4.2 KiB
VYNDR — NORTH STAR v1.1
The map every session builds against. Lives in /specs. Updated only deliberately. (v1.1: kill list corrected per founder ruling; zero-out-of-pocket rule added; media model corrected.)
WHAT VYNDR IS
A sports data intelligence platform. FREE = the complete picture — schedule, stats, game logs, streaks, hot/cold, matchup context, line comparison — always populated, always interpreted through the VYNDR lens. PAID = the read — grades, archetypes, correlation parlays, factor analysis, CLV intelligence: the complete synthesized picture behind the paywall. PROOF = the Ledger — the CLV-verified public record, misses included. Free answers "what's happening." Paid answers "what it means, all together, and what to do." The platform is NEVER empty at any hour.
THE THREE ASSETS (protect above all features)
- The record — time-gated moat; never fabricate, never curate, never render under n≥20 (enforced at the aggregate API).
- The dataset — every settle trains the model; every scan is labeled data; nothing pollutes it (no anon writes, no fabricated values, refusals over hollow grades).
- The habit + audience — daily free excellence, the wire (VOICE v1.1), Kev's media engine, partner network.
THE FOUR STAGES
Stage 1 — The Tool ($0→$100K/mo MRR). Subscriptions; ~2,000 Desk-equivalent subs. Arcs 1–2 + the A1 board. Funds all reinvestment. Stage 2 — The Affiliate Layer. Sportsbook CPA ($250–500/depositing signup) via BOOK IT + best-line + editorial. The free tier becomes a profit center; at scale affiliate can out-earn subscriptions 3:1. Stage 3 — The Network ($10M→$100M ARR). User ledgers: every bettor gets a CLV-verified public record — Strava for betting. Leaving VYNDR = abandoning your receipts. Needs capital + small team. Stage 4 — The Platform (the billions). From strength, choose: B2B data/API licensing (Sportradar path, low regulatory drag) or Operator (contest rake, PrizePicks path, heavy regulatory lift, where $5B valuations live). Market honesty: subscription tools alone exit at ~$80–240M. The billions require ascending the stack. Tool = wedge, record = moat, audience = leverage.
FREE-LAYER DOCTRINE
- Free is genuinely excellent — never crippled (crippled free = no traffic = dead flywheel = no affiliate revenue).
- The lens applies to free data; the GRADE and synthesis are paid.
- The tease is structural: locked grade badges on free surfaces; 3 free reads/day.
- Free must be a standalone daily habit: never empty, faster than ESPN, better organized than anyone.
- Every free surface has a share path — free users are distribution.
- Every free user has affiliate value independent of subscription intent.
THE COMPANY SHAPE
Kev = media + partnerships, full time, publisher of everything (nothing auto-posts, anywhere, ever). The product self-operates (autonomy loop + ntfy alerting) and self-arms Kev daily (/desk copy-paste arsenal + DATA BRIEF for freeform writing with Claude on the Max sub). Claude Code = the build force; Claude in Chrome = ops verification runbooks; the Hetzner box runs everything — nothing depends on a local machine.
OPERATING RULES (permanent)
- ZERO OUT-OF-POCKET: no new paid APIs, services, or dependencies. Existing infra + Max subscription only. Revenue unlocks upgrades — the reinvestment loop is the only budget (Kev's standing rule: money made reinvests into tech + tools).
- No pricing claim the product doesn't deliver; no feature the pricing page doesn't honestly describe.
- One meaning per color; all data in mono; glow = A-tier only; the dark terminal IS the brand.
- Absent beats wrong; refusal beats hollow; real-and-small beats fake-and-big.
- Density is unlimited under fixed grammar (ROW-GRAMMAR.md); mobile physics respected.
- The voice is VOICE v1.1 — the wire, deadpan, misses lead, Stark layer smirks only with a receipt. No exclamation points, anywhere, including the product UI.
- Killed permanently: AI chat assistant, light mode. Everything else earns scheduling, not exile.
- Responsible gaming built sincerely. The company that lasts is the one users don't resent in five years.
— NORTH STAR v1.1 · July 2026 —