Founder Leadership Application Specification Version 8.0

Date: 2026-10-22

Founder Leadership combines a public editorial website, five stage Roadmaps, a ten-question Founder's Map, one shared Athena conversation system, a Card Library, private member tools, digital-book commerce and administrator production tools.

This specification summarizes the application. Dedicated specifications govern feature details. Current implementation and the latest availability notes take precedence over older release descriptions.

Status definitions: Built means implementation exists. Published means publication is recorded in the project documentation, not independently rechecked for this document. Preview-only means implementation has not received publication approval. Untested identifies a verification gap, not missing code.

The application serves founder CEOs through stage recognition, operating guidance, books, Athena conversations, private reflection and advisory services.

The public Map, high-level stage guidance and Founder Leadership Conversation are free. The Journal has no paid tier. Map Pro is no longer offered; existing access records still gate its legacy guide.

The configured cumulative book ladder is:

Unfinished audio/video options and bundles containing them are disabled. Configuration does not establish release availability.

Full-library lifetime access covers revisions and editions of the current seven-title canon, not additional future titles. No physical books are shipped.

The post-purchase Strategy Intensive is $500 once. Coaching and mentoring terms are $6,000 for three months, $10,000 for six months and $15,000 for twelve months. Consulting begins at $5,000 monthly and is scoped per engagement. Early Scale and Mature Scale are consulting pathways rather than additional coaching paths.

LinkedIn is the primary organic acquisition channel; YouTube is the primary long-form consumption channel. The documented advisory target is approximately one to two new qualified clients monthly.

`src/lib/books.ts` supplies canonical book identity, ordering, lenses, discovery data and routes. Approved page manuscripts and SEO fields also use `BOOK_PAGES` in `src/lib/system/content.ts`.

Roadmap v2.1 governs developmental location. Stage Playbooks v2.0 govern operating work. Recognition Messaging Calibration v1.0 governs expression. The Founder's Experience governs Passage and Beacon interpretation. Website copy and feature documentation are downstream records.

Stage canon remains server-only except for explicitly approved public excerpts.

3.1 Founder's Map

The Map provides five-game terrain, ten behavioral questions, guarded scoring, an ungated result, optional saving and Athena continuation. Assessment version `fl_map_v1_2` preserves scoring while reflecting revised wording. Earlier results render against frozen canon.

Selected stage and assessed stage remain separate. Administrators can read saved Map results and associated Map conversations, with disclosure before saving. The phone interface uses a vertical ascent, focused questions, station sheets and result accordions.

See [Map specification](/map-spec), [Map copy](/map-copy) and [user guide](/guide).

3.2 Athena

Athena is one governed agent across public book lenses, page-aware entry points, the Map and Founder's Experience. Public conversations continue across routes and can persist to an account. Admin GTM uses separate history and server-only knowledge.

Turns use the latest 24 messages, a rolling summary and bounded founder-authorized context. Summaries refresh after 30 unsummarized messages. Transcript persistence supports up to 2,000 messages. Memories require a founder action before saving. Journal content is excluded.

Voice uses a Deepgram relay and ElevenLabs proxy. Provider credentials remain server-side. Usage protection identifies members or hashed visitor characteristics and fails open if its database check is unavailable. Physical-device verification remains separate from implementation.

See [Athena specification](/athena-spec) and [Athena methodology](/athena-methodology).

3.3 Cards

The registry contains 75 Cards, 15 per Game, across six families. Canon resolves server-side. Cards support fronts, family-specific backs, expanded details, related Cards, Listen and prefilled Athena prompts that never auto-send.

My Deck uses owner-scoped saves and deck states. DNA location trails distinguish operating objects from interpretive Passage and Beacon content. Seventy-four Cards have approved individual scenes; `FLC-0036` uses its Game photograph.

See [Card specification](/card-spec) and [Card methodology](/card-methodology).

3.4 Roadmaps, Playbooks and accelerators

All 70 Problems are canonical. Public availability requires an approved full Playbook. Currently, only Leadership Meetings Wait for the Founder has that public treatment.

The Accountability-Authority Audit is a free Growth accelerator with 17 structured questions, pattern interpretation, one management move, an evidence test, Athena handoff and optional account saving. It provides no numerical score.

Five detailed Field Guides require a free account. They offer Save to my account and Download for AI Markdown from their typed page content. PDF delivery is retired.

See [Playbooks specification](/playbooks-spec) and [Playbook methodology](/playbook-methodology).

3.5 Founder DNA

DNA is a typed index of stable IDs, approved relationships and source anchors. It is not a second manuscript, graph database, LMS or scoring system.

The registry separates Stage, Game and Mastery Target and includes 70 Problems, 25 Milestones, five Gates, 34 Roadmap Accelerators and two approved Playbook-only Start-Up tools. Every Problem has an approved primary Milestone relationship.

Published functionality includes Roadmap identity, Card trails, Athena's bounded navigation context and member watched objects. There is no inferred completion, badge system or automated diagnosis.

Phase 6 remains preview-only. It adds location navigation to the existing Growth Playbook and six bounded-ID events without creating pages for registry-only Problems.

See [DNA specification](/dna-spec).

3.6 Member system, Journal and Founder's Experience

The member dashboard combines assessed and selected stages, current work, experience records, Athena, saved work and up to three explained recommendations. Explicit current work outranks stage-based suggestions; saved items are skipped.

Current Work supports canonical Problems and founder-authored goals, priority, one primary focus, notes, review dates, completion outcomes and archive history.

Founder's Experience presents 100 Experiences, 25 Beacons, ten Passages, five Arenas, five Octaves, nine Polarities and six Experience Types. Members can mark Arenas, Passages and Beacons with relation, notes, dates and optional current-work links.

The Journal supports private entries, drafts, autosave, archive, search, export, finalization, recording and transcription. It has no administrator reading interface, public sharing or AI reflection.

Account settings include descriptive profile fields, verified email changes, current-password checks, recovery handling, channel-specific consent and account deletion. Deletion retains commerce records with the user association cleared as documented by the account flow.

See [user guide](/guide) and [security specification](/security-spec).

3.7 Commerce and customer Library

Checkout computes amounts server-side and re-verifies Stripe PaymentIntents before recording orders. Browser completion and the webhook share order recording. PaymentIntent uniqueness prevents duplicate orders; receipts use an order-specific idempotency key.

After purchase, account creation or sign-in uses the purchase email. Claiming orders attaches matching-email purchases and creates entitlements. Entitlements, not browser state, govern purchased access.

All seven digital readers use the controlled Read flow. The seventh reader's signed-in end-to-end test is not recorded. Strategy Intensive members receive intake, booking progress and published deliverables.

See [commerce specification](/commerce-spec) and [Library specification](/library-spec).

3.8 Studios and page intro videos

Administrator-only tools provide image generation, narration, script drafting and scene-based video production. Private buckets store generated media. A shared brand configuration governs visual and voice settings.

Video export runs in the browser through WebCodecs and Mediabunny at 1920 × 1080, 30 fps, H.264 and AAC. Motion generation is explicit per scene.

The page-intro workflow reads a selected page or URL, drafts slides and narration, generates images and opens the editor. Explicit publication creates a `page_videos` record. Public playback appears only for published entries.

See [Video Studio specification](/video-studio-spec) and [image methodology](/image-methodology).

3.9 Editorial Library, coaching and contact

The public Library contains seven essays, existing papers, masterclasses and excerpts. It is separate from the purchased member Library. Founder Scaling Dynamics is an ungated white paper with references and an original-document download.

Coaching pages use approved typed copy and direct visitors through a context questionnaire to Calendly scheduling. The questionnaire is not an application and contains no budget qualification. Contact forms support direct private notes and waitlist capture.

See [Library specification](/library-spec), [master copy](/copy) and [administrator guide](/admin-guide).

3.10 Security, analytics and operations

Database access combines explicit grants, RLS and server authorization. Administrative authority comes from `user_roles` and `has_role`, never a descriptive profile title.

Analytics record page views, bounded product events and Athena engagement counts. DNA navigation metadata is IDs-only; older event and traffic payloads have broader fields.

See [security specification](/security-spec), [analytics specification](/analytics-spec) and [administrator guide](/admin-guide).

The public design uses Founder Navy, Deep Charcoal, Burnished Gold and Warm White, with Cormorant Garamond display text and Inter body text. Journal surfaces use a distinct parchment-and-ink treatment.

Responsive requirements include safe areas, readable phone inputs, stable image ratios, wrapped navigation trails and no horizontal overflow. Book artwork retains its original proportions.

Copy leads with operating recognition and follows the project copy checker. Canonical names, prices and approved source wording remain governed by their source registries.

Public editorial routes use route-specific metadata and canonical links. Member and administrator surfaces are noindex. Reference visibility varies by route. Detailed Field Guides remain outside the public sitemap.

Dynamic route parameters are shown with `$`. Access restrictions apply in addition to route existence.

Public editorial and product routes

`/`, `/about`, `/approach`, `/books`, `/books/$slug`, `/founders-experience`, `/library`, `/library/$slug`, `/founder-scaling-dynamics`, `/the-trap`, `/six-shifts`, `/missing-curriculum`, `/five-games-of-business`, `/when-good-advice-is-bad-advice`, `/games`, `/games/$stage`, `/games/$stage/problems/$problem`, `/tools/accountability-authority-audit`, `/playbooks`, `/map`, `/map-guide`, `/journal`, `/cards`, `/cards/$slug`, `/cards/guide`, `/coaching`, `/coaching/$path`, `/mentorship`, `/conversation`, `/schedule`, `/contact`, `/pricing`, `/athena`, `/athena/$surface`, `/guide`, `/auth`, `/reset-password`, `/traffic`.

`/mentorship` redirects to `/coaching`. `/conversation` is noindex.

The five active stage destinations are `/games/startup`, `/games/stable`, `/games/growth`, `/games/early-scale` and `/games/mature-scale`.

The reviewed public Problem route is `/games/growth/problems/leadership-meetings-wait-for-the-founder`.

Reference routes

`/spec`, `/copy`, `/map-spec`, `/map-copy`, `/athena-spec`, `/athena-methodology`, `/card-spec`, `/card-methodology`, `/playbooks-spec`, `/playbook-methodology`, `/video-studio-spec`, `/dna-spec`, `/commerce-spec`, `/library-spec`, `/security-spec`, `/analytics-spec`, `/admin-guide`, `/image-methodology`, `/topo`.

Checkout routes

`/checkout/$book`, `/checkout/offer`, `/checkout/thank-you`.

The offer and thank-you routes are noindex. Offer eligibility depends on a confirmed purchase.

Member routes

`/app`, `/app/account`, `/app/athena`, `/app/current-work`, `/app/deck`, `/app/experience`, `/app/journal`, `/app/journal/entry/$id`, `/app/journal/archive`, `/app/library`, `/app/reader/$book`, `/app/map`, `/app/saved`, `/app/strategy-intensive`, `/map-pro-guide`, `/playbook-startup`, `/playbook-stable`, `/playbook-growth`, `/playbook-early-scale`, `/playbook-mature-scale`.

The Pro guide additionally requires legacy Pro access.

Administrator and review routes

`/admin`, `/admin-analytics`, `/admin-commerce`, `/admin-conversations`, `/admin-founder-maps`, `/admin-workshops`, `/athena-gtm`, `/image-studio`, `/image-studio/video`, `/voice-studio`, `/script-studio`, `/video-studio`, `/video-studio/$projectId`, `/video-studio/new-from-page`.

`/gallery` is an ungated, noindex staff reference, not an administrator authorization boundary. `/cards/symbols` and `/cards/prototypes` are hidden noindex review destinations.

Server endpoints

• Athena: `/api/athena/chat`, `/api/athena/relay`, `/api/athena/speak`, `/api/athena/token`.
• Image Studio: `/api/image-studio/generate`, `/api/image-studio/assets`.
• Studio: `/api/studio/read-page`, `/api/studio/page-script`, `/api/studio/page-slides`, `/api/studio/shotlist`, `/api/studio/headlines`, `/api/studio/image`, `/api/studio/slide-image`, `/api/studio/tts`, `/api/studio/animate`.
• Published video: `/api/page-video`.
• Public utilities: `/api/public/founder-leadership-specification`, `/api/public/founder-leadership-site-copy`, `/api/public/desktop-link`, `/api/public/playbook-kf/$stage`.
• Payments: `/api/public/stripe-webhook`.
• MCP: `/mcp`, with protected-resource metadata configured at `/.well-known/oauth-protected-resource`.

Server functions also provide account, member, commerce and traffic operations without additional authored page routes.

Both `supabase/migrations` and `drizzle/migrations` contribute to the current schema. All tables below enable RLS. Exact permissions and exceptions are documented in [Security](/security-spec).

Storage buckets are `journal-audio`, `field-guides`, `image-studio` and `video-studio`.

Important database functions include `has_role`, `admin_site_analytics`, `admin_comm_optins`, `public_traffic_stats`, `public_traffic_stats_averages`, `entitled_content_destination`, `content_release_status`, `guard_intensive_owner_update`, `voice_usage_take` and timestamp triggers.

Server-only credentials support Supabase administration, Stripe, ElevenLabs, Deepgram, Replicate and the AI gateway.

• Verify Stripe webhook configuration and a complete paid purchase/refund flow.
• Verify iPhone microphone, interruption and playback on a physical device.
• Test an external MCP connection.
• Approve publication of DNA Phase 6.
• Complete a page-intro generation-to-publication run.
• Verify the seventh digital reader through a signed-in entitled account.
• Keep unreleased audio/video packages disabled.
• Resolve leaked-password protection and retired Field Guide storage warnings.
• Full manuscript/chapter retrieval, semantic memory beyond confirmed records, broader personalized Experience software, Journal sharing/reflection and automated follow-up remain outside the completed feature set.
• Fix event allowlist discrepancies documented in Analytics before treating every emitted event as recorded.