# Kill Criteria & Exit Ramps Templates

Quick-start templates for defining kill criteria, go/no-go gates, pivot/kill decisions, and wind-down plans.

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## Template 1: Kill Criteria Document (Pre-Launch)

**When to use**: Before starting new project, feature, or product

### Kill Criteria Document Template

**Project Name**: [Project name]

**Project Owner**: [Name, role]

**Start Date**: [Date]

**Kill Decision Authority**: [Specific person who makes kill decision, e.g., "Product VP"]

**Escalation Path**: [Who can override, e.g., "CEO can override with written justification"]

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### Success Metrics

**Primary Success Metric**: [Quantifiable metric, e.g., "20% conversion rate"]

**Secondary Success Metrics** (if applicable):
- [Metric 2, e.g., "NPS >40"]
- [Metric 3, e.g., "CAC <$100"]

**Time Horizon**: [Evaluation period, e.g., "6 months post-launch"]

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### Kill Criteria

**Kill Criterion 1** (Primary):
- **Metric**: [What to measure, e.g., "Conversion rate"]
- **Threshold**: [Trigger value, e.g., "<10%"]
- **Time**: [When to evaluate, e.g., "6 months post-launch"]
- **Action**: If threshold met → Kill project

**Kill Criterion 2** (Secondary, if applicable):
- **Metric**: [e.g., "CAC"]
- **Threshold**: [e.g., ">$200"]
- **Time**: [e.g., "3 months post-launch"]
- **Action**: If threshold met → Evaluate pivot or kill

**Kill Criterion 3** (Time-based):
- **Metric**: [e.g., "Profitability"]
- **Threshold**: [e.g., "Not profitable"]
- **Time**: [e.g., "By Month 18"]
- **Action**: If threshold met → Kill project

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### Pivot Criteria (Optional)

**Pivot Criterion 1**:
- **Metric**: [e.g., "Conversion rate"]
- **Threshold**: [e.g., "10-15% (between kill and success)"]
- **Time**: [e.g., "6 months post-launch"]
- **Action**: If threshold met → Evaluate pivot options

**Pivot Options to Consider** (if pivot triggered):
- [ ] Option 1: [e.g., "Target different customer segment"]
- [ ] Option 2: [e.g., "Change pricing model"]
- [ ] Option 3: [e.g., "Shift go-to-market strategy"]

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### Monitoring Plan

**Tracking Frequency**: [How often to review metrics, e.g., "Weekly dashboard, monthly review"]

**Dashboard Owner**: [Who maintains dashboard, e.g., "Product Analyst"]

**Review Meetings**: [When to formally review, e.g., "Monthly project review"]

**Alert Thresholds**: [When to notify decision-maker, e.g., "Alert if conversion <12% (approaching kill threshold)"]

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### Wind-Down Plan (If Kill Triggered)

See **Template 5: Wind-Down Plan** for detailed execution checklist.

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### Signatures (Pre-Launch Approval)

- **Project Owner**: ________________ Date: ______
- **Decision Authority**: ________________ Date: ______

**Note**: Changes to kill criteria after launch require re-approval.

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## Template 2: Go/No-Go Gate Assessment

**When to use**: At milestone gates during multi-stage project

### Go/No-Go Gate Template

**Project Name**: [Project name]

**Gate Number**: [e.g., "Gate 2: MVP"]

**Gate Date**: [Date]

**Decision Authority**: [Who makes go/no-go decision]

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### Gate Success Criteria (Defined at Previous Gate)

1. **Criterion 1**: [e.g., "40% weekly active users among 50 beta users"]
   - **Target**: 40%
   - **Actual Result**: [X]%
   - **Met?**: ☐ Yes ☐ No

2. **Criterion 2**: [e.g., "NPS >30"]
   - **Target**: >30
   - **Actual Result**: [X]
   - **Met?**: ☐ Yes ☐ No

3. **Criterion 3**: [e.g., "CAC <$150"]
   - **Target**: <$150
   - **Actual Result**: $[X]
   - **Met?**: ☐ Yes ☐ No

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### Overall Gate Assessment

**Criteria Met**: [X] out of [Y] criteria met

**Business Case Review**:
- **Original Business Case**: [Revenue projection, strategic rationale]
- **Current Business Case**: [Has it changed? Still valid?]
- **Changes**: [Any significant changes in market, competition, resources?]

**Alternative Opportunities**:
- **Alternative 1**: [Other project/opportunity] — Expected value: [X]
- **Alternative 2**: [Other project/opportunity] — Expected value: [X]
- **This Project**: Expected value: [X]
- **Ranking**: [Is this project still best use of resources?]

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### Gate Decision

**Decision**: ☐ **GO** (Continue to next stage) ☐ **NO-GO** (Kill project) ☐ **PIVOT** (Change approach)

**Rationale**: [1-2 paragraph explanation of decision]

**Next Stage Investment** (if GO):
- **Budget**: $[X]
- **Timeline**: [X months]
- **Team Size**: [X people]
- **Next Gate**: [Date and success criteria for next gate]

**Kill Actions** (if NO-GO):
- [ ] Wind down within [timeframe]
- [ ] Reallocate team to [project]
- [ ] Postmortem scheduled for [date]

**Pivot Plan** (if PIVOT):
- **Pivot Direction**: [What changes?]
- **Hypothesis**: [What are we testing?]
- **Timeline**: [How long to test pivot?]
- **Success Criteria**: [What success looks like for pivot]

**Decision Authority**: ________________ Date: ______

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## Template 3: Pivot vs. Kill Decision Framework

**When to use**: Project not meeting targets, deciding whether to pivot or kill

### Pivot vs. Kill Assessment

**Project Name**: [Project name]

**Assessment Date**: [Date]

**Current Status**: [Brief summary of current state]

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### Assessment Factors

| Factor | Pivot Score (1-5) | Kill Score (1-5) | Notes |
|--------|-------------------|------------------|-------|
| **Customer Pain** | ☐ Real pain, wrong solution (5) | ☐ No pain, nice-to-have (1) | [Evidence] |
| **Market Size** | ☐ Large enough (5) | ☐ Too small (1) | [TAM estimate] |
| **Learning Rate** | ☐ High insights (5) | ☐ Low, stuck (1) | [Discoveries per week] |
| **Burn Rate** | ☐ Sustainable (5) | ☐ Too high (1) | [Monthly burn vs. runway] |
| **Team Belief** | ☐ Believes in vision (5) | ☐ Doesn't believe (1) | [Team sentiment] |
| **Opportunity Cost** | ☐ Still best option (5) | ☐ Better options exist (1) | [Alternatives] |
| **Execution vs. Hypothesis** | ☐ Hypothesis valid, execution wrong (5) | ☐ Hypothesis invalid (1) | [Root cause analysis] |

**Total Pivot Score**: [Sum] / 35

**Total Kill Score**: [Sum] / 35

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### Pre-Mortem Inversion Test

**Question**: "If we were starting today with $0 invested and zero sunk cost, would we start this project?"

☐ **Yes, exactly as-is** → **CONTINUE** (no pivot needed)

☐ **Yes, but differently** → **PIVOT** (describe how:_____________________)

☐ **No** → **KILL** (reallocate resources)

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### Decision

**Decision**: ☐ **CONTINUE** ☐ **PIVOT** ☐ **KILL**

**Rationale**: [Explanation based on factors above]

**If PIVOT**:
- **Pivot Hypothesis**: [What changes and why]
- **Pivot Timeline**: [How long to test]
- **Pivot Success Criteria**: [What success looks like]
- **Pivot Kill Criteria**: [If pivot doesn't work, when to kill]

**If KILL**:
- **Wind-Down Timeline**: [X weeks/months]
- **Resource Reallocation**: [Where team/budget goes]
- **Postmortem Date**: [When to conduct postmortem]

**Decision Authority**: ________________ Date: ______

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## Template 4: Portfolio Kill Criteria

**When to use**: Managing multiple projects, need to kill some to focus

### Portfolio Ranking & Kill Decision

**Portfolio Review Date**: [Date]

**Decision Authority**: [Who makes portfolio decisions]

**Capacity**: [How many projects can we support? e.g., "5 projects"]

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### Project Ranking

| Rank | Project | Expected Value (EV) | Resource Cost (RC) | EV/RC Ratio | Status |
|------|---------|---------------------|-------------------|-------------|--------|
| 1 | [Project A] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✓ Keep |
| 2 | [Project B] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✓ Keep |
| 3 | [Project C] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✓ Keep |
| 4 | [Project D] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✓ Keep |
| 5 | [Project E] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✓ Keep |
| **6** | **[Project F]** | **$[X]M** | **[Y] FTEs** | **[X/Y]** | **← Kill line** |
| 7 | [Project G] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✗ Kill |
| 8 | [Project H] | $[X]M | [Y] FTEs | [X/Y] | ✗ Kill |

**Ranking Methodology**: [How EV calculated, e.g., "(Revenue × Probability) / Resource Cost"]

**Kill Threshold**: Projects ranked below [X] get killed

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### Projects to Kill (Example)

**[Project Name]**:
- **Status**: [e.g., "80% complete"] | **Sunk Cost**: $[X] | **Expected Value**: $[Z]
- **Why Kill**: [Rationale, e.g., "Opportunity cost — reallocating to Project A yields 2× more value"]
- **Wind-Down**: [Timeline] | **Team Reallocation**: [X FTEs] → [Projects]

**Decision Authority**: ________________ Date: ______

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## Template 5: Wind-Down Plan

**When to use**: Kill decision made, need to execute wind-down

### Project Wind-Down Checklist

**Project Name**: [Project name]

**Kill Decision Date**: [Date]

**Wind-Down Owner**: [Person responsible for executing wind-down]

**Target Wind-Down Completion**: [Date, ideally <1 month]

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### Communication (Week 1)

- [ ] **Team**: Notify within 1 week ([Decision authority + owner], focus on learning not blame)
- [ ] **Stakeholders**: Notify exec team, adjacent teams ([Project owner])
- [ ] **Customers** (if applicable): Migration plan, support timeline, refund policy ([Customer success])

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### Team & Technical Transition (Weeks 2-4)

- [ ] **1-on-1s**: Discuss next roles, reallocation plan (Week 2, [Manager])
- [ ] **Knowledge Transfer**: Document learnings, tech docs, research insights (Week 2-3, [Team])
- [ ] **Code Archive**: Archive repository at [Location] (Week 3, [Tech lead])
- [ ] **Infrastructure**: Shutdown servers, cancel services, save $[X]/month (Week 4, [DevOps])
- [ ] **Data**: Backup critical data, ensure GDPR compliance (Week 3, [Tech lead])

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### Customer Transition (if applicable)

- [ ] **Migration**: [X months timeline] to [Alternative product], support until [date]
- [ ] **Refunds**: Pro-rated refunds for annual customers within [X weeks]
- [ ] **Sunset**: Support ends [date], then [full deprecation]

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### Postmortem (Week 3-4)

- [ ] **Schedule**: Within 2 weeks ([Date], [Team + stakeholders], [Neutral facilitator])
- [ ] **Agenda**: What worked? What didn't? Learnings? Apply to future?
- [ ] **Document**: Write postmortem doc ([Facilitator]), share with team (learning focus)
- [ ] **Celebrate**: Acknowledge disciplined stopping frees resources for winners

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### Budget & Metrics

**Sunk Cost**: $[Total spent]

**Remaining Budget Saved**: $[Budget that would have been spent if continued]

**Resources Freed**: [X FTEs, $Y budget]

**Reallocated To**: [List projects receiving resources]

**Time to Wind-Down**: [Actual weeks from decision to completion]

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### Completion Checklist

- [ ] Team reallocated | [ ] Infrastructure shutdown | [ ] Customers transitioned
- [ ] Postmortem shared | [ ] Budget reallocated | [ ] Project marked "Killed"

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**Wind-Down Owner Signature**: ________________ Date: ______

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## Quick Reference: When to Use Each Template

| Template | Use Case | Timing |
|----------|----------|--------|
| **Kill Criteria Document** | New project starting | Before launch |
| **Go/No-Go Gate Assessment** | Milestone decision point | At each gate |
| **Pivot vs. Kill Decision** | Project not meeting targets | When struggling |
| **Portfolio Kill Criteria** | Managing multiple projects | Quarterly or as needed |
| **Wind-Down Plan** | Kill decision made | After kill decision |
