ZTAG Reference Library
Purpose: Comprehensive knowledge base for Phase 4 ZTAG automation. These files contain extracted intelligence from meeting transcripts, memory files, and available documentation to enable Minnie agents to understand ZTAG's business context, target markets, products, and strategic positioning.
Created: 2026-02-10
Research Time: ~90 minutes
Sources: 39 Google Drive meeting transcripts (90 days), MEMORY.md, master-plan.md, user-timeline.md, daily notes, 531-district CSV data
File Overview
What: Company mission, vision, history, team structure, revenue model, founder philosophy
Key Sections:
- Origin story (Logan at Comic Con, 2018)
- Products (ZTAGGER, ZEUS, Celebrity line)
- Team structure (Kris, Carmee, Steve, Malachi, Ryan)
- Revenue model ($2.3M → $100M target)
- Strategic partnerships (Playmakers, M5Stack)
- Challenges & open questions
Use Cases:
- Onboarding new team members
- Investor/partner briefings
- Strategic planning context
What: Target market geography, district segmentation, FRPM thresholds, County Office of Education strategy
Key Sections:
- California focus ($4B ELOP funding)
- 531 pre-scored districts (P1-P5 priority tiers)
- FRPM% as Title I proxy
- County breakdown (LA, Orange, San Diego, Alameda, etc.)
- District size segmentation (small/medium/large)
- Trade show → pilot → district rollout pipeline
Use Cases:
- Territory planning (which counties to target)
- Lead prioritization (P1 hot lookalikes first)
- Grant eligibility filtering (FRPM% thresholds)
What: Technical specifications, SKUs, pricing, software cartridges, development roadmap
Key Sections:
- ZTAGGER specs (ESP32, IR sensors, MicroPython firmware)
- ZEUS architecture (Raspberry Pi, LVGL GUI, Code5 platform)
- Game library (Zombie Tag, ZTAG League, Freeze Tag, Red Light Green Light)
- Pricing ($10k+ standard, non-profit discounts)
- Celebrity product line (separate SKU)
- Future: ESP Now mesh network, cartridge monetization
Use Cases:
- Quote generation (Carmee)
- Technical support (Steve troubleshooting)
- Product roadmap planning (Malachi dev priorities)
What: 2026 conference calendar, booth strategy, ROI tracking, Playmaker network expansion
Key Sections:
- CA Site Coordinator Symposium (Feb 24-28, Long Beach) — front-page sponsor
- SHAPE America (Mar 17-21, Kansas City) — Eric presenting
- NAA (Mar 11-14, Maryland) — Steve solo
- Trade show conversion psychology (embodied vs. online leads)
- 3-month follow-up workflow (Paula + Kris)
- Conference ROI gaps (need CRM data)
Use Cases:
- Event planning (who attends which conferences)
- Lead follow-up automation (post-conference nurture sequences)
- Budget prioritization (which events have highest ROI)
What: ELOP, CCLC, Title I funding programs, application timelines, grant support strategy
Key Sections:
- ELOP (CA $4B annually) — primary funding source
- 21st Century CCLC (federal) — nationwide after-school grants
- Title I (federal $17B+) — schoolwide vs. targeted assistance
- Budget authority hierarchy (school $0-3k, district $3k-50k, COE $50k+)
- Grant-ready language library (modular templates)
- Ed100.org certification requirement (team training)
Use Cases:
- Grant deadline reminders (automation opportunity)
- Partnership letter generation (Carmee workflow)
- ROI calculators for districts ($10/student/year over 5 years)
CRITICAL GAPS: Specific ELOP/CCLC deadlines, California application windows (needs research)
What: Competitive landscape across 6 categories, positioning, messaging, win/loss analysis
Key Sections:
- Category 1: Traditional PE equipment (Gopher Sport, US Games)
- Category 2: Entertainment rentals (Game Truck, laser tag)
- Category 3: Fitness trackers (Fitbit, Apple Watch, GoNoodle)
- Category 4: Gamified learning (Kahoot, Classcraft, Breakout EDU)
- Category 5: AR/VR fitness (Beat Saber, Pokémon GO)
- Category 6: After-school curricula (sports leagues, martial arts, STEM)
- Competitive positioning matrix (price vs. engagement vs. scalability)
Use Cases:
- Objection handling (Carmee battlecard)
- Messaging by competitor (positioning statements)
- Strategic monitoring (who else is winning ELOP grants?)
CRITICAL GAPS: Specific competitor names at SHAPE America/NAA, win/loss interview data
Data Quality & Gaps
High-Confidence Data (Verified from Multiple Sources)
- ✅ Team structure (Kris, Carmee, Steve roles as of Feb 2026)
- ✅ Revenue ($2.3M 2024, $100M 3-year target)
- ✅ Product architecture (ZTAGGER, ZEUS, firmware stack)
- ✅ Conference calendar (Feb-Mar 2026 events confirmed)
- ✅ 531 California district database (priority tiers, FRPM%, enrollment)
- ✅ Playmaker network (Eric, Jae case studies)
Medium-Confidence Data (Single-Source or Inferred)
- ⚠️ Pricing ($10k+ mentioned but not official price sheet)
- ⚠️ Grant program details (ELOP $4B confirmed, but application windows TBD)
- ⚠️ Competitor specifics (categories accurate, but individual competitor names sparse)
- ⚠️ Conference ROI (anecdotal conversion observations, no hard CRM data)
Critical Gaps (Research Needed for Phase 4)
- ❌ Grant application deadlines (ELOP, CCLC California-specific windows)
- ❌ Conference ROI data (Zoho CRM analysis: leads → deals by event)
- ❌ Win/loss interview transcripts (why did specific deals close or fail?)
- ❌ Competitor intelligence (who else exhibited at SHAPE America 2025?)
- ❌ Grant-winning customer case studies (which districts used ELOP to buy ZTAG?)
Source Attribution
Meeting Transcripts (Primary Intelligence)
High-Value Meetings Analyzed:
- 2026 Feb 06 1700 PST Meeting with Ryan Summers — Developer progress, product roadmap, Q2 benefits rollout
- 2026 Jan 27 1925 PST Meeting with Jae on ZTAG expansion — Oregon partnership, tournaments, permanent installations, ZTAG philosophy
- 2026 Feb 04 1115 PST Meeting with Kris Neal — Compensation discussion, bonus structure, role transition
- 2026 Feb 06 1215 PST Charlie Kris Carmee role realignment discussion — Sales → community building shift, PD monetization debate
- 2026 Feb 05 0900 PST Carmee sales strategy and role clarification — Pilot program strategy, social media vs. trade show leads, grant education
Additional Context (Not Fully Analyzed):
- 34 other meeting transcripts from Nov 2025 - Feb 2026 (firmware, engineering, ops)
- VTO documents identified (not yet extracted): ZTAG Vision/Traction Organizer, parent-friendly VTO, VTO strategy meetings
Memory Files (Continuous Intelligence)
- MEMORY.md — Core business metrics, infrastructure, name disambiguation (Kris vs. Chris), tariff research, integrations
- user-timeline.md — Founder background, decision-making philosophy, skiing principle ("lean into the steep"), loss function optimization
- memory/2026-02-09.md — Recent decisions (Apollo.io rejected, Zoho Campaigns chosen, meeting automation live, tariff data downloaded)
- master-plan.md — Project Minnie architecture, loss function (vitality > relational > sovereignty > momentum), agent roles, budget ($1,200-2,400/12mo)
Structured Data
- 531-district CSV (Feb 9, 2026) — Pre-scored California contacts with FRPM%, enrollment, lookalike scores, priority tiers
- Zoho CRM deals (386 total, $6.64M pipeline, 216 closed won $4.2M) — Demonstrates sales track record but not yet analyzed by county/segment
Usage Guidelines
For Minnie-Research (Grant & Conference Automation)
- Use grant-cycles.md to build deadline tracker
- Use conferences.md to automate post-event follow-up sequences
- Use districts.md to segment leads by FRPM%, county, priority tier
For Minnie-Comms (Draft Email/Messaging)
- Use overview.md for company background, founder voice
- Use products.md for technical specs, feature descriptions
- Use competitors.md for positioning statements, objection handling
For Carmee (Sales Operations)
- Use districts.md for lead prioritization (P1 first)
- Use products.md for quote generation, SKU selection
- Use grant-cycles.md for partnership letters, ROI calculators
For Kris (Community Relations)
- Use conferences.md for event coordination, Playmaker cultivation
- Use districts.md for COE relationship mapping, regional clustering
- Use overview.md for strategic partner conversations
For Steve (Training & Demos)
- Use products.md for technical troubleshooting, firmware updates
- Use conferences.md for booth demo scripts, attendee routing
- Use overview.md for Playmaker certification content
Maintenance & Updates
Update Triggers
- Quarterly: After major conferences (debrief, ROI data, competitor intel)
- When: New products launch (cartridge releases, Celebrity V3 relaunch)
- When: Team changes (new hires, role shifts, departures)
- When: Grant research complete (ELOP/CCLC deadlines confirmed)
- When: Win/loss interviews conducted (update competitors.md)
Version Control
- All files are in Git (
reference/ztag/ directory)
- Each file has version number + last updated date in footer
- Major updates = version bump (e.g., 1.0 → 1.1)
- Minor corrections = same version, updated date
Quality Assurance
- Cross-reference new information against existing files (prevent contradictions)
- Flag low-confidence data with ⚠️ or "TBD — needs verification"
- Cite sources in file footers (meeting ID, date, document name)
- Quarterly review by Quan (accuracy check, strategic alignment)
Next Steps (Phase 4 Readiness)
Immediate (This Week)
- ✅ Reference library created (this deliverable)
- 🔲 Minnie-Research: Pull grant deadline calendar (ELOP, CCLC, Title I California)
- 🔲 Minnie-Research: Analyze Zoho CRM by conference source (ROI calculation)
- 🔲 Carmee: Review grant-cycles.md, identify missing templates
Short-Term (Next 2 Weeks)
- 🔲 Extract VTO document data (Vision/Traction Organizer Google Docs)
- 🔲 Interview Carmee/Kris: Recent win/loss case studies
- 🔲 Build grant language library (modular boilerplate for ELOP/CCLC/Title I)
- 🔲 Ed100.org certification for team (Carmee, Kris, Steve)
Medium-Term (Next Month)
- 🔲 Automate grant deadline reminders (Zoho CRM + calendar integration)
- 🔲 Build conference follow-up sequences (3-month nurture emails)
- 🔲 Create ROI calculator (public tool for district budget justification)
- 🔲 Monitor SHAPE America competitors (post-conference debrief Mar 21)
Document Prepared By: Minnie (subagent: ztag-reference-research)
Commissioned By: Quan Gan (via main agent session)
Delivery Date: 2026-02-10 00:40 UTC
Total Research Time: ~90 minutes
Total Word Count: ~50,000 words across 6 files
Quality Assessment: High-confidence foundation for Phase 4 automation, with clearly flagged research gaps
Status: ✅ DELIVERABLE COMPLETE — Ready for Phase 4 ZTAG-specific automation buildout