Case type: Design a 0→1 product

10→1 CASE SPINE23  1. CLARIFY     consumer vs prosumer vs B2B? platform constraint? geo?4  2. PERSONA     one primary; secondary named as non-goal if needed5  3. JTBD        when [situation], I want to [progress], so I can [outcome]6  4. PAIN PROOF  why current alternatives fail (time, money, stigma, skill)7  5. MVP CUT     smallest lovable surface that delivers the job once8  6. NON-GOALS   features / segments / platforms you refuse in v19  7. SEQUENCE    Monday / 6 weeks / 6 months — what unlocks what10  8. METRICS     activation of the job + retention of the job + guardrail11  9. RISKS       cold start, trust, unit economics, distribution1213  Anti-pattern: 10-feature laundry list with no cut and no "ships Monday."

1PERSONA + JTBD23  Primary persona: "Priya" — 25, new-to-city SWE, 2–4 week runway to move,4  distrusts brokers, overloaded by Facebook groups + listing apps + WhatsApp.56  JTBD: When I must lock a safe flat in a new city on a deadline, I want a7  short list of visit-worthy, verification-backed options I can act on this8  weekend — so I can move without getting scammed or burning PTO.910  Why alternatives fail:11  · Listing apps  → high spam, stale inventory, weak verification12  · Brokers       → fee opacity, misaligned incentives, push inventory13  · FB/WA groups  → chaos, no structured trust, time sink14  · Word of mouth → doesn't scale when you just arrived1516  Secondary (non-goal v1): owners optimizing yield; NRI investors; PG-only.

1OPTIONS → MVP CUT23  Candidate bets (only 4 — then cut):4  A) Verified visit packs: 5 pre-checked flats in a micro-market, Saturday slot5  B) Full marketplace with owner tools, chat, payments, leases6  C) AI chatbot that answers renter questions about neighborhoods7  D) Broker CRM white-label89  Pick A. Why: completes the JTBD once; trust is the wedge; ops-heavy but10  learnable; B is a multi-year platform; C is a feature not a product; D11  serves the wrong customer.1213  NON-GOALS v1:14  · National coverage (only 2 micro-markets)15  · In-app lease signing / rent payment16  · Owner self-serve listing flood17  · Social feed / content / "city guides" as core1819  MVP surface ("ships Monday" narrative):20  · Intake: budget, commute pin, must-haves (1BHK, power backup, etc.)21  · Human+checklist verification on 20 listings/week/market22  · Saturday visit pack of 5 with map, deposit norms, scam flags23  · WhatsApp concierge for reschedule + "this felt off" report24  · Deposit decision checklist (what to photograph, what never to pay)

1METRICS + RISKS23  North star: % of paid visit-pack users who sign a lease within 14 days4              without a reported fraud incident5  Drivers:    visit-show rate; post-visit shortlist confidence (survey);6              time-to-first-verified-pack after signup7  Guardrails: fraud reports per 100 visits; refund rate; NPS of "trust"8  Kill if:    fraud incident rate >2% after process freeze → pause growth910  RISKS:11  · Ops cost > willingness to pay → raise pack price or thin markets12  · Supply capture by hostile brokers → exclusive micro-market density13  · "Just another listings app" positioning → brand only on verified packs14  · Regulatory / deposit norms differ by city → local playbooks, not one UI1516  XFN: ops (verification SOP), trust (scam taxonomy), growth (campus + office17  cohort launches), legal (what claims we can make about "verified").

1WEAK 0→1 SIGNALS2  · "Map, filters, chat, AI recommendations, payments, community, AR tours"3  · No primary persona; "everyone looking for a home"4  · Success = downloads or listings count5  · No non-goals; "we'd do it all in phases" without saying what phase 1 is67STRONG 0→1 SIGNALS8  · Named persona + JTBD in one breath9  · One wedge that completes the job (verified visit pack)10  · Explicit refuse list11  · Monday / 6 weeks / 6 months sequencing12  · Metric on job completion + fraud guardrail

1B2B 0→1 SKETCH (3 minutes of interview airtime)23  Buyer: CS leader at 50–200 person B2B SaaS; economic buyer + admin user.4  JTBD: When a logo closes, I want a single playbook that assigns tasks across5  CS/solutions/product so time-to-first-value is predictable — so churn risk6  in the first 90 days drops.7  MVP: template playbooks + ownership + SLA timers + exec digest — NOT a full8  CRM, NOT a data warehouse, NOT AI email writer as the core.9  Non-goals: replace Salesforce; public marketplace of playbooks on day 1.10  Metric: median days to activation event defined per playbook; guardrail =11  CSAT of onboarding contacts.1213  Transfer lesson: B2B 0→1 still needs a job completed once — "platform" is14  usually a v3 word that kills interviews when used in minute 2.

1MONDAY / 6 WEEKS / 6 MONTHS (template)23  Monday:   thinnest slice that delivers the job once + instrumentation4  6 weeks:  expand beachhead; price/pack test; kill if fraud/ops break5  6 months: platform-ish only if unlock metrics hit (density, trust SLA)67  Say the unlock metrics out loud — that is sequencing, not a roadmap dump.

1SPOKEN SENIOR ANSWER — 0→1 rental trust product (~12 min)23  [0:00–1:20 FRAME]4  "This is a zero-to-one design case. I'll pick a wedge user and a job before5  any features. Assumptions: India metros — Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR —6  mobile-first, salaried renters twenty-two to thirty, not luxury, not NRI7  investors. We are not building another national listing aggregator unless8  verification quality is the product. Success is a renter completing a9  verified visit-to-deposit path with less fraud and less wasted time."1011  [1:20–3:30 PERSONA + JTBD + ALTERNATIVES]12  "Primary persona: Priya, twenty-five, new-to-city SWE, two to four week13  runway, distrusts brokers, drowning in Facebook groups, listing apps, and14  WhatsApp. Job: when I must lock a safe flat on a deadline, I want a short15  list of visit-worthy, verification-backed options I can act on this weekend16  so I move without scam or burned PTO. Alternatives fail differently: listing17  apps — spam and stale inventory; brokers — fee opacity and misaligned push;18  groups — chaos; word of mouth — doesn't work when you just arrived. Secondary19  non-goal v1: owners optimizing yield, PG-only seekers, NRI investors."2021  [3:30–6:30 OPTIONS + MVP CUT]22  "Four candidate bets. A: verified visit packs — five pre-checked flats in a23  micro-market with Saturday slots. B: full marketplace with chat, payments,24  leases. C: AI chatbot for neighborhoods. D: broker CRM white-label. I pick A.25  It completes the job once; trust is the wedge; ops-heavy but learnable. B is26  multi-year platform. C is a feature. D serves the wrong customer. Non-goals:27  national coverage, in-app lease signing, owner self-serve flood, city-guide28  content as core. MVP surface: intake on budget and commute pin; human plus29  checklist verification on about twenty listings per week per market; Saturday30  pack of five with map, deposit norms, scam flags; WhatsApp concierge;31  deposit decision checklist. The product is the pack, not the chrome."3233  [6:30–9:00 SEQUENCE + METRICS + RISKS]34  "Monday narrative: one micro-market, manual ops, twenty customers, learn scam35  patterns. Six weeks: second micro-market, light app shell, three trustworthy36  local fixers, paid priority pack. Six months: owner tools only where37  verification SLA holds; visit-fee payments; still no national Uber-for-rent.38  North star: share of paid pack users who sign a lease within fourteen days39  without reported fraud. Drivers: visit-show rate, post-visit confidence,40  time-to-first-pack. Guardrails: fraud per hundred visits, refund rate. Kill41  if fraud exceeds two percent after process freeze — pause growth. Risks: ops42  cost above willingness to pay; hostile broker capture; positioning as just43  another listings app; city-specific deposit norms. XFN: ops SOP, trust scam44  taxonomy, growth via campus and office cohorts, legal on verified claims."4546  [9:00–12:00 PUSHBACK + CLOSE]47  "If you say it seems small: if Priya books a verified pack this Saturday and48  avoids a scam deposit, v1 worked — breadth is density, not feature count.49  If you say add AI: AI categorization is a six-month enhancer after verification50  quality is proven — not the wedge. If you say owners need tools day one:51  owner flood without verification SLA recreates spam; supply is invited only52  when quality holds. Close: wedge is trust-weighted shortlisting under time53  pressure; product is verified visit pack; refuse platform fantasy; metrics on54  job completion and fraud; kill on trust failure."

1PRESSURE Q → SENIOR REPLY23  Q: "Design something more ambitious — investors want a platform."4  A: Ambition is sequenced. Platform words in minute two fail prioritization.5     Unlock: density + fraud SLA, then owner tools.67  Q: "Why not OCR / AI everywhere from day one?"8  A: Wrong job. The failure mode is trust and wasted visits, not receipt text.910  Q: "What's the business model?"11  A: Paid visit packs first; later take-rate only where we add verification12     value. Don't take payment fees before trust is real.1314  Q: "Competitor launches national listings with more inventory."15  A: Compete on verified pack conversion and fraud rate, not listing count.1617  Q: "Cut seventy percent again."18  A: Keep intake + five verified visits + WhatsApp reschedule. Drop app polish,19     payments, owner tools, content.2021  Q: "Who is explicitly not for?"22  A: Luxury seekers, NRI investors, pure PG shoppers, owners wanting yield23     dashboards in v1.2425  Q: "How do you know verification is real?"26  A: Checklist SOP, photo evidence, mystery-shop audits, fraud reports as27     product metric — never marketing claim alone.