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Sofos Tools — AI Access

This tool uses Sofos AI, hosted on Sofos's secure backend. Running AI actions (Strategic Insights, candidate research, segment scoring, etc.) incurs cost per call and is part of your Sofos engagement.

By entering your access code, you acknowledge AI actions will be billed under your engagement terms. Please be deliberate when triggering AI features.

If you don't have a code, contact JO at jose@sofos.com.au.

Sofos Traction Sandbox™

Go-to-market assessment for the traction stage — prioritising where to play for the next 3 years.

DO THIS On this page
  1. Pick a starting path below (demo, import, manual, or auto-populate from website)
  2. Fill in or review the business context fields — give the AI good context to work with
  3. Add at least 2 customer/market segments you're considering
  4. When done, click Continue to Research & Score → at the bottom

Where would you like to start?

Pick a path below. You can come back to this menu any time.

Already worked on an assessment in this browser? Clear everything first so your new one starts clean — no leftover data from the last one.

Your business context

The more specific you are here, the more targeted the research prompts and scoring will be. This context will be folded into the AI research prompt for every criterion.

The AI still reads competitors' websites — they're often the best source of the language this market uses. Naming them stops their numbers and their description of the market being taken at face value.

"We keep ~20% on top" is a complete answer; "near zero" is valid for pure software. IGNORE rent and salaries — the tool accounts for fixed costs on the scoring side.

Where you are vs where you're going (drives Expansion Pathway in Strategic Insights)

These two fields anchor the Expansion Pathway recommendation in your Strategic Insights output. Without them, the framework defaults to "where you fit best now" — which can quietly recommend a Prime segment you've already won, or anchor you to customers that don't lead to your aspiration. Use phases / moves / steps language for sequencing — not strict years.

✨ Help me define the right segments to evaluate

Let Sofos AI guide you to define the right segments and suggest potential segments — you review and pick which to add. Nothing is added without your tick.

~1 AI call. Reads the business context you've entered above — fill in as much as you can first for sharper suggestions.

Segments to evaluate

Add 2 or more segments to compare. A segment can be a geography (e.g. Australia, Singapore), a market vertical (e.g. logistics, healthcare), a customer segment (e.g. SMB vs Enterprise), or a product variant. Most users compare 3–5.

Custom criteria (optional)

The framework comes with 9 built-in criteria. If your business has a factor specific to it (e.g. cultural fit, founder credibility, regulatory tail risk), add it here. It'll appear alongside the others in scoring, charts, and the summary.

DO THIS On this page
  1. Starting a different client? Use Clear everything & start a new client below first, so nothing from the last assessment is mixed into this run
  2. Click Research below — one pass: the AI searches the web for every segment on every criterion and gathers what it finds. Time scales with your segment and criteria count; the progress bar tracks it. Leave the tab open
  3. Skim the findings — click any criterion to expand. Want more evidence? Press Research again; each press adds a pass to the pool
  4. When the research is what you want, click Score — the AI reads everything gathered and writes the research scores and comparative analyses
  5. Then click Continue to Your Assessment → at the bottom

Research & Findings

Two presses. Research searches the web for every segment on every criterion and gathers the findings, competitors, forces and sources into a pool — press it again to add another pass. Score reads the pool once and writes the research score and the comparative analysis for every criterion. Click a criterion to expand it, review its findings, or add a research pass for that criterion alone.

Scoring scale: 1 = unfavourable / low, 10 = highly favourable / high. For Barriers criteria, scoring is inverted (1 = high barrier, 10 = low barrier) so a higher total is always better.

Research

Searches the web for every segment on every criterion and gathers the findings, competitors, forces and sources it rests on. One pass per press — each press adds to what is already gathered. Takes a while; the bar tracks it. Leave the tab open.

Not researched yet.

Add your own documents — reports, decks or data you already hold join the research as sources. Phase 5 — reserved slot, not in this build.

Score

Reads everything gathered and writes the research score and the comparative analysis for every criterion. Your own scores are untouched.

Research first.

Wipes the AI research, scores, analyses, insights, pathway and one-pager so you can research again on the same setup. Keeps your business context, segments, custom criteria, definitions, corrections, named competitors and your own scores. Asks you to confirm. To start a different client, use Clear & start a new assessment on the Setup page.
DO THIS On this page
  1. Score one segment at a time (the default view keeps that segment's whole story together) — ideally with your co-founders or leadership team in the room
  2. For each criterion, give your own gut score (1–10) based on what you know directly — the AI's score stays hidden until you commit yours
  3. When you commit, the research score reveals and the Final row unlocks — compare the two (the gaps are the useful bit) and set your Final adjusted score
  4. When everything is scored, switch to Score by Criteria at the top to compare segments side-by-side — big you-vs-AI gaps are flagged
  5. Then open Score by Overview to see the whole grid at once and adjust any number in place — it’s the review pass. Click Continue to Analyse → at the bottom when you’re happy
Wipes your scores, FINAL scores and notes across all segments — research data untouched.

Your Assessment

Now it's your turn. Three moves per cell: read the research findings, give your own 1–10 score from your direct knowledge — the AI's score stays hidden until you commit yours — then, with both scores in front of you, set the Final adjusted score. Gaps between the two scores are the useful bit: they show where the public evidence and your inside knowledge diverge.

View:
One segment at a time — all its criteria together. Recommended first pass.
DO THIS On this page
  1. Use the View scores by toggle to switch between Final, Research, Your score, Combined, and Compare views
  2. Read the three charts top-to-bottom: Strategic Quadrant, Heat map, Totals
  3. On the Strategic Quadrant, use its own Plot from switch to see the same segments three ways — what the research found, what you judged, and what was finally decided
  4. Look for which segments land in the GO quadrant — those are your primary sandbox
  5. When you've reviewed the analysis, click Continue to Insights → at the bottom

Add segments and start scoring to see visualisations

Once you've scored at least one criterion across two or more segments, charts will appear here.

Cross-Segment Comparative Analysis

For each criterion, how your segments stack up against each other — generated in the Research step. Click a row to expand, or use Expand all / Collapse all. This is your working view; a locked copy is carried into the Summary for the PDF.

Research Findings

The raw research notes captured for each criterion and segment. Collapsed by default — click any criterion to read the findings behind the scores.

All References & Sources

Every source cited across all segments, consolidated and de-duplicated. Click any link to verify. A copy is carried into the Summary so you can include it in the PDF.

DO THIS On this page
  1. Click Generate strategic insights — Sofos AI reads your scored analysis and surfaces what you may be missing
  2. Spotted something it got wrong? Add a correction and regenerate — it reuses your research, no expensive re-run
  3. Regenerated the insights after already producing a pathway? Regenerate the Expansion pathway too — it rebuilds the one-page summary, which always prints in the client report
  4. When ready, click Generate expansion pathway for the multi-phase plan
  5. Happy with both? Click Continue to Summary → to assemble the report

Strategic Opportunity Insights

Reverse-direction analysis. Once your scoring is complete, Sofos AI reads the heat map + findings and surfaces what you may not see: opportunity gaps, hidden demand signals, differentiation gaps, sequencing logic, and pivot signals. One synthesis call — no web search.

▸ Strategic insights output — click to expand

Correct an assumption

Spotted something the analysis got wrong about your business? State the correction in one or two sentences. Regenerating uses your existing research — it does not re-run the expensive research stage.

~1 AI call. Corrections also flow into the Expansion Pathway — its regenerate button sits under the Generate expansion pathway button once corrections exist.

Ask about this report

Answers come from your completed assessment — no new research is run. ~cents per question.

Expansion Pathway (opt-in — generate when ready)

A separate forward-looking call that uses your Current state + Aspiration anchors (from Setup) plus the Strategic Insights above to produce a multi-phase expansion plan: where you are now, where you're aiming, the 3 phases between, and the trap to watch. Run this only after Strategic Insights is complete and you've filled in the strategic positioning fields. ~20-40 sec, ~$0.50–$2 depending on model.

▸ Expansion pathway output — click to expand
DO THIS On this page
  1. Review your Traction Sequence™ below — the two-page summary that is the shareable version of your assessment
  2. Click Save PDF to download the report for your team, advisors, or investors — or Export report (HTML) for a small, searchable web-page version that opens in any browser
  3. Click Export Assessment (JSON) to save your work — re-open it later, or feed it into the next Sofos tool
  4. Want to include extra sections? Tick them under What to include in the PDF before you save

Your report — save it below

Save your work using the buttons below. The PDF is your shareable report — for your team, advisors, or investors. The JSON lets you re-open the assessment later — or feed it into the next Sofos tool (Whole Product Model Design).

What to include in the PDF — the Traction Sequence™ summary always prints; tick anything extra

Need to come back later? The JSON is your save file — store it somewhere safe. Re-open the tool and use "Resume a saved assessment" on Setup to pick up exactly where you left off.

Strategic Opportunity Insights

Generated in the Insights step. This locked copy is part of your printable / exportable report.

▸ Strategic insights — click to expand

Expansion Pathway

Generated in the Insights step. Locked copy carried into your report.

▸ Expansion pathway — click to expand

Cross-Segment Comparative Analysis

For each criterion, how your segments stack up against each other. Generated in Step 2 (Research & Findings) and surfaced here for the printable report. All rows always print expanded.