review · stage 1 · alignment date 2026-06-29 · visual tier

Draft Stonk Positioning Framework Selection

This page proposes the positioning framework queue after the confirmed stage-zero interrogation. It is scope evidence only: no positioning framework research, working packet, run manifest, or canonical positioning deliverable has been written.

Resolved Loop State

Scope

Flat `research/` mode. No active product-path manifest or non-archived `research/{slug}/` directory is present.

Prerequisites

`research/icp.md`, `research/competitive-analysis.md`, and `research/journey-map.md` exist. The hard prerequisites are satisfied; the strong default journey-map prerequisite is also satisfied.

Current State

`research/_working/interrogation-positioning-handoff.md` exists. `research/_working/positioning-run.yaml` and `research/positioning.md` are absent, so this run is State E: framework selection.

Boundary

No GitHub Actions workflows are part of this work. The page does not write canonical positioning outputs or framework intermediates.

Interrogation Handoff

Interview Area	Confirmed Coverage
Target segment	U.S. finance-curious social retail players; friend groups, fantasy-sports-adjacent players, and college finance clubs as wedges.
Competitive alternatives	Group chat, spreadsheet, Robinhood or brokerage/watchlists, fantasy sports, stock-picking games, and doing nothing.
Value wedge	Fast social stock draft that makes market instincts visible and comparable without real-money trading, cash entry, prize pools, brokerage execution, or investment advice.
Category frame	Social fantasy stock draft / fantasy football for stocks; simulated, entertainment-first, no platform trade execution, no cash stake, no winner-take-all prize pool.
Customer language	Translate trade and making-money pull into market-instinct language: draft stocks with friends, compare picks, test theses, and see whose calls perform.
Boundary	No user-money stake, no cash prizes, no pooled entry fees, no pick-specific purchase instructions, no brokerage API before post-PMF legal review, no investment-advice positioning.

Mode Detection

Detected mode: market-positioning mode.

Detection Signal	Observed Scope Evidence	Mode Impact
No post-launch customer feedback file	No `research/customer-feedback.md` exists in the active flat research scope.	Supports market-positioning mode.
No live production product detected	`README.md` and `CLAUDE.md` say the repository is a fresh-start reset with no active app scaffold, package manifest, dev server, test command, or build command.	Supports market-positioning mode.
No product-positioning shortcut requested	The continuation command is `$positioning`, not `$positioning product`, `post-launch`, or `obviously-awesome`.	Use market-mode framework selection.
Interrogation confirmed mode	Round 4 sidecar records `mode: market-positioning` with no unanswered required questions.	Confirms the selected mode.

Required Gate: Mode Confirmation

Approve market-positioning mode for this framework queue.

Other / None of the above.

Need clarification.

Available Evidence

Source Category	Status	Use Before Approval
`research/icp.md`	Present	Scope evidence for ICP, alternatives, triggers, value drivers, and customer language hypotheses.
`research/competitive-analysis.md`	Present	Scope evidence for substitutes, simulator contrasts, fantasy-sports expectations, and trust/compliance posture.
`research/journey-map.md`	Present	Scope evidence for trigger, evaluation, aha moment, trust risks, and retention/payoff loops.
`research/_working/interrogation-positioning-handoff.md`	Present	Approved stage-zero coverage for positioning scope and boundaries.
`research/customer-feedback.md`, analytics, interviews	Absent	Limits confidence; supports hypothesized market positioning rather than product-positioning mode.

Required Gate: Source Sufficiency For Framework Selection

Evidence is sufficient to select the positioning framework queue.

Other / None of the above.

Need clarification.

Framework Selection

Select the frameworks to queue. Market-positioning defaults are pre-checked. Category design is available but not preselected because the current evidence is stronger for job/value framing, competitive curve, and Moore-style hypothesis validation than for naming a new category.

JTBD Positioning default
Identifies the primary job, functional/social/emotional dimensions, and job outcome around making market instincts visible and comparable.

Strategic Canvas default
Compares Draft Stonk against group chats, spreadsheets, simulators, watchlists, fantasy sports, and doing nothing across competing factors.

Moore Positioning default
Turns the segment, alternative, differentiator, and reason-to-believe into a concise market-positioning hypothesis.

Category Design optional
Useful if the product needs a stronger category POV than "social fantasy stock draft." Optional now because the current scope can advance without forcing a new category narrative.

Required Gate: Framework Queue

Approve the selected framework checkboxes above.

Other / None of the above.

Need clarification.

Loop Plan

This page waits for final compiled YAML approval of the selected framework set.
The next `$positioning` run consumes that YAML, writes `research/_working/positioning-run.yaml`, and runs the first pending selected framework inline.
Each selected framework gets its own findings review page and requires its own compiled YAML before the canonical intermediate is written.
After all selected intermediates exist, `$positioning --synthesize` builds the unified synthesis review page.

research/_working/positioning-run.yaml
research/positioning-jtbd-positioning.md
research/positioning-strategic-canvas.md
research/positioning-moore-positioning.md
research/positioning.md

Assumptions & Confidence

Assumption	Confidence	What Would Change It
Flat `research/` mode is correct.	High	A hidden active product-path manifest or explicit user correction.
Market-positioning mode is correct.	High	Real customer feedback, live users, or a product-positioning shortcut request.
The default three-framework set is sufficient.	Medium	User preference for category creation now, or evidence that category naming is the main uncertainty.
Brokerage, real-money, prize, and advice boundaries should stay out of the framework scope.	High	Qualified legal review and a deliberate post-PMF product-boundary change.
No framework research should run before approval.	High	Final compiled YAML with `approval_status: ready-for-agent-review`.

Artifact Destination & Proposed File Changes

Path	Timing	Mutation
`alignment/positioning-draft-stonk.html`	Now	Stage 1 framework-selection review page.
`alignment/index.html`	Now	Central index entry for the active positioning review page.
`research/_working/interrogation-positioning-r4.yaml`	Now	Consumed round-4 sidecar from the compiled coverage-checkpoint YAML.
`research/_working/interrogation-positioning-handoff.md`	Now	Stage-zero completion handoff that lets the parent enter State E.
`research/_working/positioning-run.yaml`	After final compiled YAML only	Selected framework manifest. Not written by this page-building run.
`research/positioning-*.md`	Future framework approvals only	Canonical framework intermediates. Not written by this page-building run.
`research/positioning.md`	Future synthesis approval only	Unified positioning artifact. Not written by this page-building run.

Required Gate: File Changes

Approve writing only the selected framework run manifest after final YAML, then one framework review page per future run.

Other / None of the above.

Need clarification.

Compile Responses

Compile partial feedback or final approval YAML. The YAML routes back to `$positioning`; do not run a child framework command directly.

Required questions remaining: 4