{
 "id": "10.2",
 "title": "Ideal customer",
 "department": "Marketing and growth",
 "department_slug": "marketing-and-growth",
 "direction": null,
 "branded": false,
 "status": "draft",
 "owner": "Param",
 "last_verified": "Mon Oct 26",
 "holds": "The store we are built for, and the ones we are not",
 "urls": {
  "html": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/ideal-customer",
  "markdown": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/ideal-customer.md",
  "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/marketing-and-growth/ideal-customer.json"
 },
 "other_directions": [],
 "tldr": {
  "headline": "A founder led brand with its own products and its own store",
  "points": [
   {
    "icon": "check",
    "text": "Own products, own store, reviews and some ads, with one to a few people deciding."
   },
   {
    "icon": "warn",
    "text": "Marketplace only sellers, free mailboxes and many brand agencies are not a fit yet."
   },
   {
    "icon": "people",
    "text": "Two of five partners sit outside the written fit, so it is still a guess."
   },
   {
    "icon": "lock",
    "text": "Sign in needs an email at the brand's own domain."
   },
   {
    "icon": "eye",
    "text": "The read should say which step was thin, so a poor fit knows why."
   }
  ],
  "stat": {
   "value": "5",
   "label": "partners checked against the fit"
  },
  "decide": "Do large brands like Puma India count as a target, or learning partners only?",
  "mood": "building"
 },
 "sources": [
  "brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp, fit-in-one-read, not-for",
  "brew origin/main a559de6: auth.js:29-31; CLAUDE.md:26-31; public/app.js:276-289, 391, 407; build.js:222-226; SCOPE.md:11",
  "handbook content/product/personas.md",
  "memory: brew-live-stores, feed-for-all-brands, brew-read-stream-backfill, brew-access-rules, brew-closed-store-gate"
 ],
 "open_questions": [
  "**Do large brands like Puma India count as a target, or a learning partner only?** Proposal: learning partner only; keep the written fit for outreach.",
  "**Do enquiry stores like Mana stay in scope?** Proposal: yes for partners already in, no new enquiry stores in outreach until v1 ships.",
  "**Is there a store size floor?** Proposal: no floor; measure the review count below which Plays get worse across the five partners, then decide.",
  "**India only for outreach?** Proposal: yes for the first cycle, as in [go to market](/marketing-and-growth/go-to-market)."
 ],
 "parts": {
  "Answer": "We are built for a founder led brand that sells its own products from its own store, with a catalog, reviews and some ads, where one to a few people decide the marketing; marketplace only sellers, people without the brand's own email, and agencies with many brands are not a fit yet.",
  "Today": "### What the product assumes\n\n| Assumption | Why it matters | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| The read starts from a store link | No link, no read | [src: brew/public/app.js:407] |\n| The person signs in with the brand's own email domain | A free mailbox or another company's email cannot start a read | [src: brew/auth.js:29-31] [src: memory brew-access-rules] |\n| Plays name products | A store with no products gets thin Plays | [src: brew/SCOPE.md:11] |\n| A store can also sell by enquiry | Real estate and services are read differently, with a lead form and no cart | [src: brew/CLAUDE.md:28-29] |\n| Any platform | Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, BigCommerce, Salesforce Commerce or custom | [src: brew/CLAUDE.md:26-27] |\n| A closed store is team only | Read from the admin, never shown to outsiders | [src: memory brew-closed-store-gate] |\n| A person can start three new brands a day | Limits a freelancer trying many stores | [src: brew/build.js:222-225] |\n\n### Who we actually have\n\n| Partner | What it tells us | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| Arata | Own products, Meta and Shopify connected | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |\n| Nutrova | Own products | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |\n| Mana | Real estate, sells by enquiry, outside the core fit | [src: memory feed-for-all-brands] |\n| Puma India | A large brand on Salesforce Commerce, bigger than the core fit | [src: memory feed-for-all-brands] |\n| Scrubroom | Small store; its read showed the platform must hold up mid deploy | [src: memory brew-read-stream-backfill] |\n\nAll five are Indian brands [src: memory brew-live-stores]. Two of five sit outside the written fit, so the fit is still a working guess [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp].\n\n### The fit, as first written\n\n| Trait | How the read tells | Evidence | Source |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Sells its own products | Catalog and brand steps | Working guess | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp] |\n| Has its own store link | Paste | Built in | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp] |\n| Reviews and photos | Reviews and catalog steps | Built in | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp] |\n| Some ads or posts | Ads step | Working guess | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp] |\n| One to a few people decide | Who's this feed for, on the reading screen | Working guess | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp] [src: brew/public/app.js:773] |\n| A busy season ahead | Festival and launch cards | Built in | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 icp] |\n\n### Not a fit today\n\n| Who | Why | Source |\n|---|---|---|\n| Marketplace only sellers | The read starts from a store link | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 not-for] |\n| People on Gmail or another company's email | Refused and sent to the demo stores | [src: brew/public/app.js:276-289] |\n| Agencies with many brands | No brand switcher; one invite per brand | [src: handbook content/product/personas.md] |\n| Services with no products | Plays name products | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-2 not-for] |",
  "Tomorrow": "| Item | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|\n| The core fit: own products, own store, a small deciding team | v1 | Stays |\n| The read says in plain words which step was thin, so a poor fit knows why | v1 | New |\n| One finding shown before sign in, so a visitor sees fit before giving an email | v1 | New |\n| Plus stores that want posts scheduled after their yes | v2 | New |\n| Plus stores that want to see what worked | v3 | New |\n| Plus stores that want ads run inside rules and a budget | v4 | New |\n| Agencies with a brand switcher | v2 | New, proposed |\n| Enquiry stores as a supported kind, once tested beyond Mana | v1 | Changes |",
  "How we do it": "1. Before offering a read, look at the store: a link that loads, own products, reviews with words, some ads or posts.\n2. If two or more are missing, say kindly that a read will be thin, and offer it anyway if they still want one.\n3. After each partner read, note which steps were thin in the [partner feedback log](/product/partner-feedback-log).\n4. Every six weeks, compare the fit table with what partners did, and mark each trait confirmed or dropped.",
  "Numbers": "| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Fit score at ask | Traits present out of six, scored by a person before the read | The asks list | Proposed |\n| Thin step rate | Reads with at least one step that found little | Build status per brand | Proposed |\n| Fit to habit | Share of good fit stores still handing off in week four, against poor fit stores | Brief status | Proposed |",
  "Open": "1. **Do large brands like Puma India count as a target, or a learning partner only?** Proposal: learning partner only; keep the written fit for outreach.\n2. **Do enquiry stores like Mana stay in scope?** Proposal: yes for partners already in, no new enquiry stores in outreach until v1 ships.\n3. **Is there a store size floor?** Proposal: no floor; measure the review count below which Plays get worse across the five partners, then decide.\n4. **India only for outreach?** Proposal: yes for the first cycle, as in [go to market](/marketing-and-growth/go-to-market)."
 }
}