Real growth strategy from a startup CMO: The frameworks, interviews, & honest insights that 100k+ founders and operators actually use. The weekly newsletter by Lillian Pierson that cuts through the noise and gets straight to what works.
The six files I build before I write a single line of copy
Published about 18 hours ago • 2 min read
The Strategy Room on YouTube — The six files I build before I write a single line of copyWatch me build the context layer your AI writer, scoring model, and CRM all lack.
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From:
Lillian Pierson
Subject:
The six files I build before I write a single line of copy
Most technical founders that I talk with have already bought the tools. There's an AI writer somewhere, a scoring model that sits inside the customer relationship management (CRM) platform, a transcription bot on every call, and a workflow builder that holds the whole thing together.
And every one of those tools holds a different piece of your business. Your AI writer works without a single closed-lost reason in front of it. Your scoring model works without your positioning documentation. Your call transcripts sit in a folder that only the transcription tool reads.
Fact of the matter is that an AI-native growth system starts with one shared context layer, and that context layer is a set of files that you write yourself.
The order of those files matters more than the tooling. I build six of them, in this sequence: win-loss, competitor research, ICP, positioning, messaging, and tone-of-voice. Win-loss goes first because your buyers supply the content for it, and every file after it inherits what your buyers said. Positioning that you draft before win-loss is a document about your own opinions.
Then one latest.md changelog catches the new objections, the competitor moves, and the insights from this week's calls, so your layer stays current between rebuilds. That single changelog file is the difference between a context layer that ages well and one that goes stale in a quarter.
At SingleStore I generated 1,100 organic marketing qualified leads at $50 each across 50+ technical webinar promotions, with zero paid ad spend, and those promotions converted because I understood the technical buyer before I wrote a word for them. So win-loss going first in this walkthrough is the step that I'd have you watch twice:
This one is for you if your product is technically deep and your growth tools each hold a different piece of what you already know.
WHAT YOU'LL SEE ME DO
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Build the six Markdown files in order, and show you why win-loss has to land before positioning.
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Open the latest.md changelog and add a fresh objection, a competitor move, and a note from this week's calls.
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Define the operational ICP across 15 to 25 fields that cover fit, timing, and intent, then load the same rules into your CRM scoring and into your AI context layer so that the two agree.
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Wire Attio into Claude Code and run lead scoring against the whole context layer, because your CRM only ever held a thin part of that context.
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Hold the drafted follow-up at the approval step, so that a person signs off before anything is sent.
So your work gets faster, and your decisions stay exactly as good as they were.
Practical GTM Engineering, AI Workflows & Growth Strategy For Tech Startups
Real growth strategy from a startup CMO: The frameworks, interviews, & honest insights that 100k+ founders and operators actually use. The weekly newsletter by Lillian Pierson that cuts through the noise and gets straight to what works.
