BASE, BEST, WORST: YOUR 2026 PLANNING FRAMEWORK

Summary from the TLDR Founders newsletter

Building one annual plan forces founders to pretend everything goes perfectly - sales hit quota, marketing scales efficiently, and nobody quits. Instead, build three parallel plans with different growth targets and burn rates. Your base case uses actual historical data. Best case adds upside from partnerships or new products. Worst-case accounts for churn spikes or funding delays. The power is in pre-agreeing what triggers each scenario - if you hit X revenue in Q2, unlock Y hires. If conversion misses for two quarters, cut Z budget. Bring GTM leadership together to pressure test the assumptions before finalizing, then share one plan with the company, but review all three with the board quarterly.