---
title: "Note and Vote: Storevine Target Customer Specificity"
description: "Storevine Day 1 morning note-and-vote run during Basics block to narrow the target customer scope; 25-minute structured group decision."
artifact: tool-note-and-vote
version: "1.0"
repo_version: "2.15.0"
skill_version: "0.1.0"
created: 2026-05-18
status: sample
thread: storevine
context: "Storevine Day 1 AM Basics block, target customer scope debate stalling; facilitator runs note-and-vote at 10:15 PT"
---

<!-- PM-Skills | https://github.com/product-on-purpose/pm-skills | Apache 2.0 -->

## Question

"Which specific retailer segment should Storevine target in v0.1?"

The Basics block had stalled at 10:10 PT with the team unable to converge on target customer specificity. Three positions had emerged:

- Devon: "All SMB retailers; we'll discover the segment that pulls hardest"
- Mei: "Specialty retailers only; that's where Carlos's expertise + Faire-adjacent design pattern work"
- Carlos: "Owner-operator independent stores under 30 locations; the corporate-chain dynamics are different"

The facilitator (Devon, rotating role) called for a `tool-note-and-vote` rather than continuing open discussion. Decider (Mei) confirmed.

## Roles

| Role | Member |
|---|---|
| Facilitator | Devon |
| Decider | Mei |
| Participants | Mei, Devon, Tasha, Carlos |
| Scribe | Tasha (lightweight; captures vote tallies) |

## Protocol Executed

**Step 1: Silent ideation (5 minutes).** Each participant wrote 3-5 candidate target customer definitions on individual sticky notes, no discussion.

**Step 2: Affinity grouping (4 minutes).** Devon led a quick affinity pass on the wall; 14 individual notes grouped into 6 clusters.

**Step 3: Silent voting (3 minutes).** Each participant gets 3 dot-votes; votes can be split or stacked.

**Step 4: Decider supervote (5 minutes).** Mei reviews vote tally + brief discussion (under 5 minutes); commits to the choice.

**Step 5: Capture (3 minutes).** Tasha records the decision and rationale; Devon resumes Basics block at 10:40 PT.

Total elapsed: 20 minutes versus the open-discussion 30-minute stall.

## Candidate Set (After Affinity)

| Cluster | Notes contributing | Vote count |
|---|---|---|
| A: Specialty retail 5-50 stores, merchandising-led categories | 4 notes (Mei x2, Tasha x1, Carlos x1) | 7 |
| B: Owner-operator independent under 30 stores | 3 notes (Carlos x2, Mei x1) | 3 |
| C: All SMB retailers including services + food | 2 notes (Devon x2) | 1 |
| D: Faire-adjacent specialty retailers specifically | 2 notes (Tasha x1, Mei x1) | 1 |
| E: Outdoor + specialty grocery only | 2 notes (Carlos x1, Tasha x1) | 0 |
| F: Mid-market chains 50-500 stores | 1 note (Devon x1) | 0 |

Total dot-votes: 12 (3 per participant x 4 participants). Cluster A won 7 of 12 (58%).

## Decider Supervote

Mei reviewed and committed:

> "We're going with Cluster A: specialty retail, 5-50 stores, merchandising-led categories. The 7 votes reflect what the team actually believes; my 2 votes are in there. Devon, your 'all SMB' frame is honest about discovery uncertainty, but a pre-seed team can't carry that ambiguity into Day 2 Approach Options. Carlos, your 'owner-operator under 30' frame is close to Cluster A and I think we capture the operator part by emphasizing the 5-50 band. We're not married to it forever; if pilot data shows a tighter or wider band is the right fit, we adjust at v1.0. For Foundation Sprint output, Cluster A is the target."

## Decision Recorded

**Target customer for Storevine v0.1: specialty retail, 5-50 stores, merchandising-led categories (outdoor, home goods, specialty grocery, kids/toys, gift, fashion-adjacent), located in the US.**

This decision feeds directly into the Basics bundled artifact (`sample_tool-foundation-sprint-basics_storevine_retail-direction.md`). The Basics artifact's "Not the target customer" section enumerates the exclusions that fall out of this decision.

## What This Note-and-Vote Did NOT Decide

- Pricing model (out of scope for Basics; covered at Differentiation if at all)
- Distribution channel (out of scope; downstream of top bet)
- Which subcategory within specialty retail to lead with (out of scope; the team handles this implicitly in design-partner selection)

## Decider Checkpoint (lightweight; inside Basics block)

Mei explicitly affirms the decision is binding for the rest of the sprint:

- [x] Cluster A target customer is locked for Days 1 and 2.
- [x] Re-litigation requires explicit Decider re-opening; not automatic.
- [x] Devon, Tasha, Carlos commit to building on Cluster A without revisiting.

**Signed:** Mei, 2026-05-18 10:38 PT
