From Fuzzy Idea to Prioritized Playbook: How Solutions Turns Strategy Into Action

Reading time: 15 minutes

TLDR

Submit a fuzzy strategic idea to Solutions for $50 and get a prioritized playbook in 15 minutes. Six AI perspectives debate your idea adversarially and surface blind spots. Receive a multi-step plan with dependencies, validation gates, and specific actions. Real example: “Should we do enterprise?” became a structured testing sequence. validate demand, pilot pricing, assess feasibility, analyze competitors, then decide based on hard criteria. Fuzzy thinking becomes actionable strategy with clear next steps.

The problem: You have a strategic idea that feels promising but isn’t fully formed.

What you need: A clear, prioritized action plan with specific next steps.

What you usually get: Analysis paralysis, endless research, or a half-baked plan you execute poorly.

What Solutions gives you: A 12-step prioritized playbook in 15 minutes, with specific actions, dependencies, and rationale from adversarial AI debate.

Here’s the full workflow. From fuzzy idea to executable plan.

The Fuzzy Idea Problem

You know this feeling:

  • You have a strategic idea (launch new market, add pricing tier, build new feature)
  • It feels right, but you can’t articulate WHY yet
  • You’re not sure where to start
  • You’re afraid of missing something important

What most people do:

Option A: Jump straight to execution (high risk. No validation)

Option B: Research endlessly without deciding (analysis paralysis)

Option C: Ask ChatGPT for a plan (get generic advice with no adversarial testing)

Option D: Hire consultants (spend $20K and 3 weeks for comprehensive analysis)

What you need: Something between “wing it” and “$20K consultant”. a systematic way to stress-test the idea, identify flaws, and create a prioritized action plan.

That’s Solutions.

Real Example: From Fuzzy Idea to Prioritized Playbook

Meet Sarah (fictional composite of real Solutions users):

  • Founder of B2B SaaS, $1.2M ARR
  • Team of 8 people
  • Profitable, growing 25% YoY

Her fuzzy idea:

“I think we should expand into enterprise. Our product works great for SMBs (10-50 employees), but I keep hearing from sales calls that bigger companies (100-500 employees) want what we offer. They just need SSO and better permissioning. Should we build enterprise features? Should we hire enterprise sales? I’m not sure where to start or if this is even the right move.”

That’s it. That’s the level of clarity she has.

Most founders would either:

  • Rush to build enterprise features (risky)
  • Spend 3 weeks researching enterprise GTM playbooks (slow)
  • Hire a consultant for $20K (expensive)

Sarah used Solutions instead.

The Solutions Workflow: Step by Step

Step 1: Submit Your Fuzzy Idea (2-3 Paragraphs)

Sarah’s submission:

Strategy: Expand into enterprise market

Context: We’re a B2B SaaS at $1.2M ARR serving SMBs (10-50 employees). Our product is project management + decision documentation. Current pricing: $99/mo (Starter), $199/mo (Pro). We have 140 customers.

The idea: I keep getting inbound from larger companies (100-500 employees) asking if we support SSO and granular permissioning. We don’t currently. I’m wondering if we should build an ‘Enterprise’ tier at $499/mo with these features.

Questions I have:

  • Is enterprise the right move, or should we focus on growing SMB base?
  • If we do this, what’s the right sequence? Build first? Hire sales first?
  • How do we validate demand without spending 6 months building?
  • What am I not thinking about?

That’s the submission. Not a polished strategy doc. Just a fuzzy idea with some context.

Step 2: Solutions Runs 6-Model Adversarial Debate (15 Minutes, Automated)

What happens behind the scenes:

  1. Six AI models receive Sarah’s submission:

    • CFO AI (financial risk perspective)
    • COO AI (operational feasibility perspective)
    • Market Realist AI (demand validation perspective)
    • Game Theorist AI (competitive dynamics perspective)
    • Chief Strategist AI (strategic alignment perspective)
    • Wildcard AI (unconventional risks perspective)

  2. Each AI model attacks the idea from their perspective (5 minutes)

    • CFO: “What’s the investment required? What’s the payback timeline? What’s the opportunity cost?”
    • COO: “Can the current team execute this? What operational gaps exist?”
    • Market Realist: “Is demand validated or just anecdotal? What does historical data say?”
    • Game Theorist: “How will competitors respond? What’s the defensible moat?”
    • Chief Strategist: “Does this align with the broader vision? Are there better alternatives?”
    • Wildcard: “What non-obvious risks exist? Cultural fit? Founder psychology?”

  3. Models debate each other (5 minutes)

    • CFO and Chief Strategist argue about ROI vs strategic value
    • Market Realist challenges Game Theorist’s competitive assumptions
    • COO flags execution gaps that everyone else missed
    • Wildcard surfaces unconventional concern: “Enterprise customers might kill your team culture”

  4. Synthesis into prioritized playbook (5 minutes)

    • High-priority actions (must do before proceeding)
    • Medium-priority actions (should do to de-risk)
    • Low-priority actions (nice to have)
    • Dependencies mapped (X must happen before Y)
    • Rationale for each action (why this matters, which AI flagged it)

Step 3: Sarah Gets Her Prioritized Playbook

Here’s what Solutions delivered to Sarah (condensed for this blog post; real report is 15-20 pages):

Sarah’s Prioritized Playbook: Enterprise Expansion Strategy

Executive summary: Enterprise expansion is viable but NOT yet validated. Before investing in build, validate willingness-to-pay with pilot pricing. Below is 12-step prioritized plan.

Phase 1: Validate Demand (HIGH PRIORITY - Do First)

Action 1: Quantify enterprise demand signals

  • What: Email 20 companies (100+ employees) who’ve inquired about SSO/permissioning
  • Ask: “We’re exploring enterprise tier at $499/mo with SSO, SCIM, granular permissions, dedicated support. Would you commit to this pricing if we launched in Q2 2025?”
  • Success criteria: 5+ companies say ‘yes, we’d commit’
  • Time: 1 week
  • Owner: Sarah (founder)
  • Rationale: Market Realist AI flagged: “Inbound requests ≠ validated demand. Get commitments before building.”

Action 2: Offer pilot pricing for early access

  • What: Create pilot offer: $299/mo for 6 months (discounted from $499/mo) for companies who commit NOW to early access
  • Why $299: High enough to validate willingness-to-pay, low enough to incentivize early commitment
  • Success criteria: 3+ companies prepay (total $5,372 = funds 10% of build cost)
  • Time: 2 weeks
  • Owner: Sarah
  • Rationale: CFO AI flagged: “Don’t build on speculation. Get prepayment to validate demand AND offset build cost.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 1 (need list of 20 enterprise prospects)

Action 3: Interview pilot customers for feature prioritization

  • What: 45-min interviews with 3 pilot customers who prepaid
  • Ask: “Rank these features: SSO, SCIM, granular permissions, audit logs, dedicated support, SLA guarantees. Which are must-haves vs nice-to-haves?”
  • Output: Prioritized feature list based on actual customer input (not assumptions)
  • Time: 1 week
  • Owner: Sarah + Lead Engineer
  • Rationale: COO AI flagged: “You assumed SSO + permissioning are the features. Validate this with customers before building.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 2 (need paying pilot customers)

Phase 2: Assess Build Feasibility (HIGH PRIORITY - Do Before Building)

Action 4: Get engineering estimate for MVP enterprise features

  • What: Engineer estimates effort for SSO (Okta/Google), SCIM, role-based permissions
  • Output: Time estimate (weeks) + complexity assessment (low/med/high)
  • Time: 3 days
  • Owner: Lead Engineer
  • Rationale: CFO AI flagged: “You estimated 3-6 months build time. Get real estimate before committing.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 3 (feature prioritization from customers)

Action 5: Calculate full build cost (not just dev time)

  • What: Budget for dev time + security audit (required for SOC 2) + design + PM overhead + sales enablement
  • Output: Total investment estimate
  • Example:
    • Dev time: 4 months × $15K/mo = $60K
    • Security audit (SOC 2 prep): $5K
    • Design + PM: $8K
    • Sales enablement (docs, decks, training): $5K
    • Total: $78K
  • Time: 1 day
  • Owner: Sarah (CFO perspective)
  • Rationale: CFO AI flagged: “You’re underestimating costs. Include security, sales, overhead. Not just dev.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 4 (engineering estimate)

Action 6: Model break-even timeline with conservative assumptions

  • What: Calculate payback period assuming lower conversion than pilot (pilot is early adopters; later customers convert slower)
  • Example:
    • Investment: $78K
    • Pilot revenue: $5,372 (already secured)
    • Additional revenue needed: $72,628
    • At $499/mo: Need 15 enterprise customers (assumes 12-month contracts)
    • Timeline to 15 customers: 8-12 months (conservative enterprise sales cycle)
    • Break-even: 12-16 months
  • Time: 2 hours
  • Owner: Sarah
  • Rationale: CFO AI flagged: “Don’t just estimate revenue. Model break-even with pessimistic assumptions.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 5 (total investment cost)

Phase 3: De-Risk Operations (MEDIUM PRIORITY - Do Before Launch)

Action 7: Hire enterprise sales specialist (contract, not FTE)

  • What: Hire fractional enterprise AE (20 hrs/week, $8K/mo) for 3-month trial
  • Why contract first: Test enterprise sales motion before committing to $120K/year FTE
  • Success criteria: Close 2-3 enterprise deals in 3 months with manual workarounds (no product built yet)
  • Time: 4 weeks to hire
  • Owner: Sarah
  • Rationale: COO AI flagged: “You (founder) can’t sell enterprise AND run company. Hire sales before building product.”

Action 8: Create enterprise onboarding playbook

  • What: Document how to onboard enterprise customer (SSO setup via Okta support calls, manual permissioning via custom roles, white-glove support)
  • Why: Pilot customers need support even before automated features exist
  • Output: 10-page internal playbook
  • Time: 1 week
  • Owner: COO or Sarah
  • Rationale: COO AI flagged: “Enterprise customers expect different service level. Systemize this before scaling.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 3 (pilot customers to base playbook on)

Phase 4: Stress-Test Competitive Positioning (MEDIUM PRIORITY)

Action 9: Audit competitor enterprise tiers

  • What: Research top 3 competitors’ enterprise offerings (pricing, features, positioning)
  • Output: Competitive matrix showing feature parity gaps and pricing comparison
  • Question to answer: Are we competitively priced? Do we have differentiation, or are we playing feature catch-up?
  • Time: 1 week
  • Owner: Sarah or Marketing lead
  • Rationale: Game Theorist AI flagged: “Competitors will react to your enterprise launch. Know their positioning before you commit.”

Action 10: Define defensible moat beyond features

  • What: Identify non-copyable differentiation (e.g., vertical specialization, unique integration, community, service model)
  • Why: SSO and permissioning are table-stakes. Competitors can build these in 60-90 days.
  • Output: Positioning statement: “We’re the enterprise PM tool for [specific niche], not generic enterprise PM”
  • Example: “For remote-first companies” or “For compliance-heavy industries (healthcare, fintech)” or “For async-first cultures”
  • Time: 2 weeks (includes customer interviews to identify niche)
  • Owner: Sarah + Marketing
  • Rationale: Game Theorist AI flagged: “What happens when competitors add SSO for free? You need moat beyond features.”
  • Dependency: Requires Action 9 (competitive audit)

Phase 5: Sanity-Check Strategic Alignment (LOW PRIORITY - Do If Time Allows)

Action 11: Model alternative: Double down on SMB instead

  • What: Compare enterprise strategy to alternative: launch $249/mo ‘Pro Plus’ tier for SMB power users (50-100 employees)
  • Features: Advanced analytics, API access, priority support (NOT SSO/SCIM. those are enterprise-only)
  • Investment: $25K build (simpler features)
  • Addressable market: 140 existing customers (vs 20 enterprise prospects)
  • Expected conversion: 20% (28 customers) = $41.7K ARR
  • Payback: 7 months (vs 12-16 for enterprise)
  • Time: 4 hours (modeling exercise)
  • Owner: Sarah
  • Rationale: Chief Strategist AI flagged: “You’re chasing 20 enterprise prospects. You have 140 SMB customers already. Have you modeled the SMB upsell path?”

Action 12: Gut-check: Do you WANT enterprise customers?

  • What: Founder reflection exercise
  • Questions to answer:
    • Do I enjoy long sales cycles (3-6 months)?
    • Do I want to deal with procurement, legal reviews, security questionnaires?
    • Am I willing to hire enterprise-focused team (AEs, CSMs, solutions engineers)?
    • Will enterprise customers make me happier, or just make the business bigger?
  • Output: Honest self-assessment
  • Time: 1 hour
  • Owner: Sarah
  • Rationale: Wildcard AI flagged: “Enterprise expansion changes company culture. Are you prepared for that shift?”

Sarah’s Reaction: From Overwhelm to Clarity

Before Solutions:

  • Fuzzy idea: “Should we do enterprise?”
  • No clear next step
  • Afraid of missing something important
  • Not sure if enterprise is even the right move

After Solutions (15 minutes later):

  • Clear next step: Email 20 enterprise prospects with pilot offer (Action 1)
  • Decision framework: If 5+ commit → proceed. If <5 → pivot to SMB Pro Plus tier (Action 11)
  • Visible risks: Break-even 12-16 months (Action 6), competitor response (Action 10), cultural fit (Action 12)
  • Confidence: “I know exactly what to do Monday morning. And I know what success looks like at each step.”

What Makes This Different From ChatGPT or Consultants

ChatGPT Approach

Prompt: “Should I expand into enterprise? Here’s my context…”

ChatGPT response:

“Expanding into enterprise is a great opportunity! Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Build enterprise features (SSO, SCIM, permissioning) Step 2: Hire enterprise sales team Step 3: Create enterprise marketing collateral Step 4: Target Fortune 500 companies

This strategy will help you increase revenue and move upmarket.”

What’s missing:

  • No adversarial testing (ChatGPT validates your idea, doesn’t challenge it)
  • No prioritization (all steps treated equally)
  • No dependencies (Step 2 might need to happen before Step 1)
  • No validation gates (what if demand isn’t real?)
  • No alternative strategies (what if SMB upsell is better?)

Consultant Approach

Engagement: $20K, 3 weeks

Deliverable: 60-page deck with:

  • Market sizing analysis
  • Competitive landscape
  • Enterprise GTM playbook
  • Financial projections
  • Implementation roadmap

What you get: Comprehensive analysis, high confidence

What you don’t get:

  • Fast turnaround (3 weeks is slow)
  • Low cost ($20K is expensive for $1.2M ARR startup)
  • Adversarial debate (consultants align to your goals, don’t fundamentally challenge premise)

Solutions Approach

Engagement: $50, 15 minutes

Deliverable: 15-20 page report with:

  • Adversarial debate from 6 AI perspectives (CFO, COO, Market Realist, Game Theorist, Chief Strategist, Wildcard)
  • Prioritized 12-step playbook
  • Dependencies mapped
  • Validation gates at each phase
  • Alternative strategies surfaced
  • Rationale for each action (which AI flagged it, why it matters)

What you get:

  • Fast (15 minutes)
  • $50 (not $20K)
  • Adversarial (AI models challenge your assumptions, not just validate)
  • Actionable (specific next steps, not just analysis)

How to Use the Solutions Workflow Yourself

What to Submit (Your Fuzzy Idea)

Format: 2-3 paragraphs

Include:

  1. What’s the idea: One-sentence summary (“Expand into enterprise” or “Change pricing model” or “Launch new product vertical”)
  2. Context: Current state (ARR, team size, customer base, positioning)
  3. Why you’re considering this: What signals made you think about this? (customer requests, competitor moves, market trends)
  4. Questions you have: What are you unsure about?

Example submission template:

Idea: [One sentence]

Context: We’re a [type] company at $[ARR] with [X] customers and [Y] team members. We currently [describe current state].

Why this idea: [What triggered this thought? Customer feedback? Competitor move? Market research?]

Questions I have:

  • [Question 1]
  • [Question 2]
  • [Question 3]

What You Get Back

The Solutions report includes:

  1. Executive Summary (1 page)

    • Is this idea viable? (Yes with conditions / Maybe if validated / No, here’s why)
    • Top 3 risks identified
    • Recommended next step

  2. Adversarial Debate Highlights (3-4 pages)

    • What each AI model challenged
    • Key objections from CFO, COO, Market Realist, Game Theorist, Chief Strategist, Wildcard
    • Cross-examination exchanges (where models debated each other)

  3. Prioritized Playbook (8-12 pages)

    • High-priority actions (must do before proceeding)
    • Medium-priority actions (should do to de-risk)
    • Low-priority actions (nice to have, do if time allows)
    • Dependencies mapped (X before Y before Z)
    • Success criteria for each action
    • Rationale (which AI flagged this, why it matters)

  4. Alternative Strategies (2-3 pages)

    • What if you DON’T do this idea?
    • What other strategies did the AI models suggest?
    • Comparison table (your idea vs alternatives)

How to Use the Playbook

Don’t treat it like gospel. Treat it like a stress-test.

The playbook is designed to:

  • Surface blind spots you hadn’t considered
  • Prioritize your next steps
  • Identify validation gates (go/no-go decisions)
  • Challenge your assumptions

How to use it:

  1. Read the Executive Summary first (do we proceed, pivot, or kill this idea?)

  2. Review High-Priority actions (these are must-dos before committing resources)

  3. Assign owners and timelines (who does each action, by when?)

  4. Set validation gates (what success criteria determine if we proceed to next phase?)

  5. Execute Phase 1, then reassess (don’t commit to full plan upfront. validate at each gate)

Real Results: Fuzzy Ideas → Executed Plans

Example 1: SaaS Founder (Enterprise Expansion)

Fuzzy idea: “Should we build enterprise features?”

Solutions output: 12-step playbook starting with demand validation

Result:

  • Phase 1 (demand validation): Only 2 of 20 prospects committed to pilot pricing
  • Decision: Pivoted to SMB ‘Pro Plus’ tier instead (Action 11 alternative)
  • Outcome: Launched Pro Plus, 32 customers upgraded, +$47K ARR in 4 months
  • Avoided: $78K enterprise build investment with weak demand

Example 2: E-Commerce Startup (Geographic Expansion)

Fuzzy idea: “Should we expand to Europe?”

Solutions output: 10-step playbook with operational feasibility checks

Result:

  • Phase 2 (operations check): Realized EU support hours + GDPR compliance = $120K investment
  • Tested demand with EU-targeted ads first (Action 1: validate demand)
  • Got 40 EU signups in 2 weeks → validated demand → proceeded with expansion
  • Avoided: Expanding blindly and discovering operational complexity too late

Example 3: B2B Startup (Pricing Change)

Fuzzy idea: “Should we increase prices 50%?”

Solutions output: 8-step playbook with price testing framework

Result:

  • Phase 1: Tested new price on new customers only for 60 days (Action 1)
  • Conversion dropped 35% (Action 2: track conversion rate)
  • Decision: Reverted price, added premium tier instead (Action 5 alternative)
  • Avoided: Blanket price increase that would have killed pipeline

When to Use Solutions

Use Solutions when you have:

  • Strategic idea that feels promising but isn’t fully formed
  • Multiple paths forward and no clear way to prioritize
  • Fear of missing something important
  • Desire to stress-test assumptions before committing resources

Don’t use Solutions when:

  • You’ve already committed to a path (too late for adversarial testing)
  • You need market research data (Solutions tests strategy, doesn’t generate new data)
  • You want validation, not challenge (Solutions will poke holes in your plan)

The Bottom Line

Fuzzy ideas are normal. Every strategy starts fuzzy.

The mistake is jumping from fuzzy idea → execution without stress-testing.

The traditional fix is consultants ($20K, 3 weeks) or endless research (analysis paralysis).

The Solutions fix is 15 minutes of adversarial AI debate ($50) that turns your fuzzy idea into a prioritized, stress-tested playbook.

Sarah started with: “Should we do enterprise?”

Sarah ended with: 12-step playbook, clear next action (email 20 prospects with pilot offer), decision framework (5+ commits = proceed, <5 = pivot to SMB), and confidence she hadn’t missed anything critical.

Your fuzzy idea deserves adversarial testing before it becomes expensive execution.

Ready to turn your fuzzy idea into a prioritized playbook? Run a Solutions report ($50) and get 12-step plan with adversarial stress-testing. Stop guessing. Start validating.