{
 "id": "15.10",
 "title": "Customer stories and proof",
 "department": "Product marketing",
 "department_slug": "product-marketing",
 "direction": null,
 "branded": false,
 "status": "needs-you",
 "owner": "Param",
 "last_verified": "Mon Oct 26",
 "holds": "Partner results we can share, with permission",
 "urls": {
  "html": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/product-marketing/customer-stories-and-proof",
  "markdown": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/product-marketing/customer-stories-and-proof.md",
  "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/product-marketing/customer-stories-and-proof.json"
 },
 "other_directions": [],
 "tldr": {
  "headline": "No partner has said yes in writing, so no stories yet",
  "points": [
   {
    "icon": "lock",
    "text": "Nothing of a partner's appears without a written yes for each use."
   },
   {
    "icon": "warn",
    "text": "v1 measures nothing, so no partner result exists to tell."
   },
   {
    "icon": "chart",
    "text": "Our only partner figures are read findings, which describe a store, not a result."
   },
   {
    "icon": "book",
    "text": "Four story types grow with versions; a template and the ask are ready."
   },
   {
    "icon": "people",
    "text": "Ask only after a partner's second Monday of hand offs, in a personal email."
   }
  ],
  "stat": {
   "value": "12 of 32",
   "label": "AI answers named one partner"
  },
  "decide": "Which partner do we ask first, and is it Arata?",
  "mood": "waiting"
 },
 "sources": [
  "brew origin/main a559de6: SCOPE.md:39; docs/handover/product/08-demo-guide.md:14-16",
  "brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-7 proof-rules; h.js h-2 proof",
  "memory: brew-live-stores, brew-audit-2026-10-15, brew-go-live-2026-10-17, harry-reviews-fictional"
 ],
 "open_questions": [
  "**Which partner do we ask first?** Proposal: Arata, since it is furthest along and has real accounts connected, after its next weekly hand off.",
  "**What is the first story, before results exist?** Proposal: a finding from their read, with their yes, told as what we found, never as a result.",
  "**Who asks?** Proposal: Param, in a personal email, never a form.",
  "**Is Gully Labs still a partner we may ask?** Proposal: treat it as a past prospect and do not ask until Param confirms."
 ],
 "parts": {
  "Answer": "The partner results we may share, each with written permission; today there are none, because no partner has given permission and v1 measures no results, so this page holds the rules, the ask and the template until Param gets the first yes.",
  "Today": "| Fact | Source |\n|---|---|\n| Five design partner prospects use production: Arata, Nutrova, Mana, Puma India and Scrubroom | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |\n| No partner has given written permission to be named, quoted or shown in our marketing; none is recorded in any source | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |\n| Arata agreed on 15 Oct that its team notes stay public on the demo site; that is not permission for a story | [src: memory brew-audit-2026-10-15] |\n| Gully Labs was named the first design partner on 17 Oct and is missing from the 24 Oct list | [src: memory brew-go-live-2026-10-17] [src: memory brew-live-stores] |\n| v1 measures nothing, so no partner result exists to tell | [src: brew/SCOPE.md:39] |\n| The only partner figures we hold are read findings, such as one partner named in 12 of 32 AI answers; they describe the store, not a result of using Brew | [src: brew/docs/handover/product/08-demo-guide.md:14-16] |\n| Proof we may use is what a founder can see in their own read; never a lift, a logo or a quote we did not get in writing | [src: brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-7 proof-rules] |\n| Sample reviews in our other products are fixtures and never shown as real | [src: memory harry-reviews-fictional] |",
  "Tomorrow": "| Item | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|\n| A written yes from each partner before any name, logo, quote or screen of theirs appears | v1 | New |\n| Story type one: a finding from their read, with their yes, such as what their reviews say that their pages never do | v1 | New |\n| Story type two: how their week changed, in their words, with their yes | v1 | New |\n| Story type three: what a post that went out after their yes did | v2 | New |\n| Story type four: a measured result tied to the Play that made it | v3 | New |\n| Never an invented customer, quote or result | v1 to v4 | Stays |",
  "How we do it": "1. Ask a partner only after their second Monday of hand offs, never in the first call.\n2. Ask in writing for one thing at a time: the name, a quote, a screen, a finding. Keep the reply.\n3. Write the story with the template below and send it back for their yes on the exact words.\n4. Store the yes beside the story, with the date and the person who gave it.\n5. If a partner leaves, take their story down the same week.\n\n```\nStore: <name, only with written yes>\nWho said it: <person and role>\nTheir Monday before: <their words>\nWhat the read found: <one finding, with its source>\nWhat they made and handed off: <one piece>\nWhat they say now: <their words>\nPermission: <date, person, what they agreed to>\n```",
  "Numbers": "| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Stories with permission | Stories with a written yes on file | This page | Proposed, zero today |\n| Partners asked | Partners asked for a story | Pipeline | Proposed |",
  "Open": "1. **Which partner do we ask first?** Proposal: Arata, since it is furthest along and has real accounts connected, after its next weekly hand off.\n2. **What is the first story, before results exist?** Proposal: a finding from their read, with their yes, told as what we found, never as a result.\n3. **Who asks?** Proposal: Param, in a personal email, never a form.\n4. **Is Gully Labs still a partner we may ask?** Proposal: treat it as a past prospect and do not ask until Param confirms."
 }
}