A weekly founder review that ends with a decision
Review one business action against an agreed metric, rather than collecting a longer list of tasks. The essential record is: decision, evidence, owner, review date, baseline, target and actual observation.
A 30-minute review
- First 5 minutes: confirm the baseline and what changed in the business.
- Next 10 minutes: inspect the action and its evidence. Did it actually happen?
- Next 10 minutes: compare the observed metric with the target. Look for other possible explanations.
- Final 5 minutes: continue, change or stop the action. Assign one owner and the next review date.
Example action record
Action: contact customers with undisputed overdue invoices. Owner: collections lead. Metric: cash collected against a defined invoice list. Baseline: amount overdue on the start date. Target: an amount agreed after reviewing collectability. Actual: bank-confirmed receipts against those invoices.
Do not confuse activity with economic value
Messages sent, meetings held and reports generated are activity measures. Cash received, contribution earned and waste avoided are closer to business outcomes. Even then, a before-and-after difference does not establish causation. Keep source evidence and record other changes.