Reality Architects
✦ A personal experimental project exploring a long-standing interest in psychology and archetypal thinking. It is separate from my professional work in enterprise products and business analysis.
An experimental decision-support platform combining archetypal analysis, Tarot and established business frameworks.
12
Leadership archetypes
78
Tarot cards in library
30+
Frameworks (SWOT, RICE, OKR)
2
Languages (RU + EN)
Problem & solution
Complex decisions can require lengthy workshops and external facilitation
A structured reflection combining a five-card spread and business frameworks
Personal and team assumptions may remain unexamined
An archetype diagnostic highlights potential strengths and blind spots
Strategy sessions may produce insights without clear next steps
A 30-day action plan translates reflection into hypotheses and measures
Individual perspectives can be lost in a group discussion
Team mode gathers each participant’s perspective before the session
How it works
From question to action plan in 3 steps
1. Frame the question
Pivot or not? Hire a CTO? Enter a new market? Any strategic decision.
2. Explore an archetypal perspective
The system generates a five-card spread and uses it as a prompt for examining assumptions, risks and alternative paths. Relevant frameworks such as SWOT, RICE, Cynefin and JTBD are then applied to the question.
3. Translate reflection into action
A 30-day plan sets out decision checkpoints, testable hypotheses and success measures.
Key capabilities
Archetypal spread
Five cards from the Rider–Waite deck provide prompts covering the current situation, hidden factors, possible action and contrasting scenarios.
Business frameworks
The system selects and applies frameworks such as SWOT, RICE, JTBD, Cynefin, 7 Powers, Wardley Maps and scenario planning.
Archetype diagnostic
A 30-question assessment identifies a dominant leadership archetype and associated patterns for reflection.
AI-assisted reflection
A conversational interface adapts prompts to the user’s archetype and references material from the curated library.
Curated knowledge library
The retrieval system draws on 77 books covering psychology, archetypes, spirituality and business, with source references included in responses.
Team mode
The platform gathers questions and archetype results from individual participants to support discussion before a strategy session.
Who uses it
Founders
Considering a pivot, fundraising, an acquisition or a key appointment
Product & ops leaders
For strategic decisions and prioritisation
Coaches & facilitators
A tool for client and team work
Teams
To prepare for strategy sessions
People at a crossroads
Exploring a career decision or a conflict between options and values
Conscious practitioners
For deep reflection and self-development
Sample spread
Real case: "Does the market need my product?"
Current situation
Seven of Cups — Illusion / Choice / Fantasy
Interpretation
The Seven of Cups represents a moment of dazzling possibilities, where imagination runs wild and presents countless potential paths. However, it warns that these visions can be illusions or wishful thinking, lacking substance. It is the archetype of the brainstorm that has not yet met the reality check of the market.
Business context
You have a platform, Reality Architects, with a vast and impressive feature set — from individual archetypal analysis to enterprise team alignment. This card suggests you are currently captivated by the sheer potential of what your product could be, leading to a sprawling "everything machine" rather than a focused tool that solves one painful problem.
Reflection questions
- If you could only keep one feature to build a viable business around, which one would it be and why?
- What is the simplest, most direct problem a user is trying to solve that your platform addresses?
Hidden factors
Eight of Swords — Trap / Victim / Prison of one's own mind
Interpretation
The Eight of Swords points to a state of being mentally trapped, often by self-imposed limitations and assumptions. The figure is bound loosely and could escape, suggesting the prison is one of perception, not reality. It is the archetype of "analysis paralysis", where the belief that there are no good options prevents one from seeing the clear path.
Business context
You're questioning if the product is even "needed". This card reveals this is a self-imposed prison of thought. You are so surrounded by the complexity of your own creation and the "need more data" impulse of the Sage archetype that you feel powerless. The blind spot is that you believe the answer lies in further thinking, when it actually lies in taking a small, real-world step.
Reflection questions
- What is a core belief you hold about your product that, if proven false, would actually set you free?
- What is the smallest, safest experiment you could run tomorrow to test one of your assumptions?
Path of action
Ace of Swords — Breakthrough / Clarity / Truth
Interpretation
The Ace of Swords is the breakthrough. It is a moment of supreme clarity, a single powerful insight that cuts through all confusion, doubt, and illusion. This is not a gentle realisation; it is a decisive, sharp, and sometimes difficult truth that galvanises immediate and focused action.
Business context
This card demands you make a choice. Stop building and start cutting. The action is to use this quarter to pivot from a "platform" to a "product". This means choosing ONE target audience (e.g., solo founders) and ONE core job-to-be-done (e.g., "help me decide on my pivot") and ruthlessly cutting or postponing every other feature. This is an act of intellectual honesty.
Reflection questions
- What is the one truth about your market that you have been avoiding?
- What would a "lean" version of Reality Architects, focused on just one user and one problem, look like?
If YES
Three of Pentacles — Teamwork / Collaboration / Mastery
Interpretation
The Three of Pentacles represents masterful collaboration and tangible results. It is the archetype of the skilled artisan demonstrating their work, receiving feedback, and integrating it to create something of high quality and recognised value. This is where vision meets execution and is validated by others.
Business context
If you take the Ace of Swords action and focus, this is the outcome. You will move from the theoretical (Seven of Cups) to the tangible. You'll bring a sharp, focused version of your product to a specific user and co-create with them. This is the path to product-market fit: real users, using a real product, and providing the feedback needed to build a durable business.
Reflection questions
- Who are the first three "master artisans" (early-adopter customers) you need to work with?
- What would "quality craftsmanship" mean for your single, focused feature?
If NO
Ten of Wands — Burden / Overload / Responsibility
Interpretation
The Ten of Wands signifies being overburdened and overwhelmed by one's own creation. It is the story of the entrepreneur who has taken on too much, whose initial brilliant spark (Ace of Wands) has become a crushing weight of responsibilities, tasks, and unfulfilled potential. Progress grinds to a halt not from lack of effort, but from unsustainable complexity.
Business context
If you continue down the current path without focus, Reality Architects will collapse under its own weight. You will continue to build and refine a complex system, burning through resources and time, without ever achieving the traction needed to sustain it. The roadmap becomes a list of burdens rather than a path to victory.
Reflection questions
- Are you currently feeling more energised by your vision or more burdened by your to-do list?
- If you continue as you are, what is the most likely thing to "break" first: your finances, your morale, or the product?
Applied Business Frameworks
AI applies relevant frameworks to your specific context
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
- Radical Simplification: focusing on one JTBD creates a clear value proposition that is easier to market and sell
- Faster to Revenue: a single, focused tool for a specific audience (e.g., enterprise team alignment) can reach paying customers within the quarter
- Clear Roadmap: development priorities become obvious, reducing churn and increasing team velocity
- Forces Validation: removes the ability to hide behind a complex "vision" and forces a direct test of a single, core hypothesis
Weaknesses
- Kills Optionality (short-term): the Explorer archetype will resist this. You are explicitly choosing to close doors
- Smaller Initial TAM: targeting only one niche reduces the theoretical market size initially
- Potential Sunk Cost Fallacy: the Sage in you may grieve the "lost" work on deprioritised features
Opportunities
- Become "Best-in-Class": deeply solving one problem for one audience creates a strong market foothold and brand
- Partnership Potential: a focused tool is easier to integrate as an API or sell as a white-label solution into HR Tech platforms
- Clear Enterprise Sales Motion: a tool for "Team Strategy Sessions" has a clear buyer and budget owner
- Build a "Wedge": once the first use case is validated and embedded, you can expand from a position of strength
Threats
- Choosing the Wrong Wedge: the initial focused hypothesis may be wrong, requiring a pivot
- Analysis Paralysis: the status quo allows you to endlessly "perfect" the system without market rejection
- Feature Creep: the temptation to keep adding "just one more thing" will persist
- Resource Burn: the current path will exhaust your runway before you find product-market fit for any part of the platform
30-Day Action Plan
Week 1–2
- ☐ Define the One Hypothesis (Ace of Swords): choose ONE option from the decision matrix to test for the next 10 weeks. Write down the user, problem, and proposed solution in a single sentence
- ☐ Customer Discovery Interviews: conduct 15–20 interviews with people in your single target segment. Do NOT show them the product. Focus entirely on their problem, how they solve it now, and what they pay for that solution
- ☐ Map the "Pain Chain": based on interviews, identify the most acute pain you can solve. This is your point of attack
Week 3–4
- ☐ Concierge MVP (Three of Pentacles): manually deliver the solution for 3–5 pilot users. You act as the "AI". Run the analysis, facilitate the frameworks, deliver a PDF report. This tests the value of the output, not the tech
- ☐ Set a Price: charge for this manual service from day one, even a nominal amount. This is the single most important form of validation
- ☐ Build a "Sell Sheet": create a one-page document describing only the focused-down product, its user, the problem, and the outcome. Use this to pre-sell pilots
Decision Checkpoint (end of quarter)
IF you have secured at least 5 paying pilot customers for the focused "concierge" MVP who confirm it solves a top-3 problem for them → you have found your wedge and should proceed to build software for that specific use case
IF NOT → take the learnings and pivot to test hypothesis #2 from your decision matrix in the next quarter. You are no longer asking "if" it is needed; you are finding "what" is needed
Leadership archetypes
12 archetypes based on the Pearson PMAI methodology
Warrior
Discipline, courage, competitiveness
Magician
Transformation, strategy, vision
Sage
Truth, analysis, objectivity
Innocent
Optimism, trust, simplicity
Explorer
Freedom, authenticity, discovery
Rebel
Disrupting status quo, revolution
Hero
Achievement, overcoming, growth
Caregiver
Empathy, service, support
Creator
Innovation, vision, aesthetics
Ruler
Order, control, responsibility
Lover
Connection, passion, relationships
Jester
Joy, play, the present moment
Technology
AI engine
Sonnet + Gemini methodology for archetypal analysis, interpretations, and personalised coaching
Knowledge base
Vector search across 77 books. Every AI quote is checked for relevance to its source
Security
Supabase RLS policies, isolated teams, spreads private by default
"Some decisions do not need more data; they benefit from a different lens. Archetypes and symbols can prompt questions that spreadsheets do not."
My role
Developed the concept, product design and implementation independently. Turned the initial idea of connecting Jungian archetypes, Tarot and business strategy into a working platform with retrieval-augmented generation, an archetype assessment, team mode and personalised card generation. Built the front end with Lovable and the back end, authentication, row-level security and vector search with Supabase; Sonnet and Gemini support the analysis. I also curated the 77-book source library.
Try the platform
Open Reality Architects