Q3 2026 deployment plan, FAST + CTV Diagnostic v2
Period covered: July 1, 2026 to September 30, 2026
Audience: Stephen Brooks
Authors: Nicolás Borja, with Sergio Uzaheta
Status: Draft for review
Companion documents: diagnostic-v2-methodology.md, deep-research-prompts.md, economic-models.md
1. Outcome by September 30, 2026
By end of Q3, the partnership delivers:
- A locked, instrumented v2 diagnostic at a production URL, capable of accepting operator responses in English and Spanish, segmenting by archetype, scoring against expert-anchored benchmarks, and producing a paid full-report PDF.
- A first publication, the v0.1 LatAm FAST and CTV Health Report, published under Stephen's masthead with ESS as research partner. Cohort of 40 to 60 operators across the five archetypes.
- Three first-paying client engagements converted from the diagnostic: at minimum one Tier 1 ($2,500 USD diagnostic plus alignment call), one Tier 2 (90-day implementation, $35K to $65K USD), and one continuing client commitment toward Tier 3.
- The operating cadence and the team in place to publish the v0.2 report in Q4 and the v1.0 anniversary report twelve months from launch.
2. Workstreams
Six workstreams, run in parallel with named owners and explicit handoffs.
2.1 Methodology lock (Workstream M)
Owner: Nico, with Stephen as decision authority on archetypes and pillar weights. Inputs: v2 methodology document, deep-research outputs (Prompts 1 to 5), Stephen's written feedback, Sergio's lecturing notes. Outputs: Final item bank (21 to 22 items, locked), per-archetype pillar weights (locked), expert anchor panel of 3 to 5 operators per archetype recruited and interviewed. Duration: July 1 to July 21.
2.2 Instrument build (Workstream I)
Owner: Nico.
Inputs: Locked methodology (output of M).
Outputs: Next.js application at streaming.elsoundsystem.com or partnership-branded domain, with EN and ES locales, segmentation flow, item presentation, scoring engine, paid-report generator, lead capture into Klaviyo (separate list ID from ESS music list), payment gateway for paid tier (Stripe).
Duration: July 14 to August 18 (overlaps with M tail).
2.3 Cohort recruitment (Workstream R)
Owner: Stephen (warm intros), with Sergio leading Spanish-language outreach and Nico operating the recruitment pipeline. Inputs: Archetype definitions (output of M), target operator list (built jointly), outreach templates (built by Nico in EN, Sergio in ES). Outputs: 40 to 60 operators committed to take the diagnostic in the first publication wave, broken across the five archetypes per the target distribution. Duration: August 1 to August 31 (commitments), September 1 to September 21 (fielding).
2.4 Fielding and analysis (Workstream F)
Owner: Nico, with Sergio doing operator follow-up for Spanish-speaking cohort. Inputs: Recruited cohort (output of R), production instrument (output of I). Outputs: Cleaned response dataset (40 to 60 complete responses), per-operator reports generated, aggregated benchmark dataset assembled, statistical summary by archetype. Duration: September 1 to September 21 (fielding), September 14 to September 28 (analysis runs in parallel with late-fielding follow-up).
2.5 Publication (Workstream P)
Owner: Nico writes, Sergio art-directs the design system, Stephen reviews and signs the publication. Inputs: Aggregated benchmark dataset (output of F), Stephen's editorial direction. Outputs: 30 to 45 page PDF report. Headline findings, archetype-level analysis, three case studies (with operator permission), implementation playbook for each pillar, methodology appendix, partnership credits. Published at a partnership-controlled URL plus distributed to participants and the industry press. Duration: September 14 to September 30.
2.6 Sales motion (Workstream S)
Owner: Stephen (deal lead), Nico (delivery scoping). Inputs: Operator scores (output of F), bottom-quartile and middle-quartile operators flagged as Tier 2 implementation candidates. Outputs: At minimum three first-paying client engagements signed by September 30. Tier mix targeted in Section 1. Duration: September 7 to September 30 (rolling, starts as soon as first operator scores complete).
3. Timeline
JUL AUG SEP
WEEK 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4 | 1 2 3 4
M Methodology lock |
====================
Anchor panel interviews
===========
I Instrument build |
===============================|=====
Polish + EN/ES locales
===========
R Cohort recruitment |
============
F Fielding + analysis |
============
P Publication |
====
S Sales motion |
===
Key milestones:
- July 21: Methodology locked. Item bank, archetype weights, anchor panel interviews complete.
- August 18: Production instrument live at staging URL. Internal QA across EN and ES locales.
- August 25: Production instrument live at public URL. Soft-launch cohort starts (first 5 operators from Stephen's tightest network).
- September 1: Full cohort recruitment underway. Fielding open.
- September 21: Fielding closes for the v0.1 report.
- September 28: Report drafted, internal review complete.
- September 30: Report published, three Tier 1 to Tier 2 engagements signed.
4. Team and roles
Three named operators. No new hires planned in Q3.
| Person | Role | Time commitment |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Brooks | Strategy lead, editorial authority on the report, warm intros for the cohort, sales lead for paid engagements | 25 to 40 hours over Q3 |
| Nicolás Borja | Methodology, build, project management, analysis, writing | 380 to 450 hours over Q3 |
| Sergio Uzaheta | AV operations, Spanish-language cohort liaison, anchor-panel interviews for LatAm operators, design system for the publication | 80 to 120 hours over Q3 |
External support reserved for: a freelance illustrator or designer for the PDF report (one to two weeks), legal review of the IP and revenue split agreement (one to two days), an accountant for the entity setup if a joint operating entity is decided (one to two days).
5. Cost structure
Three cost scenarios, derived from deep-research Prompt 4 once that prompt runs. Pre-research placeholders below; replace with sourced figures from Prompt 4 output before locking the investment ask.
5.1 Lean scenario (no paid vendor data)
| Line item | Cost (USD) |
|---|---|
| Nico time (400 hours at internal rate, treated as opportunity cost) | 32,000 |
| Sergio time (100 hours at production day rate equivalent) | 18,750 |
| Instrument build (Vercel, Klaviyo Pro, Stripe, third-party tools, Claude API for narrative generation) | 1,500 |
| Cohort recruitment (LinkedIn Sales Navigator, paid outreach tools, InMail credits, light honoraria, three months) | 2,500 |
| Design and PDF production (external designer if needed) | 4,000 |
| Legal review (IP and revenue split agreement) | 2,500 |
| Contingency 15% | 9,188 |
| Total | 70,438 |
5.2 Standard scenario (one paid vendor for context)
Lean total plus 18,000 to 35,000 USD for one annual or quarterly subscription to a LatAm-focused audience measurement vendor (Dataxis or BB Media license). Range: 88,438 to 105,438 USD.
5.3 Rich scenario (multiple paid vendors plus expanded cohort)
Lean total plus 45,000 to 80,000 USD for two to three paid vendors plus expanded cohort recruitment with paid panel infrastructure. Range: 115,438 to 150,438 USD.
Recommendation pre-research: target Standard scenario for Q3. The cost of one vendor license is small compared to the credibility upside of citing LatAm-specific data in the v0.1 publication.
6. Revenue path during Q3
The investment is recovered partially during Q3 via three revenue streams:
- Paid Tier 1 reports. $2,500 USD each. Conservative target 5 to 10 paid reports in September. Revenue $12,500 to $25,000.
- First Tier 2 implementation engagement. $35,000 to $65,000 USD, signed in September with delivery in Q4. Conservative target one engagement closed. Setup fee billed in September.
- Continuing client commitment toward Tier 3. $12,000 to $25,000 USD per month, signed in September with delivery beginning Q4. Not billed in Q3 but de-risks Q4.
Q3 revenue (in-quarter, conservative): $20,000 to $50,000 USD against a Standard-scenario cost of $88,438 to $105,438 USD. Q3 is a net investment quarter. Q4 turns positive on Tier 2 plus first Tier 3 retainers.
7. Investment ask structure
This is the section we will scope with Stephen in the next 30-minute slot. The framing for the pitch deck:
The partnership has been operating on ESS balance sheet through the v0.1 prototype. To execute Q3 at the Standard scenario, we need $88,438 to $105,438 USD in committed working capital, of which roughly $50,000 represents true cash outflow (vendor, designer, legal, infrastructure) and the rest is operator opportunity cost.
Stephen's option is to front a portion of the cash outflow in exchange for an elevated equity-equivalent share of the productized offer (Tier 1, 2, 3 streams in economic-models.md). Three structures we are prepared to discuss:
- Structure A, capital contribution as loan. Stephen advances 25,000 to 50,000 USD as a working capital loan, repaid out of Q4 and Q1 2027 revenue at zero or low interest. No change to the underlying revenue split.
- Structure B, capital contribution for elevated share. Stephen advances 25,000 to 50,000 USD and the Tier 2 split moves from 60 ESS / 40 Stephen to 55 / 45 or 50 / 50, locked for the first three Tier 2 engagements or for the first 12 months, whichever ends sooner.
- Structure C, capital contribution for ownership in the productized offer. Stephen advances 50,000 to 75,000 USD and the productized offer is formed as a joint operating entity with the equity split aligned to the contribution structure. ESS retains ownership of the underlying diagnostic engine and scoring methodology (licensed into the joint entity); the joint entity owns the brand, the publication, and the client relationships.
The structure that fits depends on how Stephen wants to position the partnership over the next 12 to 24 months. Structure A is the lowest-risk path. Structure C is the highest-conviction path. Structure B is the middle.
The pitch deck presents all three with a clear recommendation.
8. Dependencies and risks
| Dependency or risk | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Stephen's review of v2 methodology slips past two weeks | Stage instrument build on the locked sections; refine the rest after his review |
| Anchor panel of 3 to 5 operators per archetype proves harder to recruit than expected | Reduce to 2 to 3 per archetype for the launch state; expand as cohort grows |
| Recruitment yields fewer than 40 operators in the publication wave | Publish v0.1 with a smaller cohort and a transparent methodology note; the dataset still has value at 25 to 30 responses, just with wider confidence intervals |
| Instrument build runs over schedule due to Stripe or Klaviyo integration complexity | Ship v0.1 with free-tier only (no paid Stripe checkout) and add paid tier in Q4. Cohort recruitment is not blocked |
| Stephen's investment conversation moves to "we'll decide later" | Hold the line on the Q3 timeline; ESS proceeds at Lean scenario on balance sheet, deck moves to Q4 |
| LatAm operator response quality is uneven | Sergio runs concierge follow-up for any operator who submits an incomplete or low-quality response; built into the fielding workstream |
9. Decision points for Stephen in the next 30-minute slot
- Approve or modify the v2 methodology document.
- Choose Standard scenario or modify the cost target.
- Choose Structure A, B, or C for the investment, or propose a fourth.
- Approve the timeline or propose a different end-of-quarter target.
- Commit to the anchor panel: which operators, and who runs the outreach.
- Commit to the masthead and publication venue for the v0.1 report.
Six decisions. The deck is structured to drive all six in 15 to 18 minutes of presentation plus 10 to 15 minutes of discussion.
10. Post-Q3 outlook (preview)
- Q4 2026: First Tier 2 delivery engagement starts. v0.2 report fielded with expanded cohort (target 80 to 100 operators). First Tier 3 retainer begins.
- Q1 2027: First Tier 2 delivery engagement completes; case study published. Second Tier 2 engagement begins. v0.3 report (longitudinal signal first appears as 6-month retake operators come back).
- Q2 2027: Anniversary report (v1.0). The dataset is now 12 months old, longitudinal, and credible enough to anchor the partnership's positioning as the LatAm authorit