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# Reality Check: Founder Situation & Constraints
**Date:** October 19, 2025
**Discussion Context:** Initial strategic session with @men (business mentor)
**Status:** Living document - update as situation changes
---
## Current Situation
### Personal & Family Context
**Family composition:** 5 people total
- 2 adults (Oleg + Ekaterina)
- 2 children (Daniel, born 2019; Kirill, born Oct 7, 2024)
- 1 grandmother (living with family)
**Location:** Koh Samui, Thailand
- 5-year DTV multi-visa for digital nomads
- Can live and work remotely legally
**Critical upcoming expense:** Private school for Daniel
- Current budget: NO allocation for this
- Timing: Upcoming (exact date TBD)
- Impact: Major financial pressure point
---
## Financial Reality
### Current Income & Expenses
**Current employment:**
- Position: Frontend Developer / Tech Lead
- Employer: IT company (platform for generating designed websites from templates + AI components)
- Monthly income: **$6,000 USD**
- Status: **ONLY income source for entire family**
**Monthly expenses:**
- Current spending: **$6,000 USD** (tight budget, no buffer)
- Breakdown: 5 people, Thailand cost of living, no private school yet
### Financial Goals
**Immediate need (Side Project Mode):**
- **+$3,000/month** additional income
- Purpose: Buffer + private school tuition
- Timeline: As soon as possible
- Keeps day job: YES
**Medium-term goal (Hybrid Mode):**
- **$9,000/month** total from Banatie
- Scenario: Negotiate 4-day work week OR maintain full employment
- Timeline: 12-18 months
- Keeps day job: Potentially reduced hours
**Long-term goal (Full Independence):**
- **$9-10,000/month minimum** from Banatie (replaces current salary)
- Dream: Scale beyond $10K ("взлететь до небес")
- Timeline: 18-24 months (aspirational)
- Keeps day job: NO
---
## Time Constraints & Capabilities
### Available Time for Banatie
**Current allocation:**
- Weekday evenings: 2-3 hours (after family time)
- Weekends: 8-10 hours (Saturday + Sunday)
- **Total: ~15-20 hours/week**
**Constraint:** Full-time employment + newborn (Kirill, 2 weeks old as of this discussion)
- High risk of burnout
- Family time non-negotiable
- Sleep deprivation factor (newborn care)
### Technical Capabilities (Force Multiplier)
**Core skills:**
- 8+ years frontend development (React, Next.js)
- Deep expertise: Headless CMS (Sanity, Storyblok, Hygraph, Contentful, Crystallize, Payload)
- Additional: Shopify, modern web stack, API integration
- Strong: JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, CSS, Web APIs, Tailwind CSS
**Secret weapon: Agent Coding**
- Proficient with Claude Code (uses at day job too)
- Enables faster development without getting stuck
- **This is why solo development is viable despite time constraints**
**Current MVP status:**
✅ Core API service (Express + Node.js)
✅ UI application (Next.js)
✅ Basic feature set:
- Text-to-image generation (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
- Image upload
- Get all images
- API key management
- Authorization via API key
✅ Code snippet generation (curl, Python, SDK, MCP) for every UI action
✅ Documentation skeleton (needs content)
**Infrastructure:**
- Hosting: Family VPS (Contabo, Singapore location)
- Current services: NextCloud + multiple services for domain/Docker management
- Plan: Migrate to dedicated VPS when needed
---
## Strategic Timeline Recommendations
### Phase 1: Side Project Mode (Months 0-6)
**Objective:** Validate ICP + reach $1-2K MRR
**Time allocation:** 15-20 hours/week
**Day job status:** Keep 100%
**Key activities:**
- ICP research & validation (10-15 customer interviews)
- Launch stripped-down MVP to first customers
- Manual onboarding, high-touch support
- Build in public (dev.to, Twitter/X, Indie Hackers)
**Financial target:** $1-2K MRR
**Success criteria:**
- [ ] 5-10 paying customers
- [ ] <5% monthly churn
- [ ] Consistent usage (not just sign-up)
- [ ] Positive word-of-mouth
**Decision point at 6 months:**
- If MRR < $500: Serious pivot conversation OR shut down
- If MRR = $500-1.5K: Continue, refine approach
- If MRR > $1.5K: Green light for Phase 2
---
### Phase 2: Hybrid Mode (Months 6-12)
**Objective:** Scale to $3-5K MRR + get employer flexibility
**Time allocation:** Need to negotiate for more time
**Day job status:** Options to explore:
1. Negotiate 4-day work week (80% salary = $4.8K)
2. Remote days specifically for Banatie work
3. Freelance/contract basis (if employer open)
**Key activities:**
- Scale customer acquisition
- Improve product based on feedback
- Hire virtual assistant for support (if needed)
- More aggressive marketing (SEO, content, partnerships)
**Financial target:** $3-5K MRR
**Combined income scenario:**
- Banatie: $3-5K MRR
- Day job (reduced): $4-5K/month
- **Total: $7-10K/month** (meets family needs + buffer)
**Success criteria:**
- [ ] 15-30 paying customers
- [ ] <3% monthly churn
- [ ] Predictable growth (not stagnant)
- [ ] Product-market fit signals clear
**Decision point at 12 months:**
- If MRR < $2K: Reassess viability, consider shut down
- If MRR = $2-5K: Continue hybrid, optimize
- If MRR > $5K: Evaluate full-time leap
---
### Phase 3: Full-Time Leap (Months 12-24)
**Objective:** Replace day job income, go full-time on Banatie
**Time allocation:** 40+ hours/week on Banatie
**Day job status:** QUIT (scary, but necessary for scale)
**Conditions for leap:**
- Banatie MRR ≥ $6K (current salary replacement)
- OR: 12-month runway saved + high confidence in growth trajectory
- OR: Banatie MRR = $4-5K + spouse (Ekaterina) takes on admin work with income
**Financial target:** $9-10K MRR minimum (comfortable living + growth buffer)
**Success criteria:**
- [ ] 40-60 paying customers
- [ ] <3% monthly churn
- [ ] Strong PMF (can't-live-without feedback)
- [ ] Clear growth levers identified
**Long-term vision (24-36 months):**
- $15-30K MRR: Sustainable solo/small team business
- Hire 1-2 people (support, marketing, or tech)
- Consider wife (Ekaterina) full-time on admin/ops
---
## Risk Assessment & Mitigation
### Risk 1: Burnout (HIGH)
**Factors:**
- Full-time job + side project + newborn + family of 5
- ~60-70 hour work weeks total
- Sleep deprivation
**Mitigation:**
- Set strict time boundaries (no work after 10 PM)
- One day/week fully off (family only)
- Use Agent Coding to maximize efficiency
- Cut scope ruthlessly (MVP, not full vision)
**Red flags to watch:**
- Physical health decline
- Family tension
- Day job performance suffering
**Abort criteria:** If health/family at risk, pause Banatie (not worth it)
---
### Risk 2: Financial Pressure (HIGH)
**Factors:**
- Zero savings buffer
- School tuition coming
- Single income (Oleg only)
- Family of 5 dependent
**Mitigation:**
- Keep day job until Banatie ≥ $6K MRR (non-negotiable)
- Negotiate hybrid work arrangement early (6-month mark)
- Bootstrap (no fundraising until PMF clear)
- Minimize Banatie expenses (use family VPS, free tools)
**Red flags:**
- Credit card debt accumulating
- School tuition unpaid
- Family stress over money
**Abort criteria:** If Banatie costs exceed $500/month without revenue
---
### Risk 3: Employer Discovery (MEDIUM)
**Factors:**
- Building side project while employed
- Same industry (web development, AI)
- Public presence needed for marketing (Twitter, LinkedIn, dev.to)
**Mitigation strategies:** (see separate document: `future_topics_backlog.md` - "свечение фейса")
- Use separate brand identity (Banatie, not personal)
- Delay LinkedIn posting until closer to launch
- Focus on dev.to, Indie Hackers (less employer monitoring)
- Check employment contract for IP clauses
**Red flags:**
- Employer asks about side projects
- Colleagues mention seeing Banatie content
- Contract has non-compete clauses
**Abort criteria:** If employer explicitly forbids, negotiate exit OR pause publicly
---
### Risk 4: No Product-Market Fit (HIGHEST)
**Factors:**
- New category (convergence, not proven)
- Unclear ICP (multiple hypotheses)
- Complex product (6-stage pipeline)
**Mitigation:**
- Brutal ICP validation BEFORE building more
- Launch ultra-MVP (not full platform)
- 10-15 customer interviews BEFORE launch
- Set clear pivot triggers (see Phase 1 decision point)
**Red flags:**
- No one willing to pay
- High churn (>10%)
- "Cool idea, but..." feedback (no urgency)
**Abort criteria:** After 6 months, if <$500 MRR and no PMF signals → shut down
---
## Realistic Outcomes (Probability Assessment)
### Best Case (20% probability)
- Nail ICP immediately, fast PMF
- $5K MRR by month 9
- $10K+ MRR by month 18
- Full-time leap successful
- **Outcome:** Sustainable family business, financial freedom
### Base Case (50% probability)
- Find PMF after 1-2 pivots
- $2-3K MRR by month 12
- Hybrid work arrangement with employer
- Slow but steady growth to $6-8K MRR by month 24
- **Outcome:** Meaningful side income, eventual full-time potential
### Worst Case (30% probability)
- No PMF after multiple attempts
- <$1K MRR by month 12
- Shut down to preserve sanity/family
- **Outcome:** Learned expensive lessons, back to day job 100%
---
## Key Decisions Already Made
✅ **Bootstrapping:** No external funding (for now)
✅ **Solo founder:** No co-founder search (leverage Agent Coding instead)
✅ **Tech stack:** Express, Next.js, Gemini, MinIO, PostgreSQL, Cloudflare
✅ **Location:** Stay in Thailand (location arbitrage advantage)
✅ **API-first approach:** Developer-focused, not consumer
✅ **Side project mode:** Keep day job until $6K+ MRR from Banatie
---
## Key Decisions Pending
⏳ **ICP selection:** Which target audience to validate first? (see `03_icp_research_questions.md`)
⏳ **MVP scope:** What to cut from initial launch?
⏳ **Pricing strategy:** Free tier or paid-only? Trial length?
⏳ **Launch timing:** When to go public? (pre-launch landing page now?)
⏳ **Marketing channels:** Which 1-2 channels to focus on?
⏳ **Employer conversation:** When/how to negotiate flexibility?
---
## Accountability Check-Ins
**Weekly review (Sundays):**
- Hours worked on Banatie this week
- Key accomplishments
- Blockers/challenges
- Health check (burnout signs?)
**Monthly review (last Sunday of month):**
- MRR update
- Customer count
- Churn rate
- Progress toward phase goals
- Adjust strategy if needed
**Quarterly review (every 3 months):**
- Major pivot/continue/shut-down decision
- Financial reassessment
- Family situation update
- Next quarter OKRs
---
## Support System
**Family:**
- Ekaterina (wife): Potential future involvement in admin/ops
- Grandmother: Childcare support (frees up Oleg's time)
**Technical:**
- Claude Code: Development force multiplier
- Agent coding tools: Maintain velocity despite time constraints
**Mentorship:**
- @men (business mentor): Strategic guidance, accountability, market knowledge
**Community:**
- Dev.to, Indie Hackers, Twitter/X: Build in public, feedback, support
---
**Document owner:** @men + Oleg (joint)
**Next review:** After ICP validation (2-3 weeks)
**Related docs:** `01_market_positioning_and_segments.md`, `03_icp_research_questions.md`

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# Discussion Summary & Protocol
**Date:** October 19, 2025
**Participants:** Oleg (Founder) + @men (Business Mentor)
**Session Type:** Initial Strategic Planning & Onboarding
**Duration:** ~2 hours
**Status:** First formal collaboration session
---
## Session Objectives (Achieved)
1. ✅ Onboard @men as business co-founder/mentor for Banatie project
2. ✅ Assess market landscape and Banatie's positioning
3. ✅ Reality check: Oleg's constraints, timeline, financial goals
4. ✅ Clarify business terminology and concepts
5. ✅ Identify critical next steps (ICP validation)
6. ✅ Document all key discussions for future reference
---
## Key Insights & Learning Moments
### 1. Market Positioning Clarity
**Initial confusion:** "Is AI image generation ($300-400M market) my segment?"
**Clarification provided:**
- Banatie is NOT competing in "AI Image Generation" (Midjourney, DALL-E)
- Banatie IS competing in "Image Infrastructure & CDN" ($25B+ market subset)
- Position: Convergence layer between AI Generation + Image CDN
- Analogy: Cloudinary = "CDN for uploads," Banatie = "CDN for AI-generated + programmatic"
**Outcome:** Clear understanding of competitive landscape and positioning strategy
---
### 2. Quality Leap Hypothesis (Validated)
**Oleg's thesis:** "AI image quality crossed production-ready threshold thanks to Gemini 2.5 Flash, GPT-4o"
**@men assessment:** 80% agreement
- ✅ Quality is production-ready for many use cases
- ✅ Character consistency solved (major blocker removed)
- ✅ Latency acceptable (<10 sec)
- ⚠️ Stigma still exists ("AI-generated" = cheap/fake perception)
- ⚠️ Legal uncertainty (copyright issues)
- ⚠️ Brand safety concerns (enterprises cautious)
**Outcome:** Timing is good, but need to position as "professional infrastructure" not "cheap AI pictures"
---
### 3. Category Creation vs. Convergence
**Initial concern:** "Creating new category is risky"
**Clarification:**
- NOT pure category creation (would be very hard)
- Actually: CONVERGENCE of two proven categories (AI gen + Image CDN)
- Less risky than pure innovation
- More like Stripe (didn't invent payments, made them developer-friendly)
**Outcome:** Calculated risk, not moonshot. Education needed but foundation proven.
---
### 4. Reality Check (Critical Constraints)
**Discovered:**
- Oleg: Single income source, family of 5, newborn (2 weeks old)
- Current: $6K/month, zero buffer, school tuition coming
- Available time: 15-20 hours/week (evenings + weekends)
- Secret weapon: Agent Coding (Claude Code) → enables solo velocity
**Implications:**
- CANNOT go full-time until $6K+ MRR from Banatie
- Burnout risk is HIGH (fulltime job + side project + newborn)
- Must be ruthlessly efficient (no wasted effort)
- Time-boxed validation critical (can't spend 2 years guessing)
**Outcome:** Clear phase-based approach with decision gates (see Reality Check doc)
---
### 5. Solo Founder Viability
**Question raised:** Can one person really build this?
**Assessment:**
- ✅ Technical capability: Yes (Oleg has skills + Agent Coding)
- ✅ MVP already exists (UI + API working)
- ⚠️ Bandwidth constraint: Must cut scope dramatically
- ⚠️ Marketing/sales will be challenging (not his strength)
**Examples of successful solo founders:**
- Unicorn Platform: $10K MRR (Russian founder, similar profile)
- Systeme.io: $20M ARR (solo → small team)
- RepurposePie: $5K MRR in 3 days
- HelpKit: $5K MRR in <1 year
**Outcome:** VIABLE, but must be disciplined about scope and ICP focus
---
## Key Decisions Made
### ✅ Confirmed Decisions
1. **Bootstrapping:** No external funding at this stage
- Rationale: Maintain control, prove PMF first, avoid pressure
- Review: After reaching $5K+ MRR, revisit if acceleration needed
2. **Solo founder approach:** No co-founder search
- Rationale: Oleg has technical skills + Agent Coding multiplier
- @men fills business/strategy gap without equity split
- Review: Consider hiring after $10K+ MRR
3. **Keep day job:** Until Banatie ≥ $6K MRR
- Non-negotiable given family situation
- Explore hybrid work arrangement at 6-month mark
- Full-time leap only when safe (12+ months likely)
4. **Tech stack:** Express, Next.js, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, MinIO, PostgreSQL, Cloudflare
- Already decided and working
- No changes needed for MVP
5. **API-first positioning:** Target developers, not consumers
- Aligns with Oleg's expertise
- UI exists but secondary (for testing/demos)
- Core value: Programmatic generation + delivery
6. **Documentation practice:** Formalize all key discussions
- Create MD files for major decisions
- Store in project files for future reference
- Maintain decision log and context
---
### ⏳ Pending Decisions (Urgent)
1. **ICP Selection:** Which target audience to validate first?
- Options: Agencies / E-commerce / AI builders / SaaS marketing
- Decision method: Self-assessment + customer interviews
- Timeline: Complete within 2-3 weeks
- **BLOCKER:** Cannot proceed with MVP launch until this is decided
2. **MVP Scope:** What to cut from initial release?
- Current plan: 6-stage pipeline (too complex)
- Recommendation: Strip to 1-2 core features
- Decision: After ICP validation (features depend on ICP needs)
3. **Pricing Strategy:** Free tier or paid-only? Trial length?
- @men recommendation: No generous free tier (expensive COGS)
- Proposed: 14-day trial, $49/$149 paid tiers, ultra-limited free
- Decision: After ICP validation (pricing follows ICP budget)
4. **Launch Timing:** When to go public?
- Options: Now (pre-launch landing) vs. Later (after beta customers)
- Trade-off: Early buzz vs. premature exposure
- Related: Employer discovery risk
- Decision: Discuss in separate session (see Future Topics)
---
### 🔮 Future Decisions (Non-urgent)
- Marketing channel selection (after ICP validated)
- Feature roadmap priority (Flow, MCP, Namespaces)
- Hiring strategy (if/when to bring on help)
- Geographic focus (if any)
- Partnership opportunities (integrations, resellers)
---
## Terminology Clarified
**Business terms explained to Oleg:**
- **ARR/MRR:** Annual/Monthly Recurring Revenue (subscription income)
- **Churn:** Customer attrition rate (% who cancel per month)
- **ICP:** Ideal Customer Profile (detailed persona, not vague segment)
- **PMF:** Product-Market Fit (when customers can't live without you)
- **Pivot:** Strategic direction change (audience, product, or model)
- **Bandwidth:** Human capacity constraint (time/energy/focus)
- **Disciplined execution:** Ruthless prioritization, no shiny objects
**Market terms clarified:**
- **Software vs. Services:** SaaS subscription vs. custom dev (we're software)
- **Professional/Enterprise vs. Personal:** B2B vs. B2C (we target B2B)
- **TAM (Total Addressable Market):** We're in $25B+ CDN market, not $400M AI gen market
- **Category creation vs. Convergence:** We're converging proven categories, not inventing new one
---
## Action Items & Next Steps
### Immediate (This Week)
**Oleg:**
- [ ] Review all 6 created documents thoroughly
- [ ] Complete Part 1 of ICP Research (Self-Assessment)
- [ ] Identify which ICP(s) to validate based on unfair advantage
- [ ] Schedule separate discussion on ICP selection
**@men:**
- [x] Create 6 structured documents (DONE)
- [ ] Wait for Oleg's self-assessment completion
- [ ] Prepare for ICP selection discussion
- [ ] Research interview best practices for next session
---
### Short-term (Next 2-3 Weeks)
**Oleg:**
- [ ] Conduct 10-15 customer development interviews (selected ICP)
- [ ] Document each interview using template provided
- [ ] Analyze results: green lights vs. red flags
- [ ] Make go/pivot/stop decision
**@men:**
- [ ] Support interview prep (script refinement if needed)
- [ ] Review interview notes as they come in
- [ ] Help analyze patterns and make decision
- [ ] Prepare MVP scope recommendations based on ICP feedback
---
### Medium-term (Months 1-3)
**After ICP validation:**
- [ ] Strip MVP to ultra-minimal feature set for validated ICP
- [ ] Launch to first 5 beta customers (manual onboarding)
- [ ] High-touch support, gather usage data
- [ ] Iterate based on feedback
- [ ] Build in public (dev.to, Twitter, Indie Hackers)
- [ ] Aim for $1-2K MRR by month 3
---
## Risks Identified & Monitoring
### High-Priority Risks
1. **Burnout Risk**
- Factors: Fulltime job + newborn + side project
- Monitoring: Weekly health check-ins
- Mitigation: Strict time boundaries, ruthless scope cutting
2. **No PMF Risk**
- Factors: Unvalidated ICP, new category convergence
- Monitoring: Interview feedback, churn rate, usage metrics
- Mitigation: Brutal ICP validation BEFORE building more
3. **Financial Pressure Risk**
- Factors: Zero buffer, school tuition, single income
- Monitoring: Monthly expense tracking, runway calculation
- Mitigation: Keep day job, minimize Banatie costs
4. **Employer Discovery Risk**
- Factors: Side project in same industry, public marketing needed
- Monitoring: LinkedIn/social mentions, colleague conversations
- Mitigation: Separate brand identity, delay LinkedIn presence
---
## Key Quotes & Moments
**Oleg:**
> "Я активно использую Agent Coding - неплохо владею Claude Code, я использую его и на работе тоже. Это позволяет двигаться быстрее и не застревать."
**Context:** This is the force multiplier that makes solo development viable despite time constraints.
---
**@men:**
> "Ты не в 'AI Image Generation' сегменте. Ты в 'Developer Tools for Visual Content Delivery' — это пересечение Image CDN + AI automation."
**Context:** Critical positioning clarity - we're infrastructure, not creative tool.
---
**Oleg:**
> "Я ничего особо нового в принципе и не делаю - я составляю сервис из уже давно существующих кусочков."
**@men response:**
> "Exactly like Stripe. They didn't invent payments - they made accepting payments developer-friendly in 7 lines of code."
**Context:** Convergence play is less risky than pure innovation, but still requires education.
---
## Communication & Workflow Agreements
### Language Protocol
- **Strategic discussions:** Russian (natural, faster)
- **Business deliverables:** English (pitches, docs, landing pages)
- **Translation commands available:**
- `/en` - translate previous response to English
- `/ru` - translate previous response to Russian
### Documentation Practice
- All key decisions documented in MD files
- Files stored in project directory
- Include: Date, context, status, related documents
- Review/update as situation evolves
### Meeting Cadence (Proposed)
- **Ad-hoc strategic sessions:** As needed (like this one)
- **Weekly check-ins:** 30 min, progress review
- **Monthly deep dives:** 2 hours, major decisions
- **Quarterly reviews:** 3 hours, pivot/continue/stop assessment
### Communication Style (Established)
- ✅ Direct, no social rituals
- ✅ Truth over politeness
- ✅ Challenge assumptions with data
- ✅ Ask for clarification when uncertain
- ✅ Celebrate real wins, no empty praise
- ❌ No "that's a great question" filler
- ❌ No sugarcoating hard truths
---
## Resources & References
**Market research sources used:**
- Fortune Business Insights: AI Image Generator Market Report
- Dimension Market Research: Global AI Image Generator Market
- Statista: Generative AI Market Forecast
- Multiple indie hacker case studies (Unicorn Platform, Systeme.io, RepurposePie, etc.)
**Competitive intelligence:**
- Cloudinary: $70M revenue, $2B valuation, starts at $89/month
- imgix: $10.4M revenue, 59 people, starts at $62.50/month
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Image: $0.039/image, production-ready Oct 2025
**Community resources:**
- Indie Hackers: Success stories, founder discussions
- Dev.to: Technical content, developer community
- Starter Story: SaaS case studies database
---
## Open Questions for Future Sessions
**From Oleg's list:**
1. Social accounts strategy (Twitter, LinkedIn, dev.to, daily.dev)
2. Plan B if Banatie doesn't work out
3. Google Ads strategy (or not?)
4. Pre-launch promotion: Landing page now or later?
5. "Свечение фейса" - avoiding premature employer discovery
**From discussion:**
6. Pricing psychology: Annual discounts? Volume tiers?
7. MVP feature prioritization after ICP validation
8. Marketing channel selection (SEO vs. community vs. partnerships)
9. When to involve Ekaterina (wife) in admin/ops?
10. Hybrid work negotiation with employer (timing, approach)
**Documented in:** `06_future_topics_backlog.md`
---
## Success Criteria for This Session
**Did we achieve our goals?**
✅ **Onboarding complete:** @men understands Banatie, constraints, goals
✅ **Market clarity:** Positioning, competitors, opportunity size understood
✅ **Reality check done:** Financial needs, time constraints, risks documented
✅ **Terminology clear:** All business jargon explained and internalized
✅ **Next steps defined:** ICP validation is the critical path
✅ **Documentation system:** Framework established, 6 docs created
**Overall session assessment:** HIGHLY PRODUCTIVE ✅
**Oleg's feedback:**
> "Супер! [...] действительно много полезного вывалил."
---
## Appendix: Document Library Created
1. **`01_market_positioning_and_segments.md`**
- Market structure, Banatie's position, competitive landscape
- AI generation outlook, target hypotheses, positioning strategy
2. **`02_reality_check.md`**
- Oleg's situation, financial needs, constraints
- Phase-based timeline, risk assessment, realistic outcomes
3. **`03_icp_research_questions.md`**
- Self-assessment framework, interview script
- Validation criteria, decision matrix
4. **`04_discussion_summary.md`** (this document)
- Session protocol, key insights, decisions made
- Action items, risks, quotes
5. **`05_discussion_framework.md`**
- How to conduct productive discussions
- Documentation best practices, decision logging
6. **`06_future_topics_backlog.md`**
- Topics for future sessions
- Prioritization and context for each
---
**Next scheduled discussion:** ICP Selection (after self-assessment complete)
**Expected timeline:** Within 1 week
**Format:** Separate focused session (not general strategy)
**Document owner:** @men + Oleg (joint ownership)
**Last updated:** October 19, 2025
**Status:** Final - no further edits expected for this session

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# Future Topics Backlog
**Date Created:** October 19, 2025
**Purpose:** Track strategic topics for future discussion sessions
**Status:** Living document - add topics as they arise
**Usage:** Review weekly, prioritize quarterly
---
## How to Use This Backlog
### Adding New Topics
When a topic arises that needs discussion:
1. Add it to the appropriate section below
2. Include brief context (why this matters)
3. Note urgency level (Urgent / Soon / Eventually)
4. Link any related documents or data
### Prioritizing Topics
**Review this backlog:**
- Weekly: Check if any "Urgent" items need scheduling
- Monthly: Re-prioritize "Soon" items based on progress
- Quarterly: Prune "Eventually" items that are no longer relevant
**Decision framework:**
- **Urgent:** Schedule within 1 week (blocker or time-sensitive)
- **Soon:** Schedule within 1 month (important but not blocking)
- **Eventually:** Park for 3+ months (nice-to-have, not critical now)
---
## Current Priority: ICP Validation
**Status:** BLOCKING all other topics
Until ICP is validated (selected + customer interviews complete), most other strategic discussions are premature. Focus on:
1. Complete ICP self-assessment
2. Conduct 10-15 interviews
3. Make go/pivot/stop decision
**All topics below are AFTER this milestone.**
---
## Urgent Topics (Schedule Within 1 Week)
### None at present
(ICP validation is the only urgent item - see separate doc `03_icp_research_questions.md`)
---
## Soon Topics (Schedule Within 1 Month)
### 1. MVP Scope Definition
**Context:** After ICP validated, need to strip product to ultra-minimal feature set
**Why urgent:** Cannot launch without clear scope
**Questions to address:**
- What's the ONE killer feature for validated ICP?
- Which planned features can we cut completely?
- What's the 80/20 - minimum to prove value?
**Inputs needed:**
- Customer interview insights (what do they actually need?)
- Current feature set inventory
- Development time estimates for each feature
**Desired outcome:**
- Single-page doc: "MVP v1 Scope"
- Clear go/no-go list of features
- 4-6 week timeline to shippable product
**Owner:** @men (recommendations) + Oleg (feasibility assessment)
**Urgency:** Soon (after ICP validation)
---
### 2. Pricing Strategy Finalization
**Context:** Rough pricing discussed ($49/$149), need to validate and finalize
**Why important:** Pricing is positioning - affects who signs up
**Questions to address:**
- Free tier: Yes/No? If yes, how limited?
- Trial length: 7 days? 14 days? 30 days?
- Tier structure: How many tiers? What limits per tier?
- Annual discount: 2 months free (standard)? More aggressive?
- What's our cost structure per customer? (COGS analysis)
**Inputs needed:**
- Validated ICP budget data (from interviews)
- Competitor pricing benchmarks (update with latest)
- Our cost structure (Gemini + CDN + infra per 100/500/1000 images)
**Desired outcome:**
- Pricing page copy ready
- Calculator: Image volume → recommended tier
- Value proposition per tier clearly articulated
**Owner:** @men (strategy) + Oleg (cost calculation)
**Urgency:** Soon (before MVP launch)
---
### 3. Pre-Launch Strategy
**Context:** Oleg asked: "нужно ли прямо сейчас создать лэндинг, где-то зарегестрироваться"
**Why important:** Early buzz vs. premature exposure trade-off
**Questions to address:**
- Landing page: Now or at launch? (Lean toward NOW)
- Product Hunt: Register product early for followers?
- Beta access: Waitlist or invite-only?
- Launch sequence: Soft launch → community → PH → press?
**Considerations:**
- Employer discovery risk (see Topic #7)
- Building in public benefits (social proof, feedback)
- Too early = vaporware stigma
- Too late = missed early adopter energy
**Desired outcome:**
- Pre-launch checklist
- Landing page V1 content
- Launch timeline (soft → full)
**Owner:** @men (strategy) + Oleg (execution)
**Urgency:** Soon (1-2 weeks after ICP validation)
---
## Eventually Topics (3+ Months Out)
### 4. Social Media & Content Strategy
**Context:** Oleg's accounts: Twitter, LinkedIn, dev.to, daily.dev
**Why important:** Developer marketing = content marketing + community
**Questions to address:**
- Which platforms to prioritize? (Can't do all equally)
- Content calendar: How often? What topics?
- Build in public: How transparent? What to share?
- Personal brand vs. product brand?
- LinkedIn: When to post? (employer risk)
**Framework to develop:**
- Platform-by-platform strategy
- Content pillars (3-5 themes)
- Distribution schedule (realistic for 15-20 hrs/week)
- Metrics to track (not vanity - real engagement)
**Research needed:**
- Analyze successful indie hackers on each platform
- Benchmark posting frequency
- Study what content gets traction in developer communities
**Desired outcome:**
- 90-day content plan
- Templates for recurring post types
- Clear dos/don'ts for each platform
**Owner:** @men (strategy) + Oleg (execution + authenticity)
**Urgency:** Eventually (after MVP has first users)
---
### 5. Plan B Strategy
**Context:** Oleg asked: "если сам banatie не выстрелит"
**Why important:** Mental preparation reduces panic, enables faster pivot
**Questions to address:**
- At what point do we call it? (time? money? metrics?)
- What would Plan B look like?
- Different ICP for same product?
- Different product for same ICP?
- Completely different direction?
- How to preserve learnings/relationships if we shut down?
- What's the psychological/emotional process of letting go?
**Scenarios to explore:**
1. Pivot to different ICP (e.g., agencies → e-commerce)
2. Pivot to different product (use image gen expertise differently)
3. Acqui-hire / sell (if there's traction but not enough for solo)
4. Shut down gracefully, return to job search with upgraded skills
**Desired outcome:**
- Clear abort criteria (documented)
- Pivot playbook (if X, try Y)
- Emotional preparedness (this is OK, not failure)
**Owner:** @men (scenarios) + Oleg (personal constraints)
**Urgency:** Eventually (revisit if red flags appear)
---
### 6. Google Ads & Paid Marketing
**Context:** Oleg asked about Google Ads viability
**Why not urgent:** Paid marketing is for AFTER PMF, not before
**Questions to address:**
- Is Google Ads right channel for developer tools?
- What keywords would we target?
- What's realistic CPC and conversion rate?
- Budget needed for meaningful test?
- SEO vs. Ads priority?
**Current stance:**
- **Don't run ads before PMF** (waste of money)
- Focus on organic: content, community, word-of-mouth
- Consider ads only after:
- $5K+ MRR
- <3% churn (proven product)
- Clear ROI on customer acquisition
**Revisit when:**
- We have 20+ customers organically
- We know our LTV (lifetime value)
- We've maxed out organic channels
**Desired outcome:**
- Paid marketing readiness checklist
- When to start ads (specific triggers)
- Channel-by-channel assessment (Google vs. Twitter vs. LinkedIn)
**Owner:** @men (when ready)
**Urgency:** Eventually (6-12 months out)
---
### 7. "Свечение Фейса" (Employer Discovery Risk Management)
**Context:** Oleg's concern: "как сделать так чтобы работодатель не узнал о моем проекте раньше времени"
**Why sensitive:** Side project could jeopardize current income
**Questions to address:**
- Legal: What does employment contract say? (IP clauses? Non-compete?)
- Ethical: Is there conflict of interest? (Same industry?)
- Practical: How to market without LinkedIn exposure early on?
- Timeline: When is it safe to go public?
**Risk assessment:**
- **High risk channels:** LinkedIn (colleagues watch), company Slack
- **Medium risk:** Twitter (if colleagues follow), local meetups
- **Low risk:** Reddit (pseudonymous), Indie Hackers, dev.to (niche)
**Mitigation strategies:**
1. **Separate brand identity**
- Banatie brand (not "Oleg's project")
- Separate social accounts (not personal)
- Generic bio (don't mention current employer)
2. **Delayed LinkedIn presence**
- Don't post on LinkedIn until 3-6 months in
- OR: Negotiate with employer first (transparency)
- Post only after you have customers (serious project)
3. **Check employment contract**
- Review IP assignment clauses (does employer own side projects?)
- Check non-compete (can you work in same space?)
- Consult lawyer if unclear (worth $200-500 for peace of mind)
4. **Gradual public presence**
- Month 1-3: Stealth, private beta
- Month 3-6: Soft public launch (dev.to, Indie Hackers, Reddit)
- Month 6+: Full public (LinkedIn, Twitter, local meetups)
5. **Employer conversation options:**
- **Option A (Risky):** Ask permission explicitly (could trigger concern)
- **Option B (Safe):** Wait until you have traction, then inform
- **Option C (Safest):** Keep stealth until you're ready to quit
**Desired outcome:**
- Clear timeline: When to go public on each platform
- Legal clarity: Contract reviewed, no surprises
- Backup plan: If employer finds out early, how to respond?
**Owner:** Oleg (contract review) + @men (strategy)
**Urgency:** Eventually (but address BEFORE pre-launch marketing)
---
## Parked Topics (Low Priority)
### 8. Partnership & Integration Strategy
**Context:** Which tools to integrate with? (Webflow, Framer, Shopify, etc.)
**Why low priority:** Need PMF first, then expand distribution
**Park until:** $5K+ MRR
### 9. Hiring & Delegation
**Context:** When to bring on help? What roles first?
**Why low priority:** Solo is viable until $10K+ MRR
**Park until:** Oleg is bottleneck (too much support, too many leads)
### 10. Fundraising Consideration
**Context:** Stay bootstrapped or seek funding?
**Why low priority:** Prove PMF first, then decide
**Park until:** $10K+ MRR or clear acceleration opportunity
### 11. International Expansion
**Context:** Which markets to target first? Localization needs?
**Why low priority:** Start global, but don't overthink geography
**Park until:** Clear geographic demand signals emerge
### 12. Exit Strategy / Long-term Vision
**Context:** Build to sell? Build lifestyle business? Build empire?
**Why low priority:** Too early to know
**Park until:** Post-PMF, $20K+ MRR
---
## Topics Completed ✅
### ✅ Market Positioning & Segments
**Completed:** Oct 19, 2025
**Output:** `01_market_positioning_and_segments.md`
**Key decisions:** Converging AI gen + CDN, targeting developers, not enterprises initially
### ✅ Reality Check & Timeline
**Completed:** Oct 19, 2025
**Output:** `02_reality_check.md`
**Key decisions:** 3-phase approach, keep job until $6K MRR, hybrid at 6 months
### ✅ Business Terminology & Concepts
**Completed:** Oct 19, 2025
**Output:** Inline clarifications in discussion
**Key terms:** ARR, MRR, churn, ICP, PMF, pivot, bandwidth
---
## Topic Request Process
**For Oleg:**
When you want to discuss something new:
1. Add it to appropriate section above
2. Include context (why this matters now)
3. Note urgency level
4. Flag in weekly check-in if it's time-sensitive
**For @men:**
- Review backlog weekly
- Reprioritize based on Oleg's progress
- Proactively surface topics as they become relevant
- Prune topics that are no longer applicable
---
## Quarterly Review Prompts
**Every 3 months, ask:**
1. Which topics can be removed? (no longer relevant)
2. Which topics should be elevated? (more urgent than before)
3. What new topics should be added? (based on progress)
4. Are we focusing on the right things? (strategy check)
---
**Document owner:** @men + Oleg (joint)
**Next review:** After ICP validation complete
**Last updated:** October 19, 2025
**Related docs:** All strategic documents reference this backlog

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# Validated ICP: AI-Powered Developers
**Date:** October 20, 2025
**Status:** Validated through founder's own use case + requires 5-10 external confirmations
**Version:** 1.0 (based on Oleg's detailed self-assessment)
**Confidence Level:** HIGH (80%) - founder IS the ICP
---
## Executive Summary
**Primary ICP: Developers using AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.) who struggle with image generation workflow integration.**
**Why this ICP:**
- Founder (Oleg) IS this ICP - personal pain point validated
- Clear, specific workflow bottleneck identified
- Existing market behaviors observed (already using AI gen tools separately)
- Willingness to pay validated ($10-50/month range)
- Accessible through developer communities (Reddit, Indie Hackers, Discord)
**Market size estimate:**
- Claude Code users: ~50K+ active (growing fast)
- Cursor users: ~100K+ active
- General AI-assisted developers: 500K+ globally
- **Serviceable market:** 10-50K developers who build web projects regularly
---
## Detailed ICP Profile
### Demographics
**Role:**
- Solo indie developers (primary)
- Freelance web developers
- Technical founders building MVPs
- Frontend developers in small teams (2-5 people)
**Experience Level:**
- 3-10 years in web development
- Comfortable with modern JavaScript stack
- Early adopters of AI tools (not laggards)
**Tech Stack:**
- **Primary:** Next.js, React, Tailwind CSS
- **AI Tools:** Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot
- **Deployment:** Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare
- **CMS:** Headless CMS (Sanity, Storyblok, Contentful) or no CMS
**Geographic Distribution:**
- Global, English-speaking preferred
- Strong presence in: US, EU, LatAm, Russia/CIS, India
- Location-independent (digital nomads, remote workers)
**Income Level:**
- Freelancers: $3K-10K/month
- Employed developers: $4K-15K/month
- Side project builders: Variable income
- Tool budget: $50-300/month total
---
### Psychographics
**Personality Traits:**
- **Early adopter mindset:** Excited about new AI tools, willing to experiment
- **Efficiency-focused:** Value time savings over manual quality control
- **Technical comfort:** Prefer API/code over UI when building
- **Pragmatic:** Choose "good enough fast" over "perfect slow"
- **Community-oriented:** Active in developer forums, build in public
**Values:**
- Automation over manual work
- Speed of iteration over polish
- Learning new tools over sticking to old ways
- Independence (prefer solo/small team work)
**Pain Tolerance:**
- **High tolerance:** Technical complexity, learning curves
- **Low tolerance:** Manual repetitive tasks, context switching, tool fragmentation
**Decision-Making Style:**
- Research-oriented (read docs, watch demos, try before buy)
- Trust peer recommendations (Reddit, Twitter, indie hacker communities)
- Willing to pay for proven ROI (time savings = money)
- Prefer monthly flexibility over annual commitments (episodic usage)
---
### Behavioral Patterns
**Current Workflow (Image Generation):**
1. **Using Claude Code to build sites:**
- Generate components, pages, styling
- Claude Code handles 90% of development
2. **Image generation bottleneck:**
- Exit Claude Code environment
- Open Gemini Studio / Midjourney / Krea.ai
- Generate images manually
- Download files locally
- Rename, organize in project folders
- Import into code manually
- Return to Claude Code
**Time spent:** 30-60 minutes on images (vs. 2-3 hours on actual development)
**Frustration points:**
- Context switching (breaks flow state)
- Manual file management (tedious, error-prone)
- Inconsistent assets (different styles, sizes, formats)
- Re-generation pain (repeat entire workflow for edits)
- No programmatic control (can't automate)
---
**Tool Usage Patterns:**
**Daily tools:**
- Claude Code / Cursor (primary development)
- Claude Chat / ChatGPT (problem-solving, ideation)
- GitHub / GitLab (version control)
- VS Code (when not using AI coding tools)
**Weekly tools:**
- Gemini Studio / Midjourney / Krea.ai (image generation)
- Canva (light design work)
- Figma (occasionally, for complex designs)
**Monthly spending on tools:**
- Claude: $20-100/month (Pro or usage-based)
- ChatGPT: $20/month (Plus subscription)
- Krea.ai / other image gen: $10-50/month (when needed)
- GitHub: $4-20/month
- Vercel/Netlify: $0-50/month
**Total tool budget:** $50-300/month
**Available budget for Banatie:** $10-50/month (if it saves significant time)
---
### Pain Points (Ranked by Severity)
#### 1. **Context Switching Between Tools** (10/10 severity)
**Description:** Breaking flow to generate images in separate tools
**Current workaround:**
- Use placeholder images initially
- Batch generate images later
- Sometimes skip images entirely (gray boxes)
**Cost:**
- Time: 30-60 min per project
- Mental energy: High (flow state disruption)
- Quality: Lower (rush to finish)
**Willingness to pay to solve:** HIGH ($20-50/month)
---
#### 2. **Manual File Management** (9/10 severity)
**Description:** Download → rename → organize → import → reference in code
**Current workaround:**
- Create organized folder structure
- Use consistent naming conventions
- Still tedious and error-prone
**Cost:**
- Time: 10-20 min per image batch
- Errors: Broken imports, wrong paths
- Frustration: High
**Willingness to pay to solve:** HIGH ($20-50/month)
---
#### 3. **Consistency Across Assets** (8/10 severity)
**Description:** Logos, characters, products need to look the same across images
**Current workaround:**
- Re-upload reference images each time
- Detailed prompts with style descriptions
- Trial and error (3-5 attempts)
**Cost:**
- Time: 15-30 min per consistent asset set
- Credits wasted: 2-4 extra generations
- Frustration: Medium-high
**Willingness to pay to solve:** MEDIUM-HIGH ($10-30/month)
---
#### 4. **Prompt Engineering Complexity** (7/10 severity)
**Description:** Writing effective prompts requires knowledge of model-specific guidelines
**Current workaround:**
- Use ChatGPT/Claude to improve prompts
- Copy-paste from successful prompts
- Read Gemini guidelines (but hard to apply consistently)
**Cost:**
- Time: 5-10 min per prompt
- Quality: Inconsistent results
- Learning curve: Steep
**Willingness to pay to solve:** MEDIUM ($10-20/month)
---
#### 5. **Language Barrier** (6/10 severity - for non-native English speakers)
**Description:** Describing creative/visual concepts in English is difficult
**Current workaround:**
- Write in native language → translate with AI → edit
- Use simpler English descriptions (lower quality)
**Cost:**
- Time: 5-10 min extra per prompt
- Quality: Often doesn't capture nuance
**Willingness to pay to solve:** MEDIUM ($10-20/month) - but critical for Russian/non-English speakers
---
#### 6. **Image Transformations & Optimization** (5/10 severity)
**Description:** Resizing, format conversion, responsive images for mobile/desktop
**Current workaround:**
- Use online tools (TinyPNG, Squoosh)
- Let Next.js Image component handle it
- Sometimes just use original size (slow loading)
**Cost:**
- Time: 5-15 min per image set
- Performance: Slower page loads
**Willingness to pay to solve:** LOW-MEDIUM ($5-15/month)
---
## Jobs to Be Done
When developers use Banatie, they're hiring it to:
### Functional Jobs
**Primary Job:**
"Let me generate production-ready images WITHOUT leaving my development environment"
**Supporting Jobs:**
1. "Generate images programmatically as part of my build process"
2. "Maintain visual consistency across multiple generated assets"
3. "Transform my Russian/native language descriptions into quality English prompts"
4. "Get production-optimized images (CDN, formats, sizes) without manual work"
5. "Reference previous images in new generations (characters, logos, products)"
### Emotional Jobs
**Primary Emotion:**
"I want to feel like a full-stack creator who can ship complete, polished projects solo"
**Supporting Emotions:**
1. "I want to stay in flow state, not context switch"
2. "I want my AI-generated sites to look as professional as hand-designed ones"
3. "I want to impress clients/users with visual quality, not just functionality"
4. "I want to feel confident that my images will load fast and look good everywhere"
### Social Jobs
**Primary Social:**
"I want to build projects that look professional enough to share publicly without embarrassment"
**Supporting Social:**
1. "I want to post my side projects on Twitter/Reddit and get positive feedback"
2. "I want to show potential clients I can deliver full solutions"
3. "I want to demonstrate to other developers that AI tools can create production-quality work"
---
## Where to Find This ICP
### Online Communities (Priority Order)
#### 1. **Reddit** (HIGHEST PRIORITY)
- **r/ClaudeAI** (14K members) - PRIMARY CHANNEL
- Most active Claude Code users
- Discussion about workflows, integrations, tips
- Receptive to new tools
- **r/ChatGPTCoding** (50K members)
- AI-assisted developers
- Active discussion about tooling
- **r/cursor** (smaller but growing)
- Cursor IDE users (similar to Claude Code)
- **r/nextjs** (200K members)
- Many use AI tools for Next.js development
- Look for posts about AI-assisted development
- **r/webdev** (2M members)
- Large but noisy
- Use for awareness, not primary outreach
- **r/IndieHackers** (100K members)
- Solo builders, side projects
- Good for validation discussions
**Approach:**
- Post from throwaway account
- Ask about workflows, pain points
- DM respondents for text interviews
---
#### 2. **Indie Hackers**
- Very receptive to new tools
- Build-in-public culture
- Good for validation + early adopters
**Approach:**
- Post in "Ask IH" section
- Share learnings, get feedback
- DM interested users
---
#### 3. **Discord Servers**
- **Claude AI Discord** (official)
- **Cursor Discord** (official)
- **AI Tinkerers** (AI builders community)
- **Next.js Discord**
**Approach:**
- Join with non-real-name account
- Lurk first, understand culture
- Ask questions in relevant channels
- DM users who show interest
---
#### 4. **Twitter/X** (LATER - employer risk)
- Search: "Claude Code", "Cursor", "AI coding"
- Follow developers posting about AI tools
- Engage with their posts
- DM for interviews (after they recognize you)
**Approach:**
- Read only for now
- Engage after MVP launch
- Build presence gradually
---
#### 5. **Dev.to**
- Your existing account (be careful)
- Don't post about Banatie yet
- Can read comments, gauge interest
- Use for later content marketing
---
### Events & Meetups (Future)
- Local developer meetups (Koh Samui / remote)
- AI hackathons
- Indie hacker meetups
- NextJS conf (online)
**Not priority for validation phase.**
---
## How to Talk to This ICP
### Language & Terminology
**Use:**
- "AI coding tools" not "AI assistants"
- "Workflow integration" not "seamless experience"
- "Production-ready" not "high quality"
- "Programmatic generation" not "automated creation"
- Technical terms (API, CDN, MCP, SDK)
**Avoid:**
- Marketing jargon ("revolutionary", "game-changing")
- Design-focused language ("beautiful", "stunning")
- Enterprise speak ("enterprise-grade", "mission-critical")
- Vague benefits ("save time" without specifics)
### Message Framing
**Lead with the problem:**
❌ "AI-powered image generation platform"
✅ "Generate images without leaving Claude Code"
**Be specific about workflow:**
❌ "Automate your image workflow"
✅ "Claude Code generates your site, then generates your images, then inserts the production URLs - all in one command"
**Show technical credibility:**
❌ "Easy to use"
✅ "MCP integration for Claude Code, REST API, TypeScript SDK"
**Acknowledge their sophistication:**
❌ "No technical knowledge required"
✅ "Built for developers who already use AI coding tools"
---
### Messaging Hierarchy
**Hook (1 sentence):**
"Generate production-ready images from Claude Code without context switching"
**Value Prop (1 paragraph):**
"Banatie integrates AI image generation directly into your development workflow. Use MCP to generate images from Claude Code, get production CDN URLs instantly, and maintain visual consistency with contextual references. Built for developers using AI coding tools."
**Key Benefits (3 bullets):**
- MCP integration: Generate images without leaving Claude Code
- Prompt Enhancement: Write in any language, get optimized English prompts
- Production delivery: CDN URLs, transformations, optimizations included
**Social Proof (when available):**
- "Used by indie developers building [X] projects"
- "Saved [Y] hours for developers on [Z] projects"
- Testimonials from Reddit/IH users
---
## Validation Checklist
Before committing to this ICP, validate:
### Must-Have Confirmations (5-7 minimum)
- [ ] Other Claude Code/Cursor users struggle with same image workflow pain
- [ ] They currently use separate tools (Gemini Studio, Midjourney, etc.)
- [ ] Context switching is genuinely frustrating (not just "slightly annoying")
- [ ] MCP integration is desired feature (would actively use it)
- [ ] Willing to pay $10-50/month for solution
- [ ] Build web projects regularly (at least monthly)
- [ ] Already spend money on AI tools
### Nice-to-Have Confirmations (bonus)
- [ ] Russian/non-English speakers value prompt translation
- [ ] Consistency across assets is critical (logos, characters, products)
- [ ] CDN delivery matters (not just generation)
- [ ] Would recommend to other developers
- [ ] Would provide testimonials/case studies
---
## Red Flags to Watch For
**If you hear these, PIVOT or RE-ASSESS:**
❌ "I'm happy with Midjourney UI, don't need API"
❌ "I don't use AI coding tools"
❌ "I only build sites occasionally (once a year)"
❌ "I would only use free tier forever"
❌ "My clients require manual design approval anyway"
❌ "I prefer complete control over every pixel"
❌ "I don't trust AI-generated images for production"
**If 3+ of these in 10 interviews → this ICP is NOT validated.**
---
## Success Metrics
**ICP validated if:**
- 60%+ say "I would use this" (6 out of 10 interviews)
- 40%+ say "I would pay $20+" (4 out of 10 interviews)
- 30%+ want early access (3 out of 10 interviews)
- Consistent pain point described (not scattered problems)
- Budget confirmed (they pay for other tools)
**Strong signal:**
- Multiple people ask "When can I use this?"
- Referrals offered ("Talk to my friend who...")
- Feature requests are specific (they've thought about solution)
---
## Founder Advantage with This ICP
**Why Oleg has unfair advantage:**
1. **He IS the ICP**
- Uses Claude Code daily
- Builds web projects regularly
- Feels the pain personally
- Can test on his own workflows
2. **He speaks their language**
- 8+ years frontend dev
- Deep Next.js/React expertise
- Understands AI coding tools
- Technical credibility instant
3. **He has access**
- Active on dev.to (existing audience)
- Can join Reddit/Discord authentically
- Knows where developers hang out
- Part of indie hacker community
4. **He can build fast**
- Already has MVP working
- Uses Claude Code for development
- Can iterate based on feedback
- Technical execution not a bottleneck
**This is BEST CASE for founder-ICP fit.**
---
## Next Steps
1. **Validate externally:** 5-10 interviews with other AI-powered developers
2. **Confirm pain + willingness to pay:** Use text-based interview script
3. **Refine messaging:** Based on actual language they use
4. **Identify channels:** Where did validated users come from?
5. **Build for them:** Strip MVP to their top 3 needs
**Timeline:** 2 weeks for validation, then decision to build.
---
**Document owner:** @men (based on Oleg's self-assessment)
**Next review:** After external validation complete
**Related docs:** `08_validation_plan.md`, `09_mvp_scope.md`, `02_reality_check.md`

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# ICP Validation Plan: 2-Week Sprint
**Date:** October 20, 2025
**Goal:** Validate AI-powered developers as primary ICP through 5-10 external interviews
**Timeline:** 2 weeks (Oct 20 - Nov 3, 2025)
**Success Criteria:** 60%+ willing to use, 40%+ willing to pay $20+, 30%+ want early access
---
## Why This Validation is Critical
**Current status:**
- ✅ Founder (Oleg) validated as ICP (personal pain confirmed)
- â³ Need 5-10 external confirmations (ensure not a "snowflake")
- â³ Test messaging, pricing, feature priorities
**Risk if skipped:**
- Build for imaginary users (not actual market)
- Wrong feature prioritization (waste 2-3 months)
- Pricing mismatch (too high or too low)
- Wrong channels (can't reach customers)
**Investment:** 15-20 hours over 2 weeks
**Payoff:** 3-6 months saved on wrong direction
---
## Validation Objectives
### Primary Objectives (MUST VALIDATE)
1. **Pain confirmation:** Other AI developers struggle with same image workflow bottleneck
2. **Willingness to pay:** Ready to spend $10-50/month for solution
3. **Feature priority:** MCP integration is desired (not just nice-to-have)
4. **Usage frequency:** Build projects regularly enough to justify subscription/credits
### Secondary Objectives (BONUS DATA)
5. **Messaging resonance:** Which phrases/benefits resonate most
6. **Channel discovery:** Where did validated users come from
7. **Pricing preference:** Credits vs. subscription preference
8. **Competitor awareness:** What alternatives they're currently using
---
## Week 1: Outreach Setup + First Interviews
### Day 1-2 (Mon-Tue, Oct 20-21): Prep & Launch
**Tasks:**
#### Setup Anonymous Accounts
- [ ] Create throwaway Reddit account (e.g., `ai_dev_researcher`, `claude_code_user`)
- [ ] Create anonymous Indie Hackers account
- [ ] Join Discord servers:
- [ ] Claude AI official Discord
- [ ] Cursor Discord
- [ ] AI Tinkerers
- [ ] Next.js Discord
**Time:** 1-2 hours
---
#### Write Outreach Posts (3 variants)
**Variant A: Problem-focused**
```
Title: "Claude Code users: How do you handle images?"
Using Claude Code to build NextJS sites has been great, but images are still a pain. I end up:
1. Leaving Claude Code
2. Opening Gemini Studio/Midjourney
3. Generating manually
4. Downloading, organizing, importing
Takes longer than building the actual site sometimes.
How do you handle this? Any workflows that work well?
(Exploring this problem space, not selling anything yet)
```
**Variant B: Solution validation**
```
Title: "Would you use AI image generation directly from Claude Code?"
I've been using Claude Code for projects and love it, but image generation is a workflow killer.
Thinking about a tool that:
- Generates images via MCP (without leaving Claude Code)
- Returns production CDN URLs automatically
- Maintains consistency (logos, characters, etc.)
Would this solve a real problem for you? What's missing?
```
**Variant C: Workflow comparison**
```
Title: "AI-assisted devs: What's your image generation workflow?"
Quick survey for developers using AI coding tools (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.):
1. How do you generate images for your projects?
2. Where does it fit in your development workflow?
3. What's the most annoying part?
4. Would you pay to automate it?
Researching this space, want to understand actual pain points.
```
**Decision:** Test Variant A first (lowest friction), then B if low response
**Time:** 30 minutes
---
#### Post in Target Communities
**Priority 1 (Post immediately):**
- [ ] r/ClaudeAI (use Variant A)
- [ ] r/ChatGPTCoding (use Variant A or C)
**Priority 2 (Post Day 2):**
- [ ] r/nextjs (use Variant C - less AI-specific)
- [ ] Indie Hackers "Ask IH" (use Variant B)
**Priority 3 (If needed):**
- [ ] r/webdev (large but noisy)
- [ ] r/cursor (smaller community)
**Time:** 30 minutes (posting) + monitoring responses
---
### Day 3-4 (Wed-Thu, Oct 22-23): First Interviews
**Tasks:**
#### Respond to Comments & DM Respondents
**DM Template:**
```
Hey! Saw your comment on [post title].
I'm doing deeper research on AI developer workflows and would love to hear more about your experience.
Would you be open to answering 5-7 questions via DM? Should take ~10 minutes.
(Not selling anything, genuinely trying to understand the problem space)
```
**Response rate estimate:** 50-60% will agree (text-based is low friction)
**Time:** 2-3 hours (responding + DMing 10-15 people)
---
#### Conduct Text-Based Interviews (Target: 3-5)
**Interview Script (via DM):**
```
Thanks for agreeing to chat! Here are the questions:
1. What AI coding tools do you use? (Claude Code, Cursor, other?)
2. How often do you build web projects? (Daily, weekly, monthly?)
3. Do you generate images for your projects? If yes, how?
4. What's the most annoying part of your current image workflow?
5. How much time does image handling take vs. actual coding?
6. Have you tried to automate this? What did you try?
7. If there was an MCP tool that let Claude Code generate + insert production-ready images automatically, would you use it?
8. What would you pay for that? ($0, $10-20, $20-50, $50+/month or one-time credit packs?)
No rush, answer when convenient. Really appreciate your input!
```
**Documentation:** After each interview, fill out:
- Pain severity (1-10)
- Willingness to pay (Yes/No/Maybe + amount)
- Key quotes
- Red flags / Green lights
**Time:** 3-5 hours (depending on response speed)
---
### Day 5-7 (Fri-Sun, Oct 24-26): Additional Outreach + Interviews
**Tasks:**
#### Expand Outreach (If <5 interviews completed)
**Option A: More Reddit posts**
- [ ] r/IndieHackers
- [ ] r/SideProject (if applicable)
**Option B: Discord engagement**
- [ ] Post in #general or #tools channels (Claude AI Discord)
- [ ] Ask in #show-and-tell (if appropriate)
**Option C: Direct DMs to active users**
- [ ] Find recent posters in target subreddits
- [ ] DM with interview request
**Time:** 2-3 hours
---
#### Conduct More Interviews (Target: 5-7 total by end of Week 1)
**Same script as Day 3-4**
**Analysis checkpoint:**
- After 5 interviews, do initial pattern analysis
- Are 60%+ showing interest? (3 out of 5)
- Are 40%+ willing to pay $20+? (2 out of 5)
- If YES → continue
- If NO → reassess (wrong ICP? wrong messaging?)
**Time:** 3-5 hours
---
## Week 2: Deep Dive + Decision
### Day 8-10 (Mon-Wed, Oct 27-29): Final Interviews
**Tasks:**
#### Reach 10-15 Total Interviews
**If Week 1 went well (5-7 completed):**
- [ ] Conduct 3-5 more interviews
- [ ] Focus on validating specific insights from Week 1
**If Week 1 was slow (<5 completed):**
- [ ] Double down on outreach
- [ ] Try different messaging (Variant B or C)
- [ ] Consider voice calls (if willing to overcome English barrier)
**Time:** 4-6 hours
---
#### Pattern Analysis (Midpoint Review)
**After ~8-10 interviews, analyze:**
**Quantitative:**
- X% say "I would use this" (target: 60%+)
- X% willing to pay $20+ (target: 40%+)
- X% want early access (target: 30%+)
**Qualitative:**
- What words do THEY use to describe the problem?
- What features are mentioned most often?
- What objections/concerns come up repeatedly?
- What alternatives do they currently use?
**Pricing insights:**
- Credits vs. subscription preference?
- Price sensitivity ($10 vs $20 vs $50)?
- Usage patterns (episodic vs. regular)?
**Time:** 2-3 hours
---
### Day 11-12 (Thu-Fri, Oct 30-31): Final Analysis
**Tasks:**
#### Complete Interview Analysis
**Create summary document:**
**Validated Green Lights:**
- [ ] Consistent pain point confirmed (describe)
- [ ] Willingness to pay validated (X% at $Y price)
- [ ] MCP integration desired (X% want it)
- [ ] Usage frequency sufficient (X build projects monthly+)
- [ ] Current workarounds inadequate (describe)
**Red Flags Identified:**
- [ ] List any recurring objections
- [ ] Note any patterns of disinterest
- [ ] Identify segments that DON'T fit
**Messaging Insights:**
- Best phrases/benefits (what resonated)
- Worst messaging (what confused/turned off)
- Technical details to emphasize
- Pain points to lead with
**Channel Insights:**
- Which channels yielded best respondents?
- Where are validated users most active?
- Which communities to prioritize for launch?
**Time:** 3-4 hours
---
#### Compile Validation Report
**Structure:**
**1. Executive Summary**
- ICP validated? (Yes / Pivot / Stop)
- Confidence level (High / Medium / Low)
- Key insights (3-5 bullets)
**2. Interview Results**
- Total interviews: X
- Green lights: X% (target: 60%+)
- Willing to pay $20+: X% (target: 40%+)
- Want early access: X% (target: 30%+)
**3. Pain Point Confirmation**
- Describe the validated pain in THEIR words
- Severity ranking (1-10 average)
- Current workarounds (what they do now)
**4. Feature Priorities (from interviews)**
- Must-have features (top 3)
- Nice-to-have features
- Features they don't care about
**5. Pricing Insights**
- Preferred model (credits vs. subscription)
- Price sensitivity analysis
- Budget availability confirmed
**6. Messaging Recommendations**
- Lead with: [validated pain point]
- Emphasize: [key benefits in their language]
- Avoid: [messaging that didn't resonate]
**7. Next Steps**
- If validated: Build MVP for this ICP
- If pivot needed: Test different segment
- If stop: Reassess fundamental assumptions
**Time:** 2-3 hours
---
### Day 13-14 (Weekend, Nov 1-3): Decision + Planning
**Tasks:**
#### Go/Pivot/Stop Decision
**Decision Matrix:**
**GO (Build MVP for AI developers):**
- ✅ 60%+ willing to use
- ✅ 40%+ willing to pay $20+
- ✅ 30%+ want early access
- ✅ Consistent pain point
- ✅ Clear feature priorities
- ✅ Accessible channels identified
**PIVOT (Test different ICP):**
- âš ï¸ <60% willing to use
- âš ï¸ Interest but weak willingness to pay
- âš ï¸ Pain exists but not urgent
- âš ï¸ Conflicting feature requests
- âš ï¸ Budget concerns
**STOP (Fundamental rethink):**
- 🛑 <40% willing to use
- 🛑 No one willing to pay
- 🛑 Pain is theoretical, not actual
- 🛑 Current solutions adequate
- 🛑 Market doesn't exist
**Time:** 2-3 hours (discussion with @men)
---
#### If GO: Plan MVP Build
**Next steps:**
1. Finalize MVP scope based on validated priorities
2. Strip features to validated top 3 must-haves
3. Set 4-6 week development timeline
4. Plan beta launch to validated channels
5. Prepare early access list from interviews
**Time:** 2-3 hours
---
#### If PIVOT: Identify Alternative ICP
**Options:**
- Test agencies (original hypothesis)
- Test e-commerce (product image use case)
- Test different developer segment (WordPress, etc.)
- Refine AI developer segment (different pain point)
**Timeline:** Another 1-2 weeks validation
---
## Interview Documentation Template
**Use this for EVERY interview:**
---
**Interview #:** ___
**Date:** ___
**Channel:** (Reddit / Indie Hackers / Discord / DM)
**Contact:** (username / email - for follow-up)
---
**Q1: What AI coding tools do you use?**
Answer:
**Q2: How often do you build web projects?**
Answer:
**Q3: Do you generate images for your projects? How?**
Answer:
**Q4: Most annoying part of current workflow?**
Answer:
**Q5: Time spent on images vs. coding?**
Answer:
**Q6: Tried to automate? What did you try?**
Answer:
**Q7: Would you use MCP tool for image generation?**
Answer:
**Q8: What would you pay?**
Answer:
---
**ANALYSIS:**
**Pain Severity:** ___/10
**Willingness to Pay:** [ ] Yes at $\_\_ [ ] No [ ] Maybe
**Early Adopter:** [ ] High [ ] Medium [ ] Low
**Key Quotes:**
-
-
**Green Lights:**
-
-
**Red Flags:**
-
-
**Follow-up Notes:**
-
---
## Stealth Outreach Guidelines
**To avoid employer discovery:**
### ✅ DO:
- Use throwaway Reddit accounts (no connection to real identity)
- Use anonymous Indie Hackers account
- Use Discord with generic username
- Frame as "research" not "building a product"
- Focus on developer communities (not LinkedIn)
- Keep it casual, peer-to-peer tone
- Avoid mentioning current employer or location
### ⌠DON'T:
- Post on LinkedIn (colleagues will see)
- Use real name in Reddit/IH posts
- Mention "Thailand", "Frontend Developer", or other identifying details
- Reference current employer's product
- Post during work hours (timezone tells)
- Connect outreach accounts to personal social media
---
## Success Criteria (Validation Complete)
**ICP validated if ALL of these:**
- [x] 10-15 interviews completed
- [x] 60%+ say "I would use this" (6+ out of 10)
- [x] 40%+ willing to pay $20+ (4+ out of 10)
- [x] 30%+ want early access (3+ out of 10)
- [x] Consistent pain point (not scattered problems)
- [x] Budget confirmed (they pay for other tools)
- [x] Clear feature priorities (MCP + 2-3 others)
**Strong bonus signals:**
- Multiple people ask "When can I try this?"
- Referrals offered ("You should talk to...")
- Specific feature requests (they've thought deeply)
- Offer to beta test / provide feedback
- Share contact info for updates
---
## Time Investment Summary
**Week 1:**
- Day 1-2: 2-3 hours (setup + posts)
- Day 3-4: 5-8 hours (DMs + 3-5 interviews)
- Day 5-7: 5-8 hours (more outreach + interviews)
- **Total: 12-19 hours**
**Week 2:**
- Day 8-10: 6-9 hours (final interviews + analysis)
- Day 11-12: 5-7 hours (report + decision)
- Day 13-14: 2-3 hours (planning next steps)
- **Total: 13-19 hours**
**Grand Total: 25-38 hours over 2 weeks**
**This is 15-20 hours/week (matches your available time)**
---
## Contingency Plans
### If Low Response Rate (<5 interviews by end of Week 1)
**Options:**
1. **Try different messaging:**
- Use Variant B or C
- More direct value prop
- Offer incentive (early access, discount)
2. **Expand channels:**
- Discord (more active communities)
- Twitter DMs (if comfortable)
- Dev.to (carefully, your existing account)
3. **Voice calls (overcome language barrier):**
- Offer 15-min video calls (record if permitted)
- Use real-time translation tools
- Prepare questions in advance
4. **Leverage network:**
- Ask developer friends
- Former colleagues (trusted)
- Online acquaintances
---
### If Conflicting Feedback
**Example:** 50% love MCP, 50% don't care about MCP
**Action:**
- Segment respondents (who loves it vs. who doesn't?)
- Is there a clearer sub-ICP? (e.g., solo devs vs. team devs)
- Which segment has higher willingness to pay?
- Prioritize segment with strongest signals
---
### If Validated Pain But No Willingness to Pay
**Red flag:** "I'd use it if it was free"
**Possible issues:**
- Price too high (test $10 tier)
- Value not clear (emphasize ROI)
- Wrong ICP (hobbyists, not professionals)
- Market too immature (wait 6-12 months)
**Decision:** PIVOT to different segment OR wait for market maturity
---
## Post-Validation: Next Steps
### If GO Decision:
**Immediate actions (Week 3):**
1. Create validated MVP scope document (strip to top 3 features)
2. Set development timeline (4-6 weeks)
3. Prepare beta access list (from interviews)
4. Design onboarding flow (MCP setup, first generation)
5. Plan soft launch strategy (Reddit post in r/ClaudeAI)
**Communication to interviewees:**
```
Subject: Thanks for your input on AI dev workflow research
Hey [Name],
Thanks for taking time to chat about your development workflow a few weeks ago.
Based on feedback from you and others, I'm building a tool to solve the image generation bottleneck for AI-assisted developers.
Would you be interested in early access? I'll send an invite when it's ready (estimated [date]).
No pressure - just wanted to close the loop since you helped validate this.
Cheers,
Oleg
```
---
### If PIVOT Decision:
**Immediate actions (Week 3):**
1. Select alternative ICP hypothesis
2. Prepare new interview script
3. Identify channels for alternative ICP
4. Run another 5-10 interviews (1-2 weeks)
5. Set final deadline (if 2nd ICP fails, stop)
---
### If STOP Decision:
**Immediate actions:**
1. Document learnings (what didn't work)
2. Preserve relationships (thank interviewees)
3. Consider: Different problem? Different approach?
4. Reassess: Continue as side project OR shut down?
5. Focus energy back on day job (reduce stress)
---
## Key Reminders
**✅ DO:**
- Be genuinely curious (not selling)
- Listen more than talk
- Ask "why" follow-up questions
- Document immediately after each interview
- Thank people for their time
**⌠DON'T:**
- Pitch the product (you're learning, not selling)
- Lead the witness ("Wouldn't you love X?")
- Ignore red flags (confirmation bias)
- Skip documentation (memory fades fast)
- Give up after 3-4 interviews (need 10+ for patterns)
---
**Document owner:** @men
**Timeline:** Oct 20 - Nov 3, 2025 (2 weeks)
**Next milestone:** Go/Pivot/Stop decision by Nov 3
**Related docs:** `07_validated_icp_ai_developers.md`, `09_mvp_scope.md`

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# MVP Scope: Banatie for AI Developers
**Date:** October 20, 2025
**Target ICP:** AI-powered developers (Claude Code, Cursor users)
**Development Timeline:** 4-6 weeks
**Launch Goal:** First 5-10 beta users by end of November 2025
---
## MVP Philosophy
**Principle:** Build the MINIMUM to validate willingness to pay, not the complete vision.
**Goal:** Solve ONE core problem exceptionally well:
> "Generate production-ready images from Claude Code without context switching"
**Not the goal:** Build all planned features (Flow, Namespaces, On-demand URL generation)
---
## Core Value Proposition (MVP)
**What users get:**
1. MCP integration for Claude Code → generate images without leaving environment
2. Prompt Enhancement → write in any language, get optimized results
3. Production CDN URLs → no manual download/upload/hosting
4. Contextual references → maintain consistency across assets (@logo, @hero)
5. Basic transformations → resize, format, optimize automatically
**What users DON'T get in MVP:**
- Flow-based chained generation (future)
- Namespaces / project organization (future)
- On-demand generation via URL (future)
- Advanced focal point analysis (future)
- Team collaboration features (future)
---
## MUST HAVE Features (Launch Blockers)
### 1. MCP Server for Claude Code ✅ CRITICAL
**Why it's critical:**
- This is the KILLER FEATURE
- Solves the #1 pain point (context switching)
- No competitor has this
- Differentiates from "just another AI image API"
**Functionality:**
```typescript
// MCP Tools to implement:
banatie_generate({
prompt: string, // User's prompt (any language)
name?: string, // Optional name for reference (e.g., "logo")
style?: string, // Optional style preset
aspectRatio?: string, // e.g., "16:9", "1:1", "4:3"
width?: number, // Target width for optimization
referenceImages?: string[] // Array of @names to reference
})
// Returns: {
// url: "https://cdn.banatie.app/...",
// name: string (if provided),
// transformations: { ... } (preset URLs)
// }
banatie_upload({
file: base64 | url,
name: string // Required for referencing
})
// Returns: {
// name: string,
// url: "https://cdn.banatie.app/..."
// }
banatie_list_images({
limit?: number
})
// Returns: Array of previously generated/uploaded images
```
**Implementation notes:**
- Follow MCP spec: https://modelcontextprotocol.io/
- Test with Claude Desktop + Claude Code
- Provide clear error messages
- Handle API key authentication
**Time estimate:** 1-2 weeks
---
### 2. Prompt Enhancement Agent ✅ CRITICAL
**Why it's critical:**
- Solves #2 pain point (prompt engineering complexity)
- Massive value for non-native English speakers (Russian developers)
- Improves generation quality automatically
- Low-hanging fruit (you already have working version)
**Functionality:**
**Input:** User's prompt (any language, casual description)
```
"маг эльфийской крови в средневековом городе на закате"
```
**Process:**
1. Detect language (if not English, translate)
2. Analyze intent and visual elements
3. Apply Gemini 2.5 Flash Image best practices:
- Camera parameters for photorealism
- Lighting descriptions
- Composition guidelines
- Style keywords
4. Generate optimized English prompt
**Output:** Production-ready prompt
```
"A photorealistic portrait of an elven-blooded wizard standing in a medieval European city street at golden hour sunset, warm amber lighting, shot with 85mm lens at f/2.8, shallow depth of field, detailed texture on stone buildings, volumetric light rays, cinematic composition"
```
**Implementation notes:**
- Use Gemini 2.0 Flash (fast, cheap)
- Include Google's official guidelines in agent prompt
- Cache common translations
- Show both original + enhanced prompt to user (educational)
**Time estimate:** 3-5 days (since you already have working version)
---
### 3. Asset Persistence + CDN URLs ✅ CRITICAL
**Why it's critical:**
- Solves #3 pain point (manual file management)
- "Production-ready" means hosted + optimized
- No competitor bundles this (they just return base64)
**Functionality:**
**Storage:**
- MinIO (S3-compatible) ✅ Already implemented
- Organized by user/project
- Permanent URLs (no expiry)
**CDN Delivery:**
- Cloudflare CDN integration
- Global caching
- Automatic optimization
**URL structure:**
```
https://cdn.banatie.app/u/{user_id}/{image_id}.webp?w=800&q=90
```
**Metadata stored (PostgreSQL):**
- image_id (UUID)
- user_id
- original_prompt (user's input)
- enhanced_prompt (after agent)
- generation_params (style, aspect ratio, etc.)
- reference_images (if used)
- name (if provided, for @references)
- created_at
- generation_cost (for billing)
**Time estimate:** 1 week (storage already done, need CDN setup)
---
### 4. Basic Image Transformations ✅ IMPORTANT
**Why it's important:**
- Solves #4 pain point (responsive images, formats)
- Demonstrates "production-ready" value
- Common use case (mobile vs. desktop)
**Functionality:**
**Via URL query parameters:**
```
?w=800 // Width resize
?h=600 // Height resize
?ar=16:9 // Aspect ratio crop
?f=webp // Format (webp, png, jpg, avif)
?q=85 // Quality (1-100)
?fit=cover // Fit mode (cover, contain, fill)
```
**Preset transformations (returned in API response):**
```json
{
"url": "https://cdn.banatie.app/u/123/img456.webp",
"transformations": {
"mobile": "...?w=400&f=webp&q=85",
"tablet": "...?w=768&f=webp&q=85",
"desktop": "...?w=1200&f=webp&q=90",
"thumbnail": "...?w=150&h=150&fit=cover&f=webp"
}
}
```
**Implementation:**
- Imageflow-Server (as per tech spec) ✅ Planned
- OR Cloudflare Image Resizing (simpler for MVP)
- Cache transformed versions (don't regenerate)
**Time estimate:** 1 week
---
### 5. Contextual Asset Referencing (@name) ✅ UNIQUE FEATURE
**Why it's critical:**
- Solves #5 pain point (consistency across assets)
- UNIQUE to Banatie (no competitor has this)
- Enables powerful workflows (brand consistency, character consistency)
**Functionality:**
**Naming assets:**
```javascript
// Generate and name
banatie.generate("fictional water brand logo", {name: "logo"})
// Upload and name
banatie.upload("./logo.png", {name: "logo"})
```
**Referencing in future generations:**
```javascript
// Use @name in prompt
banatie.generate("product photo with @logo on table")
banatie.generate("hero banner with @logo in nature background")
```
**Behind the scenes:**
1. Parse prompt for @references
2. Fetch referenced images from storage
3. Include as image inputs to Gemini API
4. Generate with visual context
**Implementation notes:**
- Simple regex to find @names in prompts
- Replace @names with actual image references
- Support multiple @references in one prompt
- Show which references were used (transparency)
**Time estimate:** 3-5 days
---
### 6. REST API ✅ FOUNDATION
**Why it's critical:**
- MCP is built on top of this
- Enables direct integration for power users
- Future SDK/libraries depend on this
**Endpoints:**
```
POST /v1/generate
Body: {
prompt: string,
name?: string,
style?: string,
aspectRatio?: string,
width?: number,
referenceImages?: string[]
}
Response: {
id: string,
url: string,
enhanced_prompt: string,
transformations: {...}
}
POST /v1/upload
Body: { file: base64, name: string }
Response: { name: string, url: string }
GET /v1/images
Query: ?limit=20
Response: [ {...image objects} ]
GET /v1/images/:id
Response: {...image object with metadata}
DELETE /v1/images/:id
Response: { success: boolean }
GET /v1/account/usage
Response: {
generations_used: number,
credits_remaining: number,
tier: "free" | "credits" | "pro"
}
```
**Authentication:**
- API key in header: `Authorization: Bearer bnt_xxx`
- Rate limiting (by tier)
- Usage tracking (for billing)
**Time estimate:** 1 week (partially done)
---
### 7. Simple UI / Playground ✅ IMPORTANT
**Why it's important:**
- First impression (users want to "see it work")
- Visual proof of quality
- Educational (shows code snippets)
- Low barrier to test
**Pages:**
**1. Homepage (Landing)**
- Value prop headline
- 3-step explanation (MCP → Generate → CDN)
- "Try Demo" CTA
- Features overview
- Pricing overview
**2. Demo/Playground**
- API key input (no registration needed for MVP)
- Prompt textarea (accepts Russian, English, etc.)
- Style dropdown (optional)
- Aspect ratio selector
- Generate button
- Results display:
- Generated image
- Original + enhanced prompt (side by side)
- Transformation previews
- **Code snippets panel** (cURL, Python, JS, MCP)
- Copy-to-clipboard for URLs
**3. Dashboard (After API key entered)**
- Generation history (last 20)
- Usage stats (generations used, credits left)
- API key management
- Billing / credits (if applicable)
**Tech stack:**
- Next.js ✅ Already implemented
- Tailwind CSS ✅ Already used
- Simple, developer-focused design (not marketing fluff)
**Time estimate:** 1 week (refine existing demo UI)
---
### 8. Credit-Based Payment System ✅ REQUIRED FOR REVENUE
**Why it's critical:**
- Can't validate willingness to pay without payment system
- Credits model validated in ICP research
- Stripe integration straightforward
**Functionality:**
**Credit packs for purchase:**
- $20 = 200 generations (90-day expiry)
- $50 = 600 generations (90-day expiry)
- $100 = 1,500 generations (90-day expiry)
**Free tier:**
- 10 generations/month
- Resets monthly
- Watermark (SynthID) on images
**Payment flow:**
1. User clicks "Buy Credits"
2. Stripe Checkout (hosted page)
3. Webhook on success → add credits to account
4. Credits deducted per generation
**Stripe setup:**
- Products: 3 credit packs
- Webhook handler for `checkout.session.completed`
- Customer portal (manage payment methods)
**Database schema additions:**
```sql
credits_transactions (
id, user_id, amount, pack_size,
expires_at, stripe_session_id, created_at
)
users.credits_balance (integer)
users.credits_expiry (timestamp)
```
**Time estimate:** 1 week
---
## NICE TO HAVE (If Time Permits)
### 9. @last Reference (Shortcut)
**Functionality:**
```javascript
banatie.generate("hero in armor")
banatie.generate("make @last more detailed") // References previous generation
```
**Why nice-to-have:**
- Convenient for iteration
- Simple to implement (just cache last generation ID)
**Time estimate:** 1-2 days
---
### 10. Batch Generation (Multiple Prompts)
**Functionality:**
```javascript
banatie.generateBatch([
"hero level 1",
"hero level 2",
"hero level 3"
])
```
**Why nice-to-have:**
- Useful for game asset generation (Oleg's use case)
- Not critical for initial validation
**Time estimate:** 2-3 days
---
## CUT FROM MVP (Future Roadmap)
### ❌ Flow-Based Chained Generation
**Why cut:**
- Complex to build (requires state management, execution engine)
- Hard to explain (cognitive load)
- Niche use case (not every developer needs this)
- Can add after PMF
**Future priority:** HIGH (after 50+ users)
---
### ❌ Namespaces / Project Organization
**Why cut:**
- Users can manage with @names for MVP
- Adds UI complexity (project switcher, settings)
- Not blocking for core workflow
**Future priority:** MEDIUM (after 100+ users)
---
### ❌ On-Demand Generation via URL
**Why cut:**
- Clever feature but not core pain point
- Requires caching strategy, URL signing
- Better to validate core workflow first
**Future priority:** HIGH (cool differentiator, but after PMF)
---
### ❌ Advanced Focal Point Analysis
**Why cut:**
- Nice-to-have for auto-cropping
- Not critical if transformations are manual
- Can use basic center-crop for MVP
**Future priority:** LOW (automation, not essential)
---
### ❌ Style Presets / Fine-Tuning
**Why cut:**
- Gemini 2.5 Flash Image is already great
- Adds complexity (preset management, UI)
- Prompt Enhancement covers most use cases
**Future priority:** MEDIUM (after users request specific styles)
---
### ❌ Team Collaboration / Multi-User
**Why cut:**
- ICP is solo developers
- Adds auth complexity (invites, roles, permissions)
- Can add when agencies become customers
**Future priority:** MEDIUM (for agency expansion)
---
### ❌ Image Editing / Inpainting
**Why cut:**
- Out of scope (we're generation, not editing)
- Complex UI (selection tools, masks)
- Gemini supports it, but not MVP focus
**Future priority:** LOW (different product direction)
---
## Technical Architecture (MVP)
### Backend (Express + Node.js) ✅ Existing
**Core services:**
- API Gateway (REST endpoints)
- Prompt Enhancement Agent (Gemini 2.0 Flash)
- Image Generation (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image)
- Asset Manager (MinIO integration)
- Transformation Service (Imageflow or Cloudflare)
- Billing Service (Stripe webhooks)
**Database (PostgreSQL):**
- users (id, email, api_key, credits_balance, tier, created_at)
- images (id, user_id, prompt, enhanced_prompt, url, name, metadata, created_at)
- credits_transactions (id, user_id, amount, expires_at, stripe_session_id)
- api_keys (id, user_id, key_hash, last_used, created_at)
---
### Frontend (Next.js) ✅ Existing
**Pages:**
- `/` - Landing page
- `/demo` - Playground (API key input + generation)
- `/dashboard` - History + usage (after auth)
- `/pricing` - Credit packs
- `/docs` - API documentation
**Components:**
- ImageGenerator (prompt input + results)
- CodeSnippets (cURL, Python, JS, MCP examples)
- TransformationPreview (show different sizes/formats)
- ApiKeyInput (simple auth for demo)
---
### Infrastructure
**Hosting:**
- VPS (Contabo, Singapore) ✅ Existing
- Docker containers (backend + frontend)
**Storage:**
- MinIO (S3-compatible) ✅ Existing
**CDN:**
- Cloudflare (free tier OK for MVP)
**Payments:**
- Stripe (standard integration)
**Monitoring:**
- Basic logging (PM2 logs)
- Uptime monitoring (UptimeRobot free tier)
- Error tracking (Sentry free tier)
---
## Development Timeline (4-6 Weeks)
### Week 1: Core Generation Pipeline
- [ ] Finalize REST API endpoints
- [ ] Prompt Enhancement Agent (refine existing)
- [ ] Image generation with reference support
- [ ] Basic storage + CDN integration
**Deliverable:** Working API (generate + upload + references)
---
### Week 2: MCP Implementation
- [ ] MCP server setup (follow spec)
- [ ] Implement 3 tools (generate, upload, list)
- [ ] Test with Claude Desktop
- [ ] Documentation for MCP usage
**Deliverable:** Working MCP integration
---
### Week 3: Transformations + UI
- [ ] Image transformation service (Imageflow or Cloudflare)
- [ ] Refine demo UI (code snippets, previews)
- [ ] Dashboard (history, usage stats)
- [ ] API key management
**Deliverable:** Functional UI for testing
---
### Week 4: Payments + Polish
- [ ] Stripe integration (credit packs)
- [ ] Free tier limits enforcement
- [ ] Watermark for free tier
- [ ] Landing page copy + design
- [ ] API documentation
**Deliverable:** Monetization-ready product
---
### Week 5-6: Beta Testing + Iteration
- [ ] Invite 5-10 validated users from research
- [ ] High-touch onboarding (help with setup)
- [ ] Gather feedback, fix bugs
- [ ] Iterate on UX pain points
- [ ] Prepare for public launch
**Deliverable:** Product-market fit signals or pivot triggers
---
## Success Metrics (MVP)
### Technical Metrics
- [ ] MCP integration works reliably (95%+ success rate)
- [ ] Image generation latency <10 seconds (p95)
- [ ] CDN delivery fast (global, <500ms)
- [ ] API uptime >99%
### Product Metrics
- [ ] 5-10 beta users onboarded
- [ ] 50+ generations completed
- [ ] 3+ users generate >10 images (engaged)
- [ ] 2+ users purchase credits (willingness to pay validated)
### Qualitative Metrics
- [ ] "This solves my problem" feedback (3+ users)
- [ ] Feature requests are refinements, not fundamental changes
- [ ] Users recommend to others
- [ ] Low churn (users stick around after trial)
---
## What "Done" Looks Like (MVP Launch)
**A developer can:**
1. Install Banatie MCP in Claude Desktop (5 min setup)
2. Use Claude Code to generate a Next.js site
3. Generate images via MCP without leaving Claude Code:
```
Human: Create a hero image for this landing page about eco-friendly water bottles
Claude: [calls banatie_generate MCP tool]
I've generated a hero image and inserted the production CDN URL in the code.
```
4. Reference previous images for consistency:
```
Human: Now create a product photo with the same bottle @hero
Claude: [calls banatie_generate with @hero reference]
Done! Product photo maintains the same bottle design.
```
5. See generated images in demo UI (history, transformations)
6. Copy code snippets (cURL, Python, JS) for direct API use
7. Purchase credits ($20 pack) via Stripe
8. Use credits for additional generations
**And it feels:**
- Fast (no waiting, instant CDN URLs)
- Seamless (no context switching)
- Professional (production-ready, not prototype)
- Trustworthy (stable, reliable, documented)
---
## Risk Mitigation
### Risk 1: MCP Integration Complexity
**Mitigation:**
- Study existing MCP servers (examples in repo)
- Test early and often with Claude Desktop
- Provide clear error messages
- Fallback: REST API works even if MCP has issues
---
### Risk 2: Prompt Enhancement Quality
**Mitigation:**
- Use Gemini 2.0 Flash (fast, capable)
- Include Google's official guidelines in agent prompt
- Show both prompts to user (transparency)
- Allow user to override/edit enhanced prompt
---
### Risk 3: CDN/Transformation Service Complexity
**Mitigation:**
- Start with Cloudflare Image Resizing (simpler)
- Fallback: Imageflow-Server if Cloudflare insufficient
- Precompute common transformations (cache)
---
### Risk 4: Payment Fraud / Abuse
**Mitigation:**
- Stripe handles fraud detection
- Rate limit free tier aggressively (10/month)
- Monitor usage patterns (flag anomalies)
- Require email verification for credits purchase
---
### Risk 5: Gemini API Costs Exceeding Revenue
**Mitigation:**
- Track cost per generation (Gemini API fees)
- Ensure pricing covers costs + margin
- Free tier is truly limited (10/month)
- Monitor burn rate daily
---
## Post-MVP Roadmap (Prioritized)
### Phase 2 (After PMF):
1. Flow-based generation (chained workflows)
2. On-demand generation via URL (programmatic)
3. Pro subscription tier (500 gen/month included)
4. Advanced style presets
5. Batch generation
### Phase 3 (Agency Expansion):
1. Namespaces / project organization
2. Team collaboration (multi-user)
3. Usage analytics dashboard
4. White-label / reseller options
### Phase 4 (Platform Play):
1. Public API marketplace (share custom agents)
2. Community styles / presets
3. Integrations (Figma, Vercel, Netlify)
4. Enterprise tier (SLA, support, SSO)
---
## Decision Gates
**After 4 weeks (MVP complete):**
- [ ] Beta test with 5-10 users
- [ ] If 60%+ engaged → continue
- [ ] If <60% engaged → reassess features/ICP
**After 6 weeks (Beta feedback):**
- [ ] If 2+ purchased credits → validated willingness to pay
- [ ] If 0 purchases → pricing issue or value unclear
- [ ] If bugs/UX issues → iterate 1-2 more weeks
**After 8 weeks (Soft Launch):**
- [ ] Post in r/ClaudeAI, Indie Hackers
- [ ] Track sign-ups, usage, conversion
- [ ] If $500+ MRR → full launch
- [ ] If <$500 MRR → pivot or iterate
---
**Document owner:** @men + Oleg (joint)
**Status:** Draft for MVP development
**Next review:** After validation complete (if GO decision)
**Related docs:** `07_validated_icp_ai_developers.md`, `10_pricing_strategy.md`

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# Pricing Strategy: Banatie for AI Developers
**Date:** October 20, 2025
**Version:** 2.0 (Hybrid model - Credits + Subscription)
**Based on:** Oleg's personal feedback + Krea.ai model inspiration
**Status:** Draft for validation testing
---
## Pricing Philosophy
**Core insight from ICP research:**
> "Дискомфорт подписки в том, что я не регулярно пользуюсь сервисами и жалко денег когда не пользуюсь"
**Problem with traditional SaaS subscriptions:**
- Episodic usage patterns (site in a weekend, then 2 months idle)
- Guilt of paying for unused months
- Unpredictable usage (one project = 100 gens, another = 5 gens)
- Commitment anxiety (canceling is friction)
**Solution: Hybrid Model**
- **Credits** for episodic users (buy when needed, use over 90 days)
- **Subscription** for power users (regular usage, predictable cost)
- **Free tier** for evaluation (no credit card, instant access)
---
## Tier Structure
### Free Tier: "Playground"
**Purpose:**
- Evaluation, testing, demos
- NOT a long-term free option
- Deliberately limited to push conversion
**Limits:**
- 10 generations per month
- Resets on 1st of each month
- Watermark on images (SynthID by Google)
- All API/MCP features available
- Basic transformations only
**What's included:**
- ✅ REST API access
- ✅ MCP integration
- ✅ Prompt Enhancement
- ✅ CDN delivery
- ✅ @name references
- ✅ Basic transformations (resize, format)
- ✅ Generation history (30 days)
**What's NOT included:**
- ❌ No watermark removal
- ❌ Limited transformations (no custom presets)
- ❌ Priority queue (slower generation)
- ❌ Advanced features (when released)
**Revenue impact:** $0 (cost center)
**Goal:** Convert 10-20% to paid within 30 days
---
### Credit Packs: "Pay As You Go"
**Purpose:**
- Episodic builders (weekenders, hobbyists)
- One-time projects (landing pages, side projects)
- Users who value flexibility over commitment
**Packs:**
| Pack Size | Price | Per-Image Cost | Expiry | Best For |
|-----------|-------|----------------|--------|----------|
| **Starter** | $20 | $0.10 | 90 days | 1-2 small projects |
| 200 generations | | | | Testing value |
| **Builder** | $50 | $0.083 | 90 days | 2-4 medium projects |
| 600 generations | | | | Most popular |
| **Creator** | $100 | $0.067 | 90 days | Large projects |
| 1,500 generations | | | | Bulk work |
**What's included:**
- ✅ All Free tier features
- ✅ No watermark (production-ready)
- ✅ All transformations
- ✅ Extended history (1 year)
- ✅ Priority support (email, 48hr response)
**What's NOT included:**
- ❌ Priority generation queue (Pro only)
- ❌ Advanced features (Pro only, when released)
- ❌ Monthly recurring generations
**Why 90-day expiry:**
- Based on Oleg's Krea.ai feedback: "90 дней достаточно чтобы потом потратить остальное"
- Long enough to not feel rushed
- Short enough to encourage purchase when needed
- Industry standard (Krea.ai, similar services)
**Purchase flow:**
- One-click Stripe Checkout
- No subscription created
- Credits added immediately
- Email receipt + usage reminder at 30 days left
---
### Pro Subscription: "$49/month"
**Purpose:**
- Power users (agencies, frequent builders)
- Predictable cost (easier budgeting)
- Premium features (when released)
**Pricing:**
- $49/month (billed monthly)
- OR $470/year (save $118 = 20% discount)
**What's included:**
- ✅ 500 generations per month (included)
- ✅ All Credit Pack features
- ✅ Priority generation queue (2x faster)
- ✅ Advanced features (exclusive):
- Flow-based generation (when released)
- Namespaces / project organization
- On-demand URL generation
- Custom style presets (future)
- ✅ Priority support (24hr response)
- ✅ Overage pricing: $0.10/gen (same as Starter pack)
**Why $49:**
- Below Cloudinary ($89/month)
- Above typical dev tools ($20-30)
- Justifiable for agencies (5-10 hrs/week saved = $500+ value)
- High enough to filter hobbyists
- Room for future Enterprise tier ($149+)
**Target customers:**
- Small agencies (3-10 people)
- Freelancers with regular clients
- Technical founders building MVPs full-time
- Developers creating content regularly (blogs, courses)
**Conversion incentive:**
- "If you use >500 generations/month, Pro is cheaper than credits"
- "Get exclusive features not available elsewhere"
- "Cancel anytime, no long-term commitment"
---
## Pricing Comparison Table (User-Facing)
| Feature | Free | Credits | Pro |
|---------|------|---------|-----|
| **Generations/month** | 10 | As purchased | 500 included |
| **Watermark** | Yes | No | No |
| **MCP Integration** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Prompt Enhancement** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **@name References** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **CDN Delivery** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| **Transformations** | Basic | All | All |
| **Priority Queue** | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ 2x faster |
| **Advanced Features** | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Exclusive |
| **Support** | Community | Email (48h) | Email (24h) |
| **Price** | $0 | $20-100 | $49/mo |
| **Best For** | Testing | 1-4 projects | Regular use |
---
## Cost Analysis (Break-Even Math)
### Our Costs Per Generation:
**Gemini 2.5 Flash Image API:**
- $0.039 per image (1024x1024)
- Source: Google Cloud Pricing (Oct 2025)
**Prompt Enhancement (Gemini 2.0 Flash):**
- ~$0.001 per prompt (negligible)
**CDN Bandwidth (Cloudflare):**
- Free tier: 100GB/month
- Estimate: ~2MB per image = 50K images/month in free tier
- After free tier: $0.01/GB = ~$0.00002 per image (negligible)
**Infrastructure (Estimated):**
- VPS: $20/month (Contabo) = ~$0.001 per image at 20K gens/month
- MinIO storage: negligible (1TB = $5/month)
- Database: included in VPS
**Total Cost Per Generation:** ~$0.040
---
### Revenue Per Generation:
**Free Tier:** -$0.040 (loss per image)
**Starter Pack ($20 / 200):** $0.10 per gen → **$0.06 profit**
**Builder Pack ($50 / 600):** $0.083 per gen → **$0.043 profit**
**Creator Pack ($100 / 1500):** $0.067 per gen → **$0.027 profit**
**Pro Subscription ($49 / 500):** $0.098 per gen → **$0.058 profit**
**Pro Overage:** $0.10 per gen → **$0.06 profit**
---
### Break-Even Analysis:
**Fixed Costs (Monthly):**
- Infrastructure: $20 (VPS)
- Stripe fees: ~3% of revenue
- Oleg's time: N/A (sweat equity)
**Variable Costs:**
- Gemini API: $0.04 per generation
**Scenario 1: 100% Free Tier (Worst Case)**
- 100 users x 10 gens = 1,000 gens
- Cost: 1,000 x $0.04 = $40
- Revenue: $0
- **Loss: -$60/month**
**Scenario 2: 50% Free, 50% Paid (Realistic Early)**
- 50 free users x 10 gens = 500 gens (cost: $20)
- 50 paid users x 100 gens avg = 5,000 gens
- 30 users buy $20 pack = $600 revenue, 6,000 gens, cost $240
- 15 users buy $50 pack = $750 revenue, 9,000 gens, cost $360
- 5 Pro subscribers = $245 revenue, 2,500 gens, cost $100
- **Total Revenue: $1,595**
- **Total Cost: $20 (infra) + $720 (API) = $740**
- **Profit: ~$855/month**
**Scenario 3: PMF (6 months in)**
- 200 free users = 2,000 gens (cost: $80)
- 80 Credit Pack users = $3,200 revenue, 30K gens, cost $1,200
- 20 Pro users = $980 revenue, 10K gens, cost $400
- **Total Revenue: $4,180**
- **Total Cost: $20 + $1,680 = $1,700**
- **Profit: ~$2,480/month**
**Break-even:** ~10-15 paying customers ($300-500 MRR)
---
## Pricing Psychology
### Why This Structure Works:
**1. Anchoring:**
- Free tier = "anchor low" (10 gens feels limited)
- Pro tier = "anchor high" ($49 feels premium)
- Credit packs = "middle option" (most choose Builder $50)
**2. Value Perception:**
- "No watermark" = tangible value (production-ready)
- "Priority queue" = time savings (valuable for agencies)
- "Exclusive features" = FOMO (Pro only)
**3. Decision Simplification:**
- Only 3 paid options (not 6-7 like some competitors)
- Clear use case per tier (testing → projects → regular use)
- Easy to upgrade (credits → Pro seamless)
**4. Commitment Gradient:**
- Free → try instantly (no credit card)
- Credits → low commitment (pay once, use when needed)
- Pro → higher commitment (monthly, but cancel anytime)
---
## Competitor Pricing (Benchmarking)
| Service | Model | Price | What You Get |
|---------|-------|-------|--------------|
| **Cloudinary** | Subscription | $89/mo | 25GB storage, 25GB bandwidth, transformations |
| **imgix** | Subscription | $62.50/mo | Image optimization, CDN, transformations |
| **Replicate** | Pay-as-you-go | $0.055/gen | Flux Pro generation only, no CDN |
| **Gemini Studio** | Free/Usage | $0.039/gen | Direct API, no infrastructure |
| **Midjourney** | Subscription | $30/mo | 200 fast gens, image generation only |
| **Krea.ai** | Hybrid | $10/mo + packs | Realtime gen, credits for video |
**Banatie positioning:**
- More expensive than pure gen APIs (we bundle CDN + automation)
- Cheaper than full image platforms (Cloudinary, imgix)
- Similar to Krea.ai (hybrid model resonates with creators)
- Higher value than Midjourney (programmatic, production-ready)
---
## MCP Access Strategy (Revised)
**Original plan:** MCP only for Pro tier
**Oleg's feedback:** "MCP должно быть бесплатно, это маркетинговая фича"
**New strategy: MCP on ALL tiers ✅**
**Why this is correct:**
1. **Viral adoption:** Developers try MCP → share with others → network effect
2. **Can't restrict:** If API is open, community will build MCP anyway
3. **Marketing asset:** "First AI image gen with native MCP support"
4. **Trust building:** No artificial feature paywalls (developer-friendly)
**How to monetize without MCP paywall:**
- Free tier: Limited generations (10/month) → forces upgrade
- Credits: Episodic users buy when needed → flexible revenue
- Pro: Heavy users subscribe → predictable MRR
**Features exclusive to Pro (after launch):**
- Priority queue (2x faster generation)
- Flow-based generation (complex workflows)
- Namespaces (project organization)
- On-demand URL generation
- Custom style presets
**These are legitimately advanced, not artificial restrictions.**
---
## Pricing Page Copy (Draft)
### Headline:
"Start free. Pay only when you need it. Or subscribe for heavy use."
### Subheadline:
"No credit card required to try. Production-ready images with MCP, API, or UI."
---
### Free Tier Card:
**Playground**
**$0/month**
Perfect for testing and small demos
- 10 generations/month
- MCP + API + UI access
- Prompt Enhancement
- CDN delivery
- Watermark on images
[Start Free →]
---
### Credit Packs Card:
**Pay As You Go**
**From $20**
Buy credits when you need them
- 200-1,500 generations
- No watermark (production-ready)
- All transformations
- Valid for 90 days
- No recurring charges
[View Packs →]
---
### Pro Subscription Card:
**Pro**
**$49/month**
For regular builders and agencies
- 500 generations/month included
- Priority generation queue (2x faster)
- Exclusive features (Flow, Namespaces)
- $0.10 per additional generation
- Cancel anytime
[Start Pro Trial →]
---
## FAQ (Pricing-Related)
**Q: Can I switch from credits to Pro subscription?**
A: Yes, anytime. Unused credits remain valid for 90 days.
**Q: What happens if I run out of credits?**
A: Generations pause until you purchase more credits or upgrade to Pro.
**Q: Can I use Pro subscription + buy extra credits?**
A: Pro includes 500 gens/month. After that, it's $0.10/gen automatically. No need to buy packs.
**Q: Do unused Pro generations roll over?**
A: No, but overage is only $0.10/gen (same as credit packs).
**Q: Can I cancel Pro anytime?**
A: Yes, cancel anytime. You keep access until end of billing period.
**Q: Is there a refund policy?**
A: Credit packs: No refunds (digital goods). Pro: 14-day money-back guarantee if <50 generations used.
**Q: Can I share credits with team members?**
A: Not in MVP. Team features coming soon for Pro+ tier.
**Q: Do credits expire?**
A: Yes, 90 days from purchase. You'll get email reminders at 30 days and 7 days before expiry.
**Q: Is there an Enterprise plan?**
A: Not yet. Contact us if you need >10K generations/month or custom features.
---
## Pricing Experiments (Post-Launch)
### Month 1-2: Validation
- Test current structure
- Track conversion rates (Free → Credits, Free → Pro)
- Identify most popular pack (likely Builder $50)
### Month 3: A/B Test
**Test A:** $20 / $50 / $100 packs (current)
**Test B:** $15 / $40 / $80 packs (10% cheaper)
- Measure: Revenue per user, conversion rate
### Month 4: Pro Tier Test
**Test A:** $49/month for 500 gens
**Test B:** $39/month for 400 gens
- Measure: Pro adoption rate, MRR growth
### Month 5: Annual Discount Test
**Test A:** 20% discount (current: $470/year)
**Test B:** 30% discount ($410/year)
- Measure: Annual vs. monthly ratio, LTV
---
## Pricing Flexibility (Dynamic Adjustments)
**When to increase prices:**
- If profit margins <30% (Gemini API costs rise)
- If demand significantly exceeds supply (resource constraints)
- After strong PMF signals (low churn, high NPS)
**When to decrease prices:**
- If conversion rate <5% (Free → Paid)
- If competitor undercuts significantly
- If usage patterns show lower value perception
**When to add tiers:**
- **Hobbyist tier ($10/mo for 100 gens):** If many users want smaller commitment than $49
- **Agency tier ($149/mo for 2,000 gens + team features):** After agencies start adopting
- **Enterprise tier (Custom):** After 50+ Pro users, inbound agency interest
---
## Revenue Projections
### Conservative (Months 1-6):
- Month 1: 10 paid users = $300 MRR
- Month 2: 20 paid users = $700 MRR
- Month 3: 35 paid users = $1,200 MRR
- Month 4: 50 paid users = $1,800 MRR
- Month 5: 70 paid users = $2,400 MRR
- Month 6: 90 paid users = $3,000 MRR
**Assumptions:**
- 70% credit packs ($30 avg), 30% Pro ($49)
- 10% monthly growth (conservative)
- 5% monthly churn
---
### Optimistic (Months 1-6):
- Month 1: 20 paid users = $600 MRR
- Month 2: 40 paid users = $1,400 MRR
- Month 3: 70 paid users = $2,200 MRR
- Month 4: 110 paid users = $3,500 MRR
- Month 5: 160 paid users = $5,200 MRR
- Month 6: 220 paid users = $7,000 MRR
**Assumptions:**
- Viral growth via Reddit, MCP adoption
- 60% credit packs, 40% Pro
- 20% monthly growth (strong PMF)
- 3% monthly churn
---
### Realistic (Split the Difference):
- Month 1: $450 MRR
- Month 2: $1,050 MRR
- Month 3: $1,700 MRR
- Month 4: $2,650 MRR
- Month 5: $3,800 MRR
- Month 6: $5,000 MRR (**TARGET**)
**Key milestone:** $5K MRR by Month 6 = Proof of viability
---
## Stripe Setup (Technical)
### Products to Create:
**1. Credit Packs (One-time payments):**
```
Product: Banatie Credits - Starter Pack
Price: $20.00 USD
Type: One-time
Metadata: { credits: 200, expiry_days: 90 }
```
```
Product: Banatie Credits - Builder Pack
Price: $50.00 USD
Type: One-time
Metadata: { credits: 600, expiry_days: 90 }
```
```
Product: Banatie Credits - Creator Pack
Price: $100.00 USD
Type: One-time
Metadata: { credits: 1500, expiry_days: 90 }
```
**2. Pro Subscription:**
```
Product: Banatie Pro
Price: $49.00 USD/month
Type: Recurring (monthly)
Metadata: { included_credits: 500, overage_rate: 0.10 }
```
```
Product: Banatie Pro (Annual)
Price: $470.00 USD/year
Type: Recurring (yearly)
Metadata: { included_credits: 500, overage_rate: 0.10 }
```
---
### Webhook Events to Handle:
**checkout.session.completed:**
- Add credits to user account
- Set expiry date (+90 days)
- Send confirmation email
- Log transaction
**customer.subscription.created:**
- Activate Pro tier for user
- Reset monthly generation counter
- Send welcome email
**customer.subscription.deleted:**
- Downgrade to Free or Credits
- Send cancellation confirmation
**invoice.payment_succeeded:**
- Reset monthly generation counter (for Pro)
- Charge overage if applicable
- Send invoice receipt
**invoice.payment_failed:**
- Suspend Pro tier
- Send payment failure notification
- Retry payment (Stripe handles)
---
## Pricing Strategy: Key Decisions
### ✅ CONFIRMED:
1. **Hybrid model (Credits + Subscription)** - accommodates episodic AND regular users
2. **MCP on all tiers** - marketing asset, can't be restricted
3. **90-day credit expiry** - based on Krea.ai feedback from Oleg
4. **Free tier with 10 gens/month** - enough to test, not enough to abuse
5. **Watermark on free tier** - clear upgrade incentive
6. **$49 Pro tier** - positioned between dev tools ($20) and platforms ($89+)
7. **No fake scarcity** - transparent, developer-friendly pricing
### â³ TO VALIDATE:
1. **Credit pack sizes** - are 200/600/1500 the right amounts?
2. **Pro inclusion (500 gens)** - is this the sweet spot or too low/high?
3. **Annual discount (20%)** - does this drive annual commitments?
4. **Overage pricing ($0.10)** - acceptable or feels like nickel-and-diming?
### ðŸ"® FUTURE:
1. **Hobbyist tier ($10-20)** - if demand shows for lower entry point
2. **Agency tier ($149+)** - when agencies start adopting
3. **Enterprise tier (Custom)** - SLA, SSO, white-label
4. **Volume discounts** - for high-usage customers (>10K gens/month)
---
**Document owner:** @men (based on Oleg's feedback)
**Next review:** After beta testing (Month 2-3)
**Related docs:** `07_validated_icp_ai_developers.md`, `09_mvp_scope.md`

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# 🚨 AI ASSISTANT CONFIGURATION
**Role:** @men - International business mentor for Banatie.app
**Language:** Russian for discussions, English for deliverables
**Philosophy:** Truth over politeness. Project survival over development comfort.
---
## 📂 DOCUMENTATION: STRUCTURE AND ACCESS
**Location:** `/projects/my-projects/banatie-strategy/`
**Access:** Filesystem MCP (local files, not Project Knowledge)
### Folder Structure
```
banatie-strategy/
├── CLAUDE.md # This file - AI configuration
├── INDEX.md # Map of all documents
├── ROADMAP.md # Current status and priorities
├── README.md # Project overview
│
├── strategy/ # Strategic documents
│ ├── 01-market-positioning-and-segments.md
│ ├── 02-reality-check.md
│ ├── 07-validated-icp-ai-developers.md
│ └── [other strategic docs]
│
├── execution/ # Planning and execution
│ ├── 03-icp-research-questions.md
│ ├── 08-validation-plan.md
│ ├── 09-mvp-scope.md
│ ├── 10-pricing-strategy.md
│ └── [other execution docs]
│
├── discussions/ # Strategic session history
│ ├── 04-discussion-summary.md
│ ├── 05-discussion-framework.md
│ └── [summaries of future sessions]
│
└── backlog/ # Ideas and future topics
└── 06-future-topics-backlog.md
```
### File Naming Rules
**Numbering:** Sequential numbering across all documentation (01, 02, 03... 99)
- Each number is assigned once and never reused
- New documents get the next available number
- Deleted documents don't free up their numbers
**Name format:** `{number}-{kebab-case-description}.md`
- Examples: `01-market-positioning.md`, `15-launch-strategy.md`
- Exceptions: Master files (CLAUDE.md, INDEX.md, ROADMAP.md, README.md)
**Status in document header:**
- ✅ Validated - confirmed through research/data
- 🔄 In Progress - actively being executed
- ⏳ Pending - awaiting prerequisites
- 🔮 Future - planned but not started
- 📝 Living - continuously updated
---
## 🔧 WORKFLOW: HOW TO WORK WITH DOCUMENTS
### Session Initialization
**Step 1:** Read 3 mandatory files (in this order):
1. `ROADMAP.md` - current priorities and active sprint
2. `INDEX.md` - document map and quick links
3. `CLAUDE.md` - this file for understanding structure
**Step 2:** For specific discussion:
- Read relevant documents from INDEX.md
- If documents contain cross-links - read related docs
- Dive deeper into details as needed
**Step 3:** After discussion:
- Decide: create NEW document OR update existing
- Save key conclusions/decisions in appropriate file
- Update INDEX.md and ROADMAP.md if needed
### Discussion Workflow Format
**Opening:**
1. Read mandatory files (ROADMAP, INDEX, CLAUDE)
2. Read relevant docs for discussion topic
3. Confirm understanding of context and goal
4. Begin discussion
**Discussion:**
- Provide specific, actionable advice
- Base recommendations on data from existing docs
- Challenge assumptions when needed
- Drive toward concrete decisions
**Closing:**
- Summarize key decisions
- Define action items
- Create/update documents
- Update INDEX.md and ROADMAP.md
### Creating New Documents
**Template header:**
```markdown
# Document Title
**Date:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Version:** X.X
**Status:** Draft / Working / Final / Deprecated
**Related docs:** [links]
[Content]
---
**Last updated:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Next review:** [when]
```
**Where to save:**
- Strategic decisions → `strategy/`
- Plans and execution → `execution/`
- Session summaries → `discussions/`
- Future ideas → `backlog/`
**After creation:**
1. Assign next available number
2. Add to INDEX.md
3. Cross-link with relevant docs
4. Update ROADMAP.md if affects priorities
---
## 📋 COMMANDS
### `/review` - Preparation before answering
**What it does:**
1. Reads ROADMAP.md for priority context
2. Scans INDEX.md for relevant documents
3. Reads 2-3 most relevant docs
4. Summarizes key insights
5. Answers question with full context
**When to use:** Before strategic questions
---
### `/sum` - Create summary after discussion
**What it does:**
1. Analyzes conversation history
2. Extracts key decisions, insights, action items
3. Checks INDEX.md: is there a related document?
4. Decides: create NEW doc OR update existing
5. Saves document to appropriate folder
6. Updates INDEX.md (if new doc)
7. Updates ROADMAP.md (if action items exist)
**Where to save:**
- Strategic session summary → `discussions/{number}-session-{date}.md`
- New strategic decision → `strategy/{number}-{topic}.md`
- Execution plan → `execution/{number}-{topic}.md`
- Future idea → `backlog/{number}-{topic}.md`
**When to use:** At the end of each significant discussion
---
### `/en` and `/ru` - Translations
- `/en` - Translate previous response to English (literal)
- `/ru` - Translate previous response to Russian (literal)
---
## 🎯 PROJECT CONTEXT (STATIC)
**Project:** Banatie.app - API-first platform for generating and delivering production-ready images
**Founder:** Oleg - solo technical founder, 8+ years frontend (React, Next.js)
**Business Model:** Subscription-based (Free, Credits, Pro)
**Core Differentiators:**
- Flow-based chained generation
- On-demand generation via URL
- Contextual asset referencing (@name)
- Production CDN delivery pipeline
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) integration
**Critical Constraints:**
- Time: 15-20 hours/week (fulltime job + family)
- Finance: Zero buffer, $6K/month sole income
- Bandwidth: Strong technical skills, limited marketing/sales
---
## 🚦 BEHAVIORAL GUIDELINES
### ✅ ALWAYS:
- Challenge assumptions with data and case studies
- Provide specific, actionable advice
- Ask sharp questions to uncover blind spots
- Lead directively when fundamentals are at stake
- Use web search for current market information
- Celebrate real achievements (no empty praise)
### ❌ NEVER:
- Don't reflexively praise questions ("great question")
- Don't sugarcoat difficult market truths
- Don't give vague advice instead of specifics
- Don't avoid tough conversations
- Don't use excessive enthusiasm
- Don't dodge discussions about pivot/pricing/strategy
---
**Last updated:** 2024-10-30
**Version:** 2.0
**Owner:** @men + Oleg

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# Discussion Framework & Documentation Best Practices
**Date Created:** October 19, 2025
**Purpose:** Guide for conducting productive strategic sessions with @men
**Status:** Living document - refine based on experience
**Based on:** Successful first session (Oct 19, 2025)
---
## Why This Framework Exists
**The problem without structure:**
- Strategic discussions become rambling, unfocused
- Decisions made but not recorded → forgotten or disputed later
- No clear action items → nothing gets done
- Lessons learned evaporate → repeat same mistakes
**The solution:**
Structured approach to discussions + rigorous documentation = compounding knowledge and faster execution
---
## Types of Strategic Discussions
### 1. Onboarding / Context-Setting Sessions
**When:** First meeting, major project pivot, new stakeholder joins
**Duration:** 2-3 hours
**Goal:** Shared understanding of situation, constraints, goals
**Output:** Comprehensive context documents (market, reality check, etc.)
**Example:** October 19, 2025 session (our first)
---
### 2. Decision-Making Sessions
**When:** Major crossroads, must choose between options
**Duration:** 1-2 hours
**Goal:** Make a specific decision with clear rationale
**Output:** Decision document with options analyzed, choice made, next steps
**Example topics:**
- ICP selection (upcoming)
- Pricing model finalization
- Launch timing decision
- Pivot vs. continue assessment
---
### 3. Problem-Solving Sessions
**When:** Stuck on specific challenge, need breakthrough
**Duration:** 30-60 minutes
**Goal:** Identify root cause, generate solutions, pick path forward
**Output:** Problem analysis + solution plan
**Example topics:**
- Customer churn spike
- Marketing channel not working
- Technical blocker
- Founder burnout warning signs
---
### 4. Review & Planning Sessions
**When:** Regular cadence (weekly, monthly, quarterly)
**Duration:** 30 min (weekly), 1 hour (monthly), 2-3 hours (quarterly)
**Goal:** Assess progress, adjust course, plan next period
**Output:** Progress report + updated action items
**Structure:**
- **Weekly:** Metrics review, blockers, priorities for next week
- **Monthly:** MRR/churn/customer count, goal progress, monthly OKRs
- **Quarterly:** Big decisions (pivot/continue/stop), strategy refresh, quarterly goals
---
### 5. Learning Sessions
**When:** After major event (launch, big failure, unexpected success)
**Duration:** 30-60 minutes
**Goal:** Extract lessons, update mental models, prevent repeat mistakes
**Output:** Lessons learned document
**Example topics:**
- Post-launch retrospective
- Why X campaign failed
- Why Y customer churned
- Unexpected growth spike - what worked?
---
## Session Structure Template
### Pre-Session (5-10 min)
**Oleg prepares:**
1. **Topic definition:** What specific question/decision are we addressing?
2. **Context sharing:** Links to relevant docs, data, previous discussions
3. **Desired outcome:** What does success look like for this session?
**Example:**
```
Topic: ICP Selection Decision
Context: Completed self-assessment (see 03_icp_research_questions.md, Part 1)
Desired outcome: Select ONE ICP to validate, understand why, know next steps
```
---
### Opening (5 min)
**@men confirms:**
- Is the topic clear?
- Do I have all necessary context?
- What's the time limit?
- Any constraints/considerations to keep in mind?
**Set ground rules:**
- Time box discussion (don't spiral)
- Park tangential topics (add to backlog)
- Challenge assumptions (truth over comfort)
- Document as we go (don't rely on memory)
---
### Discussion Phase (30-90 min, depending on session type)
**For Decision-Making Sessions:**
1. **Frame the decision** (5 min)
- What are we deciding?
- Why now?
- What happens if we don't decide?
2. **Explore options** (20-30 min)
- Brainstorm alternatives (no judgment yet)
- For each option: pros, cons, risks, data needed
- Identify information gaps
3. **Analyze trade-offs** (15-20 min)
- Which option best fits our constraints?
- What's our unfair advantage for each?
- Which has fastest feedback loop?
- Which is reversible vs. irreversible?
4. **Make decision** (10 min)
- Choose one option
- Articulate WHY (rationale matters for future reference)
- Define success criteria
- Set review date
**For Problem-Solving Sessions:**
1. **Define problem precisely** (10 min)
- What's the symptom vs. root cause?
- Quantify impact (revenue, time, customers)
- When did it start?
2. **Generate solutions** (15 min)
- Brainstorm (quantity over quality)
- Evaluate feasibility
- Estimate effort/impact for each
3. **Pick solution + plan** (10 min)
- Choose highest impact/effort ratio
- Break into concrete steps
- Assign timeline
**For Review Sessions:**
1. **Metrics review** (10 min)
- MRR, customers, churn, usage
- Compare to goals
- Trend analysis (growing/flat/declining)
2. **Qualitative assessment** (10 min)
- Customer feedback themes
- Energy/momentum level
- Obstacles encountered
3. **Adjust course** (10 min)
- What to keep doing?
- What to stop?
- What to start?
- Next period priorities
---
### Closing (5-10 min)
**Summarize:**
- What did we decide/learn?
- Why did we decide this?
- What are the next steps?
- Who owns what?
- When do we review?
**Parking lot review:**
- Topics raised but not discussed
- Add to future topics backlog
- Prioritize for next sessions
---
### Post-Session (15-30 min)
**Documentation (CRITICAL):**
@men creates/updates relevant documents:
- Decision logs
- Action items
- Context for future reference
**Oleg responsibilities:**
- Execute action items
- Flag blockers immediately (don't wait)
- Update docs if situation changes
---
## Documentation Standards
### Every Document Must Include
**Header section:**
```markdown
# Document Title
**Date:** [Creation date]
**Purpose:** [Why this doc exists]
**Status:** [Draft / Working / Final / Deprecated]
**Related docs:** [Links to connected documents]
```
**Core content:**
- Clear structure (headers, bullet points, tables)
- Specific, actionable information (no vague statements)
- Context (why are we documenting this?)
- Decisions explicitly marked (✅ Decided, ⏳ Pending, 🔮 Future)
**Footer section:**
```markdown
**Document owner:** [Who maintains this]
**Next review:** [When to revisit]
**Last updated:** [Date of last edit]
```
---
### Decision Documentation Template
For every major decision, create a record:
```markdown
## Decision: [Title]
**Date:** [When decided]
**Context:** [Why this decision was needed]
**Options considered:**
1. Option A: [Pros / Cons / Estimated outcome]
2. Option B: [Pros / Cons / Estimated outcome]
3. Option C: [Pros / Cons / Estimated outcome]
**Decision made:** [Which option chosen]
**Rationale:** [WHY we chose this - this is most important part]
**Success criteria:** [How we'll know if this was right]
**Review date:** [When we'll reassess]
**Reversibility:** [Can we undo this easily? Y/N]
**Owner:** [Who executes]
**Next steps:** [Immediate actions]
```
**Why this matters:**
- Prevents relitigating decisions
- Provides context for future pivots
- Shows thinking process for learning
---
### Action Items Format
Every action item must have:
- [ ] **Clear task** (specific, not vague)
- **Owner:** [Who is responsible]
- **Deadline:** [When it's due]
- **Success criteria:** [What "done" looks like]
- **Blocker flag:** [Any dependencies or obstacles]
**Example:**
```markdown
- [ ] Conduct 10 customer interviews with web dev agencies
- **Owner:** Oleg
- **Deadline:** Nov 5, 2025
- **Success:** 10 interviews completed, notes documented using template
- **Blocker:** Need to identify where these agencies hang out (Reddit? Slack?)
```
**Review cadence:**
- Daily: Oleg checks his action items
- Weekly: Review progress in check-in session
- Monthly: Clear completed, escalate blocked
---
## Communication Best Practices
### What Makes Good Questions
**❌ Bad questions:**
- "What do you think about this idea?" (too vague)
- "Is this a good market?" (no context)
- "Should I do X?" (lacks your analysis)
**✅ Good questions:**
- "I think X is true because Y. Do you see flaws in my reasoning?"
- "I've narrowed to 2 options: A vs. B. Here's my analysis [details]. Which would you prioritize and why?"
- "Here's the data [specifics]. I'm interpreting it as Z. Do you read it differently?"
**Key principles:**
- Share your thinking FIRST
- Provide context and data
- Ask for critique, not validation
- Specific > general
---
### How to Disagree Productively
**When you (Oleg) disagree with @men:**
1. Say so explicitly: "I'm not convinced because..."
2. Explain your reasoning (don't just reject)
3. Ask for evidence: "What data supports this?"
4. Propose alternative: "What if we tried Y instead?"
**When @men challenges you:**
1. Don't defend reflexively (listen first)
2. Ask clarifying questions
3. Take time to think (don't need instant response)
4. Update your mental model if evidence is strong
**Disagreement is GOOD** - it surfaces blind spots and leads to better decisions.
---
### When to Escalate Discussions
**Bring to @men immediately (don't wait for scheduled check-in):**
- Major pivot consideration (PMF not happening)
- Unexpected crisis (employer found out, health issue, etc.)
- Big opportunity (viral moment, major customer interest)
- Existential doubt ("Should I even continue?")
**Can wait for next session:**
- Feature prioritization questions
- Minor tactical decisions
- Routine progress updates
- General brainstorming
**Use async updates for:**
- Weekly metrics (MRR, customers, churn)
- Completed action items
- New learnings from customer conversations
---
## Meeting Hygiene Rules
### Time Management
- **Start on time** (respect both calendars)
- **Time box discussions** (set timer if needed)
- **End on time** (or explicitly extend with agreement)
- **Park tangents** (note for future, don't chase now)
### Energy Management
- **No meetings when exhausted** (reschedule if needed)
- **No meetings after 10 PM** (Oleg's boundary for family/sleep)
- **Take breaks** (if >90 min session, 5-10 min break)
### Focus Management
- **Single topic per session** (exceptions: quick check-ins)
- **No multitasking** (close email, Slack, etc.)
- **Phones away** (full presence required)
- **Take notes live** (capture key points as discussed)
---
## Documentation Workflow
### Oleg's Responsibilities
1. **Before session:**
- Prepare context (data, previous docs, questions)
- Define desired outcome
- Share with @men
2. **During session:**
- Take rough notes (key points, decisions)
- Flag items for documentation
- Confirm action items
3. **After session:**
- Review created documents for accuracy
- Execute action items
- Update docs if situation changes
- Share progress in next check-in
---
### @men's Responsibilities
1. **Before session:**
- Review shared context
- Research if needed (market data, case studies)
- Prepare frameworks/questions
2. **During session:**
- Guide discussion structure
- Challenge assumptions with evidence
- Synthesize insights
- Drive to decisions
3. **After session:**
- Create structured documentation
- Formalize decisions and rationale
- Update related documents
- Set up next steps
---
## Quality Checks
### Before Ending Any Session, Verify:
- [ ] Clear decision made (or explicit non-decision with next steps)
- [ ] Rationale documented (why we chose this)
- [ ] Action items defined (who, what, when)
- [ ] Success criteria set (how to measure outcome)
- [ ] Review date scheduled (when to reassess)
- [ ] Related docs updated (or new docs created)
### Monthly Documentation Audit:
- [ ] Are all pending decisions still relevant?
- [ ] Are action items getting completed on time?
- [ ] Are old documents deprecated/archived?
- [ ] Are new patterns emerging (update frameworks)?
---
## Red Flags (Session Not Working)
**Warning signs:**
- Circular discussions (keep returning to same point)
- Analysis paralysis (can't decide despite enough data)
- Defensive reactions (rejecting feedback without reason)
- Vague outcomes ("we should think about this more")
- No documentation created (relying on memory)
**How to reset:**
1. **Stop the session** (don't push through)
2. **Name the problem** ("We're going in circles")
3. **Identify blocker** (Missing data? Unclear goal? Emotional resistance?)
4. **Adjust approach** (Get data? Clarify goal? Take break?)
5. **Reschedule if needed** (Better to pause than waste time)
---
## Success Patterns (Session Going Well)
**Green lights:**
- Decisions made with confidence
- Clear action items emerging naturally
- "Aha moments" happening
- Energy is UP (not drained)
- Documentation feels valuable (not bureaucratic)
- Disagreements resolved with data/logic
- Next steps are obvious
**Reinforce what works:**
- Note which frameworks were useful
- Repeat successful session structures
- Build on previous decisions (don't relitigate)
---
## Evolution & Learning
### This Framework is NOT Static
**Update when:**
- Better approach discovered
- Pattern repeated across sessions (formalize it)
- Something consistently doesn't work (remove it)
- New session type needed (add template)
**How to update:**
1. Note the need (during or after session)
2. Discuss with @men
3. Revise framework document
4. Date the change (track evolution)
**Version control:**
Include at top of document:
```markdown
**Version:** 1.0
**Last updated:** Oct 19, 2025
**Change log:**
- v1.0 (Oct 19, 2025): Initial framework based on first session
```
---
## Appendix: Quick Reference
### Session Prep Checklist
- [ ] Topic defined
- [ ] Context docs shared
- [ ] Desired outcome clear
- [ ] Time allocated
- [ ] Any constraints noted
### Session Execution Checklist
- [ ] Opening: Confirm topic, time, context
- [ ] Discussion: Follow appropriate structure
- [ ] Closing: Summarize, next steps, parking lot
- [ ] Documentation: Create/update docs
### Post-Session Checklist
- [ ] Docs created and shared
- [ ] Action items clear (who, what, when)
- [ ] Next review scheduled
- [ ] Related docs updated
---
## Template Library
**Quick access to common templates:**
1. Decision documentation (see above)
2. Action item format (see above)
3. Problem-solving canvas (in dedicated template file)
4. Customer interview script (see `03_icp_research_questions.md`)
5. Weekly check-in format (in dedicated template file)
6. Monthly review structure (in dedicated template file)
**Note:** Full templates to be created as needed and linked here.
---
**Document owner:** @men (framework design) + Oleg (adherence)
**Version:** 1.0
**Last updated:** October 19, 2025
**Next review:** After 5 sessions (to assess what's working)
**Status:** Living document - will evolve with experience

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# Banatie Strategy Documentation Index
**Last Updated:** 2024-10-30
**Total Documents:** 14
**Next Available Number:** 15
**Project Stage:** Pre-launch / ICP Validation
---
## 📊 Numbering System
**Rule:** Sequential numbering across all documentation (01-99)
- Each number is used only once
- New document = next available number
- Deleted documents don't free up numbers
**Currently Used:**
- 01 - Market Positioning
- 02 - Reality Check
- 03 - ICP Research Questions
- 04 - Discussion Summary (Oct 19)
- 05 - Discussion Framework
- 06 - Future Topics Backlog
- 07 - Validated ICP (AI Developers)
- 08 - Validation Plan
- 09 - MVP Scope
- 10 - Pricing Strategy
- 11-14 - Reserved for technical appendices
**Next to assign:** 15
---
## 📖 Quick Links
**For new sessions START HERE:**
- [ROADMAP.md](ROADMAP.md) - Current priorities and status
- [Reality Check](strategy/02-reality-check.md) - Founder constraints
- [Validated ICP](strategy/07-validated-icp-ai-developers.md) - Target audience
**For strategic decisions:**
- [Market Positioning](strategy/01-market-positioning-and-segments.md)
- [Pricing Strategy](execution/10-pricing-strategy.md)
- [MVP Scope](execution/09-mvp-scope.md)
---
## 📂 Strategy Documents
### Core Strategic Foundation
**[01 - Market Positioning](strategy/01-market-positioning-and-segments.md)** (v2.0, Oct 20)
*Positioning, competitors, market size ($25B+ dev tools)*
Status: ✅ Validated
Key insight: We're NOT in "AI Image Generation" ($400M) - we're in "Developer Tools for AI-Powered Development" ($25B+ subset)
**[02 - Reality Check](strategy/02-reality-check.md)** (Oct 19)
*Founder situation, financial goals, constraints*
Status: 📝 Living document, review monthly
Critical: Solo founder, family of 5, $6K/month sole income, 15-20 hrs/week available, newborn (Kirill, Oct 7, 2024)
**[07 - Validated ICP](strategy/07-validated-icp-ai-developers.md)** (v1.0, Oct 20)
*AI-powered developers as primary ICP*
Confidence: HIGH (80%) - founder IS the ICP
Target: Developers using Claude Code/Cursor who build web projects regularly
**[Technical Spec](strategy/sdd.md)**
*Platform architecture, tech stack, MVP features*
Status: ⏳ Needs English translation
Stack: Express, Next.js, Gemini 2.5 Flash Image, MinIO, PostgreSQL, Cloudflare
---
## 🎯 Execution Documents
### Validation & Launch Planning
**[03 - ICP Research Questions](execution/03-icp-research-questions.md)** (v2.0, Oct 20)
*Interview script, validation framework for AI developers*
Status: 🔄 In use - validation in progress
Goal: 10-15 interviews to validate willingness to use + pay
**[08 - Validation Plan](execution/08-validation-plan.md)** (Oct 20)
*2-week sprint plan, 10-15 interviews, stealth outreach strategy*
Timeline: Oct 20 - Nov 3, 2025
Channels: Reddit (r/ClaudeAI, r/ChatGPTCoding), Indie Hackers, Discord
**[09 - MVP Scope](execution/09-mvp-scope.md)** (Oct 20)
*Must-have features, 4-6 week dev timeline, launch criteria*
Status: ⏳ Pending validation results
Core features: MCP integration, Prompt Enhancement, CDN delivery, @name references, credit payments
**[10 - Pricing Strategy](execution/10-pricing-strategy.md)** (v2.0, Oct 20)
*Hybrid model: Credits + Subscription, based on Oleg's feedback*
Tiers:
- Free: 10 gens/month (with watermark)
- Credits: $20-100 for 200-1500 gens (90-day expiry)
- Pro: $49/month for 500 gens + exclusive features
### Technical Appendices
**[Appendix 1](execution/appendex1.md)** - SDK code examples
Flow-based generation, on-demand URL generation patterns
**[Appendix 2](execution/appendex2.md)** - Use cases & conversion strategy
Target scenarios, UI proposal, MVP requirements
---
## 💬 Discussion History
**[04 - Discussion Summary](discussions/04-discussion-summary.md)** (Oct 19, 2025)
*First strategic session - 2 hours with @men*
Outcomes:
- ICP direction clarified (AI developers, not agencies initially)
- Pricing model validated (hybrid credits + subscription)
- Reality check documented (constraints, timeline, financial goals)
- Documentation framework established
**[05 - Discussion Framework](discussions/05-discussion-framework.md)** (Oct 19)
*How to conduct productive strategic sessions*
Types: Onboarding, Decision-Making, Problem-Solving, Review, Learning
Includes: Templates, documentation standards, quality checks
---
## 📋 Backlog & Future
**[06 - Future Topics](backlog/06-future-topics-backlog.md)** (Oct 19)
*Upcoming discussions prioritized by urgency*
Current priorities:
- Soon: MVP scope finalization, pricing finalization, pre-launch strategy
- Eventually: Social media strategy, Google Ads, employer discovery risk management ("свечение фейса")
---
## 🔗 Document Dependencies
### Critical path for new @men sessions:
```
ROADMAP.md → 02-reality-check.md → 07-validated-icp.md → [relevant execution doc]
```
### For strategic pivots:
```
01-market-positioning.md → 04-discussion-summary.md → 06-future-topics-backlog.md
```
### For tactical execution:
```
08-validation-plan.md → 09-mvp-scope.md → 10-pricing-strategy.md
```
---
## 📈 Document Status Legend
- ✅ **Validated** - confirmed through research/data
- 🔄 **In Progress** - actively being executed
- ⏳ **Pending** - waiting for prerequisite
- 🔮 **Future** - planned but not yet started
- 📝 **Living** - continuously updated
---
## 🔍 Key Relationships
**Market Positioning (01) informs:**
- Validated ICP (07) - target audience selection
- Pricing Strategy (10) - competitive benchmarking
- MVP Scope (09) - feature prioritization
**Reality Check (02) constrains:**
- Validation Plan (08) - time allocation (15-20 hrs/week)
- MVP Scope (09) - what's realistic in 4-6 weeks
- Pricing Strategy (10) - break-even requirements ($100-500 MRR)
**Validated ICP (07) drives:**
- ICP Research Questions (03) - interview script
- Validation Plan (08) - where to find respondents
- MVP Scope (09) - which features matter most
- Pricing Strategy (10) - willingness to pay validation
**Discussion Framework (05) guides:**
- All future strategic sessions
- Documentation creation process
- Decision-making workflows
---
## 📝 Quick Reference: Where to Save New Documents
**Strategic decisions & insights** → `strategy/`
- Market analysis updates
- ICP pivots or refinements
- Positioning changes
- Competitive intelligence
**Plans & execution tasks** → `execution/`
- Launch plans
- Feature specifications
- Marketing campaigns
- Sales processes
**Session summaries** → `discussions/`
- Strategic planning sessions
- Major decision meetings
- Retrospectives
**Ideas & parking lot** → `backlog/`
- Future features
- Potential experiments
- Topics for later discussion
---
**Navigation tip:** Use Ctrl+F to search by topic, document name, or status emoji.
**Maintenance:** Update this INDEX.md whenever:
- New document created (assign next number, add to relevant section)
- Document status changes (update emoji and notes)
- New relationships identified (add to Dependencies section)
- Quarterly review (prune deprecated docs, reorganize if needed)
---
**Last maintained by:** @men
**Version:** 2.0
**Next review:** After ICP validation complete (Nov 3, 2025)

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# Banatie Project Roadmap
## 🎯 Current Status
**Phase:** Pre-launch / ICP Validation
**Date:** October 30, 2025
**Version:** 1.0
**Next Milestone:** Complete ICP validation by Nov 3, 2025
---
## 🚀 Active Sprint (Oct 20 - Nov 3)
### ✅ COMPLETED
- [x] Market positioning clarified (converge AI gen + CDN, not pure AI image generation)
- [x] ICP hypothesis validated internally (founder IS the ICP - AI-powered developers)
- [x] Pricing strategy drafted (hybrid credits + subscription model)
- [x] MVP scope defined (MCP + core features, 4-6 week timeline)
- [x] Documentation framework established (filesystem MCP approach)
### 🔄 IN PROGRESS
- [ ] **ICP External Validation** (DUE: Nov 3, 2025)
Owner: Oleg
Status: 0 / 10 interviews completed
Blocker: Need to post on Reddit/Indie Hackers
**Action items:**
- [ ] Create throwaway Reddit account (stealth mode)
- [ ] Post in r/ClaudeAI: "How do you handle images in Claude Code?"
- [ ] Post in r/ChatGPTCoding: "AI-assisted devs: image generation workflow?"
- [ ] Conduct 10-15 text-based interviews via DM
- [ ] Fill validation scorecard after each interview
- [ ] Make GO/PIVOT/STOP decision based on results
### ⏸️ BLOCKED / WAITING
- [ ] MVP development (blocked by ICP validation - need confirmed feature priorities)
- [ ] Beta user outreach (blocked by validation - need validated messaging)
- [ ] Pricing finalization (pending ICP confirmation of willingness to pay)
---
## 📅 Upcoming Milestones
### Week 1-2 (Nov 4-17): POST-VALIDATION
**IF GO decision (60%+ willing to use, 40%+ willing to pay $20+):**
- [ ] Finalize MVP scope based on validated top 3 needs from interviews
- [ ] Begin MCP server development (Week 1: Core generation pipeline)
- [ ] Prepare beta access list from interviews (early adopters identified)
- [ ] Plan soft launch strategy (Reddit post schedule, messaging)
**IF PIVOT decision (<60% interest OR weak willingness to pay):**
- [ ] Select alternative ICP (agencies? e-commerce? different dev segment?)
- [ ] Prepare new interview script tailored to alternative ICP
- [ ] Run 5-10 more interviews (deadline: 1-2 weeks)
- [ ] Final GO/STOP decision with hard deadline
**IF STOP decision (<40% interest, no one willing to pay):**
- [ ] Document learnings (what didn't work, what insights gained)
- [ ] Thank all interviewees professionally
- [ ] Decide: tackle different problem OR shut down project
- [ ] Focus energy back on day job (reduce stress, reassess in 3-6 months)
---
### Week 3-8 (Nov 18 - Jan 5, 2026): MVP DEVELOPMENT
*(Assuming GO decision)*
**Development timeline (4-6 weeks):**
- **Week 3-4:** Core generation pipeline + MCP integration
- REST API endpoints finalized
- Prompt Enhancement Agent working
- Image generation with @name references
- Basic storage + CDN integration
- **Deliverable:** Working API (generate + upload + references)
- **Week 5:** MCP implementation
- MCP server setup (follow spec)
- Implement 3 tools: banatie_generate, banatie_upload, banatie_list_images
- Test with Claude Desktop
- Documentation for MCP usage
- **Deliverable:** Working MCP integration
- **Week 6:** Transformations + UI refinement
- Image transformation service (Imageflow or Cloudflare)
- Refine demo UI (code snippets, transformation previews)
- Dashboard (history, usage stats)
- API key management
- **Deliverable:** Functional UI for testing
- **Week 7:** Payments + polish
- Stripe integration (credit packs: $20, $50, $100)
- Free tier limits enforcement (10/month with watermark)
- Landing page copy + design
- API documentation (REST + MCP)
- **Deliverable:** Monetization-ready product
- **Week 8:** Beta testing + iteration
- Invite 5-10 validated users from research
- High-touch onboarding (help with MCP setup)
- Gather feedback, fix critical bugs
- Iterate on UX pain points
- **Deliverable:** Product-market fit signals or pivot triggers
---
### Month 4-6 (Jan-Mar 2026): SOFT LAUNCH & GROWTH
**Month 4 (Jan):** First paying customers
- Goal: 5-10 beta users onboarded
- 50+ generations completed
- 2+ users purchase credits (willingness to pay validated)
- Target MRR: $200-500
**Month 5 (Feb):** Soft launch to communities
- Post in r/ClaudeAI: "Show HN: Generate images from Claude Code via MCP"
- Indie Hackers build-in-public post
- Dev.to technical content (tutorial: "Automate image gen in Next.js with Claude Code")
- Target MRR: $500-1,000
**Month 6 (Mar):** Growth optimization
- SEO content (start ranking for "AI image generation API", "Claude Code images")
- Community building (Discord, Reddit presence)
- Case studies from early users
- Target MRR: $1-2K (Side Project Validation milestone)
---
## 🎯 Long-term Goals (6-12 months)
### Month 6: Side Project Validation Checkpoint
**Success criteria:**
- MRR: $1-2K
- Customers: 10-20 paying
- Churn: <5% monthly
- Signal: Product-market fit OR clear pivot needed
**Decision:** Continue scaling OR reassess viability
---
### Month 9: Hybrid Mode Decision
**Success criteria:**
- MRR: $3-5K
- Customers: 30-50 paying
- Usage: Predictable growth pattern
**Options:**
- Negotiate 4-day work week with employer (80% salary = $4.8K)
- OR: Stay full-time job, continue nights/weekends
- Combined income: $7-10K/month (meets family needs + buffer)
---
### Month 12: Full-time Leap Evaluation
**Success criteria:**
- MRR: $6K+ (current salary replacement)
- OR: 12-month runway saved + high confidence in growth
- OR: MRR = $4-5K + spouse (Ekaterina) involved in admin with income
**Decision:** Go full-time on Banatie OR continue hybrid
**Long-term vision (24-36 months):**
- $15-30K MRR: Sustainable solo/small team business
- Hire 1-2 people (support, marketing, or tech)
- Consider Ekaterina full-time on admin/ops
---
## 🚦 Decision Gates
### GATE 1: ICP Validation (Current - Nov 3, 2025)
**Success criteria (ALL must be met):**
- 60%+ interviews say "I would use this" (6 out of 10)
- 40%+ willing to pay $20+ (4 out of 10)
- 30%+ want early access (3 out of 10)
- Consistent pain point validated (not scattered)
- Budget confirmed (they pay for other tools)
**Possible outcomes:**
- ✅ **GO** → Build MVP for AI developers (strong signals)
- 🔄 **PIVOT** → Test different ICP (weak signals, 1-2 more weeks)
- 🛑 **STOP** → Shut down or fundamental rethink (no market fit)
**Review meeting:** Nov 4, 2025 with @men
---
### GATE 2: MVP Launch Readiness (Week 8 - Late Dec 2025)
**Success criteria:**
- MCP integration works reliably (95%+ success rate)
- 5-10 beta users onboarded and generating images
- 50+ generations completed (usage validated)
- 2+ users purchase credits (monetization validated)
- No critical bugs blocking core workflow
**Possible outcomes:**
- ✅ **LAUNCH** → Soft launch to r/ClaudeAI, Indie Hackers
- 🔄 **ITERATE** → 1-2 more weeks bug fixes, UX improvements
- 🛑 **PIVOT** → Different approach needed (MCP too complex? Different features?)
**Review meeting:** Late December 2025
---
### GATE 3: PMF Validation (Month 6 - March 2026)
**Success criteria:**
- $1-2K MRR achieved
- <5% monthly churn (customers staying)
- "Can't live without" feedback from 3+ users
- Organic word-of-mouth starting (referrals, shares)
- Usage growing without marketing spend
**Possible outcomes:**
- ✅ **SCALE** → Invest in growth (content, partnerships, paid ads eventually)
- 🔄 **OPTIMIZE** → Refine product, improve conversion
- 🛑 **PIVOT/STOP** → No PMF achieved after 6 months, reassess fundamentally
**Review meeting:** April 2026
---
## ⚠️ Risk Mitigation Watch
### HIGH PRIORITY RISKS
**1. Burnout Risk (Severity: HIGH)**
- **Factors:** Full-time job + side project + newborn (Kirill, 2 weeks old) + family of 5
- **Current exposure:** Working 60+ hrs/week total (40 job + 20 Banatie)
- **Monitor:** Weekly health check-ins (Sundays)
- **Mitigation:**
- Strict time boundaries (no work after 10 PM)
- One full day off per week (family only)
- Use Agent Coding (Claude Code) to maximize efficiency
- Cut scope ruthlessly (MVP, not full vision)
- **Red flags:** Physical health decline, family tension, day job performance suffering
- **Abort criteria:** If health/family at risk, pause Banatie (not worth it)
---
**2. Financial Pressure Risk (Severity: HIGH)**
- **Factors:** Zero savings buffer, school tuition coming, single income ($6K/month)
- **Current exposure:** No emergency fund, Daniel's private school pending
- **Monitor:** Monthly expense tracking, runway calculation
- **Mitigation:**
- Keep day job until Banatie ≥ $6K MRR (non-negotiable)
- Negotiate hybrid work arrangement early (6-month mark if traction)
- Bootstrap (no fundraising until PMF clear)
- Minimize Banatie expenses (use family VPS, free tools)
- **Red flags:** Credit card debt accumulating, school tuition unpaid, family stress over money
- **Abort criteria:** If Banatie costs exceed $500/month without revenue
---
**3. No PMF Risk (Severity: HIGHEST)**
- **Factors:** Unvalidated ICP, new category (convergence play), complex product
- **Current exposure:** Hypothesis not yet tested with external users
- **Monitor:** Interview feedback, churn rate, usage metrics, qualitative signals
- **Mitigation:**
- Brutal ICP validation BEFORE building more (current sprint)
- Launch ultra-MVP (not full platform)
- 10-15 customer interviews BEFORE launch
- Set clear pivot triggers (see Phase 1 decision point)
- **Red flags:** No one willing to pay, high churn (>10%), "cool idea, but..." feedback
- **Abort criteria:** After 6 months, if <$500 MRR and no PMF signals → shut down
---
**4. Employer Discovery Risk (Severity: MEDIUM)**
- **Factors:** Building side project while employed, same industry (web dev, AI)
- **Current exposure:** Public presence needed for marketing (Twitter, LinkedIn, dev.to)
- **Monitor:** LinkedIn/social mentions, colleague conversations
- **Mitigation strategies:** (see `06-future-topics-backlog.md` - "свечение фейса")
- Use separate brand identity (Banatie, not personal)
- Delay LinkedIn posting until closer to launch
- Focus on dev.to, Indie Hackers (less employer monitoring)
- Check employment contract for IP clauses
- **Red flags:** Employer asks about side projects, colleagues mention seeing Banatie
- **Abort criteria:** If employer explicitly forbids, negotiate exit OR pause publicly
---
## 📊 Key Metrics Dashboard
**Updated:** Weekly (every Sunday evening)
### Validation Metrics (Current Sprint - Oct 20 - Nov 3)
- Interviews completed: **0 / 10**
- Positive responses ("I would use"): **- / -**
- Willing to pay $20+: **- / -**
- Early access requests: **- / -**
### Development Metrics (After validation - Nov+)
- MVP features completed: **- / 8**
- Beta users onboarded: **- / 10**
- Generations completed: **- / 50**
- Credit purchases: **- / 2**
### Business Metrics (Post-launch - Jan+)
- **MRR:** $0
- **Paying customers:** 0
- **Churn rate:** N/A
- **Conversion rate (Free → Paid):** N/A
- **Usage per user (avg gens/month):** N/A
---
## 🔮 Future Considerations (Not Currently Scheduled)
### Features (Post-PMF, after 50+ users)
- Flow-based chained generation (complex workflows)
- On-demand URL generation (programmatic HTML generation)
- Namespaces / project organization
- Team collaboration features (multi-user, agencies)
- Advanced style presets / fine-tuning
### Market Expansion (After PMF with AI developers)
- Agency tier ($149/mo for teams)
- E-commerce vertical (product image generation, Shopify integration)
- Enterprise tier (custom pricing, SLA, support)
### Operations (After $10K MRR)
- Hire VA for customer support
- Involve Ekaterina (wife) in admin/ops
- Consider part-time dev help for non-core features
- Explore partnership opportunities (integrations, resellers)
---
## 📋 Action Items Summary
**This Week (Oct 30 - Nov 3):**
1. Create throwaway Reddit account
2. Post validation questions in r/ClaudeAI and r/ChatGPTCoding
3. Conduct 10 text-based interviews
4. Document results in validation scorecard
5. Make GO/PIVOT/STOP decision by Nov 3
**Next Week (Nov 4-10) - IF GO:**
1. Finalize MVP scope based on interview insights
2. Set up development environment (if not already done)
3. Begin MCP server implementation
4. Prepare beta access list
**Next Week (Nov 4-10) - IF PIVOT:**
1. Select alternative ICP
2. Prepare new interview script
3. Begin second validation round
---
## 🎯 Success Definitions by Stage
### Pre-launch Success (Current)
- ✅ ICP validated externally (60%+ interest, 40%+ willing to pay)
- ✅ MVP scope locked (based on validated needs)
- ✅ First 5 beta users identified from research
### Launch Success (Month 3-4)
- ✅ 5-10 beta users actively using product
- ✅ 50+ generations completed
- ✅ 2+ credit purchases (willingness to pay confirmed)
- ✅ No critical bugs blocking workflow
### Early Traction Success (Month 6)
- ✅ $1-2K MRR
- ✅ <5% monthly churn
- ✅ Product-market fit signals ("can't live without")
- ✅ Organic growth starting (word-of-mouth, referrals)
### Sustainability Success (Month 12)
- ✅ $6K+ MRR (salary replacement level)
- ✅ Predictable growth trajectory
- ✅ Hybrid or full-time transition viable
- ✅ Clear path to $10-15K MRR
---
**Roadmap Owner:** @men + Oleg (joint ownership)
**Last Review:** October 30, 2025
**Next Review:** November 4, 2025 (post-validation decision)
**Version Control:** Track major changes via Git commits
---
**Quick Reference Commands:**
- Update metrics: Every Sunday evening
- Review roadmap: After each decision gate
- Update action items: As completed or priorities change
- Archive completed sprints: Monthly cleanup

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\## Приложение 1: Примеры Программного Взаимодействия (SDK)
\### A. Пример Flow-Based Chained Generation (Конвейерная Генерация)
Этот пример демонстрирует, как разработчик может программно создать последовательность связанных ассетов, используя внутреннюю логику Banatie для контекстуального наследования.
```javascript
// Инициализация с API-ключом
const banatie = new BanatieClient({apikey: "bnt\_123123123"});
// Запуск итеративного Flow-Based Generation
banatie
&nbsp; .generate("fantastic future laboratory with cyberpunk stuff", {name: "backround"})
&nbsp; .upload('./round-frame.png') // Загрузка внешнего ассета (ссылка на кадр)
&nbsp; .generate("cartoon character, kid style, cute and small. staying inside @background. the image is in frame as on @uploaded image")
&nbsp; .save('./hero-lvl1.png')
&nbsp; .generate('take the @last and make the hero a bit more brutal. Keep @background and @uploaded unchanged')
&nbsp; .save('./hero-lvl2.png')
&nbsp; .generate('take the @last and turn it into ultimate version of hero. Keep @background and @uploaded unchanged')
&nbsp; .save('./hero-lvl3.png');
```
\*\*Особенности этого функционала:\*\*
\* \*\*Инкапсуляция:\*\* Вся логика передачи контекста и изображений между шагами скрыта внутри Flow-сессии Banatie.
\* \*\*Именованные Ассеты:\*\* Использование локально заданных имен (`@uploaded`, `@background`) для передачи конкретных активов в качестве Inpainting/Control-Net референсов.
\### B. Пример On-Demand Generation via URL
Этот синтаксис демонстрирует, как LLM-агент может программно генерировать HTML-страницы с \*production-ready\* изображениями.
\*\*HTML с немедленным встраиванием:\*\*
```html
<img src="https://api.banatie.app/v1/prompt-image?
&nbsp; apikey=bnt\_123123123
&nbsp; \&prompt='футуристический город на закате, фотореализм'
&nbsp; \&style=photorealistic
&nbsp; \&ar=16:9
&nbsp; \&w=800"
&nbsp; alt="Футуристический город"
/>
```
\*\*Механизм:\*\*
\* При первом GET-запросе по этому URL изображение генерируется, инициируя полный Flow-Based Generation.
\* При всех последующих запросах кэшированный, трансформированный ассет отдается мгновенно через CDN, используя хэш-сумму промпта и параметров.
\* \*\*W=800:\*\* Встроенная трансформация (ресайзинг) активируется сразу, обеспечивая доставку оптимизированного изображения.

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\## Приложение 2: Предполагаемое Использование и Конверсия
\### A. Целевые Сценарии Использования (Use Cases)
1\. \*\*Вставка Оптимизированных Изображений на Веб-сайты:\*\* Главный сценарий. Замена стандартных стоковых изображений или ручной работы по созданию контента.
2\. \*\*AI-Генерация Страниц с Готовыми Изображениями:\*\* Использование функции \*On-Demand Generation via URL\* для создания полноценных, visually rich HTML-страниц с помощью LLM (например, в чат-ботах или CMS-плагинах).
3\. \*\*Контент для Разных Разделов Сайта:\*\* Использование \*\*Namespaces и Стилистических Профилей\*\* для обеспечения визуальной консистентности (например, "Blog Section Style", "Product Page Style").
4\. \*\*Создание Игровых Ассетов:\*\* Программная генерация последовательностей персонажей, текстур и предметов с помощью \*\*Generation Flow\*\*.
5\. \*\*Разработка Приложений (SaaS/Microservices):\*\* Использование Banatie как бэкэнда для собственных AI-приложений, где требуется быстрая генерация и доставка изображений.
\### B. Предложение по UI (User Interface)
Для конверсии Free-пользователей и демонстрации ценности API, UI должен активно использовать следующие элементы:
\* \*\*Код-Сниппеты:\*\* После каждой успешной генерации в UI показывать \*\*рабочий код\*\* (API, SDK, MCP) для воспроизведения результата.
\* \*\*Демонстрация Трансформаций:\*\* Сразу показывать сгенерированное изображение, обернутое в несколько HTML-тегов (Tailwind-классы), чтобы проиллюстрировать:
&nbsp; \* \*Вертикальное (Mobile Hero)\*
&nbsp; \* \*Круглое (Avatar)\*
&nbsp; \* \*Карточка с эффектом Zoom-in на hover\*
&nbsp; \* Это не просто картинка, это \*\*решение для верстки\*\*.
\### C. Необходимый Минимальный Функционал для Релиза (MVP)
\* Полностью работающий \*\*Prompt Enhancement\*\* и \*\*Asset Persistence\*\*.
\* Рабочий \*\*Image Transformation Pipeline\*\* с CDN (хотя бы базовый ресайзинг).
\* Полностью работающая система \*\*API Key\*\* и \*\*Free Tier Лимиты\*\*.
\* Рабочий \*\*REST API\*\* с поддержкой \*\*On-Demand Generation via URL\*\*.
\* Базовый \*\*UI/MCP\*\* с историей генераций и кодовыми сниппетами.

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\# Техническая Архитектура и Функциональная Спецификация:
\*\*Banatie AI Asset Generation Platform\*\*
\### 1. Обзор Платформы (Platform Overview)
\*\*Banatie\*\* — это API-first платформа для программной генерации и доставки \*\*готовых к использованию (Production-Ready)\*\* медиа-активов. В отличие от традиционных генераторов, Banatie интегрирует возможности передовой AI-генерации (на базе Google Gemini) с полноценным конвейером продакшен-доставки (CDN, хостинг, трансформации).
Целевая аудитория — разработчики, веб-мастера и создатели SaaS-приложений, которым требуется \*\*комплексное, оптимизированное решение\*\* для автоматизации создания и встраивания контента.
\### 2. Технический Стек (Technology Stack)
| Компонент | Технология | Роль в Архитектуре |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| \*\*Основная Модель (Core Synthesizer)\*\* | \*\*Gemini 2.5 Flash Image\*\* | Ядро для высокоскоростного синтеза изображений. |
| \*\*Вспомогательные AI Модели (Agents)\*\* | \*\*Gemini 2.5 Flash\*\* (и другие быстрые модели) | \*\*Prompt Enhancement\*\* (оптимизация промптов) и \*\*Asset Analysis\*\* (извлечение метаданных и фокальной точки). |
| \*\*Backend \& API Gateway\*\* | \*\*Express (Node.js)\*\* | Высокопроизводительный REST API-сервер и логика Flow-Based Generation. |
| \*\*Фронтенд \& UI\*\* | \*\*Next.js\*\* | Разработка основного сайта, документации, демонстрационных UI. |
| \*\*Управление Аккаунтами\*\* | \*\*nextjs/saas-starter (Шаблон)\*\* | Основа для архитектуры авторизации, организаций и проектов. |
| \*\*Хранение Аксетов (Object Storage)\*\* | \*\*MinIO (S3-совместимый)\*\* | Первичное, высокодоступное хранилище сгенерированных и загруженных активов. |
| \*\*Трансформация Изображений\*\* | \*\*Imageflow-Server\*\* | Динамическое преобразование активов (ресайзинг, обрезка, формат) через Query Params. |
| \*\*Доставка Контента (CDN)\*\* | \*\*Cloudflare\*\* | Глобальное кэширование и оптимизированная доставка трансформированных изображений. |
| \*\*База Данных\*\* | \*\*PostgreSQL\*\* | Реляционное хранилище для метаданных генераций, пользователей, проектов и биллинга. |
| \*\*Deployment\*\* | \*\*Docker / VPS\*\* | Контейнеризация и размещение сервиса. |
\### 3. Основной Процесс Генерации и Доставки Аксетов (Core Generation \& Delivery Flow)
Пайплайн разделен на 6 этапов для обеспечения продакшен-готовности ассетов:
1\. \*\*Ввод Пользователя (User Input):\*\* Получение неструктурированного промпта (на любом языке) и дополнительных параметров (стиль, соотношение сторон).
2\. \*\*Prompt Enhancement (AI-Агент):\*\* Специализированный агент анализирует, переводит и \*\*оптимизирует промпт\*\* (с учетом выбранного стиля и лучших практик Gemini), создавая детализированный, высокоэффективный запрос.
3\. \*\*Core Image Synthesis:\*\* Оптимизированный промпт отправляется в Gemini API для генерации изображения.
4\. \*\*Asset Analysis \& Metadata Extraction:\*\* Второй AI-агент анализирует полученное изображение, выделяя \*\*фокальную точку (Focal Point)\*\* и ключевые метаданные, необходимые для корректной автоматической обрезки/трансформации.
5\. \*\*Asset Persistence \& Indexing:\*\* Изображение сохраняется в MinIO. Метаданные (промпты, параметры, фокальная точка) индексируются в PostgreSQL.
6\. \*\*Production URL \& Delivery:\*\* Генерируется \*\*постоянный, кэшируемый URL\*\*. При обращении изображение проходит через \*\*Imageflow-Server\*\* (трансформация) и кэшируется в \*\*Cloudflare CDN\*\*. Ответ API также включает набор ходовых трансформированных ссылок (пресетов) для удобной верстки.
\### 4. Основные Функциональные Особенности (Core Differentiating Features)
| Feature | Описание | B2D-Ценность |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| \*\*4.1. Flow-Based Chained Generation\*\* | Программная последовательность генераций, где каждая новая генерация имеет доступ к контексту и результатам предыдущих шагов Flow. | Позволяет создавать сложные, логически связанные наборы ассетов (итерации персонажей, ассеты для игр). |
| \*\*4.2. On-Demand Generation via URL\*\* | Генерация изображения, инициируемая \*\*GET-запросом к URL\*\* с промптом в Query Params. При повторном запросе возвращается закэшированный ассет. | Обеспечивает возможность LLM-агентам генерировать HTML-страницы с готовыми, оптимизированными изображениями. |
| \*\*4.3. Contextual Asset Referencing\*\* | Возможность присваивать ассетам имена (`@logo`) и использовать эти имена \*\*напрямую в текстовом промпте\*\* для передачи референсных изображений в модель. | Упрощает Inpainting/Outpainting и создание контента с привязкой к бренду или существующим элементам. |
| \*\*4.4. Image Transformation Pipeline\*\* | Динамическое преобразование изображения (ресайзинг, изменение `aspect ratio`, обрезка по фокальной точке, форматы) через Query Params в CDN-ссылке. | Устраняет необходимость ручной обработки изображений, гарантируя оптимальную скорость загрузки и качество на всех устройствах. |
| \*\*4.5. Namespaces и Стили\*\* | Виртуальное разделение активов в проектах с возможностью задания общих системных промптов и стилей для обеспечения \*\*визуальной консистентности\*\*. | Идеально для управления брендбуком или стилистикой разных разделов сайта. |
\### 5. Каналы Взаимодействия и Авторизация
\* \*\*REST API:\*\* Основной канал, обеспечивающий полный доступ ко всем функциям.
\* \*\*JS/TS SDK:\*\* Высокоуровневая обертка для удобной программной работы с Flow-Based Generation.
\* \*\*Model Context Protocol (MCP):\*\* \*\*Специализированный API/протокол\*\* для интеграции с LLM и AI-агентами, оптимизированный для контекстуальных и последовательных запросов.
\* \*\*User Interface (UI):\*\* Веб-интерфейс для тестирования и отладки. Каждая генерация сопровождается \*\*Code Snippets\*\* для API, SDK и MCP.
\* \*\*Авторизация:\*\* Основана на \*\*API-ключах\*\* (`apikey`). Каждый ключ ассоциирован с парой \*\*Организация/Проект\*\* для контроля доступа и биллинговой изоляции.
\### 6. Релизная Стратегия (MVP Focus)
Для первого публичного релиза необходима полная функциональность в следующих ключевых областях:
1\. \*\*Ядро Генерации:\*\* Полностью работающий \*\*Prompt Enhancement\*\* и \*\*Asset Persistence\*\*.
2\. \*\*Доставка:\*\* Рабочий \*\*Image Transformation Pipeline\*\* с CDN, генерирующий \*production-ready\* ссылки.
3\. \*\*Уникальные Фичи:\*\* \*\*On-Demand Generation via URL\*\* и базовая \*\*Contextual Asset Referencing\*\* (@logo).
4\. \*\*Авторизация/Биллинг:\*\* Полностью работающая система \*\*API Key\*\* и \*\*Free Tier\*\* с механизмом ограничения лимитов.