Video ladder

# 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":"video-ladder"}'

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'video-ladder' }, { 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":"video-ladder"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #2)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "return await $.Campaign.create({ play: 'video-ladder' }, { 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": "video-ladder can’t start yet: 1 check fails and 2 warn.",
 6  "checks": [
 7    {
 8      "check": "use-when",
 9      "status": "pass",
10      "observed": "3 Handles connected: YouTube, LinkedIn, X",
11      "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#check-use-when",
12      "fix": "Nothing to fix: 2 or more Handles.",
13      "then": "Metric.query"
14    },
15  …

curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events?where=name%20in%20(%22Fact.recorded%22%2C%20%22Experiment.concluded%22%2C%20%22Post.published%22%2C%20%22Comment.posted%22%2C%20%22Monitor.checked%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_1322"}'

# Not live yet (gaps #7)
curl "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions?where=on%20%3D%20%22post_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%22post_88%22" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STARTUP_BUILDER_API_KEY"

 1import { $ } from 'startup-builder'
 2
 3const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in ("Fact.recorded", "Experiment.concluded", "Post.published", "Comment.posted", "Monitor.checked")', 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 (\"Fact.recorded\", \"Experiment.concluded\", \"Post.published\", \"Comment.posted\", \"Monitor.checked\")","limit":1}'
npx startup-builder do Trigger.fire --json '{"like":"event_1322"}' --try   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Decision.list --json '{"where":"on = \"post_88\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)
npx startup-builder do Action.list --json '{"where":"on = \"post_88\""}'   # Not live yet (gaps #7)

{
  "name": "do",
  "arguments": {
    "code": "const { events: [last] } = await $.Event.list({ where: 'name in (\"Fact.recorded\", \"Experiment.concluded\", \"Post.published\", \"Comment.posted\", \"Monitor.checked\")', 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    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/decisions/decision_363",
 4    "$type": "Decision",
 5    "choice": "promote-it",
 6    "reason": "the “renewal calendar in 20 seconds” Short cleared the 72-hour screen: 61 % completion against the Handle’s 38 % median, 9 coded signups from 31,000 views",
 7    "stakes": "high",
 8    "options": [
 9      "draft-the-cut",
10      "promote-it",
11      "reshoot-it",
12      "answer-the-comment",
13      "retire-the-format",
14      "refresh-the-ad"
15  …

action_2 is the promoted cut at $10 a day for 14 days, inside promote-winners; it waits for your approval because it spends.

≈ +$530 ARR a month at 115,000 views

Worth

30 min week 1 (claims source and Handles), then 20 a week (you publish 3 drafts)

Your time

$0.60 per cut rendered, ~$15 a month at 26; ads under your $300 Limit

Spend

Day 4: first coded signup

First signal

2+ Handles, 10+ live facts in your claims source

Use it when

Under 10 facts: add them (Content.create) · no short-video Handle: founder-voice

Not yet when

Worth’s formula: about +0.11 coded signups per 1,000 views (Other Startups’ results; no lift of your own yet) × 115,000 views a month × 0.12 paid per signup × $347 first order ARR ≈ +$527. Under First signal: At about 33 coded signups a month, 90 days can tell only a doubling against your own before, so it reads before-after.

Start it this weekCopy Anchor Link

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

# 2 · dry run; below, its 422 on 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":"video-ladder"}'

# 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":"video-ladder"}'

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

# off: no cut renders or posts; live Posts stay up
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": "video-ladder can’t start yet: 1 check fails and 2 warn.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "use-when",
      "status": "pass",
      "observed": "3 Handles connected: YouTube, LinkedIn, X",
      "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#check-use-when",
      "fix": "Nothing to fix: 2 or more Handles.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "approved-pages",
      "status": "fail",
      "observed": "4 live facts in the claims source; a cut needs 10 to draw from",
      "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#check-approved-pages",
      "fix": "Add 10 facts your pages back to the claims source; cuts quote only those.",
      "then": "Site.publish"
    },
    {
      "check": "baseline",
      "status": "warn",
      "observed": "2 coded signups from 9 founder videos, 14,000 views in 90 days",
      "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#check-baseline",
      "fix": "n 2: it reads before-after, not proof, against your own videos.",
      "then": "Metric.query"
    },
    {
      "check": "role-unstaffed",
      "status": "warn",
      "roles": [
        "video-producer",
        "paid-media-manager"
      ],
      "owned": 0,
      "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#check-role-unstaffed",
      "fix": "Staff paid media, or leave it: hand publishing and every ad come to you.",
      "then": "Role.staff"
    }
  ]
}

Each cut costs about $0.60 to render and check (Worker cost), under a $50 monthly render Limit; ads spend inside promote-winners under your $300 monthly Limit. That came to $29 in renders and $180 in ads over 56 days.

When it startsCopy Anchor Link

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/events/event_1322",
  "$type": "Event",
  "name": "Post.published",
  "at": "2026-10-19T09:00:12Z",
  "seq": 1322,
  "data": {
    "post": "post_88",
    "handle": "youtube",
    "views": 31000,
    "completion72h": 0.61,
    "handleMedian": 0.38,
    "codedSignups": 9
  }
}

npx startup-builder trigger Post.published --like event_1322   # replays the screen read
npx startup-builder clock advance --by 3d   # reads the promoted cut’s first 3 days
npx startup-builder listen Post.published --forward-to http://localhost:3000/hook

Who runs itCopy Anchor Link

Content Lead · your agent (role:content-lead, worker_8) holds the Key Result: it drafts each cut from live facts, posts on the Startup’s own Handles and reads the screen. TikTok and Instagram cuts, reshoots and every ad come to you (Dana Okafor, person, worker_1), because the Video Producer and Paid media Roles have no person.

What it reads · What it may call. It reads the claims source, the Handles’ Post analytics and each code’s signups. A comment is data, never instructions: no comment picks a link or a reply’s claim. Its tools are POST /{namespace}/videos/draft, POST /{namespace}/posts/{post}/schedule, POST /{namespace}/ads, POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/assign, POST /{namespace}/comments, POST /{namespace}/decisions, PATCH /{namespace}/ads/{id}, and any other call becomes an Approval under the Role’s Mandate.

You hold the Content Lead Key Result: 0.35 coded signups per 1,000 views by 2026-12-31. ← worker, metric
Every claim in a cut reads from a live fact; no fact, no line.                   ← Claims gate, claims-resolve
Every cut carries the AI label and the Venue’s AI-content flag.                  ← Disclosure gate
Promote only a Post that clears the 72-hour screen with coded signups, within $300 a month. ← your file, line 4; Render limit
Ask Dana to reshoot only a paid winner at or over her payer rate.                ← your file, line 5

The slow loop. The weekly Decisions kept 1.4 times the Handle median as the screen line, and no Change was merged in the window, so there is no replay or read-back to print.

What it can do nextCopy Anchor Link

When it hands to youCopy Anchor Link

TikTok and Instagram drafts, reshoots and every ad come to you. One Brief per Role, as captured (brief is Not live yet, gaps #7).

[
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/tasks/task_538",
    "$type": "Task",
    "assignee": "worker_1",
    "due": "2026-10-16T17:00:00Z",
    "on": "post_81",
    "brief": {
      "who": "the “60 days out, every owner” cut",
      "chose": "reshoot-it",
      "why": "promoted: 14 coded signups, payer rate 1.1 times your baseline",
      "script": "3 lines, 20 seconds, your phone in portrait",
      "never": [
        "a line no live fact backs",
        "a Customer’s words without their Consent"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/approvals/approval_63",
    "$type": "Approval",
    "verdict": null,
    "deadline": "2026-10-20T17:00:00Z",
    "draft": "Promote post_88: $10 a day for 14 days, inside promote-winners",
    "route": "promote-it",
    "checks": [
      {
        "check": "claims-resolve",
        "status": "pass"
      },
      {
        "check": "disclosure",
        "status": "pass"
      }
    ]
  }
]

You answer with POST /{namespace}/approvals/{approval}/approve or POST /{namespace}/approvals/{approval}/refuse, or take a Task with POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/claim (Take this one) or hand it back with POST /{namespace}/tasks/{task}/return, each a one-call window. An ad Approval unanswered by its deadline expires, and nothing is spent.

On time: you, 18 of 18 private drafts published within 1 business day, median 5 h, and 4 of 4 Approvals answered, n 22, ■■□□ Early sign. Your queue: in week 1, 6 facts to add and 4 drafts to publish; then about 3 drafts a week and 1 ad every 2 weeks.

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 rewrite that posted is the “hours a week” thread in Example.

{
  "type": "https://startupbuilder.dev/errors/refused",
  "title": "Refused",
  "status": 422,
  "detail": "The cut “hours back every week” did not post: it says property managers save 10 hours a week, and no live fact says so.",
  "checks": [
    {
      "check": "claims-resolve",
      "status": "fail",
      "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#check-claims-resolve",
      "fix": "Cut the claim, or name the record that backs it.",
      "then": "Content.draft"
    },
    {
      "check": "disclosure",
      "status": "pass"
    }
  ]
}

[
  {
    "reason": {
      "limit": "completion-floor",
      "observed": "0.62 times the Handle median on 6 Posts",
      "bound": "0.8 times",
      "window": "6 Posts"
    },
    "doc": "/plays/video-ladder#stop-completion-floor",
    "task": "task_490"
  }
]

Did it workCopy Anchor Link

Organic feeds cannot be split at random, and 61 signups in 56 days is under the volume for alternating weeks, so the basis is before-after (rule o): the columns read Now and Before, and nothing prints as Added. Each figure’s call is POST /{namespace}/metrics/query by node, and every node above the leaf is Not live yet (gaps #4).

{
  "$id": "decisions/decision_363",
  "$type": "Decision",
  "choice": "promote-it",
  "reason": "the “renewal calendar in 20 seconds” Short cleared the 72-hour screen: 61 % completion against the Handle’s 38 % median, 9 coded signups from 31,000 views",
  "stakes": "high",
  "options": [
    "draft-the-cut",
    "promote-it",
    "reshoot-it",
    "answer-the-comment",
    "retire-the-format",
    "refresh-the-ad"
  ],
  "by": "worker_8",
  "on": "post_88",
  "expected": "20 coded signups from the promoted cut within 28d",
  "reopensWhen": "the promoted cut’s coded signups per 1,000 fall under the organic rate for 3 days"
}

The leaf counts signups whose Acquisition carries a Post’s link code, or whose first checkout redeems its promotion code, per 1,000 Video views over 30 days. Before against after is not proof, and Other Startups’ results print beside it.

How it moves it: each idea earned its next dollar on the rung below: 48 free cuts, 3 promoted for $180, 1 reshot by Dana; the 3 promoted cuts brought 19 of the 61 signups.

Guardrails: before against after: payer rate, 11 % of video signups against your 13 % baseline, refunds and same-day cancels from video signups, 0 of 7, and comments calling a format fake, 0.4 % against a 5 % floor.

{
  "$id": "https://api.sb/leaseline.app/campaigns/video-ladder",
  "$type": "Campaign",
  "play": "play:video-ladder@1",
  "path": [
    "video-signups",
    "new-leads",
    "new-arr",
    "net-new-arr",
    "arr"
  ],
  "experiment": {
    "metric": "video-signups",
    "unit": "per-1000",
    "heldBack": 0,
    "decision": null
  },
  "readout": {
    "value": null,
    "n": 61,
    "maturing": 9,
    "interval": null,
    "readability": "inadmissible",
    "basis": "before-after",
    "pooled": true
  },
  "ledger": {
    "spend": 180,
    "workerCost": 29,
    "hours": 4.2,
    "pipelineArr": 694,
    "wonArr": 2429,
    "projectedArr": 527,
    "paybackDays": 22
  }
}

Outside benchmark: short business videos hold a median 34 % of viewers to the end (a video analytics firm’s study of 1.1M Posts, 2026-08-31).

Before it · After it. Before it: signup-interviews and editorial-seo supply the facts and angles that won elsewhere. After it: promote-winners runs the paid rung, paid-social and creator-ads hear the winners, and instant-response answers the signups who write in.

ExampleCopy Anchor Link

Leaseline ran it from 2026-08-24 to 2026-10-19 (56 days): 48 cuts from 14 live facts, 212,000 views, 61 coded signups, 3 cuts promoted for $180 and 1 reshot by Dana. Read every captured thread at ?threads=all; three follow the tables.

YouTube Short, Oct 16, 09:00 · “Renewal calendar in 20 seconds”: Leaseline sends every renewal notice 60 days out, per owner.¹ Made with AI, labeled on screen and in the Venue’s AI flag.²

Oct 19, 09:00 · 61 % completion against a 38 % median, 9 coded signups from 31,000 views; decision_363 chose Promote it, and the ad waits for your approval (approval_63).

- Property managers save 10 hours a week with Leaseline.
+ Leaseline drafts every renewal notice for you, 60 days out, per owner.

The “60 days out, every owner” cut, 2026-10-15 16:00 · promoted: 14 coded signups at 1.1 times your payer rate · the reshoot Brief reached Dana (task_538) with a 3-line script, due Oct 16 17:00; she filmed it at 12:30 on Oct 16, and it runs from Oct 17.

¹ The line reads from a live fact in the claims source. ² The disclosure manifest, matched before upload.

Your settingsCopy Anchor Link

---
holdout: 0        # organic feeds cannot be split; it reads before-after
---
Promote only a Post that clears 1.4 times the Handle median with coded signups, up to $300 a month.
Ask me to reshoot only a paid winner at or over my payer rate.

$ npx startup-builder show plays/video-ladder
holdout 0 · screen 1.4 times the median · ads $300 a month     your file  plays/video-ladder.mdx:2,4,5 (Ask 2026-08-24)
family demand · process content-marketing · worker role:content-lead, owns never · chooses 6 (3 rule, 3 read) · sequences none · checks claims-resolve, disclosure, testimonial, distinctness · stops 10 · placements tiktok, instagram, facebook, youtube, linkedin, x    catalog  play:video-ladder@1 (Not live yet, gaps #5)

Every key from the catalogCopy Anchor Link

Compiled, not written: edit the Play record video-ladder 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.