Free staged acquisition funnel (Crio Launch-style, 3 gated stages)

Why / Context

The teardown's #1 STEAL: Crio's Winter of Doing / Crio Launch free staged funnel draws 10,000+ applicants per cohort and years of unprompted, enthusiastic write-ups — near-zero marginal-cost lead gen that pre-trains buyers before they pay (teardown §2.3, §5.1). Our version: a free, 3-stage, gated program built from existing platform primitives, run as cohort-based intakes.

Schema already in place — NO migration required

• Course.kind=FUNNEL_STAGE for stage content (Bytes-style micro-modules)
• Program + ProgramItem.unlockAfterItemId + ProgramCohort model the staged, gated sequence (platform-owned tenant seeded)
• Quiz gates: existing Quiz/QuizAttempt pass thresholds; Stage-2 mini-project via Project (SPRINT, price 0) & ProjectInstance
• Stage-3 paired externships: ProjectInstanceCollaborator (teams of 2) + Project.partnerTenantId for real partner briefs
• Waitlist(source: 'funnel') for intake overflow

Implementation plan

1. Funnel definition: platform-tenant Program "Launch" with 3 stages — Stage 1 warm-up (FUNNEL_STAGE courses w/ quiz gates), Stage 2 evaluated mini-project (free Sprint), Stage 3 partner externship (paired, selective).
2. Gate engine (src/lib/funnel/gates.ts): stage N+1 unlocks on quiz pass (≥ threshold) / project evaluation score; selection for Stage 3 ranks Stage-2 scores + capacity.
3. Intake flow: marketing page + application (email-first, Waitlist before cohort assignment), cohort-based batches via ProgramCohort.
4. Zero-price enrollment path: fulfillment grants Enrollment(source: FREE) / ProjectInstance(source: ADMIN_GRANT) without checkout.
5. Externship ops: partner brief onboarding (reuses Project authoring w/ partnerTenantId), team pairing UI, partner-run demo evaluation capture (ProjectReview by partner-mentor).
6. Nurture: stage-completion emails + WhatsApp nudges (issue #10), completion → discount coupon for paid tiers (Coupon.campaign='funnel').
7. Funnel analytics: stage conversion dashboard (pairs with issue #12).
8. Integrity: quiz gates use existing anti-shuffle/seed; rate-limit retakes.

Acceptance criteria

• Applicant → Stage 1 → quiz gate → Stage 2 project → score-based Stage 3 selection, all free
• Stage 3 supports 2-person teams on partner briefs with partner evaluation recorded
• Completion issues a funnel certificate + paid-tier coupon
• Stage conversion metrics visible (applied → S1 → S2 → S3 → paid conversion)
• Cohort capacity + waitlist overflow handled

Dependencies / sequencing

• MVP M9/M10 primitives; issue #10 (WhatsApp) and #12 (analytics) enhance but don't block
• Design the funnel content before eng completes gating (content is the long pole — teardown §7 says begin design during MVP)

Start by reading the implementation plan and the existing Program, ProgramItem, ProgramCohort, Quiz, Project, and enrollment primitives. Then inspect the proposed entry point at src/lib/funnel/gates.ts and trace how cohort assignment, project evaluation, and free fulfillment currently work. Done means the staged free funnel, partner teams, certificate, coupon, waitlist, and conversion metrics satisfy every acceptance criterion.