Solanasis — Compiled Questionnaire Answers (All Responses)
Purpose: Single source of truth for all of Dmitri’s answers across both questionnaires. Last updated: 2026-03-05
Source 1: Launch Playbook Questions
Q1. Legal entity setup
Answer: A — LLC already formed, taxed as S-Corp
Q2. Financial runway
Answer: C — 3-6 months of runway Notes: Need revenue generated ASAP. Considering joining marketplaces like Upwork for bridge revenue.
Q3. Existing clients / warm leads
Answer: C — Strong personal network but no active leads yet
Q4. Tools/systems already set up
Answer: B — Basic setup (website, email) but no CRM/PM tools yet Notes: Has website, email. Still deciding on rest of stack. Current stack: ClickUp (PM), Xero (accounting), Coda (wiki), Google Workspace, Google Voice. Leaning towards open source CRM/ERP hosted on AWS or Azure with existing credits.
Q5. ICP — company size
Answer: B (modified) — Start with smaller end (10-50) but open to 200 employees Notes: Main bar is they need to be generating enough revenue to afford the packages — approximately $500K/year or whatever is enough so they don’t balk at price.
Q6. Verticals/industries
Answer: B (modified) — Professional services firms preferred over nonprofits for maximum growth hacking (referral potential) Notes: Not sure about targeting nonprofits initially. Wants to build nonprofit relationships for other ventures. Leaning towards professional services firms whose clients could become referrals. Nonprofits can be challenging and revenue maximization is the priority.
Q7. Geographic scope
Answer: C (modified) — National from day one (remote-first) but CO-focused first Notes: Focused on CO statewide since there’s friendliness within CO. After CO, focused on West Coast and Central US. East Coast vibe can be harsh to work with.
Q8. Primary wedge offering
Answer: A and possibly E — Security Assessment as primary wedge, possibly bundled “Operational Health Check”
Q9. Target MRR at 12 months
Answer: A — 30K MRR
Q10. Pricing model
Answer: A — Tiered monthly retainers (Bronze/Silver/Gold) Notes: Avoid hourly billing as much as possible. Some project-based work (like remediation). Definitely shoot for retainers.
Q11. Funding approach
Answer: C — Pure bootstrap, no outside funding planned Notes: Should be able to bootstrap. Maybe take loans from angels at some point for a leap. VC is not necessary and puts undue pressure unless finding conscious investors/angels aligned with their style.
Q12. Primary sales motion
Answer: A — Founder-led sales supported by content marketing / thought leadership Notes: With some B (partnerships) later on. A lot of outbound on LinkedIn.
Q13. Personal brand / online presence
Answer: A — Active LinkedIn presence with some industry content Notes: Not much industry content at the moment. Will be part of the content creation strategy.
Q14. Growth hacking tactics
Answer: A and C — Free assessment tools/lead magnets + Community building Notes: Trying to keep team and operations as lean as possible and do as much with AI tools as possible.
Q15. Partnerships
Answer: B — Broad professional network but no specific partner relationships yet Notes: Assume only mildly well-connected. Needs help really building out partnerships, especially offering MSP referral program.
Q16. Certifications
Answer: C and D — No formal certs but extensive hands-on experience; relying on contractor certs Notes: Will go through CompTIA cert at some point but trying to borrow credibility from contractors who have certs already.
Q17. SOPs
Answer: D — Starting from scratch on SOPs
Q18. Client-facing technology/deliverables
Answer: D — Still figuring out, open to recommendations
Q19. AI positioning
Answer: B — AI is one offering among many, important but not central Notes: Everyone is touting AI right now so feels like noise. But wants to be known for being super AI-savvy and helping orgs implement it carefully and securely.
Q20. Launch timeline
Answer: A — 30-60 days, launch fast, iterate in market Notes: Can be even faster by leveraging AI for the agency.
Q21. Launch priorities (first 90 days)
Top priority: Landing first 2-3 paying clients — whatever it takes to get revenue in the door ASAP. “Build the airplane as we jump off” mentality.
Q22. Biggest fear
Answer: A — Getting enough clients fast enough (demand generation / sales velocity)
Q23. Anything else
Notes: See the ORB Refinement Questionnaire for additional answers.
Source 2: ORB Refinement Questionnaire
Q1. ICP (first 90-120 days)
Answer: A — 10-150 seats, SMBs/nonprofits on M365 or Google Workspace Notes: Open to A-C but mostly target A. Main qualifier: client having at least $500K in revenue/year or startups with VC funding.
Q2. Buyer + champion
Answer: A — Exec Director/CEO signs + Ops/IT lead is day-to-day
Q3. Primary positioning hook
Answer: A — “Backups don’t matter until you restore” + prove recoverability
Q4. ORB name in public
Answer: C — Both: ORB internal, friendly name external (“Resilience Checkup”)
Q5. Primary environment
Answer: C — Both M365 and Google Workspace equally
Q6. Restore test guarantee
Answer: A — One real restore test minimum, chosen at kickoff
Q7. Restore test scope
Answer: A — Restore a small, defined dataset to a sandbox/safe location
Q8. Access model
Answer: B — Full admin access for speed Notes: Much easier with a temp full admin access account.
Q9. Evidence policy
Answer: A — Include evidence but sanitize/blur sensitive info
Q10. Deliverable format
Answer: D — Mix: PDF for execs, spreadsheets for risk register/action plan
Q11. Risk register format
Answer: B — Google Sheets / Excel
Q12. Time box and meetings
Answer: A — 10 business days + 3 calls (kickoff / mid-check / readout)
Q13. “What we check” depth
Answer: A — Baseline checks + practical evidence; no deep forensics
Q14. Internal project tracking
Answer: C — Notion
Q15. Client workspace
Answer: C — Hybrid: Solanasis working folder + client final folder
Q16. AI-native stance
Answer: A — Mention AI only internally (don’t advertise)
Q17. AI usage guardrails
Answer: A — No secrets/PII in AI; use AI for drafting/summaries only
Q18. Pricing model
Answer: A — Fixed fee with clear scope Notes: Needs help coming up with pricing packages/tiers based on client size/complexity.
Q19. Payment terms
Answer: A — 50% to start, 50% at delivery
Q20. Scope protection
Answer: A — No implementation beyond tiny quick fixes; remediation is separate Implementation cap: None (no included implementation hours)
Q21. Remediation handoff
Answer: D — Mix: sprint first, then retainer
Q22. Fractional packaging
Answer: A — Fractional “Resilience Partner” (blends CISO/CIO/COO)
Q23. Compliance claims
Answer: A — “Baseline + practical alignment to NIST/CIS”
Q24. Case studies / proof
Answer: A — Anonymized “before/after outcomes” bullets Notes: No past work to use for this at the moment, as previous work was done at old company.
Q25. Delivery team model
Answer: B — Contractors deliver most; you manage Notes: Initially just Dmitri but looking for contractors ASAP so he can focus on growth hacking and sales.
Q26. Fastest to revenue channel
Answer: A and C — Direct outreach + warm referrals AND MSP partnerships Notes: Want to lean heavily on referral program and large network.
Q27. Referral incentive
Answer: A — Yes, simple referral fee or donation option Notes: Needs help coming up with structure based on typical structures used.
Q28. Decision timeline promise
Answer: A — “We can start within 7-10 days once access is ready” Notes: May end up with a waitlist. Want to get engagement started ASAP, ideally within 5 biz days. Clients shouldn’t take long to provide admin access.
Q29. Red lines
Answer: D — All of the above (access delays, no incident guarantees, no secret storage)
Q30. “Unstoppable” factor
Answer: A — Ultra-simple pitch + fixed fee + clear deliverables
Key Themes Across Both Questionnaires
- Revenue urgency is #1 — 3-6 months runway, need paying clients immediately
- Lean and scrappy — Solo founder, AI-native, minimal overhead
- ORB/Resilience Checkup is the wedge — Fixed fee, 10-day engagement, leads to retainers
- Professional services firms over nonprofits — Better revenue potential, referral networks
- Colorado first, then expand — Remote-first but local-trust advantage
- Contractors ASAP — Dmitri wants to focus on sales/growth, delegate delivery
- Referral program is key — Leverage existing network + MSP partnerships
- No hourly billing — Fixed fee packages, tiered retainers
- Bootstrap mentality — No VC, keep control, grow from revenue
- AI is a tool, not the brand — Use AI internally, don’t market it externally