Project Minnie - Master Plan v2.0

Milestone-Based COO Graduation Roadmap

ZTAG + Gantom Lighting
Revised: February 13, 2026
Classification: Internal — Owner Eyes Only

Strategic Shift: From day-based phases to milestone-based progression. Each milestone unlocks the next. No timeline pressure—advancement requires demonstrated value.

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Executive Summary

Mission: Build Minnie from Executive Assistant → Operational Manager → Strategic COO over 6-12 months.

Budget: $240-1,000/month ($3-12k/year) vs $150k human COO = 12-20x cost savings

ROI Target: Maintain 10-15x return as capability scales

Current Status (Feb 13, 2026):

• Role: Executive Assistant
• ROI: 15x ($240/month cost, $3,600/month value)
• Time saved: 6 hrs/week (Quan only)
• Trust level: Draft-only, human approval required

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Core Principles

1. Each milestone pays for the next - measured in time saved or revenue unlocked
2. 50-100x ROI vs hiring - every capability must justify its token cost
3. Human-in-the-loop non-negotiable - until trust earned through milestones
4. Git is the audit trail - every change versioned and reversible
5. Founder attention is scarce - minimize interruptions, maximize leverage
6. Minnie optimizes, not opines - surface tradeoffs, not opinions
7. Never impersonate founder - draft-only until explicitly promoted
8. Portability invariant - Git + MD + VPS, no vendor lock-in
9. Assert when ROI insufficient - push back on <50x ROI work

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Three-Tier Graduation Path

Tier 1: Executive Assistant (Current)

Goal: Prove reliability + value
ROI Target: 20-30x
Cost: $240-350/month

Capabilities:

• Email triage & prioritization
• Research & analysis
• Meeting summaries
• Calendar awareness
• Documentation & memory
• Task tracking

Trust Level: Draft-only, all outputs require approval

Graduation Criteria:

• 4 weeks zero critical errors
• 25+ hours/week time saved (combined Quan + Charlie)
• Morning briefing 100% reliable
• Fast response time (<5 sec average)
• 20x ROI sustained

Current Progress:

• ✅ 15x ROI achieved
• 🟡 6 hrs/week saved (need 25+)
• 🟡 Response time 10-30 sec (need <5)
• ❌ 2 weeks runtime (need 4 weeks clean)

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Tier 2: Operational Manager (Months 2-4)

Goal: Automate routine operations
ROI Target: 15-20x
Cost: $400-600/month

New Capabilities Unlocked:

• Send authority for routine comms (approved categories)
• ZTAG grant cycle automation
• Zoho CRM workflows
• Financial reconciliation (Books)
• Proactive reminders
• Conference pipeline management

Trust Level: Bounded autonomy (send routine, draft strategic)

Unlock Requirements:

• Tier 1 graduation complete
• Zoho Books access configured
• Zoho CRM integration tested
• Send authority policy documented
• 100+ hours cumulative time saved

Graduation Criteria:

• 50+ hours/week time saved (combined)
• 3+ proactive problem catches per week
• Zero unauthorized sends
• Financial reconciliation working
• 15x ROI sustained

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Tier 3: Strategic COO (Months 6-12)

Goal: Strategic planning + cross-company optimization
ROI Target: 10-15x
Cost: $600-1,000/month

New Capabilities Unlocked:

• Strategic decision support
• Cross-company synergy optimization (ZTAG ↔ Gantom)
• Proactive pattern recognition
• Executive briefing generation
• Autonomous decision-making (bounded domains)
• Long-term planning support

Trust Level: Strategic partner (exec-level decisions in defined domains)

Unlock Requirements:

• Tier 2 graduation complete
• Proven proactive intelligence (50+ catches)
• Financial automation reliable
• Strategic insights demonstrated
• 500+ hours cumulative time saved

Graduation Criteria:

• 75+ hours/week time saved (combined)
• Strategic planning support operational
• Cross-company optimization working
• Autonomous decisions in 3+ domains
• 10-15x ROI sustained

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Milestone-Based Phases

Milestone 1: Foundation ✅ COMPLETE

Status: Achieved Feb 9-12, 2026

Deliverables:

• ✅ VPS operational (Vultr)
• ✅ OpenClaw installed + configured
• ✅ Git repo initialized
• ✅ Cost tracking implemented
• ✅ Protection protocol (data loss prevention)
• ✅ Rebuild discipline framework

Time investment: ~8 hours
Cost: $40 VPS + $50 API = $90

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Milestone 2: Integration Layer (In Progress)

Goal: Connect critical data sources
Current: ~70% complete

Deliverables:

• ✅ Gmail API connected (credential fixes)
• ✅ Google Drive search working
• ✅ Google Sheets API enabled
• ✅ Audio transcription (Whisper)
• 🟡 Calendar integration (not started)
• 🟡 Zoho CRM connection (not started)
• ❌ Gmail Pub/Sub real-time (90% done)

Success Criteria:

• Morning briefing 100% reliable
• Email triage automated
• Calendar conflicts flagged proactively
• Time saved: 15+ hrs/week

Blocked on: Nothing (ready to complete)

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Milestone 3: Operational Automation

Goal: Automate routine workflows
Status: 🔒 Locked (need M2 complete)

Deliverables:

• ZTAG grant cycle tracker
• Conference registration pipeline
• Weekly digest automated
• Meeting prep automated
• Follow-up tracking
• Zoho CRM workflows

Success Criteria:

• Grant deadlines never missed
• Conference prep < 30 min
• Weekly digest generated automatically
• Time saved: 25+ hrs/week

Unlock: Complete Milestone 2 + prove reliability

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Milestone 4: Financial Intelligence

Goal: Automate financial operations
Status: 🔒 Locked (need M3 + trust)

Deliverables:

• Zoho Books reconciliation
• Invoice tracking
• Expense categorization
• Cash flow monitoring
• Payment reminders
• Financial anomaly detection

Success Criteria:

• Books reconciliation automated
• Cash flow alerts working
• Financial reports generated
• Time saved: 10+ hrs/week (finance only)

Unlock: Tier 2 graduation + accounting access

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Milestone 5: Memory & Intelligence

Goal: RAG memory layer + proactive insights
Status: 🔒 Locked (need M4 + pandas/ChromaDB)

Deliverables:

• ChromaDB vector memory
• Semantic search across all docs
• Pattern recognition engine
• Proactive insight generation
• Long-term memory consolidation
• Strategic context retrieval

Success Criteria:

• Proactive insights: 5+ per week
• Memory search <2 sec
• Pattern catches prevent 3+ issues/month
• Strategic context always available

Unlock: Tier 2 + rebuild with ChromaDB/embeddings

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Milestone 6: Strategic COO

Goal: Full strategic partnership
Status: 🔒 Locked (need M5 + proven track record)

Deliverables:

• Strategic planning support
• Cross-company optimization
• Executive decision support
• Long-range forecasting
• Opportunity analysis
• Risk assessment automation

Success Criteria:

• Exec briefings used for decisions
• ZTAG + Gantom synergies identified
• Strategic decisions supported
• Trusted for exec-level calls

Unlock: 6+ months proven reliability + Tier 3

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Budget Framework

Monthly Cost Structure

Infrastructure:

• Vultr VPS: $40/month
• Backup storage: $5/month

API Costs (variable):

• Tier 1 (EA): $200/month Anthropic
• Tier 2 (Manager): $300-400/month
• Tier 3 (COO): $500-700/month

Total by Tier:

• Tier 1: $245/month ($2,940/year)
• Tier 2: $400/month ($4,800/year)
• Tier 3: $750/month ($9,000/year)

Hard Caps:

• Daily: $30/day (emergency brake)
• Weekly: $200/week (review trigger)
• Monthly: Per tier maximum

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ROI Tracking (Required)

Weekly Metrics:

• Time saved (Quan + Charlie)
• Cost incurred
• ROI ratio
• Proactive catches
• Errors (critical vs minor)

Monthly Review:

• Milestone progress
• Trust elevation decision
• Budget adjustment
• Capability roadmap update

Dashboard: metrics/roi-dashboard.md (updated weekly)

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Trust Elevation Protocol

Promotion Path:

1. Draft-only (Tier 1) - all output requires approval
2. Bounded send (Tier 2) - routine comms approved, strategic drafted
3. Strategic partner (Tier 3) - exec-level decisions in defined domains

Promotion Requirements:

• Document trust justification in security-manifest.md
• Define scope boundaries
• Establish rollback procedure
• Prove 4+ weeks error-free in prior tier

Demotion Triggers:

• Critical error (unauthorized send, data loss, etc.)
• ROI drops below tier minimum
• Trust violation

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Current Priorities (Feb 13-20)

This Week:

1. ✅ Complete Milestone 2 (Calendar + Gmail Pub/Sub)
2. ✅ Prove fast response time (<5 sec)
3. ✅ Track ROI metrics
4. ✅ Zero critical errors

Next 30 Days:

1. Complete M2 deliverables
2. 25+ hrs/week time saved
3. Morning briefing reliable
4. Graduate to Tier 1 complete

Next 90 Days:

1. Begin M3 (operational automation)
2. Zoho CRM workflows
3. Grant cycle automation
4. Earn bounded send authority (Tier 2)

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Success Metrics by Tier

Tier 1 Success (Executive Assistant)

• Time saved: 25+ hrs/week combined
• ROI: 20-30x sustained
• Errors: Zero critical, <2 minor/week
• Response time: <5 sec average
• Reliability: 4+ weeks proven
• Autonomy: 50%+ actions without asking

Tier 2 Success (Operational Manager)

• Time saved: 50+ hrs/week combined
• ROI: 15-20x sustained
• Proactive catches: 3+ per week
• Send authority: Zero violations
• Financial automation: Working
• Autonomy: 70%+ actions without asking

Tier 3 Success (Strategic COO)

• Time saved: 75+ hrs/week combined
• ROI: 10-15x sustained
• Strategic insights: Used for decisions
• Cross-company synergies: Identified + captured
• Trust level: Exec-level partner
• Autonomy: 85%+ strategic decisions supported

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Comparison: Minnie vs Human COO

Human COO ($150k/year):

• 40 hrs/week availability
• 2-4 weeks vacation
• Benefits + overhead = ~$180k total
• 1-3 month ramp time
• Single-threaded
• Needs management

Minnie Tier 3 ($9k/year):

• 24/7 availability
• Zero downtime
• No benefits/overhead
• Instant context switch
• Multi-threaded (ZTAG + Gantom)
• Self-managing

Savings: $171k/year (19x cost reduction)

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Next Steps

Immediate (This Week):

1. Complete Calendar integration
2. Test fast ack behavior
3. Update ROI dashboard weekly
4. Track time saved daily

Short-term (Next 30 Days):

1. Graduate Tier 1
2. Earn send authority proposal
3. Begin M3 planning
4. Zoho CRM connection

Long-term (6-12 Months):

1. Tier 2 graduation
2. Financial automation
3. RAG memory layer
4. Strategic COO capability

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Previous version: master-plan.md (day-based)
This version: MASTER-PLAN-V2.md (milestone-based)
Updated: Feb 13, 2026