoring + per-customer token caps
- Free-tier signup flow polish
- Upgrade-funnel telemetry instrumentation
- Privacy controls (data export, deletion pathway) live
- i18n (English + Spanish + German) shipping
- Performance hardening, observability tightening
Beta launch (per SPEC §13)
- 10–20 hand-picked beta customers across Free and Pro tiers
- Weekly feedback collection cadence
- Bug triage workflow with engineering
- Feedback-loop refinement based on findings
Cindy’s scope (Phase 4)
- Beta operations daily
- Sales + support enablement materials in draft
- Curt + Sarah finalize launch content + email campaigns
- Press release + press kit drafted (with PR agency if engaged)
Phase 4 milestone (gate to Phase 5)
- ☐ Closed beta running with weekly feedback flowing
- ☐ memberintel.com live
- ☐ AI eval suite passing on representative scenarios
- ☐ Cost-per-user dashboards operational
- ☐ Privacy compliance posture clean (counsel sign-off)
- ☐ Sales + support enablement materials drafted
Phase 5 — Launch Ramp (September – mid-October 2026, ~6 weeks)
Full team (7) + outside PR agency engaged
All members from Phase 4 plus:
- Outside PR agency (3-month engagement, ~$5–10K/mo)
- Curt Noble (matrixed) — paid acquisition campaigns ramp, GA4 / Meta Pixel / server-side analytics live
- Wray Cullimore (matrixed) — CS team trained on MemberIntel; support runbooks live
GA prep (per SPEC §13 Phase 2)
- Launch announcement copy + press release finalized
- Email campaigns to existing MP customer base scheduled
- In-MP-admin banner integration live in production
- Pricing page + comparison table at memberintel.com final
- Final hardening, performance, security review
- Launch-day go-live checklist owned by Cindy
- Rollback plan documented
- Status page operational
- Internal launch comms — Caseproof team briefed week of launch
Marketing campaign (Curt + Sarah + outside PR)
- Pre-launch email sequence to MP customer base (announce trial)
- Paid acquisition campaign starts mid-September (Meta, Google, LinkedIn)
- Press embargo + journalist outreach
- Launch-day social, blog, email coordination
Phase 5 milestone (the launch)
- ☐ Mid-October: V1 GA shipped publicly
- ☐ Free + Pro tiers live
- ☐ MP customer base notified
- ☐ Press coverage secured
Phase 6 — Post-Launch (November 2026 onward)
Team taper
| Person | Status post-launch |
|---|---|
| Cindy Thoennessen | Stays dedicated — ongoing Product Lead |
| Seth Shoultes | Stays dedicated — ongoing Lead Architect |
| Ronald Reymundo | Stays dedicated — ongoing engineer |
| Senior AI Engineer | Stays dedicated — ongoing engineer |
| Meo LaTao | Tapers back to Russ’s team late October if dashboard design is locked; some MemberIntel work continues matrixed |
| Sarah Olaleye | Tapers back to Katelyn’s team late October if launch content is shipped; some MemberIntel content continues matrixed |
| Kalpesh Baghat | Tapers back to Thomas / IPJ in November if site is stable |
| PR agency | Engagement ends late October |
Steady-state team (4 dedicated)
- Cindy + Seth + Ronald + Senior AI Engineer
Post-launch focus (per SPEC §13 V1.5 prep)
- Free → Pro conversion rate monitoring; rapid A/B iteration
- Cross-pollination job tuning based on real customer brain content
- Brain growth (Sarah or content lead authors additional 30+ playbooks)
- Cost monitoring at real volumes (5K, 10K, 50K Free users)
- Beta cohort grad → paying Pro conversion analysis
- Quarterly free-tier review (per SPEC Open Q14)
- V1.5 planning (agent / write-actions, greenfield onboarding wizard)
Critical assumptions (the load-bearing ones)
- Senior AI Engineer hire closes mid-June. Phase 2 build pace depends on it. If slips past July, Phase 2 extends; if slips past August, GA slips.
- Phase 1 scoping produces shippable PRDs and architecture in 4 weeks. If May becomes 6 weeks, everything downstream slides.
- Russ and Thomas are notified by mid-May that Meo and Kalpesh are going full-time on MemberIntel July–October. Surprise = friction.
- Blair holds the line. When Russ has competing demands for Meo, or Thomas for Kalpesh, Blair tie-breaks toward MemberIntel during their dedicated windows.
- Privacy counsel engagement is non-negotiable by June 1. Slip = GA slip.
- Phase 1 is just two people. No pulling in additional resources during scoping. Resist the urge.
Cross-functional matrix (throughout all phases)
These people support MemberIntel without going full-time:
| Person | Role | Approximate load |
|---|---|---|
| Santiago Perez Asis | Cross-Caseproof PM (incl. MemberIntel sprint tracking) | 20–30% on MemberIntel |
| Curt Noble | Marketing positioning, AEO, paid acquisition, brand consistency | Light through Phase 3, heavier Phase 4–5 |
| Wray Cullimore | Support enablement (heavier Phase 4–5) | Light throughout, ramping at launch |
| Carl Jessee | Educational video content | Light throughout |
| Russ Williams | Design system / brand consistency review (Meo’s manager) | Light throughout |
| Thomas Levy | Data layer engineering consultation; Kalpesh’s manager | Light throughout, ad hoc |
| Paul Carter | MemberCore data access, MP-side API surface | Light, mostly Phase 1–2 |
| Ally Roger | Stripe billing, dunning, plan upgrades/downgrades | Heavier Phase 2–4 |
| Mahmoud Saeed | Senior engineering / code review backstop (ad hoc) | Only if needed |
| Danielle Lea-Jones | Senior AI Engineer hire — cultural/operational fit + onboarding | Phase 1–2 |
| Outside privacy counsel | Compliance workstream | Phase 1–4, heavier Phase 1–2 |
| Outside PR agency | PR execution | Phase 4–5 only |
Risk register (top items per SPEC §14)
| Risk | Mitigation in this plan |
|---|---|
| Senior AI Engineer hire slips | Danielle prioritizes Phase 1; Mahmoud as ad hoc backstop |
| Phase 1 scoping takes 6 weeks instead of 4 | Hard milestone gate; slip the schedule rather than start Phase 2 with bad foundations |
| Free-tier cost spiral (per SPEC Risk #2) | Cost monitoring built into Phase 4; weekly cost-per-cohort review during Phase 5 |
| Free → Pro conversion underperforms (Risk #3) | Multiple upgrade-moment surfaces designed into PRDs; A/B testing plan in Phase 5 |
| Differentiation from generic AI (Risk #1) | Content lead (Sarah) authoring playbooks Phase 3 onward; eval suite proves MP-specific advantage before launch |
| Russ or Thomas pull Meo / Kalpesh back mid-window | Blair tie-breaks; written commitment in mid-May |
| Privacy counsel engagement slips past June 1 | Cindy’s Phase 1 explicit deliverable, monitored weekly |
Open questions to resolve in Phase 1
These are SPEC v1 open questions (per SPEC §14) that need decisions in May:
| # | Question | Owner | Resolution by |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Final naming + domain + trademark check | Cindy + Blair | May 15 |
| Q4 | Stripe Connect vs customer-OAuth split | Seth + Ally | May 15 |
| Q5 | Customer support model for free users (docs-only? AI-first?) | Cindy + Wray | May 31 |
| Q7 | MP-side API surface for V1 sync | Seth + Paul Carter | May 22 |
| Q8 | Hosting choice (GCP vs Heroku) | Seth | May 8 |
| Q9 | Vector store choice (pgvector vs Pinecone) | Seth | May 15 |
| Q12 | Free-tier opt-in flow specifics | Cindy + Blair | May 22 |
| Q13 | Should existing MP customers get a “Pro for 30 days” launch promo? | Blair | May 31 |
| Q15 | Brand presentation of free tier — “MemberIntel Free” vs alternatives | Cindy + Blair | May 22 |
Document version: Draft v1 — to be reviewed alongside the JDs and decision-rights matrix.