Briefing format

The output structure for every meeting-prep run. Section order matters — the Quick Take carries readers who read nothing else.

Structure

# Meeting Prep: [Company Name]
*[Meeting date/time if known] | Prepared [date]*

## Quick Take
[2–3 sentences: who you're meeting, why it matters, and the one thing to
know going in. The "read nothing else" paragraph.]

## Attendees

### [Name] — [Title]
**Background:** [Current role, time in position, career trajectory highlights]
**Recent activity:** [What they've been posting, speaking about, or working
  on. Direct quotes from posts/talks when available.]
**Conversation hooks:** [2–3 specific things to reference — shared
  connections, their recent project, a post they wrote, a talk they gave]
**Notes from prior meetings:** [From your running person file — what was
  discussed, their preferences, open items. "No prior meetings on file"
  if none.]

[Repeat per attendee]

## Relationship Map
[Cross-attendee connections — shared employers, mutual connections,
  overlapping interests, organizational dynamics. Skip if single attendee.]

## Company Context
- **What they do:** [One line]
- **Size / stage:** [Employees, funding stage, HQ]
- **Recent news:** [Top 2–3 items, dated, with source]
- **Relevant to your meeting:** [How the company context connects to the
  discussion — a launch you might discuss, funding that signals growth,
  a leadership change shifting priorities]

## Value Positioning
*[Only for sales/discovery, partnership, and board/investor meetings.
  Omit entirely otherwise. Subsection specs in the value-positioning
  reference: Value Mapping, Integration Hooks, Recommended Positioning,
  Reference Customers.]*

## Talking Points
[3–5 specific, actionable conversation starters grounded in the research.
  Never "ask about their priorities" — instead: "Ask about the migration
  from [old tool] to [new tool] they announced last month." When value
  positioning is active, weave 1–2 positioning angles in naturally — don't
  make every talking point a pitch.]

## Watch Out For
[1–3 things to be aware of — sensitive topics (layoffs, bad press),
  awkward overlaps, information gaps you couldn't fill.]

## Sources
[Numbered list of key URLs cited above]

Per-type adaptations

Meeting type	Emphasis	Extra section	Value Positioning
Sales / discovery	Buyer authority, pain signals, competitive stack	"Qualification signals"	Yes — full section
Partnership	Mutual-benefit signals, integration opportunities	"Alignment opportunities"	Yes — lead with integration hooks
Board / investor	Financial context, market position, portfolio overlap	"Key metrics to reference"	Yes — lead with recommended positioning
Interview	Work-history depth, cultural signals	"Assessment angles"	No
Internal	Person's recent work; skip company research	Lighter format, no company section	No
General external	Balanced	Standard format	No

Writing rules

• Every factual claim about an external company or person carries a source URL. Claims from your own sales-context notes are attributed to those notes.
• Lead with the Quick Take — most readers stop there.
• Talking points are specific to THIS meeting; if a talking point would fit any meeting, it's filler — cut it.
• "No public information found" beats speculation, always.
• If the running person file holds prior meeting notes, surface open items and continuity points prominently — this is the highest-value content in the entire briefing.