Playbooks

Founder playbooks

Step-by-step playbooks for building a SaaS company, in the order the work usually comes. Each one gives the steps, what good looks like, a decision aid, the mistakes that cost founders the most time and the evidence to check before you move on.

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Each playbook is one mission in the sequence. The pips on a patch count its place in the order.

The playbooks follow the order in which a SaaS company is usually built: validate the problem, design the product, set up the company, build and ship version one, hire the first team member, price the product, earn the first customers, run a first outbound sequence, build growth that repeats, and prepare for investor conversations. They sit across three stages: Dream, Build and Grow.

Each playbook is a short sequence of steps. Every step names the thing you should have in hand when it is done, so you can tell the difference between finishing a step and merely talking about it. Each playbook also says what good looks like, offers a decision aid, lists the mistakes that cost founders the most time, gives an evidence check to run before you move on and ends with the sources it relied on.

You do not need to read them in order, but the later ones assume the earlier work exists. If you cannot yet write down who has the problem and what they do about it today, start with the first playbook, not the last.

The playbooks are general working guides. They are not a promise about how any company will perform, and they do not replace advice from your own lawyer, accountant or other qualified adviser. The playbooks on company setup, hiring and investors say only what to ask your own counsel. WE makes no promise of funding.

Each worked example is invented and labeled as an illustrative example, not a real company.

The playbooks, in order

1 of 10, Dream

Validate the problem

Test whether a real, painful problem exists before you write code: a problem brief, honest interviews and a written decision.

6 steps
2 of 10, Build

Design the product

Turn a validated problem into a version-one design: the shortest path to value, a written cut line and the decisions you will defer.

6 steps
3 of 10, Build

Set up the company

Settle who owns what, bring the right questions to your own counsel and accountant, and keep signed records in one place before others write code for you.

6 steps
4 of 10, Build

Build and ship v1

Build the first release in short cycles, keep a release checklist, review against the cut line and put it in front of a small group.

6 steps
5 of 10, Build

Hire your first team member

Define the outcome the role owns, settle the working relationship with your own counsel, interview with the same questions and prepare the first week.

6 steps
6 of 10, Grow

Price your first SaaS product

Tie price to the value a customer gets, choose a simple pricing model, test it in real conversations and record every reaction before you publish a page.

6 steps
7 of 10, Grow

Earn your first customers

Win your first customers with personal outreach, a scoped pilot, fast onboarding and a conversation log that records why people said yes or no.

6 steps
8 of 10, Grow

Run a first outbound sequence

Write to a short list of named prospects with one specific reason, follow the sending rules your counsel confirms and learn from every reply in one log.

6 steps
9 of 10, Grow

Build repeatable growth

Define your metrics in writing, run one channel long enough to learn, fix leaks before adding traffic and turn the results into a monthly review.

6 steps
10 of 10, Grow

Prepare for investor talks

Decide whether outside funding fits, order your evidence, know your numbers and bring the right questions to your counsel before you speak with any investor.

6 steps

In this section

The playbooks, in one orbit

Each playbook is a world around the company at the center: the problem, the product, the first customers, the records. They are read in order, and a company returns to each one as it grows.

Select a world to open its playbook.

A sun of blue hexagonal tiles with 10 smaller worlds in orbit around it, one for each playbook, the first haloed in amber.

Dream, Build, Grow

The playbooks follow the same three stages as the work itself, and each stage leaves the company holding something it keeps.

Dream Survey
1. Diagnostic and roadmap Keeps: A baseline readiness scorecard and an agreed plan
2. Corporate and ownership records in order Keeps: A reconciled ownership ledger and instrument register
3. Brand and positioning Keeps: Messaging, identity and web presence Line A
Build Blueprint
1. Platform baseline and security posture Keeps: A security baseline and a first release Line B
2. Customer evidence Keeps: An evidence index traced to sources Line C
3. Financial model Keeps: Scenarios and assumptions Line D
Grow Territory
1. Operating rhythm Keeps: Metrics, reviews and a working cadence
2. Records and materials complete Keeps: An organized data room and presentation materials Line F

Illustration only; each engagement sets its own milestones.

The clock the playbooks are paced against

First payroll comes more than two quarters after applying, a business counts as established after forty-two months of wages, and about a third are still operating at year ten.

7.5% ¹

of 2021 U.S. business applications became employer businesses within two years

2.29 quarters ¹

on average from application to first payroll, for 2021 applicants that hired

42 months ²

of paying wages before a business is counted as established

All new U.S. businesses still operating, year by year

Show the figures as a table

All new U.S. businesses still operating, year by year
Years since opening	All private industries
0	100%
1	79.6%
2	69.1%
3	61.4%
4	55.4%
5	50.2%
6	46.4%
7	43.6%
8	40.3%
9	37.4%
10	34.7%

Establishments with at least one employee, opened in the year to March 2015. A closure is not always a failure: it includes sales and mergers.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics, Table 7 , March 2025 release

Why venture-backed startups shut down

Show the figures as a table

Why venture-backed startups shut down
Group	Share citing the reason
Ran out of capital	70%
Poor product-market fit	43%
Bad timing or market conditions	29%
Unsustainable unit economics	19%

Venture-backed startups that shut down since 2023 with identifiable reasons; a company can give several, so the shares add up to more than 100%.

Source: CB Insights, The top reasons startups fail , published March 5, 2026

These figures describe the wider market, not WE's results.

Month 7 First payroll, on average ¹ More than two quarters after applying
Year 1 77.9% still operating ²
Year 2 7.5% have hired ¹ Share of 2021 applications that were employers within two years
Year 3 56.3% still operating ²
Year 3.5 Established ³ Forty-two months of paying wages
Year 5 51.4% still operating ²
Year 10 34.7% still operating ²

These figures describe all new U.S. businesses, not WE's results.

One flight, three stages

A small amber capsule climbs from a hexagonal launch pad labeled Dream, through a hexagonal gate labeled Build, toward a world of hexagonal tiles labeled Grow, leaving a dotted trail. — Dream validates the problem, Build ships the product, Grow earns customers. The playbooks are the checklists for each leg.

Work through them with a team behind you

WE steers a dedicated team that builds the company with its founder, for as long as the work is useful. A readiness review is where that starts.

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