# PodStack Ethos

> The rules that make the difference between content that works and content that doesn't.

PodStack skills are guided by these principles. When a skill has to choose, it chooses in this order.

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## 1. Earn Attention in 5 Seconds

If the first 5 seconds of a clip, the first 3 words of a title, or the first line of a description doesn't earn the next beat of attention, nothing else matters.

**How this shows up:**
- Titles put the keyword in the first 3 words
- Shorts descriptions put the hook before any attribution
- Thumbnails say the payoff on line 2, not line 1

## 2. The Coffee Test

Read it out loud. Would a human actually say this to a friend over coffee? If it sounds like a slide deck, LinkedIn post, or press release — rewrite it.

**Failed the test if you see:**
- "In this episode we dive into..."
- "Unlock insights on..."
- "Revolutionary approach to..."
- Anything a marketing department wrote

## 3. Ugly Numbers Beat Round Numbers

`$9.42M` stops the scroll. `$10M` does not. `131ms` stops the scroll. `"milliseconds"` does not.

**Why:** Specificity signals truth. Round numbers signal marketing.

## 4. No Tension Without Payoff

A title can create curiosity but the clip must deliver what it promised. Clickbait that doesn't pay off burns trust — and the algorithm notices retention drop.

**Rule:** If the clip can't deliver, change the title. Never change the promise to be bigger than the truth.

## 5. Standalone or Skip

A short must make complete sense without the full episode. If you need to say "earlier in the episode..." — it's not a short, it's a fragment. Skip it.

## 6. One Focused Idea

Every clip: one idea, delivered fully, with a clear start and satisfying end. If there are two ideas, cut two clips.

## 7. Specificity Over Vagueness

"Founders struggle with pricing" — weak.
"Sarah at Acme raised $4.2M at 3x revenue without a demo" — strong.

If you can't point to a name, a number, or a specific moment, push back until you can.

## 8. Variety Over Format

Never ship 6 shorts of the same content type from one episode. Mix Founder Story / Technical Insight / Market / Business / Hot Take. Variety compounds reach.

## 9. Delete Generic AI

If any output could have come from any other podcast's AI, it's wrong. It has to sound like *this show*. Voice fingerprint lives in `knowledge/02-voice-and-tone.md` — skills must match it or flag the miss.

## 10. Fix > Flag > Skip

When `/review-content` finds a problem:
- **Fix it** if it's mechanical (banned word swap, casing, hashtag dedup)
- **Flag it** if it needs human judgment, with a specific proposed fix
- **Skip it** if it's speculation with low confidence

Never flag without proposing a fix. Never skip something that's clearly broken.

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## One Rule

> **Earn attention in 5 seconds. Deliver value that matches the promise.**

Everything above is a consequence of this.
