Task 17 — Find The Shape Of The Business

The Altitude × Motion Matrix

Pick The Slot Before The Idea

Three altitudes by four motions. Twelve real shapes the company can take. One row, one column, one cell. The Task 19 long list lives inside that box.

Motion 01 Product-Led $0–15K · Minutes To Value

Motion 02 Sales-Led $20K–1M+ · Weeks To Close

Motion 03 Community-Led Variable · 12–24 Mo J-Curve

Motion 04 Content-Led $50–50K · 6–18 Mo Compound

Improve & Extend

Same category, done meaningfully better. Solo + bootstrap default.

Calendly Scheduling · 30-sec TTV

Shopify Plus Mid-Market Commerce

Duolingo Streak + Social Loop

Ahrefs SEO Tools For SEOs

Adapt & Transplant

Working pattern from market A applied to underserved market B.

Stripe Dev-Tools → Payments

Salesforce Cloud → Enterprise CRM

Webflow 85K+ Ambassadors

HubSpot Inbound → 205K Customers

Invent The Category

Build something that is not a category yet. Needs capital + edge.

Notion Workspace With No Name

Anthropic Frontier Model Lab

Figma Multiplayer Design Tribe

Netflix DVD → Streaming Category

The Shape Test

Five Questions Before You Commit

If a slot fails one — drop a row, pick a different column, or close the gap (advisor, audience, capital).

Earned? First-hand insight the research report can't replicate.

Reaches? Twenty real buyers on the phone in a week, by name.

Repeats? Archetype already buys this way; check the alternatives.

Caps? ACV clears the motion's floor — $20K for sales-led.

Compounds? Viral loop, content moat, or community network effect.