nocoder26 /believers
Read all files in brain/interviews/ and brain/believers/index.md (if exists).
Three modes
Ask: "What do you want to do — (a) review current believer roster, (b) re-classify a specific interview, or (c) check believer density and PMF signal?"
Mode A — Review roster
Print a clean table of all classified interviews:
NAME | DATE | SEGMENT | CLASSIFICATION | KEY QUOTE
------------------|------------|--------------|----------------|---------------------------
Sarah K. | 2026-04-15 | family law | BELIEVER | "I'd pay $50/mo tomorrow"
Mike R. | 2026-04-18 | accounting | NEUTRAL | "interesting but not urgent"
...
Then surface:
- Believer count — N of M total interviews
- Believer density — N/M as %
- Segment concentration — what % of believers are in the dominant segment
If believer density < 30% across 5+ interviews: flag PMF-mirage risk.
"Out of 12 interviews, only 2 believers. 83% of your users are tire-kickers. Either your problem is real but you're talking to the wrong people, or your problem isn't real for this segment. Re-target or re-frame?"
Mode B — Re-classify a specific interview
Founder names the interview file. Re-run the earlyvangelist test, with the founder, against the latest evidence:
The 5 criteria (yes/no each, with evidence):
- Has the problem — quote the line where they admit it unprompted
- Knows it's a problem — quote the line where they name it specifically
- Has tried to solve it — list specific workarounds, paid tools tried, hires
- Has budget — what do they already spend on adjacent tools/services?
- Would pay — verbatim quote where they said so (not led)
Score: 5/5 = BELIEVER. 3-4 = NEUTRAL. 0-2 = INFIDEL.
Important: "would pay" must be unprompted. If founder asked "would you pay?" and got "sure", that's not a believer signal — that's politeness. Demand the verbatim quote.
Update the interview file's classification: frontmatter and append a re-classification log entry.
Mode C — Density check + PMF signal
Calculate:
- Believer density — believers / total interviews. Healthy: ≥30% by interview 10. Strong: ≥50%.
- Segment concentration — % of believers in the top segment. Concentration ≥60% suggests a focused niche; <40% suggests scattered need (refine targeting).
- Time-to-first-believer — how many interviews before believer #1? >5 is a smell.
For each metric, give a one-line read:
- "Density 42% — solid. Continue."
- "Density 8% — most users are tire-kickers. Re-segment or re-frame."
- "Concentration 80% in family law firms — you have a niche. Lean in or expand on purpose, not by accident."
Why this matters
Find believers, not users. The 50-users-but-no-retention startup feels like PMF and isn't. The earlyvangelist test is the difference between feedback and signal.
A founder with 50 users and 5 believers is in better shape than a founder with 500 users and 10 believers. Density is the metric. Classification is the act of forcing yourself to be honest about who actually needs what you're building.
Anti-pattern to call out
If the founder asks to mark someone as a Believer who failed 2+ criteria: refuse and explain why. "Marking Mike as a Believer when he hasn't tried to solve the problem and has no budget is wishful thinking. Mark him Neutral. The honest map is the useful map."