forgejo-lila/lila
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues 50 Pull requests Projects 1 Releases Packages Wiki Activity Actions

updating docs

Browse source
This commit is contained in:
lila 2026-05-25 01:04:49 +02:00
parent 7e0311683f
commit caa2f7d395
1 changed files with 117 additions and 97 deletions
Download patch file Download diff file Expand all files Collapse all files

214
documentation/STARTUP_ROADMAP.md
View file

@ -58,7 +58,8 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
2. **One Polished Media Demo** `[not started]`
- Pick **ONE** piece of media and make it flawless end-to-end: subtitles/lyrics → Kaikki-based vocab extraction with sense-disambiguated translations → playable quiz with timestamps/context.
- Candidates: _Breaking Bad S01E01_, a Shakira song, or _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Ch. 1_.
- **Language pair:** en→es (biggest market, most content)
- **Media candidates:** _Breaking Bad S01E01_, a Shakira song, or _Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Ch. 1_.
- This is the primary "wow" moment. Differentiates Lila from all other vocabulary apps.
- **Blocker:** Requires (a) Kaikki pipeline in production, and (b) a media ingestion prototype.
@ -87,7 +88,6 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
- Additional multiplayer modes (Chain Link, Elimination Round, Cooperative Challenge)
- Leaderboards
- Spaced repetition review queue
- Additional game modes (see design/GAME_MODES.md)
---
@ -114,12 +114,10 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
- **What investors would ask:** "You have a quiz app. Where's the media feature you pitched?"
- **Requirement:** Media demo + Kaikki production data must be live before investor conversations.
4. **Monetization Hypothesis** `[not tested]`
- Pick ONE model to test:
- **Freemium:** Free media, premium for user uploads / unlimited multiplayer / advanced analytics.
- **B2B:** Schools and language institutes buy group licenses.
- **Affiliate:** Deep-link to streaming services, books, or music platforms.
- Don't implement yet, but explain LTV/CAC math and pricing assumptions.
4. **Monetization Hypothesis** `[deferred to business co-founder]`
- Not the technical founder's priority right now.
- Will be owned by business co-founder or advisor after traction.
- Options to test later: freemium (free curated media, premium for uploads/unlimited multiplayer/stats), B2B schools, affiliate links to streaming/books/music.
**Investor Timeline:**
@ -149,16 +147,58 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
- 1-page: What Lila is, what it isn't, and the 18-month arc.
- Include: target languages, target media types, target user persona, and what "success" looks like at 6 / 12 / 18 months.
**Co-Founder Search: Deferred**
- **Not needed now.** No savings, no traction, no differentiated product. A business co-founder can't raise money or design monetization from a generic quiz.
- **Revisit in Month 6+** after media demo + 100 users + retention data.
- **Exception:** If Reaktor.berlin accepts solo founder, take it. If they require a team, evaluate then — but don't rush a bad match.
---
## Stream 3: Building the Startup (Technical Founder Journey)
### Phase 1 — Differentiate the MVP (Now → Month 2–3)
### Phase 0 — Runway Acquisition (Now → June)
**Goal:** Secure full-time building capacity.
**Profile:** EU citizen, Berlin-based, no savings, currently employed but being fired May 28. Eligible for Arbeitslosengeld I (24 months employment history).
**Primary Path:**
1. **Register at Arbeitsamt** — May 28 (immediately after firing)
2. **Apply for Arbeitslosengeld I** — Same day
3. **Apply for Gründungszuschuss** — Within 4 weeks of starting self-employment
- Requires: business plan (1–2 pages), viability check by counselor
- Provides: 9–12 months basic income (~€1,500–2,000/month)
- **Best case:** Full-time building, no equity cost, no co-founder needed
- **Probability:** High (70–80%) — low burn rate, working app, clear technical path
**Parallel Path:**
- **Reaktor.berlin** — Already applied. Solo founder accepted (lower odds). €25K for 6 months, 2.5% equity.
- If accepted + Gründungszuschuss approved: Choose Gründungszuschuss (no equity, longer runway)
- If accepted + Gründungszuschuss rejected: Take Reaktor, build solo for 6 months
- If rejected: Continue with Gründungszuschuss or Arbeitslosengeld I
**Backup Path:**
- **Arbeitslosengeld I only** — If Gründungszuschuss rejected. €1,000–1,500/month. Continue building full-time.
- **Part-time job** — If Arbeitslosengeld I insufficient. Slower progress but sustainable.
**Not Pursuing:**
- Full-time job + nights/weekends — Burnout risk, Lila stalls
- Freelance/consulting — No current skill set or client network, too time-consuming to build
- EXIST/INVEST/YC/Techstars — Wrong stage, too competitive, too long timeline
---
### Phase 1 — Differentiate the MVP (Month 1–3)
**Duration:** 2–3 months
**Rule:** Do NOT look for a co-founder yet.
**Rule:** Build first, measure second, align third.
**Why:** The MVP is already built and deployed. What's missing is the **differentiating feature** (media-based practice). A co-founder won't help you build this faster — it's a technical/data problem. Also, you need leverage: "I built the MVP AND the media pipeline" is stronger than "I have an idea for a media pipeline."
**Assumption:** Gründungszuschuss approved (full-time building). If not, same tasks but slower.
**Tasks:**
@ -172,6 +212,7 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
- Pick ONE media piece (Breaking Bad S01E01, Shakira song, or Harry Potter Ch. 1)
- Pipeline: subtitles/lyrics → text extraction → vocabulary identification → Kaikki sense-matching → quiz generation
- UI: media selection → quiz with context ("This word appears at 00:04:23")
- **Language pair:** en→es
- **Timeline:** 2–4 weeks (parallel with Kaikki pipeline)
3. **Ship guest play**
@ -180,19 +221,24 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
- Capture email/OAuth after first session
- **Timeline:** 1 week
4. **Add metrics instrumentation**
4. **Add one additional multiplayer mode**
- Race to the Top recommended (simplest: target score, no round limit)
- Changes only scoring logic, reuses existing lobby infrastructure
- **Timeline:** 1–2 weeks
5. **Add metrics instrumentation**
- PostHog or Plausible
- Track: signups, quiz starts, completions, multiplayer matches, retention
- **Timeline:** 1 week
5. **Soft launch to 100 strangers**
- Reddit (r/languagelearning, r/Anki), language-learning Discords, Hacker News Show HN
6. **Soft launch to 100 strangers**
- Reddit (r/languagelearning, r/Anki, r/Refold), language-learning Discords, Hacker News Show HN
- Collect qualitative feedback
- **Timeline:** 1 week (after media demo is live)
---
### Phase 2 — Validate & Measure (Month 2–4)
### Phase 2 — Validate & Measure (Month 3–4)
**Goal:** Prove that the media feature resonates and that retention curves exist.
@ -207,130 +253,104 @@ The app is currently a **generic vocabulary quiz**. The media-based practice fea
---
### Phase 3 — Define the Gap (Month 3–5)
### Phase 3 — Funding or Revenue (Month 4–6)
**Goal:** Identify exactly what you suck at or hate doing.
**Goal:** Secure runway beyond Gründungszuschuss/Arbeitslosengeld I.
**The wrong approach:** "I need an MBA."
**The right approach:** "I need someone who has done [specific thing] before."
**If metrics are positive:**
**Common gaps for technical founders:**
| Gap | Profile | What They Do |
|-----|---------|--------------|
| Fundraising | Former founder who raised Seed/Series A | Writes deck, runs investor meetings, handles term sheets |
| Monetization | Product/Growth PM from ed-tech | Designs pricing, runs experiments, builds B2B pipeline |
| Partnerships | BD person from media/streaming | Negotiates content deals, affiliate partnerships |
| Operations | COO-type | Runs hiring, finance, legal, day-to-day ops |
| Marketing | Growth marketer | Runs paid/organic acquisition, community building |
- Apply to accelerators: Reaktor.berlin (next batch), Y Combinator, Techstars Berlin
- Angel outreach: Berlin ed-tech angels, former founders in language learning
- EU grants: EXIST (if university partnership), INVEST (Berlin-specific)
**Your job:** After 100 users, the gap becomes obvious. If no one converts to signup, you need growth/marketing. If schools email asking for licenses, you need BD/monetization. If investors ask questions you can't answer, you need a fundraising co-founder.
**If metrics are weak:**
- Iterate on media feature or pivot value proposition
- Consider B2B angle (schools, language institutes) if consumer traction is low
- Part-time work to extend runway while iterating
**Co-founder search:** Not a priority. If funding requires a team (some accelerators), evaluate then. Otherwise, hire contractors or employees for specific gaps.
---
### Phase 4 — Co-Founder Search (Targeted, Month 4–6)
### Phase 4 — Scale (Month 6+)
**Goal:** Find 2–3 candidates, work with them on a trial basis.
**Goal:** Grow user base, build team, secure Series A or sustainable revenue.
**Where to look:**
- **Founder dating events:** YC Co-Founder Matching, Indie Hackers meetups, local accelerators.
- **Angel investor intros:** Ask any angel you meet for intros to founders they backed who might want a new project.
- **Industry communities:** Ed-tech Slack/Discord groups, language-learning subreddits (look for people complaining about Duolingo — they care).
- **LinkedIn outbound:** Search "former PM at Duolingo," "former growth at Babbel." Cold DM with the Lila demo, not a resume.
**Trial period (4–8 weeks):**
- Work together on a concrete project (e.g., "Design and test a monetization experiment").
- No equity commitment. Pay as a contractor if needed.
- Evaluate: Do they deliver? Do you communicate well? Do they care about the mission?
---
### Phase 5 — Formalize (Only After Trial, Month 6+)
**Goal:** Legal structure, equity split, roles.
**Equity mindset:**
- **50/50 is dangerous** unless you truly could not build without them from day one. You already built the Lila MVP alone — you have leverage.
- **Suggested:** 60/40 or 65/35 with 4-year vesting and a 1-year cliff for both.
- **Vesting is non-negotiable.** If they leave in 6 months, they keep nothing.
**Roles:**
- You: CTO / Product (own technical vision, architecture, data pipeline).
- Them: CEO / COO / CMO depending on profile (own business side, fundraising, partnerships).
- Decision-making: You retain veto on technical/product decisions; they lead business/fundraising.
**Legal:**
- Incorporate properly (C-Corp if US, Ltd if UK/EU).
- IP assignment agreement: everything built so far belongs to the company.
- Founder agreement: roles, vesting, termination, dispute resolution.
**Only relevant if Phase 3 succeeds.** Otherwise, continue iterating.
---
## Suggested Execution Order
### Month 1 (Now)
### Month 0 (Now → May 28)
- **Week 1–2:** Finish Kaikki Stage 3 enrich sub-stage rewrite. Run full sample, validate quality. Start first additional multiplayer mode (Race to the Top recommended).
- **Week 3:** Ship guest play. Make auth optional on game routes.
- **Week 4:** Start media ingestion prototype (parallel). Pick one media piece, get text extraction working.
- **Week 1:** Finish Kaikki Stage 3 enrich sub-stage rewrite. Run full sample, validate quality.
- **Week 2:** Register at Arbeitsamt (May 28). Apply for Arbeitslosengeld I. Ask about Gründungszuschuss.
### Month 2
### Month 1 (June)
- **Week 1–2:** Complete media ingestion prototype. End-to-end: media → quiz. Complete first additional multiplayer mode.
- **Week 3:** Add metrics (PostHog/Plausible). Polish shareable output (social cards).
- **Week 4:** Integrate media demo with multiplayer mode. Test combined flow.
- **Week 1–2:** Submit Gründungszuschuss application. Prepare business plan (1–2 pages).
- **Week 3:** Start media ingestion prototype (parallel). Pick one media piece, get text extraction working.
- **Week 4:** Continue Kaikki pipeline + media prototype.
### Month 3
### Month 2 (July)
- **Week 1–2:** Complete media ingestion prototype. End-to-end: media → quiz.
- **Week 3:** Ship guest play. Add additional multiplayer mode (Race to the Top).
- **Week 4:** Add metrics (PostHog/Plausible). Polish shareable output.
### Month 3 (August)
- **Week 1:** Soft launch to 100 strangers. Gather feedback.
- **Week 2–3:** Iterate based on feedback. Fix hardening items from BACKLOG.md.
- **Week 4:** Analyze metrics. Decision gate: proceed or iterate?
### Month 4–6
### Month 4–6 (September–November)
- If metrics are positive: start co-founder search (Phase 4).
- If metrics are weak: iterate on media feature or pivot the value proposition.
- If metrics positive: Apply to accelerators, angels, grants.
- If metrics weak: Iterate or pivot.
- If Gründungszuschuss expires: Transition to Arbeitslosengeld I, part-time work, or funding.
---
## Open Questions to Refine This Roadmap
Answer these to make the roadmap more specific:
## Open Questions (Answered)
### Product Reality Check
- [ ] What is the exact blocker on Kaikki Stage 3? (Is it the sub-stage rewrite, or something else?)
- [ ] Which media piece should be the first demo? (Breaking Bad, Shakira, or Harry Potter?)
- [ ] Do you have subtitle/lyrics data for the chosen media piece?
- [x] What actually works today? — Singleplayer quiz, multiplayer, auth, deployment
- [x] What is broken or placeholder? — Kaikki pipeline Stage 3, guest play, in-memory session store
- [x] What language pairs are supported? — en↔it/de/es/fr
- [x] Exact blocker on Kaikki Stage 3? — No blocker, work in progress
### Target Audience
- [ ] Who is the ideal first user? (e.g., "German intermediate learner who watches Netflix")
- [ ] What language pair should the media demo target?
- [x] Who is the ideal first user? — Immersion learner (Netflix watcher) + social learner
- [x] What languages for launch? — en→es for media demo (biggest market), all 5 pairs live
### Business Model
- [ ] Do you have a monetization hypothesis? (freemium / B2B / affiliate)
- [ ] Any thoughts on unit economics?
- [x] Monetization hypothesis? — **Deferred** to business co-founder or advisor after traction
- [x] Unit economics? — **Deferred** until product-market fit
### Competitive Landscape
- [ ] Who do you see as direct competitors? (LingQ? FluentU? Duolingo? Anki?)
- [ ] What do they do poorly that Lila fixes?
- [x] Direct competitors? — Duolingo, Anki, LingQ, FluentU, Quizlet
- [x] What they do poorly? — No real media integration, no real-time multiplayer, no sense-disambiguated translations
### Runway & Constraints
- [ ] Is this full-time or nights-and-weekends?
- [ ] Do you have any funding, savings runway, or revenue?
- [ ] What's your hard deadline for "showable to users"?
- [x] Full-time or nights/weekends? — Transitioning to full-time via Gründungszuschuss
- [x] Funding/savings? — No savings. EU citizen, Berlin-based, eligible for Arbeitslosengeld I
- [x] Hard deadline? — None. Self-paced. Gründungszuschuss application deadline: within 4 weeks of May 28
### Co-Founder Search
- [ ] Local or remote-first?
- [ ] What do you want them to _do_? (fundraise, partnerships, monetization, operations?)
- [ ] Do you already know candidates, or starting from zero?
- [ ] Equity mindset: 50/50, or majority control for yourself?
- [x] Local or remote? — Berlin-based, but open
- [x] What do they do? — **Not needed now.** Revisit Month 6+ after traction
- [x] Known candidates? — None. Starting from zero
- [x] Equity mindset? — **Deferred** until co-founder search begins
---
_End of Lila feature & startup strategy doc._