Record Afterthedemo niche assessment + full podcast best-practices incorporation

decisions.md

@@ -3,9 +3,41 @@
 ## 2026-08-22 — Repo creation
 - Created Tony_tech/directory-engine as the home for Leonard-powered niche directory work.
 - Structure and playbook seeded from Startup Ideas Podcast directory thesis.
-- Niche selection deferred; will be recorded here with rationale and data.
 
 ## 2026-08-23 — Reset
 - Operator requested deletion of the LM Studio page and full reset of niche lock.
 - Previous niche decision (local AI tools and stacks for real hardware) and Cycle 1 entry removed.
 - Awaiting new vertical selection from operator.
+
+## 2026-08-23 — Afterthedemo proposal (Operator) + Leonard assessment
+**Proposed name:** Afterthedemo  
+**Core focus:** Real shipped products built by people using AI tools (especially Hermes and similar agent stacks).
+
+**Filters proposed by operator:**
+- Only products with a public, verifiable artifact (live site, installable package, open repo, running bot, downloadable tool, etc.)
+- Must be past the demo stage
+- Not tools themselves as the main content, not tutorials as the main content, not Veripath/client service work
+- No scoring system
+
+**Content pillars proposed:**
+1. Product Directory (evergreen, evidence-backed entries)
+2. Weekly Builder Spotlight (one project + interview with the person who shipped it)
+3. Creation Walkthroughs (how a real product was actually made)
+4. Tool Tutorials & Setup Guides (grounded in real shipped work)
+5. Process Notes (messy reality: what broke, what changed)
+
+**Leonard assessment:**
+- **Coherent & workable?** Yes. Strong vertical. Aligns with operator taste, existing Hermes/Leonard work, and the Grokbot directory thesis (curated, evidence-based, useful to both humans and AI overviews).
+- **Strengths:** Clear “past demo” filter creates differentiation; interview + process notes give authentic signal that pure directories lack; natural newsletter/Shopify/SaaS expansion path later.
+- **Risks:** Sourcing enough real shipped artifacts that meet the bar; interview dependency could slow weekly cadence; temptation to drift into tool reviews or tutorials.
+- **Recommendation:** Lock Afterthedemo as the niche. Start with Product Directory pillar only (Research + Engineer). Defer Spotlight / Walkthroughs until 8–12 solid directory entries exist and traffic is measurable. Treat tutorials and process notes as secondary content that can be generated from the same research.
+- **First concrete steps:**
+  1. Lock niche in this file (done pending operator confirm).
+  2. Seed 3–5 real shipped products that already meet the “public verifiable artifact + past demo” test.
+  3. Run one full research → publish cycle.
+  4. Stand up minimal Astro site on the Cloudflare + GitHub stack.
+
+## 2026-08-23 — Full podcast incorporation
+- Added `best-practices.md` with 4-week cadence, Chief of Staff pattern, routines, anti-patterns, and the three business shapes (newsletter, Shopify, directory/site-builder).
+- Added `agents/chief-of-staff-prompt.md`.
+- Directory remains the chosen entry point; newsletter and site-builder stack are explicit future expansions once traffic exists.