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Market Traction Signals

This document defines traction signals for pre/early-MVP and how we instrument them. Objective: Prioritize evidence that matters to developers, partners, and investors.

Key Insights

  • Traction quality > vanity: integrations, budget enforcement events, and consent receipt exports beat raw signups.
  • Design partners (3–5 indie apps) with real usage and clear governance needs are the best early signal.
  • Dual-track YC + angels/VCs is viable if we show learning velocity and usage proof.

Sources

  • archive/AI_Wallet_Topical_Threads/YC-VCMarket-ExposureRisks-05Nov25-ChatGPTPlus.pdf
  • docs/04-marketing-growth/launch-plan.md
  • docs/07-fundraising/investor-outreach.md

Decisions/Implications

  • Instrument leading indicators: #integrations, budgets enforced, receipt exports, WAU, partner pipeline velocity.
  • Publish a weekly traction snapshot in Command Center; keep claims tied to verifiable events.
  • Use design-partner outcomes directly in investor updates; avoid overfitting to application deadlines.

Next Actions

  • Add dashboards for the above indicators; wire to weekly review.
  • Define success thresholds per indicator (e.g., first 50 active users, 10+ budget locks, 3 receipt export audits).
  • Gather consent from partners to share anonymized case studies.

Suggested Sections

  • Leading vs lagging indicators
  • Evidence types and logging
  • Dashboard and cadence
  • Case-study pipeline
  • Risks and mitigations
  • Open questions