Build in public

# Not live yet (gaps #2)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"build-in-public"}'

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'build-in-public' }, { mode: 'try' })   // dry run on the day-0 Startup, 2026-08-24 · Not live yet, gaps #2

npx startup-builder do Campaign.create --json '{"play":"build-in-public"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #2)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'build-in-public' }, { mode: 'try' })   // dry run on the day-0 Startup, 2026-08-24 · Not live yet, gaps #2",
    "mode": "try"
  }
}

 1{
 2  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
 3  "title": "Refused",
 4  "status": 422,
 5  "detail": "build-in-public can’t start yet: 1 check fails and 1 warns.",
 6  "checks": [
 7    {
 8      "check": "owned-by-a-person",
 9      "status": "pass",
10      "observed": "0 subscribers are Leads a person owns",
11      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-owned-by-a-person",
12      "then": "Task.assign"
13    },
14    {
15  …

curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events?where=name%20in%20(%22Decision.recorded%22%2C%20%22Experiment.concluded%22%2C%20%22Hypothesis.dropped%22%2C%20%22Invoice.collected%22%2C%20%22Decision.superseded%22%2C%20%22Incident.resolved%22%2C%20%22Consent.granted%22%2C%20%22Metric.queried%22%2C%20%22Prospect.engaged%22)&limit=1" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/triggers/fire?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"like":"event_1388"}'

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions?where=on%20%3D%20%22content_88%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/actions?where=on%20%3D%20%22content_88%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in ("Decision.recorded", "Experiment.concluded", "Hypothesis.dropped", "Invoice.collected", "Decision.superseded", "Incident.resolved", "Consent.granted", "Metric.queried", "Prospect.engaged")', limit: 1 })   // { play } compiled to this Play’s Trigger Events
 4const { subject } = await $.Trigger.fire({ like: last.$id }, { mode: 'try' })   // the same Event again, in try mode · Not live yet, gaps #7
 5const { decisions: [decision] } = await $.Decision.list({ where: `on = "${subject}"` })   // what it chose, and why · Not live yet, gaps #7
 6const { actions } = await $.Action.list({ where: `on = "${subject}"` })   // what it did, with its checks · Not live yet, gaps #7
 7return { decision, actions }

npx startup-builder do Event.list --json '{"where":"name in (\"Decision.recorded\", \"Experiment.concluded\", \"Hypothesis.dropped\", \"Invoice.collected\", \"Decision.superseded\", \"Incident.resolved\", \"Consent.granted\", \"Metric.queried\", \"Prospect.engaged\")","limit":1}'
npx startup-builder do Trigger.fire --json '{"like":"event_1388"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Decision.list --json '{"where":"on = \"content_88\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Action.list --json '{"where":"on = \"content_88\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in (\"Decision.recorded\", \"Experiment.concluded\", \"Hypothesis.dropped\", \"Invoice.collected\", \"Decision.superseded\", \"Incident.resolved\", \"Consent.granted\", \"Metric.queried\", \"Prospect.engaged\")', limit: 1 })   // { play } compiled to this Play’s Trigger Events\nconst { subject } = await $.Trigger.fire({ like: last.$id }, { mode: 'try' })   // the same Event again, in try mode · Not live yet, gaps #7\nconst { decisions: [decision] } = await $.Decision.list({ where: `on = \"${subject}\"` })   // what it chose, and why · Not live yet, gaps #7\nconst { actions } = await $.Action.list({ where: `on = \"${subject}\"` })   // what it did, with its checks · Not live yet, gaps #7\nreturn { decision, actions }",
    "mode": "try"
  }
}

 1{
 2  "decision": {
 3    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions/decision_499",
 4    "$type": "Decision",
 5    "choice": "lead-with-an-outcome",
 6    "reason": "logs 5 to 7 drew 7, 6 and 5 contacts against a peak of 14, under half, and Maple Court said yes to showing its renewal result",
 7    "stakes": "low",
 8    "options": [
 9      "publish-the-log",
10      "lead-with-an-outcome",
11      "ask-for-a-result",
12      "correct-the-number",
13      "welcome-the-reader",
14      "not-now"
15  …

action_3 is log 8, waiting for your redactions and OK (You approve each one); the issue to subscribers and the posts on your own accounts wait for your press.

≈ +$180 ARR a month at 4 logs

Worth

30 min week 1, then 20 a week

Your time

$0.40 per log, ~$2 a month

Spend

Week 1: first reader subscribes from a log

First signal

a weekly Decision and test read, Stripe for revenue

Use it when

No weekly Decision: weekly-review · no account or Form: owned-newsletter

Not yet when

Worth’s formula: about +4.1 contacts per log (Other Startups’ results; no lift of your own yet) × 4.3 logs a month × 0.21 contacts to Leads × 0.14 Leads to paid × $347 first order ARR ≈ +$180. Under First signal: One log a week can’t be split at random, so it reads before-after, and against its own first 4 logs for decay; 8 logs tell a fall to half the early rate.

Start it this weekCopy Anchor Link

npx startup-builder add play build-in-public   # 1 · writes plays/build-in-public.mdx (Not live yet, gaps #5)

# 2 · dry run; below, its 422 on the day-0 Startup (clock at 2026-08-24)
curl -X POST "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns?mode=try" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"build-in-public"}'

# 3 · keep it, at You approve each one
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"play":"build-in-public"}'

# on
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/processes/content-marketing/enable \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

# off: no log publishes; corrections keep running
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/processes/content-marketing/pause \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "build-in-public can’t start yet: 1 check fails and 1 warns.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "owned-by-a-person",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "0 subscribers are Leads a person owns",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-owned-by-a-person",
      "then": "Task.assign"
    },
    {
      "check": "keep-first",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "0 Customers with a result to ask about are at risk",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-keep-first",
      "then": "Task.next"
    },
    {
      "check": "customer-ask-cap",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "0 open asks to those Customers",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-customer-ask-cap",
      "then": "Decision.list"
    },
    {
      "check": "use-when",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "Friday office hours recorded 6 Decisions in 6 weeks; a weekly test each week",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-use-when",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "billing-connected",
      "status": "fail",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-billing-connected",
      "fix": "Connect Stripe in live mode; revenue shows only from it.",
      "then": "Integration.connect"
    },
    {
      "check": "baseline",
      "status": "warn",
      "observed": "11 contacts from your own posts in 90 days",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-baseline",
      "fix": "n 11: it reads before-after, not proof, beside Other Startups’ results.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "role-unstaffed",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "Content Lead is your agent; each log comes to you",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-role-unstaffed",
      "then": "Role.staff"
    }
  ]
}

Each log costs about $0.40 to compile and check from your Domain (Worker cost), and the issue to about 150 subscribers sends from your Domain at no extra charge. That comes to about $2 a month at 4 logs.

When it startsCopy Anchor Link

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events/event_1388",
  "$type": "Event",
  "name": "Decision.recorded",
  "at": "2026-10-16T16:40:10Z",
  "seq": 1388,
  "data": {
    "decision": {
      "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions/decision_497",
      "choice": "iterate",
      "on": "the 60-day reminder test"
    },
    "week": 8,
    "log": {
      "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/contents/content_88"
    }
  }
}

# each delivery is signed with the Watch’s secret
curl -X POST https://api.sb/leaseline.app/watches \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"selector":"Decision.recorded","url":"https://leaseline.app/hooks/sb"}'
npx startup-builder trigger Decision.recorded --like event_1388   # replays Friday’s Decision
npx startup-builder clock advance --by 3d   # runs the draft’s expiry if you never approved it

Who runs itCopy Anchor Link

Content Lead · your agent (role:content-lead, worker_7) holds the Key Result and compiles each log. Every log comes to you (Dana Okafor, person, worker_1) to redact and approve, and posts on your own accounts go out only when you press them. Your number links to Did it work.

What it reads · What it may call. It reads your Decisions, Experiments, Changes, Incidents and Stripe, and every number in a log is a token that recomputes at render; no number is typed, and a Customer item without display Consent is redacted before you see it. Its tools are POST /{namespace}/content/draft, POST /{namespace}/content/{content}/publish, POST /{namespace}/messages/{message}/broadcast, PATCH /{namespace}/pages/{id}, and any other call becomes an Approval under the Role’s Mandate.

You hold the Content Lead Key Result: 120 contacts from the build log by 2026-12-31. ← worker, metric
Each Friday, compile the week’s Decision, test, kills and numbers into one log and say what leads it. ← triggers, chooses
Every number is a record token; revenue reads only from Stripe.                  ← number-token, stripe-revenue
Show subscribers, Customers and revenue as counts; no Customer by name without their yes. ← your file, line 5; display-consent
Posts on Dana’s accounts wait for her press.                                     ← your file, line 6

The slow loop, as a Change. decision_489 (2026-10-12, weekly) read contacts per log falling from a peak of 14 to 5 by log 7, under half for 3 logs, so change_31 moved the lead slot to a consented Customer result and Dana merged it. Replayed on past logs, POST /{namespace}/changes/{change}/review put contacts for a result-led log at 8.5; read back on log 8 at +7d it is 9, n 1 log, ■□□□ Too early to tell (Example, day 53).

Bring your own agent (folded) compiles beside the seated one; its log reaches you only if it passes the same number, leak and consent checks.

npx startup-builder eval --scenario build-in-public-8 --agent "claude -p" --seat content-lead   # seated: 8.4 contacts a log, 0 typed numbers, 0 leaks · yours: 7.9, 1 typed number refused

What it can do nextCopy Anchor Link

When it hands to youCopy Anchor Link

Every log comes to you to redact and approve, and every post on your own accounts waits for your press. What lands in your queue, as captured: the Brief, then the Approval (brief, draft, route and checks are Not live yet, gaps #7).

[
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/tasks/task_305",
    "$type": "Task",
    "assignee": "worker_1",
    "due": "2026-10-17T12:00:00Z",
    "on": "content_88",
    "brief": {
      "what": "log 8: Decision iterate on the 60-day reminder test; 2 Versions shipped; 1 reverted Change",
      "chose": "lead-with-an-outcome",
      "why": "contacts under half their peak for 3 logs; Maple Court said yes to its result",
      "redacted": [
        "1 interview quote without Consent"
      ],
      "withheld": 0
    }
  },
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/approvals/approval_90",
    "$type": "Approval",
    "verdict": null,
    "deadline": "2026-10-19T16:40:00Z",
    "draft": "Log 8. Maple Court sent all 31 renewal notices 60 days out in September, up from 19 in August…",
    "route": "lead-with-an-outcome",
    "checks": [
      {
        "check": "number-token",
        "status": "pass"
      },
      {
        "check": "display-consent",
        "status": "pass"
      },
      {
        "check": "leak-scan",
        "status": "pass"
      }
    ]
  }
]

You answer with POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/claim (Take this one), POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/return with a reason, POST /{namespace}/approvals/{approval}/approve or POST /{namespace}/approvals/{approval}/refuse, each a one-call window, and a log unanswered by its deadline expires and never publishes. Two expired logs in a row pause the Play (founder-silence).

On time: you, 8 of 8 logs approved by their deadline, median 1 h 40 min, ■■□□ Early sign, n 8. Your queue: counted by kind: each week, 1 log to redact and approve and 2 posts to press; about 2 replies a week.

The fixed line: POST /{namespace}/deals/{deal}/assign sets owner to the receiving person, the agent is never a Deal’s owner, and Meetings land on the owner’s calendar under the owner’s name.

When it won’t sendCopy Anchor Link

The captured refusal, then the Stop that fired as a Campaign.paused reason (Not live yet, gaps #2); the line that published instead is the second thread in Example.

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "Log 5 did not publish: your edit typed a number no record holds.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "number-token",
      "status": "fail",
      "observed": "“about 50 property managers” in line 1",
      "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#check-number-token",
      "fix": "Use the record’s token, or cut the number.",
      "then": "Content.draft"
    },
    {
      "check": "leak-scan",
      "status": "pass"
    }
  ]
}

[
  {
    "reason": {
      "limit": "correction",
      "observed": "log 4 said 9 annual switches; a refund made it 8",
      "bound": "0 restated numbers uncorrected",
      "window": "1 h"
    },
    "doc": "/plays/build-in-public#stop-correction",
    "fixed": "2026-09-21T16:52:00Z"
  }
]

Did it workCopy Anchor Link

One log a week cannot be split at random, so the basis is before-after (rule o): the columns read Now and Before, and nothing prints as Added. Decay reads against the first 4 logs. Each figure’s call is POST /{namespace}/metrics/query by node; every node above the leaf is Not live yet (gaps #4).

{
  "$id": "decisions/decision_499",
  "$type": "Decision",
  "choice": "lead-with-an-outcome",
  "reason": "logs 5 to 7 drew 7, 6 and 5 contacts against a peak of 14, under half, and Maple Court said yes to showing its renewal result",
  "stakes": "low",
  "options": [
    "publish-the-log",
    "lead-with-an-outcome",
    "ask-for-a-result",
    "correct-the-number",
    "welcome-the-reader",
    "not-now"
  ],
  "by": "worker_7",
  "on": "content_88",
  "expected": "7 or more contacts from log 8 within 7d",
  "reopensWhen": "under 4 contacts from content_88 by day 7"
}

The leaf counts consented contacts whose first Consent came through a log page, issue or post within 7 days; before against after reads 56 days against the 90 before, scaled. It is not proof, and Other Startups’ results print beside it.

How it moves it: each week’s Decision, test and Stripe numbers became one log on leaseline.app, in the issue to about 150 subscribers and on LinkedIn and X, where before the week left no public trace.

Guardrails: before against after: organic-share of visits, 32 % against 30 %, and unsubscribes per issue, 0.6 % against 0.5 %.

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/build-in-public",
  "$type": "Campaign",
  "play": "play:build-in-public@1",
  "path": [
    "build-log-contacts",
    "new-leads",
    "new-arr",
    "net-new-arr",
    "arr"
  ],
  "experiment": {
    "metric": "build-log-contacts",
    "unit": "count",
    "heldBack": 0,
    "decision": null
  },
  "readout": {
    "value": null,
    "n": 8,
    "maturing": 0,
    "interval": null,
    "readability": "inadmissible",
    "basis": "before-after",
    "pooled": true
  },
  "ledger": {
    "spend": 0,
    "workerCost": 3,
    "hours": 3.2,
    "wonArr": 694,
    "projectedArr": 180,
    "paybackDays": 1
  }
}

Outside benchmark: posts about a real result drew about twice the replies of posts about progress in one 2026 study of founder accounts (a social-analytics firm, 12,000 posts).

Before it · After it. Before it: weekly-review records the week, and founder-voice writes the founder’s other posts. After it: owned-newsletter keeps the readers it brings, and instant-response answers anyone who writes in.

ExampleCopy Anchor Link

Leaseline ran it from 2026-08-24 to 2026-10-19 (56 days): 8 logs, each compiled the Friday after office hours and approved by Dana. Revenue showed as counts from Stripe; Customers showed by name only with their yes. Read every captured log at ?threads=all; three follow the tables.

Log 8, Oct 17 · Maple Court sent all 31 of September’s renewal notices 60 days out, up from 19 in August.¹ This week we decided to iterate on the reminder test: 41 of 188 managers opened it, under the 25 % our kill rule set.² Revenue: 41 paying Customers, from Stripe.³

Oct 17 to 24 · 9 contacts: 5 from Dana’s LinkedIn post, 3 from the log page’s Form, 1 forwarded issue; one started a trial on Oct 18.

- About 50 property managers tried the reminder this week.
+ 47 property managers tried the reminder this week.

Log 6, 2026-10-02 16:40 · the draft went to Dana (task_279, due Saturday 12:00) with 1 interview quote already redacted, because the speaker gave no yes. Dana withheld the week’s agent costs, which printed as “1 number withheld this week”, approved at 09:15 Saturday, and pressed post on her LinkedIn at 09:20.⁴

¹ A Customer’s result, shown with their yes. ² Every number is a record token that recomputed at render. ³ Revenue reads only from live-mode Stripe. ⁴ A withheld number prints as withheld, never as gone.

Your settingsCopy Anchor Link

---
revenue: counts   # show Customers and revenue as counts from Stripe
---
One log a week, from Friday office hours.
No Customer by name without their yes.
Posts on my accounts wait for my press.

$ npx startup-builder show plays/build-in-public
revenue counts · weekly · the name rule · your press    your file  plays/build-in-public.mdx:2,4,5,6 (Ask 2026-08-24)
family demand · process content-marketing · worker role:content-lead, owns never · chooses 6 (4 rule, 2 read) · sequences build-log-welcome, outcome-ask · approval every-send · checks owned-by-a-person, keep-first, customer-ask-cap, number-token, recompute, stripe-revenue, display-consent, leak-scan, cherry-pick, raise, spam-brake · stops 6    catalog  play:build-in-public@1 (Not live yet, gaps #5)

Every key from the catalogCopy Anchor Link

Compiled, not written: edit the Play record build-in-public and its Leaseline run, then regenerate. Every step runs from a sentence or a line of code. In your words: the CRM words you know, and where each lives here.