Product Lead's Phase 1 Deliverable Checklist

Drafted: May 5, 2026
Owner: Product Lead (role)
Period: May 1 – May 31, 2026 (4 weeks)
Companion to: Phased Plan Rev 2, Friction-Points One-Pager, Counsel Architecture Review Agenda, Seth’s Phase 1 Checklist
Format: Working document. Update inline. Check items off as completed. Surface blockers in #memberintel-leads.

---

How to use this document

This is a working operational checklist for the Product Lead role — not a planning document. It captures everything Phase 1 commits the role to deliver, in roughly the order it should happen, with dates and dependencies. Update inline as items complete, change scope, or surface blockers. Bring it to the bi-weekly sync with Seth and Santiago. Bring it to the weekly status with Blair.

The structure has three layers:

• Week-by-week milestones at the top — the flow of the month.
• Deliverables grouped by category in the middle — the actual artifacts.
• The Phase 1 milestone gate at the bottom — the criteria for kicking off Phase 2 on June 1.

If something on this list isn’t going to happen by May 31, surface it to Blair by mid-May. The whole point of milestone gates is that slipping the schedule is acceptable; pulling Phase 2 into work that isn’t ready is not.

The role companion to this document is Seth’s Phase 1 checklist, which covers the architectural and engineering deliverables. The two checklists are designed to be read together — most cross-functional touchpoints involve both the Product Lead and Seth.

---

Week-by-week shape

Week 1 (May 4 – May 10)

• Friction-points conversation scheduled with Blair, Seth, Product Lead. The seven decisions need to land in week 1 or early week 2 — everything downstream operates against those decisions.
• Customer discovery interviews scheduled (target: 10–15 by end of Phase 1). Sourcing list of MP operators across niches and tiers.
• Privacy counsel introductory call held; substantive architecture review scheduled for late May (target May 22 or May 27).
• Cross-functional partner kickoff meetings scheduled with Curt, Wray, Russ, Thomas, Paul C, Ally, Danielle.
• Decision-rights matrix walked through with Blair and Seth; signed by all three.
• PRD #1 (Free → Pro upgrade flow + chat experience) drafting begins.
• Brand content lead hire decision raised with Blair (per friction-points one-pager).

Week 2 (May 11 – May 17)

• Customer discovery interviews running (target 5–7 done by end of week).
• PRD #1 (upgrade flow + chat) in late draft, ready for Blair review by end of week.
• PRD #2 (Free vs Pro entitlement matrix) drafting begins — input to Seth’s entitlement service work in Phase 2.
• Cross-functional kickoffs held with Curt, Wray, Ally, Russ, Thomas.
• Counsel architecture review pre-read package finalized (jointly with Seth).
• Open question Q1 (final naming + domain + trademark check) resolved with Blair by May 15.
• If brain content lead hire is approved: candidate sourcing begins.

Week 3 (May 18 – May 24)

• Customer discovery interviews continuing (target 10+ done by end of week; final 3–5 in week 4).
• PRD #1 approved by Blair; goes into Phase 2 ready-to-build state.
• PRD #2 in late draft; Seth provides feasibility input in parallel.
• PRD #3 (Dashboard insight-card system) drafting begins.
• Counsel architecture review pre-read package sent (5 business days before meeting).
• Open questions Q12 (free-tier opt-in flow specifics) and Q15 (brand presentation of free tier) resolved with Blair by May 22.
• Brand identity direction locked with Blair and Russ (working name → final, or commitment to working name through GA).
• Counsel architecture review held (target May 22 if scheduled there).

Week 4 (May 25 – May 31)

• Final customer discovery interviews completed; synthesis document drafted.
• PRD #2 approved by Blair.
• PRD #3 in review.
• Beta cohort selection criteria proposal drafted and reviewed with Blair.
• Counsel preliminary architectural sign-off captured (or list of concerns documented for Phase 2).
• Open question Q5 (customer support model for free users) resolved with Wray by May 31.
• Open question Q13 (Pro for 30 days launch promo for existing MP customers) decided by Blair by May 31.
• Phase 1 milestone gate reviewed jointly with Seth and Blair.
• Phase 2 product workstream plan drafted (PRD pipeline, beta outreach plan, marketing site coordination plan).
• The “things that worried me but didn’t fire an alert” check-in with Seth and Blair.

---

Deliverables by category

Customer discovery and synthesis

The SPEC §13 Phase 0 calls for 10–15 customer interviews. The output is a written synthesis document that becomes input to PRDs and to Blair’s strategic decisions.

• ☐ Sourcing list assembled — 20+ MP operators across niches (membership courses, paid newsletters, communities, coaching), tiers (small/mid/enterprise), and signals (active growth, recent churn, recent expansion)
• ☐ Interview protocol drafted — 30-minute structured interview, mix of open and targeted questions
• ☐ 10–15 interviews completed by May 31
• ☐ Synthesis document covering:
  • Validated pricing (does $29/mo land for the persona?)
  • Top pain points (what would they pay to solve?)
  • Dashboard KPI selection (what metrics actually matter to them?)
  • Brain scope validation (what playbook topics resonate?)
  • Free vs Pro feature split signal (where do they see the value boundary?)
  • Beta cohort indications (which interviewees are candidates?)
• ☐ Synthesis reviewed with Seth and Blair
• ☐ Synthesis informs PRDs and beta cohort criteria

PRD authoring

Three PRDs drafted in Phase 1, in priority order. Each is a Product-Lead-drafts / Seth-provides-feasibility / Blair-approves artifact per the decision-rights matrix.

#	PRD	Target draft date	Target Blair-approved date	Status
1	Free → Pro upgrade flow + chat experience	May 14	May 21	☐
2	Free vs Pro entitlement matrix	May 21	May 28	☐
3	Dashboard insight-card system	May 28	Early Phase 2	☐

Each PRD includes:

• ☐ Customer problem statement grounded in interview data
• ☐ Proposed solution with rationale
• ☐ Acceptance criteria (Seth uses these to scope sprint work)
• ☐ Edge cases and customer-experience guardrails
• ☐ Honesty rules per SPEC §4 explicitly addressed (no implications about non-MemberIntel customer data)
• ☐ Tier-gating decisions explicit (which features at which tier)
• ☐ Metrics and instrumentation requirements (what telemetry is needed)

Privacy and legal compliance

The long-pole workstream per the JD. SPEC §10 governs.

• ☐ Outside privacy counsel engaged by June 1 (hard deadline — slip = GA slips)
• ☐ Counsel introductory call held week 1
• ☐ Substantive architecture review scheduled (target May 22 or May 27); counsel availability confirmed by May 12
• ☐ Architecture review pre-read package finalized jointly with Seth, sent 5 business days before meeting
• ☐ Cover note for pre-read package signed jointly with Seth
• ☐ Architecture review held; agenda followed; action register captured
• ☐ Counsel preliminary sign-off (or list of concerns) documented before May 31
• ☐ ToS / Privacy Policy / DPA drafting timeline agreed with counsel (target: drafts in legal review by Phase 3, final by Phase 4)
• ☐ Subprocessor list compiled (Anthropic, Stripe, GCP, others) for DPA
• ☐ DPIA (Data Protection Impact Assessment) requirement assessed jointly with counsel — does cross-pollination architecture trigger DPIA?
• ☐ International data flows posture documented (EU, UK, California customer base)
• ☐ Customer support model for free users drafted (per Open Q5 — likely AI-first with human escalation)

Beta program scaffolding

V1 beta launches in Phase 4 with 10–20 hand-picked customers. Phase 1 lays the groundwork.

• ☐ Beta cohort selection criteria proposal drafted (per phased plan v2 §Phase 1)
• ☐ Criteria address: site type / niche mix, size mix, tier mix (Free + Pro), engagement signal, willingness to provide feedback
• ☐ Beta cohort outreach approach drafted (NDA template, expectations, weekly feedback cadence)
• ☐ Initial candidate list assembled from customer discovery interviews
• ☐ Beta application + acceptance flow scoped (mechanism — landing page, form, criteria scoring)
• ☐ Beta operations playbook outlined for Phase 4 execution

Cross-functional kickoffs

The phased plan calls for kickoff meetings in Phase 1 with multiple partners. The Product Lead organizes; cross-functional content varies.

Partner	What’s discussed	Target completion
Curt Noble (Growth)	Marketing positioning, AEO overlap with Rock 1, launch comms preview, paid acquisition timeline	Week 2
Wray Cullimore (CS)	Support model for free users, CS team enablement preview, Phase 4–5 ramp	Week 2
Russ Williams (Design)	Phase 3 design coordination preview — Meo’s role, brand visual identity, marketing design	Week 2
Thomas Levy (IPJ)	Phase 4 website build preview — Kalpesh’s role, IPJ availability, framework decision	Week 2
Paul Carter (MemberCore)	MP customer base data access agreements, MP-side endpoint development for sync (Seth leads technical content)	Week 1
Ally Roger (Payment)	Stripe billing integration approach, customer-OAuth-only V1 path, dunning sequence design	Week 2
Danielle Lea-Jones (Operations)	Senior AI Engineer cultural/operational fit interview process, brain content lead hiring (if approved)	Continuous

Each kickoff produces:

• ☐ A short written summary in #memberintel-leads of what was discussed and what’s owed by whom
• ☐ Any cross-functional dependencies added to Santiago’s tracking
• ☐ Recurring sync cadence agreed if needed (most are ad hoc; Curt and Wray likely need standing time)

Brand identity and naming

Per phased plan, brand identity locked by end of Phase 3, but key directional decisions land in Phase 1.

• ☐ Open question Q1 (final naming + domain + trademark check) resolved by May 15 with Blair
• ☐ If working name “MemberIntel” survives, domain status confirmed; trademark search initiated
• ☐ If new name proposed, decision logged with Blair; transition timeline drafted
• ☐ Open question Q15 (brand presentation of free tier — “MemberIntel Free” vs alternatives) resolved by May 22 with Blair
• ☐ Open question Q12 (free-tier opt-in flow specifics) resolved by May 22 with Blair
• ☐ Brand identity direction (logo, color, voice) outlined for Russ and Meo to execute in Phase 3

Friction-points decisions

The seven decisions from the friction-points one-pager need to land before Phase 2 begins. The Product Lead drives the conversation; Blair, Seth, and the Product Lead jointly decide.

• ☐ Friction-points meeting scheduled (target: week 1 of Phase 1)
• ☐ Meeting held; seven decisions resolved or explicitly deferred
• ☐ Decisions captured in writing as Rev 2 of the phased plan (or addendum)
• ☐ Specifically:
  • ☐ Brain content lead hire — Blair’s call (budget); recommendation in writing
  • ☐ Phase 2 milestone language calibrated (joint)
  • ☐ Differentiation eval as Phase 3 milestone + monthly review (Blair)
  • ☐ Substantive counsel architecture review in late May (already in counsel section above)
  • ☐ Infrastructure-leaning hire on V1.5 roadmap (Blair budget signal)
  • ☐ Model abstraction layer in Phase 1 (Seth)
  • ☐ Per-customer brain versioning in Phase 1 schema (Seth)

Open questions resolution

Multiple SPEC open questions land in Phase 1. The Product Lead drives or co-drives most.

#	Question	Co-decider	Target date	Status
Q1	Final naming + domain + trademark	Blair	May 15	☐
Q5	Customer support model for free users	Wray	May 31	☐
Q12	Free-tier opt-in flow specifics	Blair	May 22	☐
Q13	”Pro for 30 days” launch promo for existing MP customers?	Blair	May 31	☐
Q15	Brand presentation of free tier	Blair	May 22	☐

The other Phase 1 open questions (Q4 Stripe Connect vs OAuth, Q7 MP API surface, Q8 hosting, Q9 vector store) are Seth-led; the Product Lead is informed but doesn’t decide.

Marketing site planning (preview for Phase 3)

memberintel.com builds in Phase 4 with Kalpesh, but planning starts in Phase 1.

• ☐ Site information architecture sketched (homepage, pricing, features, FAQs, blog, in-app entry from MP admin)
• ☐ Pricing page comparison table outlined (Free vs Pro per SPEC §5.1)
• ☐ Honest copy guardrails per SPEC §4 documented for whoever drafts copy
• ☐ Coordination with Curt’s Growth team on positioning and AEO overlap with Rock 1
• ☐ Maurice framework vs standalone build decision noted for Phase 4 (Rocco’s input needed; Product Lead decides)

Documentation hygiene

What lands in the repo by end of Phase 1 from the product workstream:

• ☐ Three PRDs in docs/prds/ with status (drafted, in review, approved)
• ☐ Customer discovery synthesis document in docs/research/
• ☐ Beta cohort criteria proposal in docs/beta/
• ☐ Decision-rights matrix signed and committed to docs/governance/
• ☐ Open questions resolution log in docs/governance/open-questions-log.md (links to relevant decision documents)
• ☐ This Phase 1 checklist updated through the month and committed as a permanent record

---

Cross-functional touchpoints (Product Lead-driven)

In addition to the kickoffs in week 2, there are recurring touchpoints throughout Phase 1.

Partner	Cadence	Purpose
Seth	Bi-weekly sync (with Santiago) + ad hoc	Architecture-product alignment, PRD feasibility input, blocker resolution
Santiago	Bi-weekly sync (with Seth) + ad hoc	Sprint planning preview, dependency tracking, milestone gating
Blair	Weekly status (written) + ad hoc decision conversations	Strategic direction, PRD approvals, friction-points decisions
Outside privacy counsel	Weekly check-in until Phase 4	Compliance workstream progress, ToS drafting, architecture review follow-ups
Curt Noble	Standing weekly slot from Phase 3; ad hoc in Phase 1	Marketing positioning, AEO overlap, launch comms
Wray Cullimore	Standing weekly slot from Phase 3; ad hoc in Phase 1	Support model, CS enablement, free-tier support strategy
Danielle Lea-Jones	Ad hoc	Senior AI Engineer hire coordination, brain content lead hire (if approved)

---

Recurring activities through Phase 1

• Weekly status to Blair (5–10 bullets, written, Friday afternoon) — what shipped, what’s blocked, decisions needed
• Bi-weekly Seth + Santiago sync (30 minutes, Tuesday recurring slot)
• Daily check on #memberintel-leads for blockers from Seth or cross-functional partners
• Weekly check-in with privacy counsel once engaged (briefer; mostly status and surfaced concerns)

---

Phase 1 milestone gate criteria (Product Lead’s items)

By May 31, all of the following must be true to kick off Phase 2 on June 1. If any are false, slip the schedule rather than start Phase 2 with bad foundations.

• ☐ At least 2 PRDs drafted and approved by Blair (PRD #1 must be approved; PRD #2 should be; PRD #3 acceptable to slip into early Phase 2)
• ☐ 10+ customer discovery interviews completed; synthesis document drafted
• ☐ Privacy counsel engaged by June 1
• ☐ Substantive counsel architecture review held; preliminary sign-off captured
• ☐ Beta cohort selection criteria proposal drafted and reviewed with Blair
• ☐ Decision-rights matrix signed by Blair, Seth, Product Lead
• ☐ Cross-functional kickoffs completed with Curt, Wray, Russ, Thomas, Paul C, Ally, Danielle
• ☐ Friction-points conversation held; seven decisions landed (or with explicit deferrals captured)
• ☐ Open questions Q1, Q12, Q15 resolved with Blair; Q5 resolved with Wray; Q13 decided by Blair
• ☐ Brain content lead hire decision made (per friction-points one-pager); if approved, candidate identified
• ☐ Phase 2 product workstream plan drafted (PRD pipeline, beta outreach plan, marketing site coordination plan)

If any are false: surface to Blair by Wednesday, May 27. Joint decision by Friday, May 29 on whether to slip Phase 2 start by 1–2 weeks.

---

Things that should worry me but might not fire an alert

A space for the Product Lead to log concerns through Phase 1 that don’t have a structured surface yet. Update inline. Bring to the bi-weekly sync with Seth and Santiago and the weekly with Blair.

Examples of what belongs here:

• Customer interview signal that contradicts a SPEC assumption

• A cross-functional partner who’s quietly under-committing

• A tonal mismatch between the architecture and the product framing that hasn’t crystallized into a decision yet

• Anything that would be embarrassing to discover at GA but hasn’t triggered a formal review

• (Add as the month unfolds)

---

Document version

Living document — updated inline through May. Final version (with all checkboxes resolved) committed to docs/governance/phase-1-completion.md as a permanent record. The Phase 2 equivalent of this document is drafted in week 4 of Phase 1.