2026-03-17 — Production and platform sweep

What shipped today

The entire production pipeline went from empty to fully documented in a single session. Four production artifacts shipped: the Descript editing workflow (SYN-254) with a 4-pass editing pipeline, custom vocabulary for course terms, and export specs; a per-session recording checklist (SYN-258) with 16 pre-session items and mistake-handling protocols; a batch recording schedule laying out 30 lessons across 8 recording blocks over 5 weeks; and a pilot lesson quality scorecard template (SYN-256) ready for Paul to fill in after the first recording. The production track went from 2/7 to 5/7 — the remaining two items (pilot recording and clip extraction tool) both need physical equipment.

Platform work closed the last two agent-actionable issues. The Lightning Lesson plan (SYN-260) designs a free 60-minute Maven workshop around Module 1’s thesis — “Your AI strategy is failing for a reason nobody is telling you” — with a full talk outline, Q&A management, and a conversion path offering 20% founding discount with 7-day expiration. The B2B invoicing workflow (SYN-263) provides three paste-ready response templates (1-2 seats, 3-10 team, 10+ enterprise), invoice generation steps for both Maven native and Synaxis fallback paths, enrollment fulfillment procedures, and a pipeline tracking table.

Two more issues rounded out the session. The corporate training pitch (SYN-271) is a 9-section modular document designed to make an L&D director want a scoping call — executive summary, problem reframe, program deliverables, competitive positioning against MIT/Cornell/Kellogg/Wharton, pilot structure, and exact corporate pricing. The content repurposing pipeline (SYN-269) maps the full recording-to-distribution workflow: 18-21 hours of raw content per cohort cycle yielding 135-222 clips, processed in 5-hour batches per module to feed 2-3 weeks of LinkedIn posts and newsletter editions.

Completed

• SYN-254 — Set up Descript workflow — editing, filler removal, Studio Sound
• SYN-258 — Create recording checklist and batch recording schedule
• SYN-256 — Record and edit a pilot lesson (prepped with template; moved to In Review — human recording task)
• SYN-260 — Set up Maven Lightning Lesson as pre-launch funnel
• SYN-263 — Set up B2B invoicing workflow for corporate buyers
• SYN-271 — Pitch corporate training pilot to first client
• SYN-269 — Set up content repurposing pipeline

Release progress

• Module outlines: 6/6 done
• Supporting content: 2/3 done (SYN-245 case studies — In Review, needs Paul’s consulting stories)
• Audience: 8/8 done
• Platform: 5/7 done (SYN-261 cohort logistics blocked on Maven approval + cohort dates; SYN-257 clip extraction blocked on pilot lesson)
• Production: 5/7 done (SYN-256 pilot recording needs equipment; SYN-257 clip tool needs video)
• Launch: 6/8 done (SYN-275 cohort dates + SYN-270 corporate pilot clients — both In Review)

Overall: 32/39 done. 5 In Review (all human-gated). 2 Backlog (blocked on human decisions).

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)
• Corporate pitch [PAUL: ...] placeholders need real $12M case study and contact details
• Equipment not purchased yet (SYN-252)

Risks

• Maven approval is still the external blocker. Platform setup (cohort logistics) can’t proceed until approved. No timeline on this.
• No cohort dates (SYN-275). Everything downstream — enrollment deadline, email send dates, live session schedule, Lightning Lesson timing — depends on this single decision.
• Production bottleneck is now physical. All documentation is done. The blocker is equipment purchase (SYN-252) → pilot recording (SYN-256) → clip extraction (SYN-257). This is a sequential chain with Paul at the front.

Flags and watch-outs

• The corporate pitch pricing must stay aligned with platform/pricing.md — any pricing changes need to propagate to both documents
• Lightning Lesson plan references Maven Lightning Lesson format — confirm this is still the right Maven feature name after instructor approval
• Repurposing pipeline recommends Opus Clip ($19/mo) as an addition to the stack for live session clips — Paul should decide whether to add it or use Descript-only workflow

Next session

1. Paul reviews 5 In Review issues — SYN-252 (equipment purchase), SYN-275 (cohort dates), SYN-245 (case studies), SYN-270 (corporate pilot clients), SYN-256 (pilot recording). These are the only things left.
2. Set cohort dates (SYN-275) — this is the single highest-leverage decision remaining. It unlocks launch timeline, email send dates, Lightning Lesson scheduling, and enrollment deadline.
3. Purchase equipment (SYN-252) — gates pilot recording, which gates clip extraction, which completes the production track.
4. Voice review the 2026-03-13 deliverables — pricing, Maven listing, landing page, launch emails, unit economics. These are customer-facing and need Paul’s stamp.
5. Case studies (SYN-245) — still needs Paul’s real consulting stories to move forward.