EmberGraph MVP — Commitment Decision Matrix

The single-page "what am I signing off on" view. Companion to full-stack-with-embergraph.{md,html} and embergraph-external-review-synthesis-2026-06-23.md.

Prepared 2026-06-24 for CEO go/no-go on the MVP build before Warm Lead Beta launch.

🎯 The bottom line — in one sentence

If you sign off, you authorize ~5-6 weeks of focused engineering at ~$50-100/mo recurring infra cost to converge the 3-engine access architecture into one decision substrate, close every honest gap from slides 3 and 7, and ship a production-ready foundation before the Warm Lead Beta (~July 1).

Decision 1 — The 5 architectural commitments (forever-ish)

These are the load-bearing design decisions. If you green-light the MVP, you sign these.

5/5 external reviewers converged on each of these. Highest-confidence panel findings.

Decision 2 — The MVP build (~5-6 weeks of work)

Go/no-go per phase. You can stop at any phase boundary.

Recommended: Go on all six. Each phase has a clean stopping point if priorities shift.

Minimum viable if you must trim: Phase 0 + 1a + 1b are non-negotiable for alpha readiness. Phases 2-4 can be reordered, never skipped.

Decision 3 — Vendor + cost decisions

Real money goes here. None over $100/mo, none over a year.

Total recurring delta: $50-100/mo. No annual commitments. All vendors swappable.

Decision 4 — People + relationships

Decision 5 — EMB-296 internal decisions (Phase 0 prerequisites)

These live inside the existing EMB-296 spec. Resolve before Phase 0 starts (~30 min of decision time).

What you are explicitly NOT signing off on

These items are NAMED but DEFERRED. Each ships only when a real customer signal forces it.

You can build any of these later without rework. The MVP design accommodates each as a clean addition, not a rewrite.

What you are NOT committing to at all

• ❌ A specific timeline past the 6-week MVP
• ❌ Full execution of the synthesis as-written
• ❌ Any vendor lock-in (all 5 vendors in Decision 3 are swappable)
• ❌ A specific cap on iteration — every LOCKED item can be reopened with new evidence
• ❌ Any irreversible legal or financial commitment
• ❌ Adding features beyond the 6 MVP phases

The "if I sign this" summary

Sign here

☐ I authorize the MVP build per Decision 2 (all 6 phases, ~5-6 weeks)

☐ I commit to the 5 architectural decisions in Decision 1

☐ I approve the vendor + cost decisions in Decision 3 (~$50-100/mo)

☐ I will send the Joel patent note before Phase 3 starts (Decision 4)

☐ I will resolve EMB-296 D1-D7 before Phase 0 starts (Decision 5)

☐ I accept that the deferred items are NAMED but NOT in scope

Signed: ________________________  Date: __________

What happens after sign-off

1. Day 1: Lydo resolves EMB-296 D1-D7 (~30 min)
2. Days 2-6: Phase 0 — EMB-296 provisioning + cutover
3. Week 2: Phase 1a + 1b in parallel (AI redaction + RLS closures)
4. Week 3: Phase 2 — EMB-420 minimum (Anne UX gate)
5. Weeks 4-5: Phase 3 — Domino #2 Strategy C
6. Week 6: Phase 4 — Observability stack
7. Week 6 end: Warm Lead Beta launch readiness review

Each Friday: weekly check-in against this matrix. Anything off-track surfaces; you decide whether to adjust scope, timeline, or both.

What happens if you DON'T sign off

Nothing breaks. The design docs remain canonical. The full-stack picture stays as the north star. The 3-engine drift continues; the slide-7 gap remains open; alpha launch waits.

You can come back to this matrix any time the alpha launch becomes a forcing function. The work is the same; the cost grows with member count (per CoWork pattern #3 — pre-launch is the cheapest moment).

Generated 2026-06-24 by Claude Code. Decision matrix for CEO commitment review. No commitments made until signed.