Founder story series

Turns a personal or company story into a numbered series that people follow week to week: an arc planned up front, each episode complete on its own, recognisable framing, scheduled at consistent times.

Before you start

1. get_account: time zone, drafts left, weekly cap, approval setting, autonomy.
2. list_channels: where the series runs (usually LinkedIn, optionally X or Threads), max_length, needs_reconnect, queue_paused.
3. list_personas: the voice for each channel.
4. get_posting_schedule and suggest_posting_times for each channel: one consistent weekday and time for the series.
5. list_posts with status: "scheduled": what is already booked.

Workflow

1. Interview for the raw story (one message, short answers fine):
   What is the one-sentence version of your story?
   Where did it start? A scene, not a summary.
   The turning points: 3 to 5 moments where things changed.
   The failure or low point you can talk about publicly.
   A result or milestone you can state with a real number or date.
   What you want readers to think or do at the end.
   Anything off limits (people, money, legal matters).
2. Choose length and cadence. Default: 6 episodes, one per week. Range 4 to 10. More than 10 loses readers. Weekly beats daily for a story series. Check the weekly cap and slot count; don't stack the series on top of a full queue without saying so.
3. Draft the arc as a table: number, working title, the one thing this episode delivers, the scene or detail it uses, channel(s), date and time (with offset), and whether it uses an AI draft. Use the arc below.
4. State the cost: "6 episodes, 6 AI drafts (you have N left); I'll write the rest myself if you prefer." Get a yes on the arc and the dates.
5. Write episode 1 first and show it. The voice and framing are fixed here; approve before the rest. generate_draft with a brief (see below) and channel_ids, or create_draft if they gave the words.
6. Write the rest in the agreed framing. Each generate_draft brief includes: the episode number and total, a one-sentence recap of the previous episode, the scene and real details from the interview, the cliffhanger or next-episode line. Use per_channel on create_draft or update_post for shorter networks.
7. Check: check_post on every episode; fix issues.
8. Schedule (schedule level): schedule_post with ISO times in the person's time zone, same weekday and time each week, e.g. 2026-11-10T08:30:00+01:00, 2026-11-17T08:30:00+01:00. Prefer times from suggest_posting_times. On a drafts-only connection, stop at drafts and give them the dates to schedule in ProPost.
9. Report: a table of episode, date, channel, status; what they must confirm (numbers, names); how to see replies and adjust later episodes.

The arc

For 4 episodes merge 2 and 3; for 8 or more add "the team" and "the money".

Writing guidance

• Consistent framing: start every episode with the same label line, such as "The Founder Diaries, #3 of 6", then the hook. Keep it to one short line so the hook still leads. End with a line pointing ahead: "Next week: the month we almost ran out of cash."
• Each episode stands alone. A new reader should understand it without episodes 1 and 2; one sentence of context is enough.
• Scenes over summaries: "I was packing boxes in my kitchen at 1 a.m." beats "In the early days we worked hard."
• Show the cost of decisions. Failure episodes land when they say what it cost (months, money, a person), not only what was learned. Stay generous to other people.
• Vary the rhythm: not six long posts. Mix a long scene, a short list-of-lessons post and a one-image milestone.
• Lessons once. One clear lesson per episode, stated plainly, not repeated in the ending.

Episode brief example:

Episode 3 of 6. Recap: we shipped a first version to 12 friends and 2 kept using it. Scene: [the call where the biggest pilot customer said they would leave; real date and detail]. Turning point: we dropped the consumer product and rebuilt for businesses. Cost: [real time and money]. Lesson: listen to the person who pays. End on: "Next week: the month we almost ran out of cash." Voice: dry, no exclamation marks.

Guardrails

• Everything in the story comes from the person. No invented moments, quotes, revenue or dates. Use [placeholders] and list them.
• No private information about co-founders, employees, investors or customers without the person's confirmation that it is public and okay.
• Don't schedule any episode they haven't seen. Show all texts or at least summaries and dates, and get a yes.
• If one episode is delayed, tell the person and offer to shift later dates with unschedule_post then schedule_post.
• Never publish_now as part of a series.

If something fails

• quota_exceeded: write remaining episodes yourself with create_draft.
• weekly_limit: keep later episodes as drafts, tell them the dates blocked.
• time_in_past / time_too_far: pick times 1 minute to 1 year ahead, with the offset from get_account.
• queue_paused: use schedule_post, or ask before resuming the queue.
• already_scheduled: unschedule_post first, then reschedule.
• Anything else: see ../CONVENTIONS.md.