Kill / Iterate / Scale — weekly decision rules
2026-02-11 concept metricsdecisionslaunchkill-criteria
Hard numeric thresholds for weekly product decisions. No “let’s wait and see”:
| Week | Metric | KILL | ITERATE | SCALE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fake-Door clicks | < 10 per $20 | — | — |
| 2 | Signups | 0 | 1-4 | ≥ 5 |
| 3+ | Growth WoW | < 0% | 0-50% | > 50% |
ARCHIVE (soft kill): declining signups for 2+ consecutive weeks. SCALE actions: new locale, partnerships, programmatic SEO.
Core value: predetermined numbers remove emotional attachment. When the kill threshold is set before launch — data makes the decision, not ego.
This is the antidote to sunk cost fallacy. Spent 3 days — signups 0 — KILL. Not “maybe tweak the marketing,” but KILL.
- launch-playbook-summary — origin: section 5
- decision-framework-5-steps — kill/iterate/scale = step 5 (Execution) with predetermined thresholds
- optimizer-syndrome — predetermined thresholds = satisficing for go/no-go decisions
- antifragile-life-design — fast kill = limiting downside in the barbell