FDI MarCom OS Starter Pack
The Use, Compose, Build starter calculator, a Riverbank starter governance template, and a read-me that maps both onto the full kit. Drop your email and the download starts immediately. No spam.
FDI method
Growth Cartography is the method behind Marketing Engineering: evidence first, one supervised loop, measurable handoff.
Supporting system · Growth Cartography · As of 2026
MarCom OS: structure as code.
The complete MarCom OS playbook ships today as editable working documents: Hourglass org blueprint, Use, Compose, Build capability calculator, and Riverbank governance templates. AI broke the marketing org chart; this is the blueprint for what replaces it, structured so teams and agents can both enforce the rules.
MarCom OS is the blueprint for an AI-era marketing organization. It packages the Hourglass org design, the Use, Compose, Build capability calculator, and the Riverbank governance system into editable templates, calculators, and checklists you run yourself, with SkillFoundry as the running enforcement engine for the rules you set. Built by False Dawn Industries. As of 2026.
Free · The starter pack
Start with the Use, Compose, Build starter.
The free FDI MarCom OS Starter Pack contains a working slice of the kit: the Use, Compose, Build starter calculator and a Riverbank starter template, so you can score one capability and write one governance rule before you spend a dollar.
Tools do not fix a broken org chart
Most teams bolt AI tools onto a factory-era structure and get faster chaos. The bottleneck is not the model, it is the shape of the team, the make-or-buy logic, and the absence of guardrails that machines can actually enforce.
The kit fixes the structure first: who sits where (Hourglass), what you build versus buy (Use, Compose, Build), and what may ship (the Riverbank). Then the tools compound instead of colliding.
Inside the kit
Three pillars, one working playbook.
The Tier 1 MarCom OS Foundation Playbook ships all three pillars as editable documents plus the Audit to Kill checklist that turns them into a quarterly operating rhythm.
The Hourglass Organization
The org blueprintA staffing blueprint shaped like an hourglass: broad strategic direction on top, a narrow waist of human editors-in-chief, and a wide base of agentic execution. Includes role charters, reporting lines, and a migration path from the org you have today.
Ships as
Editable org blueprint + role charters
Use, Compose, Build
The capability calculatorA scoring calculator that decides, per capability, whether you should use an off-the-shelf tool, compose existing pieces, or build owned infrastructure. Stops both over-buying SaaS and over-building vanity systems.
Ships as
Scoring calculator + decision log
The Riverbank
The governance systemGovernance templates that define the banks your autonomous output flows between: brand rules, escalation triggers, and kill criteria, written so both humans and agents can enforce them. SkillFoundry is the running enforcement engine for these rules.
Ships as
Governance templates + kill criteria
Structure → Hourglass → Use, Compose, Build → Riverbank → audited every quarter with Audit to Kill
The kit provides strategic frameworks and templates. It is not legal, compliance, or professional advice; review regulated-industry decisions with your own counsel.
What changes
Mapped from today to tomorrow.
Each pillar replaces a familiar failure mode with an owned, auditable structure.
Today: the pyramid
Headcount stacked around manual production, AI bolted on at the edges, and a review process that cannot keep up with machine-speed output.
Tomorrow: the Hourglass
Strategy on top, a small human waist of editors-in-chief with real kill authority, and agentic execution underneath, each layer with a written charter.
Every quarter: Audit to Kill
A standing checklist that scores every capability, campaign, and tool against the Riverbank and retires what fails, so the structure stays lean instead of accreting.
The pricing ladder
Own the blueprint, subscribe to it, or build it with us.
Three tiers, from a one-time playbook to a fractional architecture partner. Prices are set, and checkout arrives in the commercialization phase, so join the waitlist to lock launch pricing.
A boutique org-design engagement runs $25,000 to $150,000. The Foundation Playbook ships the same structural frameworks as editable working documents, for the price of a team lunch.
MarCom OS Foundation Playbook
$149
one-time
Launch price $99 for early adopters.
One-time purchase of the complete foundation playbook.
- Hourglass org blueprint + role charters
- Use, Compose, Build calculator
- Riverbank governance templates
- Audit to Kill checklist
- The Wedge Manifesto
- Yours forever, edit everything
Continuous Updates
$199
/mo
Founding rate $149/mo · $1,500/yr annual · Agency Team $399/mo with white-label rights.
Recurring subscription that keeps the blueprint current.
- Everything in the Playbook, plus:
- Quarterly framework updates
- New templates as the field moves
- Priority async Q&A
- Team seats
- White-label rights on the Agency tier only
Fractional Architect
$5,000
/mo
Limited to ~3 clients · or a one-time $10,000 fixed four-week sprint.
A retainer or fixed sprint with FDI as your fractional MarCom architect.
- Everything in Living Architecture, plus:
- Hands-on Hourglass migration
- Custom Riverbank calibration
- Fixed four-week sprint option
- Direct line to FDI
Governance Risk Audit · $1,500 to $2,500
A fixed-scope, standalone audit of your current AI content operation against the Riverbank framework: where autonomous output can drift off-brand, which approvals are missing, and a prioritized fix list. Credited toward Tier 3 if you upgrade within 90 days.
Runs with SkillFoundry
The Riverbank defines the rules; SkillFoundry enforces them at machine speed, routing every asset through the Relevance, Performance, and Algorithmic Signal gates before it ships. The kit works standalone, and compounds with the engine.
What is MarCom OS?
MarCom OS is the blueprint for an AI-era marketing organization: the Hourglass org design, the Use, Compose, Build capability calculator, and the Riverbank governance system, shipped as a working kit of templates, calculators, and checklists rather than a slide deck. It is built by False Dawn Industries.
How is the kit different from hiring a consultancy?
A consultancy sells you a deck and leaves. The kit is structure as code: editable blueprints, a scoring calculator, governance templates, and an audit checklist you run yourself, with SkillFoundry available as the running enforcement engine for the rules you set. Higher tiers add a fixed-scope sprint or a fractional architect retainer if you want hands-on help.
How much does MarCom OS cost?
Three tiers: the MarCom OS Foundation Playbook (Tier 1) from $149 one-time, the Living Architecture subscription (Tier 2) from $199 per month, and the Architecture Partner retainer (Tier 3) from $5,000 per month or a $10,000 fixed four-week sprint. A standalone Governance Risk Audit runs $1,500 to $2,500. Launch pricing is available to waitlist members.
Is the kit legal or compliance advice?
No. The kit provides organizational design frameworks, governance templates, and risk checklists as strategic guidance. It is not legal, compliance, or professional advice, and you should review regulated-industry decisions with your own counsel.
What does the kit do with my data?
The Tier 1 playbook is a set of documents and calculators you run entirely on your own machines; nothing is sent to FDI. Where a workflow touches an LLM backend, the kit's data-handling posture applies: you choose the model provider, your content is processed under your own accounts and keys, and FDI never stores or trains on your assets.
Join the waitlist
Get MarCom OS the day it ships.
Drop your email to join the waitlist. We'll reach out with early access, launch pricing, and the starter pack walkthrough. No spam.
Prefer email? Write us at john@ratcliffe-lee.com.