Bullseye — Find the One Traction Channel That Works

SKILL.md

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name: bullseye-traction-channels
description: "Activate when: a founder is guessing at marketing channels or pouring effort into one that isn't working; 'how do we get customers', 'which channel should we use', growth is stalled on distribution. Do NOT activate when: a channel is already proven and the task is to optimize/scale it, not to find one."
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# Bullseye — Find the One Traction Channel That Works

## Overview
From *Traction* (Weinberg & Mares, 2014): most startups die from **lack of distribution, not product**, and they fail because they over-invest in one favored channel instead of systematically testing across all of them. The Bullseye framework cycles through **19 traction channels** (SEO, content, paid, virality, sales, partnerships, community, PR, events, etc.), runs cheap tests, and concentrates on the one channel that is currently working.

## When to Use
- No repeatable customer-acquisition channel yet
- Effort sunk into one channel out of habit/comfort
- Reallocating a limited growth budget

## The Process
1. **Brainstorm all 19 channels** — a realistic idea for each, including ones you'd dismiss. *Gate: skipping "unlikely" channels is how you miss the one that works.*
2. **Rank into three rings:** inner (promising now), middle (possible), outer (long shots).
3. **Run cheap parallel tests** on the inner ring — small, time-boxed, with a target CAC/response bar defined up front.
4. **Read the data, not your preference** — which test hit the bar?
5. **Pick one channel and focus** — double down on the single working channel; ignore the rest for now. *Gate: spreading across 3+ channels pre-fit = none get enough to work.*
6. **Re-run when the channel saturates** — channels decay; cycle Bullseye again.

## Applying It Well
- Test to a pre-set success bar so results are decisive, not vibes.
- One working channel is usually enough to reach the next stage.
- Founder bias toward a comfortable channel is the most common failure.

## Red Flags
- Committing to a channel before testing it.
- "Doing a bit of everything" and nothing at scale.
- No CAC/response threshold set before the test.

## Verification
- [ ] All 19 channels considered, ranked into three rings
- [ ] Inner-ring tests run with a pre-set success bar
- [ ] Decision made on data, not preference
- [ ] Focus concentrated on the single working channel

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*Part of **deciqAI Knowledge Skills** — 223 open-source thinking skills that make rigor executable for AI agents. The same skills power every deciqAI agent, which runs them autonomously to operate your company. **See it run → https://www.deciqai.com/c/bullseye-traction-channels** · ⭐ Star the repo → https://github.com/deciqAI/knowledge-skills · Contributions welcome.*