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Who This Framework Is For

DNA Framework is designed for builders who care about systems. Not everyone needs this framework. Not every company will benefit from it. Here’s how to know if it’s right for you.

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✅ You Should Use DNA If…

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You’re Experiencing Growing Pains

Your team used to move fast and stay aligned. Now:
  • Decisions take longer
  • Teams contradict each other
  • New hires are confused
  • You’re repeating the same debates
  • “That’s not how we do it” becomes common
DNA helps you scale without losing coherence.

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You’re About to Scale

You’re at 10-30 people and planning to grow. You want to avoid the fragmentation you know is coming. DNA lets you encode alignment before you lose it.

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You’re Building in Public or with AI

Your company is designed to be:
  • Transparent and documented
  • AI-integrated from day one
  • Operated with clear systems
DNA makes your company legible to both humans and machines.

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You’re Post-Pivot or Post-Merge

You’ve recently:
  • Changed direction
  • Acquired another company
  • Merged teams
  • Rebranded
DNA helps you rebuild coherence across the new reality.

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You Value Systems Over Heroics

You believe:
  • Good systems beat individual genius
  • Clarity beats charisma
  • Structure enables creativity
  • Constraints are liberating
DNA is systems thinking applied to company building.

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❌ You Shouldn’t Use DNA If…

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You’re Pre-Product

You’re still figuring out what you’re building. You don’t have product-market fit. You’re experimenting rapidly. Wait until you have something worth encoding. DNA works best when you have patterns to capture—not when you’re still searching for them.

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You’re Not Willing to Maintain It

DNA isn’t a one-time exercise. It requires:
  • Quarterly reviews
  • Active editing
  • Team buy-in
  • Leadership commitment
If you won’t maintain it, don’t start it. A stale DNA is worse than no DNA.

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You Prefer Intuition Over Structure

You believe:
  • “Good people will figure it out”
  • “We don’t need to document everything”
  • “Process kills creativity”
  • “Our culture is our secret sauce”
DNA probably isn’t for you. This framework is about making implicit patterns explicit.

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You’re Looking for a Quick Fix

DNA takes time to build. You’ll see benefits quickly, but full value comes from:
  • Thoughtful mapping
  • Team participation
  • Iterative refinement
If you want instant results, look elsewhere.

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Who’s Already Using DNA?

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Startups (5-50 people)

Using DNA to scale without fragmenting. Encoding their early decisions before tribal knowledge gets lost.

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Scale-Ups (50-200 people)

Using DNA to rebuild alignment after growing too fast. Systematizing what used to be intuitive.

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Product-Led Companies

Using DNA to maintain product coherence across multiple teams and features.

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AI-First Companies

Using DNA to define how AI integrates across all systems—not as a feature, but as infrastructure.

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Remote-First Companies

Using DNA as the shared context that replaces hallway conversations and osmotic knowledge transfer.

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The DNA Mindset

This framework works best for people who believe:
  1. Companies are systems, not just collections of people
  2. Clarity is a competitive advantage
  3. Good constraints enable better creativity
  4. Alignment is structural, not cultural
  5. Documentation should be alive, not dead
If you read those and thought “yes, exactly”—this framework is for you.

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Still Not Sure?

Ask yourself:
“If I left my company tomorrow, would someone be able to make decisions the way I would?”
If the answer is no, you need DNA.

Ready to Start?

Your first 10 minutes with DNA Framework