icp-matrix-builder

Applies before any list gets built or bought. Produces a scored, tiered matrix that turns targeting from an opinion into a filter.

Default-deny, not default-allow

Most ICP work starts from "who could buy this" and subtracts. That produces a large list with a fuzzy edge, and the fuzzy edge is where the budget dies.

Invert it: an account is out until it earns its way in. Every dimension is a gate that must pass, not a point that gets added to a total. A high score on four dimensions never rescues a fail on the fifth — a company with perfect firmographics and no budget is not a 4/5, it's a no.

Order the gates cheapest-first, so the expensive ones only ever run on survivors:

1. Structural fit — size band, stage, model, geography. Free or near-free to check.
2. Problem evidence — something observable says they have the problem you solve. Not "they could have it."
3. Exclusions — competitors, current clients, prior contact, people who sell what you sell. Run this early; it's cheap and it prevents the most embarrassing sends.
4. Reachability — can you actually get to the buyer? An unreachable perfect fit is worth zero.
5. Deal size — can they pay your floor? Put this gate before enrichment spend, not after.
6. Timing signal — is the buying window open, or is this a nurture entry?

Spend and send are the last gates, never the first.