braun-poke-the-bear
Josh Braun's Poke the Bear
Based on Josh Braun's public method. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Josh Braun.
When to use
Use this skill when drafting a prospecting call, adapting its central question to cold email, repairing a disguised pitch, or reviewing outreach that attracts reflexive dismissals. The deliverable is a prospecting brief plus a usable call or email, with response branches that preserve the prospect's choice. Begin with the job the person performs and how they accomplish it today, rather than the seller's preferred product story. [S1][S2][S3]
The method is especially useful when a familiar supplier or workaround appears adequate but a separate exposure may remain unexamined. It does not establish that the prospect has a problem. A satisfactory current process, the wrong responsibility, and a refusal are valid discoveries. Do not convert the exercise into a meeting quota, a fear campaign, or a sequence of rebuttals. [S4][S8][S12]
Read references/method.md for the reasoning and channel decisions. The sequence below is this package's operational synthesis: Braun's public examples vary, and he explicitly emphasizes intent over a universal script. The examples and template are teaching tools, not scripts he authored. [S7]
Procedure
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Define the assignment and success. Identify the channel, intended role, job, and seller capability. Set success as learning whether a relevant gap and willingness to discuss it exist. Drafting outreach does not itself authorize sending it. Use the intake fields in templates/output-template.md and the intent rules in references/method.md. [S3][S8]
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Separate facts from hypotheses. Record verified role information, known workflow details, and unknowns. Mark assumed processes and possible consequences explicitly. Do not invent customers, losses, or statistics to make the opening compelling. Consult the evidence rules in references/method.md and trace any method attribution through references/sources.md. [S4][S7]
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Map one overlooked exposure. Describe the current approach, the concrete mechanism that could leave something unseen, and its possible consequence. Prefer a specific verification gap over generic savings language. If no defensible exposure exists, ask about the process before proposing one. See the problem map in references/method.md. [S2][S4]