The first week of an engagement is expensive when the brief is a vibe. We ask every founder for a one-pager. It does not need to be pretty. It needs to be decidable.
Write these six things
- Who it is for — a person, not “the market.” Role, context, the job they are trying to finish.
- What you want them to do — book, buy, install, trust, share. One primary action.
- The constraint — date, budget band, platform, compliance, the thing you refuse to reopen.
- What already exists — repo, site, brand, contractor history, analytics. Links beat adjectives.
- The decision you are trying to make — ship v1, replace a vendor, raise, hire, stop a leak.
- How we will know it worked — a number or a visible behavior in 30 and 90 days.
What to leave out
Competitor moodboards as a substitute for the user. A list of twenty features. “Make it viral.” We will ask about taste and references; those are not the brief.
A paragraph is plenty — what you’re building, who it’s for, when you need it.
Paste that one-pager into the project form. If you want the longer version of how we run the work, read the four movements.
Continue in the practice: related service.