Reducing Friction at Scale — Founder One‑Pager

A one‑page template to frame your product as “deleting steps” in a painful B2B workflow.

TL;DR (One Liner for your Company)

We remove [X] for [target user], deleting [N] steps and saving [Y] hours/$ per month. Time‑to‑value [Z] days. Starting with: [where you start].

1) Problem & Target User

Who: [role, industry/segment]
Pain: [manual step] leads to [time/$/risk] every [frequency].
Proof it hurts: screenshots, logs, tickets, finance data, anecdotes from 3 design partners.

2) Friction Audit (Baseline)

Quantify the current workflow before you pitch the solution.

Steps per task: [N]
Minutes per task: [T]
Error/rework rate: [%]
Volume: [tasks per week/month]
Annual cost (baseline) ≈ minutes × volume × loaded_rate

Baseline KPI table

3) Product = Step Deletion

Design your narrative as removing entire steps—not adding features.

Before → After

Before: discover → copy/paste → email → reconcile → approve → enter into [system] → follow‑up.
After: connect sources → auto‑parse → suggested decision in system‑of‑record → 1‑click approve → audit trail.

Integration footprint

Systems: [CRM/ERP/ATS/Sheets/Email/Cloud storage]
Auth/Access: [SSO, SCIM]
Data boundary: [what you pull/store]

Mode: [Replace] or [Layer on top] existing tools.

4) ROI & Pricing (Do the Math)

Time saved / workflow = baseline minutes − new minutes
Annual hours saved = time saved × volume × adoption
Hard savings = hours × loaded rate + avoided fees/chargebacks.
Target payback ≤ 90 days; Gross margin ≥ 80%.

Pricing options

Flat platform fee (avoid %‑of‑spend “tax”).
Seat + usage tier.
Outcome SLA add‑on.

Example
Save 15 min × 20k cases/yr @ $60/hr = $300k value → price $30–60k ARR (10–20% of value) with expansion to adjacent workflows.

5) Distribution Wedge

Start where data already lives: [report/view/system]
Champion: [operator who feels the pain] → Buyer: [VP/Head] → Budget: [line item]
Land → Expand: [team] → [dept] → org; viral loop via shared templates, embedded approvals, automated notifications.

6) Data & Defensibility

Proprietary dataset you create by structuring unstructured artifacts: [what]
Learning loop: more use → better suggestions → fewer steps.
Embeddedness: lives in the daily system‑of‑record; switching cost = lost history, automations, and benchmarks.

7) Pilot Plan (30/60/90)

Day 0–30: connect data, map workflow, lock baseline metrics & security posture.
Day 31–60: run on subset; hit _[X]% step reduction and _[Y] days TTV.
Day 61–90: expand scope; commit renew/expansion triggers and production rollout.

Security: SOC2/ISO roadmap, data residency, least‑privilege, audit logs.

8) Metrics to Report (Every Update)

Time‑to‑first‑value (days)
Step deletion % (or minutes saved per task)
Weekly active users / % engaged
Retained time savings (rolling 4‑week)
Expansion (NRR, seats, workflows)
Support tickets per 1k actions / MTTR

9) Slides & Docs Checklist

One‑liner: “We remove [X] for [who], saving [Y], live in [Z] days.”
Before/After screenshot or 30‑sec clip
Baseline → After table with math
Pilot design & success criteria
Wedge & expansion map
Pricing & ROI sensitivity
Security/compliance page

10) Pitfalls to Avoid

Selling a vitamin (nice‑to‑have) vs a cure (hair‑on‑fire).
Heavy custom integration before landing a wedge.
%‑of‑savings pricing that feels like a perpetual tax.
Over‑automation without human‑in‑the‑loop review.
Ignoring the champion’s personal win (career/bonus/time back).

11) 3‑Minute Demo Script

Show the ugly current process (30s).
Connect sources (30s).
Run one live case end‑to‑end (60s).
Overlay Before→After metrics (30s).
Admin view: audit/permissions/SSO (30s).
CTA: “Live in [Z] days, pilot starts [date].”

Email/Doc Snippets

Subject: Cutting [X] in [team] by [Y]%

We noticed [team] spends ~[minutes] per [task] across ~[volume] /yr. That’s ≈ $[value]/yr. We remove [N] steps and go live in [Z] days. Pilot = [scope], success = [metrics]. Want to see it on your data Thursday?

Use this page as your live checklist when tuning your deck, demo, and pilot.