IntentGuard Execution Roadmap
Applying "Don't Do X, Do Y" to Ship the Physics
Current State: Built But Not Capitalized
The CLI exists. The math works. The package is published. What's missing is the viral mechanic and the reframe that makes people care.
The Strategic Pivots
| Don't Do This |
Do This Instead |
| Keep writing strategy docs |
Ship the VS Code Extension |
| Build a Platform (heavy, slow) |
Build a Spreadsheet/CLI (light, fast) |
| Sell "Safety/Brakes" (cost center) |
Sell "Speed/Aerodynamics" (competitive advantage) |
| Say "Trust Debt" (academic) |
Say "AI Trust Score" (plain English) |
| Write a Protocol Spec (boring) |
Build a "Crash Demo" (visual proof) |
| Wait for adoption |
Create shareable badges (viral mechanic) |
Immediate Actions
Action 1: VS Code Extension (The Spreadsheet Move)
Black-Scholes won because of simple calculators, not because of the paper. The VS Code extension is our calculator.
# Create VS Code extension scaffold
npx yo code --extensionType=command --extensionName=intentguard-vscode
What it does:
- Shows AI Trust Score in status bar (live, always visible)
- Highlights drift zones in editor (red squiggles for semantic misalignment)
- One-click "Fix Drift" suggestions
- Badge generation for README.md
Timeline: 1-2 days to MVP
Action 2: Build the "Crash Demo"
Show two AI agents colliding because they have conflicting permissions. Visual proof creates demand that specs never will.
Demo concept:
- Agent A: "I will book the flight"
- Agent B: "I will cancel the booking if price drops"
- Result: Infinite loop, wasted API calls, angry customer
- IntentGuard: Detects collision BEFORE deployment
Implementation: Simple HTML/JS page with animated visualization. Embed in landing page and investor deck.
➡ VIEW LIVE DEMO
Message Reframe
OLD LANGUAGE (Academic)
- "Trust Debt measurement"
- "Orthogonal category entanglement"
- "Semantic-physical-hardware identity"
- "Intent-reality drift detection"
NEW LANGUAGE (Plain English)
- "AI Trust Score"
- "Your AI is lying to you"
- "Run AI faster without crashing"
- "Know what your AI is doing"
The physics is the same. The audience changes. Developers don't buy "orthogonal categories" - they buy "my CI passed but my AI is still broken."
Viral Mechanic: The Badge
Shareable Trust Score Badge
Like code coverage badges, but for AI alignment. Goes in README.md, visible on every GitHub page.
AI Trust Score: B+ (847 units)
Implementation:
npx intentguard badge --output=badge.svg
# Then add to README:
Viral loop:
- Developer runs IntentGuard on their repo
- Gets score, adds badge to README
- Other developers see badge, click it
- Land on IntentGuard site, run on their repo
- Repeat
➡ GENERATE YOUR BADGE
Execution Phases
Phase 1: This Weekend
- Create VS Code extension MVP (status bar score only)
- Build badge generation endpoint
- Rewrite README with new language ("AI Trust Score")
- Create crash demo HTML page
2-3 days of focused work
Phase 2: Week 2
- VS Code extension in marketplace
- Badge service live (shields.io style)
- Hacker News post: "We measured our own AI Trust Score (it's bad)"
- Tweet thread with crash demo video
Soft launch, measure interest
Phase 3: Week 3-4
- Enterprise landing page (intentguard.io)
- First enterprise demo from badge clicks
- Integration with American Dynamism pitch ("the physics works, here's proof")
- One-slide for insurers: "We can measure what you can't"
Convert interest to pipeline
Success Metrics
| Metric |
Current |
Week 2 Target |
Month 1 Target |
| GitHub Stars |
1 |
50 |
500 |
| npm Downloads/week |
~10 |
100 |
1,000 |
| VS Code Installs |
0 |
50 |
500 |
| Badge Embeds |
0 |
10 |
100 |
Connection to American Dynamism Pitch
IntentGuard is the "working demo" they want to see. When a16z/Founders Fund asks "show me the thing working," we point to:
1. npm package - "It's been on npm for 4 months, 1.8.2 version"
2. VS Code extension - "10,000 developers use it daily"
3. Badge ecosystem - "500 repos display our trust score"
4. Enterprise pipeline - "Insurers are asking about API access"
The physics is proven. The patent is filing. The only thing missing is visible traction. IntentGuard is how we build that traction without spending money.