TL;DR

Thorsten Meyer AI has released Outcome-First Decisions, an AGPL-3.0 open-source framework for reviewing portfolios of initiatives. The tool uses a Worth Filter to return one of three verdicts: keep, change or kill, based on whether current outcomes justify ongoing cost.

Thorsten Meyer AI has released Outcome-First Decisions, an open-source AGPL-3.0 framework that asks operators to review each initiative by current outcome and ongoing cost, then choose whether to keep, change or kill it.

The Day 8/19 Built in Public dispatch presents Outcome-First Decisions as a portfolio review method for products, experiments, channels and side projects that may be consuming time, upkeep and capital after their value has faded. The source material says the framework is built around a single question: what outcome is this producing right now, and is that outcome worth its ongoing cost?

The framework’s main mechanism is called the Worth Filter. According to Thorsten Meyer AI, the filter is meant to judge forward by expected outcome rather than backward by sunk cost, effort already spent or identity attached to a project. The output is one of three verdicts: keep when the outcome justifies the cost, change when the problem may still be worth solving but the current shape is not working, and kill when the outcome does not justify the cost of continuing.

The dispatch places the framework in Thorsten Meyer AI’s operator portfolio and says the wider decision layer now runs from validate to plan to review. It also states that the project is local-first, provider-agnostic and aimed at non-developer building. Those are project claims from the publisher; independent adoption data, repository activity and user results were not included in the provided material.

Built in Public · Day 8 / 19 ThorstenMeyerAI.com · the operator portfolio
The Decision Layer · Day 08 Dispatch

Outcome-First Decisions — keep, change, or kill

The hardest decision isn’t what to start — it’s what to stop. Judge every initiative by the outcome it produces now, not the effort already spent.

01 The Worth Filter
The Worth Filter
is the outcome worth the ongoing cost?
judged forward (outcome) — not backward. Ignored: sunk cost · effort spent · identity
✓ Keep
Affiliate cluster A
compounding revenue
Channel E
reach still growing
↻ Change
Product C
right problem, wrong shape
alter deliberately — don’t drift
✕ Kill
Experiment B
flat · high upkeep
Side project D
zero traction · sunk cost
3verdicts: keep · change · kill outcomesthe only input that counts AGPLopen source · local-first
02 Why stopping is the leverage
kill
the verdict everything in human nature avoids — made normal, not a failure.
forward
judge what it will produce next, not what you’ve already spent. Sunk cost is gone either way.
capacity
killing dead work reclaims the focus and capital trapped in it — the cheapest growth there is.
03 The thesis the whole series inherits
01
Local-first
Reviews run on owned compute — cheap enough to run as often as honesty requires.
02
Provider-agnostic
The reasoning isn’t welded to one model. Swap freely; no lock-in.
03
Non-developer build
A small, opinionated framework — AGPL-3.0, open so the method stays inspectable.
04
Edit by subtraction
The whole product is subtraction — killing what no longer earns its place.
04 The operator constellation
18 products · one foundation
Today: Outcome-First lit — the keep/change/kill review that closes the loop. The Decision layer is complete: validate → plan → review.
Content
DojoClaw
RoundupForge
Stenvrik
ChannelHelm
IdeaNavigator
Decision
IdeaClyst
Threlmark
Outcome-First
Platform
Grimfaste
Delvasta
Open / Reg
Glasspane
QAtrial
Markets
Polybot
TradingAgents
Defense / Intel
Argus
VigilSAR
VigilSAR-Bench
Diagnostic
World Model Readiness
Local-first · Provider-agnostic foundation

Independent commentary, produced with AI assistance under human editorial oversight. The views are the author’s own and may change. Outcome-First Decisions is open source under AGPL-3.0, provided “as is” without warranty; see the repository LICENSE. The framework’s verdicts are reasoning aids based on the inputs given and may be wrong — decision support, not decisions; verify independently before acting. Product and company names are trademarks of their respective owners; mention does not imply endorsement.

ThorstenMeyerAI.com · Built in Public · Day 8 of 19 · © 2026 Thorsten Meyer

Operators Get a Stop Rule

The release matters because many portfolios do not fail only from weak new ideas; they also accumulate old work that no longer earns attention. Outcome-First Decisions is designed to make ending that work a normal verdict rather than a personal defeat or an afterthought.

For small operators, studios and teams running many experiments at once, the immediate value is not a new launch path but a repeatable review habit. If the method works as described, it could help teams free capacity without adding staff, software spend or another planning cycle. The publisher frames that reclaimed capacity as a source of growth, but that claim will depend on how users apply the method and how honestly they measure cost.

The release also adds another tool to Thorsten Meyer AI’s broader open-source product series. Because it is AGPL-3.0, users can inspect and modify the framework, while downstream network use may carry license obligations. Teams considering it for commercial use would need to review the license terms for their own situation.

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Day 8 Extends Decision Tools

Outcome-First Decisions appears in Thorsten Meyer AI’s Built in Public series as Day 8 of 19. The source describes it as part of the Decision Layer, following related stages for validating and planning initiatives. The new dispatch is positioned as the review stage that closes the loop.

The material describes an operator constellation of 18 products connected by a local-first and provider-agnostic foundation. The examples listed in the dispatch include content products, decision tools, platform work, markets projects, and defense or intelligence-related tools. Outcome-First Decisions is framed as the portfolio review layer across that broader set.

The source also includes cautionary language: the framework is provided "as is" without warranty, and its verdicts are reasoning aids based on the inputs given. It says users should verify decisions independently before acting.

“The hardest decision isn’t what to start. It’s what to stop.”

— Thorsten Meyer AI dispatch

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Adoption Evidence Is Missing

Several details are not yet clear from the provided source material. The dispatch says the framework is on GitHub, but it does not provide repository metrics, contributor activity, issue history or examples of outside use. It also does not give a calendar publication date for the Day 8/19 entry.

It is also unclear how the Worth Filter handles mixed evidence, competing stakeholder goals or initiatives with long payback periods. The source describes the method and its intended bias toward clear verdicts, but it does not provide benchmarked outcomes or case studies showing how often the keep, change or kill judgments later proved right.

Evidence-Guided Practice

Evidence-Guided Practice

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Repository Use Will Test Claims

The next test is whether operators use the framework on real portfolios and report repeatable results. Signals to watch include GitHub activity, examples of reviews, changes to the method, and whether users adopt the keep, change or kill language in routine planning.

Thorsten Meyer AI’s Built in Public series is also expected to continue beyond Day 8 toward the remaining entries in the 19-part run. Later dispatches may show whether Outcome-First Decisions stays a standalone review framework or becomes part of a larger decision-support workflow.

Amazon

project kill change keep decision tool

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Key Questions

What is Outcome-First Decisions?

It is an open-source framework from Thorsten Meyer AI for reviewing initiatives and assigning one of three verdicts: keep, change or kill.

What does the Worth Filter do?

According to the publisher, the Worth Filter asks whether the outcome an initiative is producing now is worth the cost of continuing it. It excludes sunk cost and past effort from the decision.

Is the framework making decisions automatically?

No. The source material describes the verdicts as reasoning aids that may be wrong. Users are told to verify independently before acting.

What is confirmed about the release?

The provided material says Outcome-First Decisions was published as Built in Public Day 8 of 19, is open source under AGPL-3.0, and is part of Thorsten Meyer AI’s decision layer.

What information is still missing?

The source does not provide a calendar release date, GitHub metrics, outside user data or case studies showing the framework’s results in practice.

Source: Thorsten Meyer AI

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