The Unit Identification Protocol: Diagnostic Template
How to stress-test existence, repeatability, monetisability, and measurability — before your spreadsheet lies to you
Last week’s essay introduced the Unit Identification Protocol — four tests that determine whether the unit you’re measuring is real. If you haven’t read it, start there. This post — for paid subscribers like yourself, only — delivers the implementation layer: the diagnostic template, a worked example, and the bridge to CAMEL stress-testing. [Note: This should have been published mid-week, but some exciting projects — sourced through readers have been taking up my time of late. Hope to share more soon]
The protocol applies across sectors. Fintech, logistics, agritech, healthtech, infrastructure. The tests are universal. The evidence required shifts by business model.
These thresholds are calibrated to African market realities. In lower-friction environments, you might tolerate 40% commercial transaction rates during early scaling. In African markets — where every non-commercial user consumed acquisition spend, support bandwidth, and runway — 50% is the floor. Below that, your unit econom…