Marketing & Finance

Bullseye Framework

Sort the 19 traction channels into inner, middle and outer ring and find the one to test first.

Time: 45 to 60 min
With: Founders or the growth team
You get: A ranked set of channels and a test plan for the best one

How to use this worksheet

Brainstorm: move every channel that could work into the outer ring first. Do not judge yet.
Pick the three most promising channels and move them to the middle ring, then choose one for the inner ring.
Run cheap tests on the middle ring channels to find evidence, then focus on the inner ring.
Write your test hypotheses in the notes: what would success look like in numbers?

Channels

Move channels from the pool into the rings.

Inner ring: promising

Most promising, test now

Middle ring: possible

Might work, needs validation

Outer ring: long shot

Unlikely for now

Available traction channels

The 19 channels from the book. Add your own if needed.

Prompts

Ask yourself

Where do your customers already spend time?
Which channel fits your price point and sales cycle?

Test plan and notes

Hypothesis, budget, timeline and success criteria for each channel you test.

Prompts and example

Example

Content: publish 8 articles in 6 weeks, goal 200 sign-ups, cost under 1,500 EUR. SEO: audit top 10 keywords by end of month.

Ring overview

Before you finish

Exactly one channel is in the inner ring.
Every middle ring channel has a cheap test.
Tests have a number that defines success.

About the Bullseye Framework

Gabriel Weinberg and Justin Mares describe the Bullseye Framework in "Traction". The point is to avoid betting on a channel you happen to know and instead test several systematically.

Most startups find that one channel dominates. The framework is a way to discover which one efficiently.