---
id: "11.6"
title: "Pipeline"
dept: sales-and-partnerships
status: needs-you
owner: Param
branded: false
last_verified: 2026-10-26
sources:
  - "brew origin/main a559de6: db/partner-copy.js:43, auth.js:78-110"
  - "memory: brew-live-stores, brew-go-live-2026-10-17, brew-audit-2026-10-15, brew-access-rules, brew-pricing-parked"
  - "brand-directions/book/content/i.js i-3 partner-questions"
---

# Pipeline

## Answer

The pipeline is every brand we are talking to, its stage and its next step; today no pipeline exists in any source beyond the five design partners, so Param must supply the prospects and agree the stages below.

## Today

| What exists | Source |
|---|---|
| Five real design partner prospects: Arata, Nutrova, Mana, Puma India, Scrubroom | [src: memory brew-live-stores] [src: brew/db/partner-copy.js:43] |
| Gully Labs was called the first design partner on 17 Oct, with no connectors, and was waiting to confirm its read on 15 Oct; it is not in the 24 Oct list of five | [src: memory brew-go-live-2026-10-17] [src: memory brew-audit-2026-10-15] |
| Cozy Snugglet and Zenant are our own test brands, never prospects | [src: memory brew-live-stores] |
| Brands on the demo site are showcases, never presented as customers | [src: brand-directions/book/content/i.js i-2 demo-mode] |
| Every signed in email that opens a brand is logged since 23 Oct, readable by staff at `/api/admin/visitors` | [src: memory brew-access-rules] |
| No list of prospects, stages, owners, dates or values is kept anywhere in the sources | none |
| No count of design partners we may quote in public | [src: brand-directions/book/content/i.js i-3 partner-questions] |

## Tomorrow

| Item | Version | Tag |
|---|---|---|
| One table here, one row per brand, with the stages below | v1 | New, proposed |
| Proposed stages: Talking, Read done, Team in, Connected, First hand off, Agreement signed, Paying | v1 | New, proposed |
| A weekly look at visitor logs for brands whose own people opened their read, as a warm signal | v1 | New, proposed |
| Paying appears as a stage only once pricing is unparked | v2 | New, proposed |

## How we do it

1. When a brand starts talking to us, add a row: brand, slug, contact, source of the lead, stage, next step, date of next step, owner among Param, Sai and Arvind.
2. Move a brand to the next stage only on a fact: a read done, a member joined, an account connected, a brief shared, a signature.
3. Every Monday, review the table and the visitor log:

```
curl -s -H "cookie: <staff session>" "https://feed.joinsquareup.com/api/admin/visitors?slug=<slug>"
```

4. Never name a prospect outside the team without its written yes.

## Numbers

| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brands per stage | Count of rows in each stage | This table | Proposed |
| Read to team in | Share of read brands where someone from the brand's own domain joined | `private/members.json` per brand | Proposed |
| Days to first hand off | From read done to first brief shared or sent | Jam records | Proposed |
| Design partners signed | Brands with a signed agreement | [Contracts](/sales-and-partnerships/contracts) | Proposed, today 0 on record |

## Open

1. **Who else are we talking to?** Proposal: Param lists every brand in conversation, with the contact and the next step, and we add them here this week.
2. **Is Gully Labs still a design partner?** Proposal: mark it Paused unless Param says it is active.
3. **Do these seven stages fit?** Proposal: accept them as written and revisit after the first two signed agreements.
4. **Who owns each prospect?** Proposal: Param owns all of them until a second person takes one.
5. **Where does the pipeline live?** Proposal: here in the handbook only, no separate CRM until there are more than twenty rows.