Date: 2026-08-08 Owner: Michael Houck Status: Decided
Decision
Megaphone’s offer is rebuilt as the RV-standard ladder with the canon recorded in Megaphone: System Definition and Offer Canon (v1.0 FINAL, 2026-08-08). Headlines:
- One-liner: “Be the name in the room.” Contrast line canon: “JOLT builds reach. Megaphone builds pull.” Owned term “pull” adopted on trial, lowercase, kept out of module names so a swap stays cheap.
- Boundary: JOLT sells reach on camera platforms; Megaphone sells standing and pull on the written surfaces (X, LinkedIn, email). Founder accounts are the product; company accounts secondary inside Studio.
- The Megaphone System: 8 modules / 4 layers (Standing Map, Voiceprint, 5-3-1 Slate, Format Bank, One-Hour Week, Extraction Loop, DM Pipeline, Scoreboard), module parity across tiers.
- Ladder: VE + quiz free; Founder Authority OS $197 one-time (X + LinkedIn
- newsletter); Megaphone Deploy $15,000 one-time 90-day install WITH embedded Forward Deployed Strategist (embed parity with JOLT, per client churn feedback that writers lacked business context); Megaphone Studio $3,995/mo (hold at launch, revisit at first Season); Launch Campaigns from $2,500, application only.
- Add-ons (farm-system doctrine: motions prove themselves as add-ons, only a divergent buyer/channel earns spin-out): The Masthead (newsletter production $2,495/mo, +$995/mo growth management, client funds ad spend at cost), Team Amplification ($7,500 install + from $1,995/mo by seats, custom by default), Proof Desk ($1,995 per case study, no subscription).
- Creator network: folded in as an ingredient, never a separate business or platform to maintain. Discretion rules: no public mechanics/pricing, in-call disclosure after qualification, outcomes-only case studies. JOLT’s TikTok-native boosting exempt.
- Fund Partner Program: Draper and Mantis formalized as founding design partners (already run the motion informally). Studio for the partner, preferred Deploy pricing for portcos, quarterly report. Invitation only.
- Capacity: Blake Emal strategist zero, ~20-30 accounts on the Hermes spine; bench Austin, Andrew, Tanyo.
- Longform (YouTube/podcast) ruled a JOLT Studio add-on, not a business. Case studies ruled a Megaphone add-on, not a Verbatim-style company. Cold email ruled out entirely (AI saturation). Creator partnerships stays on the future-business bench.
Context
Follows the Lore / Hard Calls / JOLT direction-setting this week. Inputs: client churn feedback (writers lacked context, in-housing), the post-writers margin restructuring, network sale OFF with Studio folded into Megaphone (entity 12766 retired), competitor scan (storyarb $7k+/12-client model and 90-day Seasons; Alto Studios’ Aug 2026 exit to Good Content validating the category’s consolidation; Legacy Builder proof grammar; Verbatim’s own-one-noun lesson), and the Wiz employee advocacy playbook.
Options considered
Separate network business (rejected: no platform maintenance, sale off), Deploy at $12,500 without embed (rejected for embed parity once churn feedback ruled), “Be the obvious choice” one-liner (rejected: Legacy Builder collision), owned terms standing/weight (pull chosen on trial), YouTube/podcast agency and case-study agency as new businesses (both rejected as add-ons instead), cold email agency (rejected).
Full canon
See Megaphone: System Definition and Offer Canon (v1.0 FINAL, 2026-08-08) (v1.0 FINAL, this date).