The Discovery Research Sprint

The dark asset discovery sprint is a structured 90-minute research process that systematically screens a customer across all five dark asset categories. It combines public data collection (financial filings, website analysis, press coverage, job postings) with AI-assisted benchmarking (peer group comparison on available metrics) to produce a preliminary dark asset inventory. The sprint is designed to be completed before the first customer meeting — so the customer's initial experience is "you already understand our business better than most of our own executives."

## Dark Asset Discovery Sprint (90 minutes)

PHASE 1: Data Collection (30 min)
□ Website copy analysis (messaging, claims, specificity)
□ Financial data (public filings or estimated)
□ Glassdoor/LinkedIn (culture signals, retention)
□ Job postings (technology stack, growth areas)
□ Press/analyst coverage (external perception)

PHASE 2: Peer Benchmarking (30 min)
□ Define peer group (size, vertical, geography)
□ Compare available metrics against peer medians
□ Flag any metric at 75th percentile or above
□ Note any metric significantly below peer median

PHASE 3: Dark Asset Inventory (30 min)
□ Operational: [Metrics exceeding peers]
□ Data: [Unique data/analytical capabilities]
□ Relationship: [Retention, NPS, partner metrics]
□ Innovation: [Patents, R&D, tech capabilities]
□ Cultural: [Outcomes suggesting cultural strength]

OUTPUT: 5-7 candidate dark assets with preliminary
evidence and suggested quantification approach