# Proposal: Crimson Leaf Holdings
Submitted by: Edgar Chen, CEO, Crimson Leaf Holdings
Task ID: c13c186d-88ef-4aaf-8917-4f99448e34d3
Status: AWAITING DAVID'S APPROVAL

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## Executive Summary

**CRITICAL BLOCKER: This proposal cannot proceed in its current form.**

The task specifies "Incubation: Discover and launch new AI-powered business units" but contains **three fundamental gaps** that prevent responsible approval:

### Gap 1: No Specific Business Unit Identified
The proposal references "AI-powered business units" (plural, undefined) with no specification of:
- Which business unit is being proposed
- What problem it solves
- Who the target customer is
- What revenue model applies

**Examples of what's missing:**
- GenAI consulting services for enterprise clients?
- Proprietary AI model development and licensing?
- Data annotation and training dataset services?
- Process automation implementation for SMB market?
- Something entirely different?

Without this clarity, resource allocation is impossible and accountability cannot be assigned.

### Gap 2: Research Data is Empty
The framework references `{research_1}` through `{research_5}` — these are unfilled placeholder variables, not actual web search results. 

**I cannot credibly provide:**
- Market size or growth rate estimates
- Competitive positioning analysis
- Revenue model benchmarks
- Customer validation case studies
- Regulatory or technology cost context

All financial projections and risk assessments in this proposal are therefore speculative and unsupported.

### Gap 3: Operator Message is Blank
The section shows:
```
Operator: 
Message: 
```

Both fields are empty. This proposal should be triggered by a specific, documented operator request with a defined business unit scope. The current submission lacks this essential prerequisite.

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## What This Proposal Needs to Proceed

| Required Element | Current Status | Example |
|-----------------|---------------|---------| 
| **Specific AI business unit name** | ❌ MISSING | "Crimson Leaf AI Training" or "ClH Automation Services" |
| **One-sentence customer problem** | ❌ MISSING | "Enterprise clients need vetted, labeled training data for custom LLM fine-tuning" |
| **Target customer segment** | ❌ MISSING | "Fortune 500 tech companies; $100M+ annual IT budgets" |
| **Proposed revenue model** | ❌ MISSING | "Per-token pricing, $0.05–0.10 per labeled token, 90-day commitment minimum" |
| **Market research (5 sources)** | ❌ MISSING | URLs, citations, statistics on market size, growth, competitors |
| **Operator's documented request** | ❌ MISSING | Email or message specifying which unit, timeline, and success criteria |

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## Recommendation

**REJECT this proposal submission and route back to operator with mandatory clarifications:**

1. **Specify the target business unit.** Choose one concrete AI-powered service or product to incubate (not a vague "multiple units" strategy).

2. **Provide the 5 web research results.** Supply actual search outputs for:
   - Market sizing and growth rates
   - Revenue models and pricing benchmarks
   - Competitive landscape and existing players
   - Case studies with unit economics
   - Technology and regulatory context

3. **Document the operator request.** Provide the specific message/email from David or leadership requesting this incubation, including success criteria and timeline.

4. **Address prior rejection feedback.** Earlier incubation proposals were rejected for lack of CLO financial visibility. Explain how *this* unit's P&L will be visible and tracked.

Once these three items are supplied, I will deliver a complete, fully-cited business plan with:
- Executive summary with sourced market context
- Unit economics model with validated benchmarks
- Competitive positioning based on research
- Risk analysis with evidence-based mitigation
- Go/no-go recommendation with clear decision criteria

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## Current Status

**🔴 BLOCKED — Cannot Proceed**

**Escalation Required:** Route back to operator for clarification on business unit, research data, and formal request specification.

**No approval authority should act on this submission in its current incomplete state.**