The Nine-Layer Founder Design Stack: A Unified China-US Venture Vocabulary
Mission, vision, values, positioning, narratives, user stories, OKRs, and brand identity are often mixed together. This essay organizes the shared founder vocabulary across Chinese and Silicon Valley venture practice into one nine-layer operating model.
Tseka Luk17 min read
Mission, vision, values, positioning, manifesto, user stories. Every investor and operator uses these words. Almost nobody puts them into the same system.
The Terminology Whirlpool
Almost every founder who has ever written a pitch deck has been blocked, late at night, by the same cluster of words.
Mission, vision, values, purpose, mission statement, brand positioning, value proposition, brand story, company manifesto, north star, moat, category, wedge, persona, ICP, JTBD, user story, OKR, KPI, NSM, roadmap.
Read YC and you get one vocabulary. Watch Lu Qi's MiraclePlus lectures and you get another. Read a16z essays and you get a third. Alibaba talks about mission, vision, and values. Huawei talks about customer-centric principles. Amazon has Leadership Principles. Stripe has Operating Principles. Linear has The Linear Method.
So are these terms actually standardized, or is everyone in venture just inventing their own language?
Each master covers the part they know best. What is missing is one framework that connects “why we exist” to “what we do next week.”
This essay organizes those shared ideas into a nine-layer structure: essence, future, principles, strategy, product, user, expression, identity, and execution.
It is not another invented framework. It is a normalization layer. Each layer maps to one or more established sources, includes a fill-in template, clarifies when it matters by financing stage, and adapts the model for AI-native and category-creation companies.
Why Nine Layers
Put the major frameworks next to each other and their coverage gaps become obvious.
Golden Circle covers Why, How, and What, but not strategy, execution, user segmentation, or brand identity. Collins and Porras' Vision Framework covers mission, values, and BHAG, but not product, user, or execution. Lenny Rachitsky's MVSO covers Mission, Vision, Strategy, and Objectives, but not brand identity or external narrative. Amazon Working Backwards covers product and customer thinking, but not top-level mission or brand. Geoffrey Moore covers positioning and customer adoption, but not mission, principles, or execution. Play Bigger covers category and POV, but not product details or operating cadence. Raskin's Strategic Narrative is one layer. OKR is one layer.
No single framework covers the whole founder design surface. But stacked together, they form a complete map. The nine layers are the naming convention for that map.
L1 Essence: Purpose / Mission / Why. Why do we exist? This should be stable for decades.
L2 Future: Vision / BHAG. What does the world look like in 10 to 30 years? This changes only at long intervals.
L3 Principles: Values / Principles / Tenets. How do we operate? This evolves over years.
L4 Strategy: Strategy / Positioning / Category / Moat. How do we win? This changes over 1 to 3 years.
L5 Product: Product Vision / JTBD / Value Proposition. What do we build? This iterates quarterly.
L6 User: Target / ICP / Persona. Who do we serve? This should be reviewed at least every six months.
L7 Expression: Narrative / Manifesto / Messaging. How do we say it? This changes every 1 to 2 years.
L8 Identity: Brand / Identity / Archetype. Who are we the embodiment of? This is a 5-year-plus layer.
L9 Execution: OKR / Roadmap / NSM / Bets. What do we do next? This runs quarterly or weekly.
The stability column matters. If a company rewrites its mission every quarter, it is confusing mission with strategy. If a company has not touched its brand for five years while the product has gone through three generations, the brand has fallen behind reality.
L1 Essence: Why We Exist
This is the layer founders most often get wrong, copy from others, or turn into self-congratulation.
There are two useful definitions. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras define core purpose as the organization's fundamental reason for existence beyond making money. Simon Sinek defines Why as the purpose, cause, or belief behind the organization. Both stress the same counterintuitive point: profit is not the why. Profit is the result of fulfilling the why.
Collins is even sharper: core ideology is not created; it is discovered. Mission is not written into existence. It is found by asking why, again and again. Why this problem? Why this team? Why now?
The canonical examples are familiar. Alibaba: make it easy to do business anywhere. Tesla: accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy. Anthropic: responsibly develop and maintain advanced AI for the long-term benefit of humanity. OpenAI: ensure that artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity. Xiaomi: make moving, honest-priced products so everyone can enjoy the benefits of technology.
Template:
We exist to [verb + change], because we believe [core belief / insight].
The two common mistakes are simple. First, writing Mission as What. “Build the best AI assistant” is not a why. “Give every person an AI collaborator” is closer. Second, confusing Mission and Vision. Mission has no finish line. Vision describes a future state.
L2 Future: Where We Are Going
Collins and Porras' Vision Framework gives the cleanest version of this layer: envisioned future equals BHAG plus vivid description.
BHAG stands for Big Hairy Audacious Goal. It should pass four tests. Is it clear and exciting? Does it span 10 to 30 years? Is the probability of success roughly 50 to 70 percent, neither easy nor impossible? Would most of the team say, “Yes, this is where we are going”?
The vivid description is a fake future article. Imagine a respected publication writing about the company 15 years from now. What does the team look like? What does the product do? What is the market position? What changed in the world?
Collins also describes four BHAG archetypes: target, common enemy, role model, and internal transformation. Alibaba's “live 102 years” and serve 2 billion consumers by 2036 is a target BHAG. Huawei's “bring the digital world to every person, home, and organization” is closer to a future-state vision.
Template:
BHAG: By [year, 10 to 30 years out], we will [specific, verifiable, 50 to 70 percent probable state].
Vivid Description: [a future media report from 15 years later].
Mission is the star. BHAG is the navigation mark. Once a navigation mark is reached, the company needs the next one, or it risks “we have arrived” stagnation.
L3 Principles: How We Work
This is where Chinese and Silicon Valley operators often talk past one another, because there are two schools.
The first is the Values school. Values answer “who are we” and “what will not change.” Collins recommends choosing three to five, no more, and testing them with the Mars Group thought experiment: would we still hold these values even if they became a competitive disadvantage? Chinese platform companies often use this model.
Alibaba's updated values, Huawei's customer-centric four statements, and Xiaomi's “sincerity and passion” all belong here. They are not decoration. In the strongest companies, values are embedded into hiring, promotion, performance, and leadership language.
The second is the Principles school. Principles, tenets, and operating principles answer “how do we make concrete decisions.” Silicon Valley companies lean more heavily in this direction. The difference is important: values are identity nouns or adjectives; principles are action statements.
Amazon Leadership Principles, Stripe Operating Principles, Linear Method, and ByteDance's “Context, Not Control” are examples. They work because they are embedded into interviewing, onboarding, performance review, operating cadence, and postmortems.
The best recommendation is to have both: three to five Values for identity, and five to ten Principles for operating decisions. The first explains who you are. The second tells people what to do when tradeoffs appear.
L4 Strategy: How We Win
This is the densest layer. It must answer four questions: what is the strategy, what position do we own in the customer's mind, what category are we in or creating, and what moat compounds over time?
For overall strategy, Lenny Rachitsky's situation, complication, resolution structure is useful. Lu Qi frames strategy as three moves: judge the future, make in/out decisions, and occupy a valuable position in the market.
For positioning, Geoffrey Moore's template remains the default operating language:
For [target customer] who [need/opportunity], the [product name] is a [product category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [primary competitive alternative], our product [primary differentiation].
Every blank matters. If the “Unlike” clause is weak, the competitive analysis is probably weak, or the differentiation is not real.
For category design, Play Bigger contributes the sharper claim: the category king captures most of the value in a category. The key deliverable is a POV, usually under 800 words, covering problem, cost, vision, solution, proof points, and persona elevator pitch. The company that designs the category gets to set the rules.
For moat and wedge, Sequoia's business plan slots are a practical checklist: purpose, problem, solution, why now, market size, competition, product, business model, team, and financials.
Strategy template:
In the [category] category, we start with [wedge], use [why-now change], and build a moat through [network effects / data flywheel / scale / brand / switching cost]. Over the next three years we will [strategic moves 1, 2, 3].
The biggest China-US difference here is sequencing. Silicon Valley narrative practice often starts with category and narrative. Chinese early-stage practice is more PMF-first. The blended answer: at seed, prioritize PMF. Before Series A, write the category POV, or you will be trapped in “better” comparisons inside someone else's frame.
L5 Product: What We Build
The base framework is Christensen's Jobs To Be Done. When people need to get a job done, they hire a product to do that job.
JTBD template:
When [situation], I want to [motivation], so that [expected outcome].
The core insight is: jobs are stable; products are not. Technologies, products, and competitors change, but the underlying job changes slowly. That is why JTBD is deeper than user stories. A user story is an implementation artifact. JTBD is the underlying motivation.
The companion tool is Amazon Working Backwards / PR-FAQ. Before building, write the future press release. Include heading, subheading, summary, problem, solution, CEO quote, customer quote, how to get started, and FAQ. The point is not writing polish. It is a forcing function that keeps product thinking customer-centered.
Product template:
On [future date], we launch [product]. It helps [ICP] complete [JTBD] in the [category]. Unlike [primary alternative], it does [three core differences]. An early customer says: “[real quote].”
If it does not sound exciting, rewrite it.
L6 User: Who We Serve
B2B SaaS has the clearest vocabulary here. TAM, SAM, and SOM describe the market. Target audience is the broad population. Segment is a cut of that population. ICP is the ideal company profile: industry, scale, stack, pain intensity, buying urgency, retention potential. Persona is the person: buyer, user, champion, or blocker.
One ICP usually contains two to four personas.
Moore's Crossing the Chasm gives the adoption psychology: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, laggards. The chasm sits between early adopters and early majority. Each group needs a different story. Innovators need the thing named and framed. Early adopters need the promised impact. Early majority wants comparison, references, and proof. Late majority wants stability and financial safety.
User template:
Our ICP is a [industry] company with [employee / revenue range], experiencing [trigger event]. Its [decision-maker] has tried [alternative] but failed because of [pain].
The trigger event is the most overlooked field. In B2B, orders rarely happen because a customer suddenly “wants” something. They happen when an internal event turns a nice-to-have into a must-solve-now.
L7 Expression: How We Tell the Story
Chinese founder circles often underinvest in this layer. In Silicon Valley, it is increasingly treated as CEO work.
Andy Raskin's Strategic Narrative has five elements: undeniable change, stakes or enemy, promised land, magic gifts or capabilities, and evidence. The enemy is not a competitor. It is the status quo, the old rule of the world.
This layer also includes manifesto, brand story, tagline, elevator pitch, messaging framework, and tone of voice. The most important idea is that story is not a decoration on top of strategy. A company without a coherent story usually lacks a coherent strategy.
Narrative template:
The world is moving from [old game] to [new game]. In this shift, [who] will win and [who] will lose. We exist to help [ICP] reach [promised land]. Our weapons are [three capabilities]. The proof is [one or two customer signals].
L8 Identity: Whose Embodiment We Are
This is the brand identity layer. It can wait during pre-seed and seed, but by Series B it must become explicit. Otherwise the brand becomes a shell.
The practical tool is the 12 Jungian brand archetypes as applied by Margaret Mark and Carol Pearson: Innocent, Sage, Explorer, Ruler, Caregiver, Creator, Jester, Everyman, Lover, Hero, Outlaw, and Magician.
Apple is often read as Creator plus Rebel. Nike is Hero. Disney is Magician. Google is Sage. The archetype sits upstream of tone, color, layout, photography, motion, and microcopy. Pick the wrong archetype and every downstream asset will feel misaligned.
Identity template:
Our dominant archetype is [archetype], and our secondary archetype is [archetype]. Our voice is [three adjectives]. We will never [counterexamples]. We will always [positive examples].
L9 Execution: What We Do Next
Finally, we return to the ground. The operating tool here is OKR.
The standard formula:
I will [qualitative, inspirational, time-bound Objective] as measured by [three to five quantitative, time-bound Key Results].
Doerr's FACTS principles are Focus, Alignment, Commitment, Tracking, and Stretch. Committed OKRs should be completed. Aspirational OKRs are expected to land around 70 percent. OKRs should be transparent, but should not be mechanically tied to compensation.
The companion artifacts are roadmap, North Star Metric, and bets. Roadmap can use Now / Next / Later. NSM should be one level above directly controllable metrics. Bets capture the few larger moves that sit beyond this quarter's OKRs.
Execution template:
Objective: [an inspiring, quarterly goal]
KR1: [Metric] from [baseline] to [target] by [date]
KR2: [Metric] from [baseline] to [target] by [date]
KR3: [Metric] from [baseline] to [target] by [date]
China-US Consensus and Three Disagreements
Across Chinese and Silicon Valley venture practice, roughly 70 percent is shared vocabulary and 30 percent is disagreement.
The consensus: Why matters more than What. Vision should point more than 10 years out. Culture must be explicit. Moore's positioning template is widely understood. JTBD is the base layer for product and customer thinking. ICP and Persona must be separated. OKR is the standard execution language.
The three disagreements are more interesting.
First: Values or Principles? Chinese companies tend to make values into assessable rules of the game. Silicon Valley companies tend to make operating principles the behavioral layer. Both are correct. Values lock identity. Principles lock behavior.
Second: PMF first or category first? Lu Qi's practical view is that early-stage uncertainty is too high, so speed of PMF iteration matters most. Play Bigger argues that if you do not define the category, someone else will frame the game. The blended answer: seed-stage PMF first; Series A category POV required.
Third: Vision or BHAG? Many companies collapse BHAG into a vague vision statement. Collins insists that BHAG must be measurable, time-bound, and verifiable. Keep BHAG as its own component. Vision without BHAG becomes empty. BHAG without vivid description becomes a KPI.
What Each Stage Must Have
The nine layers are not nine sequential steps. They are nine views of the company. But each financing stage has different required weight.
Pre-seed should prioritize L1, L5, L6, and L9: why we exist, what we build, who we serve, and what we do next. The goal is survival.
Seed should add one-sentence versions of L2, L4, and L7: vision, positioning, and story. The goal is PMF plus a sentence others can repeat.
Series A should complete L3, the full L4, and the full L7: principles, category POV, and strategic narrative. The goal is to become fundable and recruitable.
Series B and beyond should systematize L8, refresh narrative, and make L9 tighter from quarter to week. The goal is scalable alignment.
The thresholds that force a rewrite are concrete: ARR grows 10x, the team grows from 30 to 150, a second product line appears, a new geography or customer type opens, or a strong category competitor emerges.
Special Handling for AI-Native Companies
For new-species companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Stripe-like infrastructure, generative companies, AI-native products, and category-creation startups, the weights shift.
L4 Category moves earlier into seed, because no one has a ready-made label for the new thing. If you do not write the category, the market will place you inside someone else's.
L7 Narrative moves earlier into pre-seed, because customer education is market creation. The narrative is not packaging; it is part of demand generation.
L1 Core Belief must include a technical belief. Anthropic's interpretable, steerable AI and OpenAI's “AGI benefits all humanity” are not just commercial missions. They are technical worldviews.
L3 must include AI safety or operating boundary tenets. This is not decorative. It affects fundraising, hiring, trust, and ecosystem partnerships.
L5 PR-FAQ should be written for two horizons: the product six months from now and the product three years from now. Generative product roadmaps are discontinuous. Six months alone underestimates capability. Three years alone loses PMF focus.
L6 ICP should emphasize trigger events more than industry or company size. In new categories, the first customers are those already feeling the pain of the status quo.
L9 NSM should measure real AI value delivered to the customer. DAU and retention can lag the truth. The metric should sit closer to useful output.
Seven Common Confusions
Mission vs Vision: Mission is why, with no endpoint. Vision is what the future looks like, with an endpoint.
Vision vs BHAG: Vision is a qualitative picture. BHAG is quantitative, time-bound, and verifiable.
Values vs Principles: Values say who we are. Principles say how we act.
Positioning vs Category: Positioning competes for a place in an existing category. Category design creates the category and attempts to become its king.
Persona vs ICP: ICP is the company-level profile. Persona is the person-level profile.
JTBD vs Use Case vs User Story: JTBD is the underlying motivation. Use case is the scenario. User story is the engineering expression.
OKR vs KPI: OKR drives change within a quarter. KPI monitors ongoing health. They are adjacent, not substitutes.
Action Checklist and Boundary Notes
Stage 1 can be done within 24 hours. Write a 50-word Why using the Golden Circle. Write one Moore positioning sentence. Draft a 1.5-page Working Backwards press release. Define one ICP and two personas. Set one NSM and three KRs.
Stage 2 should be done within four weeks before a seed fundraise. Add Vision and BHAG. Write three to five Values. Use Raskin's five elements to sharpen a 12-page pitch deck. Run five to ten customer interviews to test JTBD. Review the deck against Sequoia's business plan slots.
Stage 3 belongs to the six months before Series A. Upgrade Values into Values plus Operating Principles. Write the POV and Manifesto. Start Brand v1 by choosing archetype and tone. Start a transparent quarterly OKR cycle.
Stage 4 is for after Series A. Review L1 to L3 quarterly, L4 to L7 every six months, and L9 weekly. Turn the nine layers into a Company Handbook. Assign a Chief of Staff or VP Strategy to guard alignment.
This is a synthesis, not a universal law. The Golden Circle is useful as founder language, not as a scientific proof. Collins' 50 to 70 percent BHAG probability is a practitioner heuristic. Amazon's 16 Leadership Principles depend on Amazon's operating system and should not be copied blindly by a small team. Play Bigger's category data should be treated as magnitude, not precision. ByteDance's Context-not-Control requires unusually strong talent density and transparent tools. YC and MiraclePlus advice is strongest for early technical startups and less complete for later-stage scaling.
The real point is not to craft the perfect statement. It is to align the layers.
If the nine layers are disconnected, no framework can save the company. If they line up, one mission can drive one OKR.
