Use cases. Four teams, four stages, one record from the first idea to a growing business
Each case follows a fictional team through the stages it needs: what it did in the panel, what the agents proposed, what a person decided and what changed as a result. The organizations, names and figures are invented.
What these cases show
FounderFold use cases are worked examples of the four stages, Discover, Validate, Build and Grow, as different kinds of teams run them. In every case the agents propose and a person decides, every claim keeps its source, and the figures recorded say whether the work goes on.
- Discover
- Validate
- Build
A founder discovers and validates an idea
Illustrative data — Fictional company, ideas and figures, shown for illustration only.
A solo founder in Valencia who wants to leave her job to build software for independent physiotherapy clinics.
She has one idea, a booking tool, and twelve weeks of savings set aside for the decision.
- opportunities found
- 14
- clinics in paid pilots
- 6
- of her 12 weeks to decide
- 7
Widen the search
She describes her thesis to the Explorer. The round returns 14 opportunities with their sources; she adds her own two ideas with “Add an idea”.
Score before falling in love
The sixteen ideas are scored on one rubric. Her booking tool comes fourth; a tool for insurer paperwork scores highest on market and channel.
Test what the evidence cannot settle
One experiment: at least 5 of 20 clinics must agree to a paid pilot within 45 days. She writes the criterion before calling anyone.
Decide and open the project
Six clinics agree. She chooses the idea, turns it into a project at its Validation stage and writes a kill criterion on retention for the MVP stage.
She decided in 7 of her 12 weeks and leaves her job with paid pilots, a reason written for each idea she dropped and a figure that will tell her when to stop.
- Validate
- Build
A venture studio compares twenty opportunities
Illustrative data — Fictional company, ideas and figures, shown for illustration only.
Studio Larkspan, a venture studio with nine people that launches two companies a year.
Each quarter the partners receive twenty opportunities and have people for two. Until now, the choice was made in one meeting.
- opportunities scored
- 20
- experiments run
- 4
- projects started
- 2
One rubric for the batch
All twenty are scored with version 2.1 of the studio’s rubric. Six fall for lack of evidence: a dimension without a source scores zero.
Discards with their reason
Sixteen are discarded, each with the reason that applied. The funnel shows that most stop on a crowded market or a consultative sale.
Experiments on the rest
Four ideas get an experiment with a numeric criterion: a waiting list, a price test and two paid pilots.
Two projects, measured
Two meet their criterion and become projects with gates and kill criteria. The other two go on hold with a review date.
The partners’ report shows why the two survived, why sixteen were discarded and why two wait on hold, with the evidence behind every score.
- Discover
- Validate
- Grow
A consultancy builds strategies for several clients
Illustrative data — Fictional company, ideas and figures, shown for illustration only.
Quillmere Advisory, a strategy consultancy with three innovation clients: a logistics group, a food manufacturer and a regional bank.
Each engagement used to start with the same research rebuilt by hand, and ended with a deck nobody followed up.
- client portfolios
- 3
- opportunities researched
- 18
- initiatives followed
- 2
A portfolio per client
Each client gets its own portfolio, rubric and reasons to discard. The bank’s rubric adds a regulatory dimension.
A first pass by the agents
For the logistics group, the Explorer returns 18 opportunities with their sources. The team keeps seven and studies them in depth.
Recommendations a partner signs
The CEO proposes discarding four with their reason. The partner in charge confirms three and puts one on hold.
The client follows its initiatives
The client’s innovation director has reader access to that portfolio only. The two chosen opportunities run as projects with milestones and a quarterly board report.
The three engagements follow one method, and each client keeps a portfolio that shows how its initiatives are doing after the final meeting.
- Grow
- Discover
- Validate
A company analyzes new lines of growth
Illustrative data — Fictional company, ideas and figures, shown for illustration only.
Ferrand Packaging, a family-owned packaging manufacturer with 140 employees.
Sales have been flat for three years, and each director has a different idea of where to grow.
- adjacent opportunities
- 11
- lines tested
- 2
- child project opened
- 1
A diagnosis by conversation
Added as a running project, the company holds a diagnosis with the CEO: 62% of revenue comes from five customers, and two of them ask for refill services.
Adjacent opportunities
The Explorer returns 11 adjacent opportunities, from reusable crates to packaging as a service, each with its sources.
Two lines tested
Leadership scores the options on one rubric and tests two with experiments: a refill service with two existing customers and a reusable-crate pilot.
A plan with figures
The refill service meets its criterion and becomes a child project with its own stages. The crate pilot does not, and is discarded with its reason.
Six months later the company has a new line with paying customers, an idea it can stop discussing and a monthly board report that shows both.
FAQ
Keep exploring
Are these real customers?
No. The organizations, people and figures are fictional, to show how the stages fit together. FounderFold does not publish customers without a real pilot and written permission.
Does every team go through the four stages?
No. Each team starts at the stage it is in: a founder usually starts in Discover, a growing company in Grow. The record carries over whichever stage comes next.
Who decides in each case?
A person: the founder, the studio’s partners, the consultancy’s partner or the company’s leadership. The agents research, score and propose, and every decision keeps who made it and why.
Tell us which of these looks most like your team.
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