One document, read in under an hour by someone who wasn't in the Sprint.

The scores below are illustrative. A live brief carries interview citations in the appendix.

Each fit answers one question. Whose job changes, and will they adopt it or keep doing what they do today? (Product–Market) Who pays, how much, and how does finance book it: an asset bought and depreciated, a lease, or an operating cost? (Model–Market) Who carries and supports it, and who else can say no: security, a union, a plant controller, a dealer or integrator? (Ecosystem–Market) Who will sell, deploy and run it? (Team Readiness) Is the money there this year, ahead of everything else competing for it, including the option to change nothing? (Budget Readiness)

• Product–Market: Met. 8 of 11 plant managers ranked the problem top-three; 6 named a current workaround cost.
• Model–Market: Mixed. Price accepted per-line; per-site pricing met resistance in 4 of 6 tests.
• Ecosystem–Market: Not met. No dealer or partner reached would carry the offer at the proposed margin. For a rollout, the equivalent test: whether an integrator in each region will support it.
• Team Readiness: Mixed. Commercial bench adequate for pilot; no named owner for deployment at scale.
• Budget Readiness: Met. Capital committed through FY27 and not contingent on this initiative.

For an internal rollout, the same five fits read (also illustrative):

• Product–Market: Met. 7 of 9 plant managers confirmed the problem and a current workaround cost.
• Model–Market: Mixed. The cost per site holds at the pilot plant; two plants need a capital request the controller has not signed.
• Ecosystem–Market: Not met. No integrator reached covers three of the twelve plants, and OT security has approved the connection for the pilot plant only.
• Team Readiness: Mixed. Maintenance can run it at the pilot plant; no named owner at the others.
• Budget Readiness: Met. Operating budget approved through FY27 at nine plants.

For an OEM service offer, the same five fits read (also illustrative):

• Product–Market: Met. Customers on existing service agreements confirmed the downtime cost and named who owns it.
• Model–Market: Mixed. Maintenance priced per operating hour was accepted; a whole-machine subscription met resistance from plant controllers who keep the asset on the books.
• Ecosystem–Market: Not met. Dealers reached would carry the offer only if they keep the renewal.
• Team Readiness: Mixed. Field service is paid on time and materials, with no plan yet to pay toward uptime.
• Budget Readiness: Met. Service budgets approved for the year, with the renewal owner named at most accounts.

A rehearsed dispute sits behind the Model–Market line: given the same month of data, the OEM's service team and the customer's plant controller calculated different availability. The exclusions need defining before the first contract.

Verdict and next actions. The verdict we recommend, informed by the scores, with the risk statement and what happens next in each case.

Business case. Each line graded Verified, Benchmarked or Assumption, showing what is validated and what is still assumed, including the payback or total cost of ownership the finance owner will judge it on.

Validated buyer. The buyer the evidence supports, which may differ from the one the hypothesis assumed, with the disqualifiers named.

Pricing Signal Log. The price points, or costs per site, buyers and plant controllers confirmed, the ones that met resistance, and the buyer context for each.

Scored interview evidence. Every interview is scored from 1 to 5, and a strong signal needs an average of 4.0 or above.

Length. The scorecard fits on one page. The full brief runs as long as the evidence requires, typically twenty to thirty pages including the interview appendix.

Who reads it. It is written for the person who has to approve or stop the commitment, a reader who was not in the research, and that keeps it short.

What it will not do. Rate a claim above what the evidence supports, or redefine the pass criteria after the research.

Who owns it. You do. The brief, the scoring rubric and the interview record are yours at the end of the engagement.

What is a Five-Fits Scorecard?

A one-page summary that rates an industrial technology bet on five questions: whose job changes and whether they will adopt (Product–Market), who pays and from which budget (Model–Market), who carries and supports it (Ecosystem–Market), who will run it (Team Readiness), and whether the money is there this year (Budget Readiness). Each is rated Met, Mixed or Not met, and the brief behind it grades every claim Verified, Benchmarked or Assumption.

What does a Findings Brief contain?

A recommended verdict of Proceed, Pivot, Reset or Stop, the reasoning, the Five-Fits Scorecard, a pricing log, the validated buyer, a business case graded line by line, and the scored interview record. It is written for the person who approves or stops the commitment, and it is yours at the end of the engagement.