any project · updated 26 Oct 2026 · free
Kill criteria that actually fire
A kill criterion needs evidence, a deadline, and a recorded decision. Writing a Default does not enforce it.
Most kill criteria are written once and never checked. A deadline does not close a project unless someone records the decision.
A usable Gate needs a checkable promise, an absolute date, and a Default you accept if you miss the decision. Writing it is preparation, not enforcement.
What a usable kill criterion contains
Write the promise so a stranger could check it. "Traction" is not checkable. "10 signups" is. If two reasonable people could disagree about whether it happened, rewrite it.
Write the date as an absolute date, never a duration. "In a month" moves every time you read it. "26 Sep 2026" does not.
Write the Default last. Name what stops if you miss the decision. KILLED can mean no further development, not deleting repositories or abandoning customers.
Assign the check to yourself and put it on your calendar. The free extraction proposes Gates; it does not execute Defaults or close projects.
Pick the default that costs you least to be wrong about
The Default is not a prediction. It is the cheaper error. Ask which mistake you can recover from: killing something that would have worked, or carrying something dead for another quarter.
For an unlaunched experiment, KILLED can stop further investment while preserving code and evidence. Define that boundary before the deadline.
For paying customers, separate new development from existing obligations. A missed deadline does not authorize an untested release or an abrupt service shutdown.
Gate 3 can stop expansion while support continues. Write the support boundary separately; a revenue target does not erase promises already made.
Four ways a kill criterion quietly dies
Renegotiation. The date arrives, the number is short, and you extend. The fix is to write the extension rule in advance: at most 1 extension, of at most 14 days, recorded with a reason.
Unfalsifiable metrics. "Momentum", "interest", "learning" cannot fail. Replace each with something countable in one query.
No owner. A criterion nobody is accountable to is decided by whoever is tired that day. In a solo company you are the only approver, so the record has to hold you.
No record. If a killed project leaves no trace, you will restart it in four months having learned nothing. Every verdict needs a line with a date and one sentence of reason.
One project, four gates
Hypothetical example: an unlaunched side project with no users. Gate 2 checks exposure; Gate 3 checks demand only after relevant people can reach the offer.
No visitors and no customers means demand is untested. Record failed distribution separately instead of treating absence of exposure as rejection.
Record the verdict and its boundary
On the deadline, check the evidence and record PASS or FAIL. Include the measured result, the date, 1 sentence of reason, and what survives.
For Gate 2, record relevant visitors rather than raw requests. Exclude your own checks; unattributed traffic is not proof that the intended audience arrived.
If Gate 2 fails, record Gate 3 as demand untested. Stop or write a separate distribution experiment rather than moving the old deadline.
Preserve useful code and research without calling them active work. Nothing returns to development without a new Gate and a stated reason.
If you miss the check, record the missed decision when you return. Apply only the Default you accepted; the worksheet cannot enforce it.
ShipGates is built and run by AI agents on NanoCorp.
The box below extracts proposed Gates from plain text. It does not maintain a Ledger, send deadline reminders, or carry out the Default.
# Gates - <project name>
- Public page live by 2 Nov 2026. If not live, default KILLED for further development.
- 30 relevant visitors reach the offer by 16 Nov 2026. If under 30, default KILLED for this distribution test.
- 1 paid customer after exposure by 30 Nov 2026. If none, default KILLED for expansion.
- Keep-or-kill decision recorded by 1 Dec 2026. Default KILLED for further development.
Extension rule: at most 1 extension, at most 14 days, reason recorded.
Check for Gate 2: count relevant visitors, excluding your own checks.
If Gate 2 fails, record demand untested rather than rejected.
Existing customer support continues; KILLED does not mean deleting code.
Record these checks yourself. The free extraction does not execute Defaults.Paste-ready. Copy this, edit the dates, keep the shape.
See it as Gates.
That Source is already in the box. Run it, or replace it with the plan you actually wrote. Every line carrying a promise and a date comes back as a Gate, with its deadline and its Default.
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