I’m a PM trying to turn the “someday” founder leap into a short, testable plan. I’m sketching a 6-week transition sprint where each week has clear thresholds to either commit, pivot, or kill. Rough outline: week 1 is pain validation (20 target interviews; success if >40% describe a must-fix problem with budget or workaround spend). week 2 is a smoke test (landing page + waitlist; 100 qualified visits; 10–15% signup; 3–5 calls booked). week 3 is a concierge MVP with 3 real users (2+ repeat uses; explicit willingness to pay). week 4 is pricing (fake-door or manual quotes; goal: 2 paid trials or signed LOIs totaling ~$1k MRR equivalent). week 5 is a risk audit + runway math (go/no-go criteria, 6+ months runway identified). week 6 is the transition plan (co‑founder search path, advisor intros, investor pre‑reads; commit/kill/pivot). I’m trying to keep it brutally practical and time‑boxed. For those who’ve actually done this, what concrete go/no-go thresholds and intro tactics would you use in weeks 3–5 to justify resigning?
six weeks won’t prove you’ve got a company; it’ll prove you don’t. which is useful. your threshholds are cute but soft. try this: $2k+ in real cash from strangers (not buddies) for a janky concierge version, before you even whisper “quit.” pick a tiny niche, call 50 buyers, ask for money now. if procurement stalls, that’s your answer. otherwise you’ll burn runway “learning” basics you could’ve learned while keeping your paycheck.
warm intros are a tax. use them only when you can trade value, not hope. investors won’t care about signups or “interest.” get 3 signed paid pilots with start dates and a 90‑day success metric. if you can’t do that while employed, yr sales motion is too fragile. stay put, tighten the wedge, come back with receipts. also, dont underestimate how long legal takes—your “week 4 pricing” can die in redlines land.
small tweak
pre-commit 3 customer advisory calls each week. keeps momentum + reality check. also track hours spent vs. learnings gained so you don’t gold-plate stuff. gl!
question on week 4
how do you handle pricing if it’s new category? i struggle to ask for $$ early and end up discounting too fast 
Your structure is solid, but the decision gates need teeth. I recommend defining both commit and abort criteria in advance. For example: commit if you secure two paid trials with clear start dates and a quantified success metric; abort if interviews drop below a 25% pain-with-budget signal or if acquisition requires unsustainable channels. For intros, anchor on a crisp wedge (vertical, role, and problem) so referrers know precisely whom to connect. Replace generic LOIs with dated pilot SOWs, even if scrappy. Lastly, confirm your personal runway includes a buffer for sales cycle slippage—most cycles are 2–3x longer than founders expect in the first quarter.
On weeks 3–5, insist on behavior over sentiment. “Willingness to pay” should be payment or a countersigned pilot agreement, not verbal enthusiasm. If you’re in B2B, specify the buyer persona and approval path before quoting. For consumer, define your traction baseline (e.g., 5–10% week‑over‑week retention from the concierge flow). Intros work best when you provide a one-paragraph brief, a one-liner ask, and a single-call CTA (e.g., 20‑minute validation call). Keep the sprint, but pad for legal/procurement volatility.
This looks awesome!
Your plan is clear and bold. Ship fast, learn faster. You’ve got this! Lock the thresholds now and trust your sprint. Keep us posted!
I tried a compressed sprint last year after hours. Four weeks, B2B workflow tool. Week 1 I did 18 interviews, felt great. Week 2 smoke test looked “ok” until I realized most traffic was unqualified. Week 3 concierge MVP landed two teams, but one ghosted. Week 4 I pushed for paid and only one signed a tiny pilot—just enough to keep going part‑time. Biggest lesson: payment terms and start dates beat any “interest.” Also, warm intros worked once I sent a one‑page brief with a super specific ask.
A few calibration points: typical cold outbound reply rates are 1–3%; qualified booked-call rates often 0.5–1%. For a landing page with targeted traffic, 5–10% signup is reasonable; 10–15% requires strong intent or warm sources. B2B pilots: aim for 2–3 paid trials at $300–$1,000 each with defined success metrics and start dates. Expect procurement to add 2–6 weeks. Retention from concierge flows is a better indicator than raw signups—look for 2+ repeat uses and a measurable outcome improvement within two weeks.
For go/no‑go: set a minimum of two paying pilots from distinct accounts, <$200 CAC proxy (time-cost included), and a path to 3x expansion within 90 days (e.g., seats or adjacent use cases). Financially, secure 6–9 months runway and pre-line two additional targets with verbal calendar holds. If those can’t be met inside six weeks of nights/weekends, proceed part‑time and reassess at 12 weeks.