2026-03-16 — Housekeeping and Maven application

What shipped today

Short session focused on two pieces of cleanup and one real milestone.

First, the GitHub/Linear drift that had been flagged for two sessions got resolved permanently. All 30 open GitHub issues were bulk-closed with a note that tracking moved to Linear. CLAUDE.md was updated to declare Linear as the single system of record — no more GitHub issues for this project. The confusion of having two issue trackers is over.

Second, Paul applied to Maven as an instructor. The application used a thesis pitch drafted with the knowledge proxy — grounded in Paul’s voice, not marketing copy. The “what do I want to teach” section leads with the thesis (“the AI era is actually the human era”) and walks through the 6-week arc. The “other info” section covers the PhD + Fortune 500 consulting + professor combination, the completed book (The Work of Being), and the Synaxis human-firm model. Maven approval is now an external dependency — the three remaining platform issues (Lightning Lesson, cohort logistics, B2B invoicing) are blocked until it comes through.

Paul also confirmed the recording space is set up — that’s another production blocker cleared.

Completed

• SYN-247 — Apply to Maven as an instructor
• SYN-253 — Set up recording space — background, lighting positions, sound treatment
• 30 GitHub issues bulk-closed (tracking consolidated to Linear)

Release progress

• Module outlines: 6/6 done
• Supporting content: 2/3 done (SYN-245 case studies in review)
• Audience: 7/8 done (SYN-269 repurposing pipeline in backlog)
• Platform: 4/7 done (3 backlog: Lightning Lesson, cohort logistics, B2B invoicing — all blocked on Maven approval)
• Production: 2/7 done (SYN-252 equipment in review; 4 backlog: Descript, pilot lesson, clip extraction, recording checklist)
• Launch: 5/8 done (SYN-270 corporate pilots in review; SYN-271 pitch + SYN-275 dates in backlog)

Carry-over

• Two untracked source files still need Paul’s decision: the work of being ed2.txt and the AI Era outline — track or gitignore
• All 5 deliverables from 2026-03-13 (pricing, Maven listing, landing page, launch emails, unit economics) still need Paul’s voice review
• Launch email placeholders [PAUL: ...] need real consulting stories (Emails 2 and 4)
• Equipment not purchased yet (SYN-252) — Paul says it doesn’t need to hold things up

Risks

• Maven approval is an external blocker. Platform setup (Lightning Lesson, cohort logistics, B2B invoicing) can’t proceed until approved. No timeline on this.
• Production track still thin. 2/7 done, and the remaining items are sequential — Descript setup → pilot lesson → clip extraction → recording checklist → actual recording.
• No cohort dates (SYN-275). Launch timeline remains undefined.

Flags and watch-outs

• The Maven application text references “20+ years of Fortune 500 management consulting” and specific companies (Disney, Delta, Home Depot, Wells Fargo) — Paul should confirm these are accurate as submitted
• Equipment purchase (SYN-252) is deferred but will eventually gate the pilot lesson (SYN-256)

Next session

1. Paul reviews 5 deliverables from 2026-03-13 — pricing, Maven listing, landing page, launch emails, unit economics. These are the customer-facing foundation.
2. Prep production issues — SYN-254 (Descript workflow) and SYN-258 (recording checklist) can be prepped now, independent of equipment
3. Case studies (SYN-245) — still needs Paul’s consulting stories to move forward
4. Set cohort dates (SYN-275) — unlocks launch timeline, email send dates, enrollment deadline
5. Corporate pilots (SYN-270) — needs Paul’s input on which clients to approach