Frame the problem
Write the problem the way a customer would describe it, then test whether it is a business or only a feature.
Survey altitude
Dream: find the first proof
Months 0 to 6, typically. Most new business applications never become employer businesses, and those that do take more than two quarters to reach first payroll.
Dream on the long horizon
Months 0 to 6, typically. Most new business applications never become employer businesses, and those that do take more than two quarters to reach first payroll.
In Dream, the team works through the D.R.E.A.M. Playbook (Discover, Relate, Empower, Advise, Motivate) and writes the O.R.B.I.T.A.L. Plan (Objective, Resources, Budget, Indicators, Transport, Activities, Logistics).
You leave the stage with a readiness scorecard and plan, the ownership records in order and a brand that says what the company does. WE judges the stage by what you can open and check, not by how much time has passed.
- Baseline at the diagnostic
- A later review
The six areas: Entity and ownership records, IP and compliance, Product and technology, Market and traction, Financials, Team and governance.
- Baseline The diagnostic records where each area starts, with the evidence behind it.
- Review Each review checks the same six areas against the records the company keeps.
- Close the gaps The plan targets the weakest sides first, so the shape grows evenly.
Illustration only; the shapes are not real scores.
Where Dream sits on the business clock
-
Ignite
Months 0 to 6
A Star ignites
First proof and the written plan.
D.R.E.A.M. Playbook
- Discover
- Relate
- Empower
- Advise
- Motivate
O.R.B.I.T.A.L. Plan
- Objective
- Resources
- Budget
- Indicators
- Transport
- Activities
- Logistics
Checkpoint Six-month review
What the public data shows
These figures describe all new U.S. businesses, not WE's results.
What the company keeps
-
Readiness scorecard and plan
Where each area of the company starts, and the written plan for the next phase.
-
Ownership records
The company records in order and in one place.
-
Brand
A name, a look and words that say what the company does.
What you work on in Dream
Talk to customers
Run structured interviews that look for evidence of the problem, not for polite agreement with your idea.
Size the market from the bottom up
Count the customers you can actually reach and what they pay for today. WE does not borrow top-down figures from reports.
Decide on the evidence
Choose to stop, change direction or move to Build, and write down what the choice rests on.
Where to start
Each of these is open to read today. They are the working tools of this stage.
- Playbook Validate the problem The steps of this stage, in order.
- Template One-page problem brief The problem, the customer and the current alternative on one page.
- Template Customer interview guide Questions and a note format for honest interviews.
- Insight Customer discovery interviews without false positives Why friendly interviews mislead, and how to avoid it.
Evidence that this stage is finished
WE judges a stage by what you can inspect, not by how much time has passed. Before moving on, check that these exist and that you have read them.
- A written problem brief that names the customer, the problem and what the customer does about it today.
- Interview notes from real customers, kept in one place together with the questions that were asked.
- A ranked list of the assumptions that are still untested, ordered by how much each would change the plan.
- A written decision to stop, change course or proceed to Build, with the evidence it rests on.
What this stage does not do
- Dream does not predict whether the idea will succeed. It exists to find out.
- It does not replace your own conversations with customers. WE helps you structure and review that work.
- It does not produce market-size figures from third-party reports. Sizing is built from counts you can check.
Service lines that carry this stage
-
C. Customer Relations and Market DevelopmentDiscovery, pilots and pipeline discipline.
-
E. Digital IncubationThe workspace, curriculum and coaching around the work.
The long game
Move fast every week. Build for the decade.
Dream is the fastest part of the work, and it still sits inside a long plan. Weeks decide the first proof; years decide the company.
Every week
Fast, and written down.
-
1 Plan The week’s cycle is set in writing. -
2 Build A dedicated team ships the work. -
3 Report A written status, every week. - 4 Decide You say yes or no to the next cycle.
Every year
Patient, because the odds turn slowly.
Most new businesses close in the first five years. After that, each year survived makes the next more likely. WE paces the work to that curve.
The wider ecosystem
Join the programs that fit. WE stays for the long run.
WE does not compete with the programs around you. Founder programs, coworking spaces, investor communities and public funding each do something WE does not, and most founders do best using several. Join the ones that fit. WE works alongside, for as long as the work is useful.
-
Founder programs
Structured, time-boxed programs with a peer group and a deadline.
-
Coworking spaces
A desk, a room and people who are building too.
-
Investor communities
Angel groups and investor relations events where you meet the people who fund companies.
-
University and lab programs
Research, labs and technology transfer for science-based companies.
-
Local small business support
Advisers, training and regional networks close to home.
-
Public funding
Federal research awards such as SBIR and STTR.
Independent programs that WE encourages founders to consider. No affiliation or endorsement is implied.
Find out where your company starts
Start a readiness review. WE arranges a conversation, then sends a one-page read of where the company sits on the business clock and what Dream would need.