Build a repeatable discovery pipeline

A repeatable discovery pipeline starts with a list, a calendar and a tracker — not a burst of founder intuition. (github.com) (producttalk.org) The operating model in the playbooks is simple: define an ideal customer profile by industry, company size, revenue range and buyer role, then research each target before outreach. The GitHub prospecting guide says that work should happen before the first message, using company websites, recent news and social posts to find something specific to mention. (github.com) Outreach then runs on a fixed cadence instead of one-off messages. The same GitHub guide recommends a short personalized email first, a follow-up call in one to two days if there is no reply, and a LinkedIn connection request or message as another touchpoint. (github.com) (outreach.io) The discovery side uses the same rhythm. Teresa Torres defines continuous discovery as weekly touchpoints with customers by the team building the product, and Product Talk says those touchpoints are small research activities tied to a specific outcome. (producttalk.org) (productatheart.com) That weekly cadence changes the job from “find anyone to talk to” into “keep the next interview booked.” In practice, interview toolkits and discovery guides close conversations by asking who else has the same problem and whether the customer will make an introduction. (startupproject.org) (foundra.ai) The tracker matters because discovery produces operations work, not just notes. The continuous-discovery framework on GitHub says high-scoring teams keep a living map of opportunities and assumptions, while the B2B sales playbook repo says teams should track progress, blockers and decision points during a pilot run. (github.com 1) (github.com 2) That is where product discovery and B2B selling start to overlap. The sales playbook materials pair prospecting with qualification frameworks such as Budget, Authority, Need and Timing and Challenges, Authority, Money and Prioritization, so teams can sort replies instead of treating every conversation as equal. (github.com) The same sales playbook set also breaks the work into reusable modules: prospecting, discovery, presentations, objection handling, negotiation and closing. Another GitHub B2B playbook adds pilot design, a defined success metric and a small test run before wider rollout. (github.com 1) (github.com 2) That structure is useful when a team is starting from zero, because it turns vague advice into a weekly checklist: add targets, send touches, log replies, run interviews and ask for one referral before the call ends. The systems differ in language, but the mechanics are the same across the discovery and sales sources. (github.com) (producttalk.org) (startupproject.org)