SFN 90-Day Trial — Operator Ownership Agreement
Date: Friday, May 15, 2026
Parties: Steve & Charlee Roberts (Founders) and Mick (Operator)
Term: 90 days from kickoff date
Purpose
Defines what Founders approve, what the Operator owns, and how decisions are made during the 90-day SFN trial. Formalizes an advisory-only founder role and clear operator ownership — protecting both parties from misalignment and the trial from scope creep.
Founder Role: Advisory, Not Operational
The system is designed to be operator-led and run as a flywheel without daily founder involvement. Weekly check-ins occur during early weeks until the ship is sailing in the right direction; then advisory-only at gates. Founders may take on an additional paid role (e.g., Editorial Director) if they want deeper involvement — base trial assumes advisory-only.
Founders approve: - Initial budget and any budget changes - Strategic direction at kickoff and gate reviews (Day 30, 60, 90) - Wedge product selection - Brand voice, tone, visual identity - Legal and therapeutic content boundaries - Day 30/60/90 gate decisions - Ad spend amount at Day 60 decision gate - Phase 2 path selection at Day 90 (Kill / Hold / Scale)
Founders are NOT expected to: produce content, operate platforms, approve individual content pieces, or attend weekly check-ins after the ship is sailing.
Operator Ownership
The Operator has full ownership of execution within the approved budget and strategic direction.
Operator owns, without seeking approval: system architecture, tool selection within stack, content production volume/cadence/topics, DIM Factory methodology choices, editor recruitment/training, day-to-day execution, new operator handoff documentation and training, multi-model QA pipeline composition.
Operator surfaces to Founders with proposed direction: wedge candidates, course platform finalist, Synthesia tier (post-sales call), budget overruns approaching 10% buffer, gate-threatening blockers, founder archive content usage.
Scope Creep Protection
A 90-day trial dies when teams optimize the wrong thing, add the wrong tool, or build the wrong feature on Day 45. Four protections:
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Rule of 100 — One primary lane at a time. Order: warm/founder → partner → content → paid ads. Each lane proves before next activates.
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POC vs GTM separated — Content factory (POC) is the IP. Demand gen (GTM) is the test bed. Measured independently. Never blurred.
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Deferred items have explicit gates — Mobile app: Day 91 pre-commit. Ad spend: Day 60 founder approval. WordPress migration: Day 90 + 2-year commitment. Designer engagement: Day 45 polish phase. Customer interviews: Day 30 if voice-of-customer needs reinforcement.
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Documented in three places — Operator Agreement, operator manual, POC PRD. Triple-documented = enforceable, not aspirational.
Nothing gets added "while we're at it." Out-of-scope ideas go to a Phase 2 parking lot, not into the current trial.
Replaceability Principle
Every component is designed to be replaceable.
| Component | Currently | Replacement path |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | Mick (full-time) | Trained operator at Day 91; Mick as paid consultant |
| Editor | Contracted (2-5 hrs/wk) | Any qualified content editor |
| Course platform | TBD (Kajabi leans; test drive confirms) | Course content portable; migration documented |
| Blog (DropInBlog) | DropInBlog on Kajabi or Thinkific | Self-hosted/WordPress; content exports cleanly |
| Customer lifecycle platform | Operator's custom CRM ($150/mo) | Any major automation platform |
| Avatar / talking head | Synthesia (post-test) | Voice + face training data portable |
| AI models | OpenAI + Anthropic + multi-model QA stack | Multi-model = no single vendor lock-in |
A factory with one irreplaceable component isn't a factory; it's a craftsman's shop. Phase 2 operator inherits a system, not a personality.
Decision Cadence
| Cadence | Format | Required attendance |
|---|---|---|
| Kickoff | 60–90 min | Both founders + Operator |
| Weekly (Weeks 1-3) | 30 min check-in | Founders + Operator (until ship is sailing) |
| Day 30 / 60 / 90 gates | 30-90 min | At least one founder + Operator (both for Day 90) |
| Ad-hoc escalations | Email/async | As needed (Operator available within 48 hrs) |
Budget Authority
- Operator may spend within approved budget without additional approval
- Operator may shift line items within budget envelope as needed
- 10% project buffer available for surprises, drawn against with documentation
- Spending exceeding approved total requires founder approval
- Ad spend amount selected by Founders at Day 60 gate
- Unused buffer at Day 90 returns to Founders or rolls into Phase 2
Synthesia Annual Commitment Acknowledgment
Founders acknowledge that the Synthesia subscription (Creator or Enterprise tier) is an annual contract committed Day 1. Even if SFN is killed at Day 90, the remaining months of subscription continue to invoice through end of year contract.
- Synthesia Creator: $59-64/mo × 12 = $708-768 total commitment
- Synthesia Enterprise: $1,000+/mo × 12 = $12,000+ total commitment (tier and amount TBD after sales call)
Tier decision is made jointly after Operator's sales call to Synthesia post-Friday.
Outcome Acceptance
Founders explicitly acknowledge that all three Day 90 outcomes (Kill / Hold / Scale) are acceptable and planned for. The Kill outcome is not failure — it is a decisive answer with documented methodology that transfers to Daybreak. Founders agree to evaluate Day 90 metrics against criteria agreed at kickoff, not against shifting expectations.
Termination
Either party may terminate before Day 90 with 14-day written notice. In termination: - Operator completes in-flight work through notice period - Handoff documentation delivered within 14 days - Founders honor remaining invoices through notice period - Synthesia annual contract continues (committed Day 1) - Customer lifecycle platform continues at $150/mo flat
Signatures
Steve Roberts (Founder)
Signature: _____ Date: _______
Charlee Roberts (Founder)
Signature: _____ Date: _______
Mick (Operator)
Signature: _____ Date: _______
This agreement governs the SFN 90-day trial only. Phase 2 (Day 91+) requires a separate agreement based on the outcome path selected at Day 90. Scope creep protection clauses survive past trial completion and govern any Phase 2 engagement.