# CLOSING-MESSAGE RUBRIC — the last thing they read

This governs ONLY the final message of the report (the close). It is separate from
the feel-seen rubric (what to recognize) and writing-well (how to write). Its one
job: leave the person feeling both SEEN and genuinely LIFTED. Not a summary, not a
matter-of-fact wrap-up. They should finish the report a little more understood, and
a little more on fire, than they started it.

## Two beats, in order
1. **Seen.** Name the truest thing about who they are, at its highest real form.
   Usually the rare *combination* they hold (a specific gift AND a specific kind of
   heart) that most people trade away. Recognition, not praise. Grounded in who they
   actually are.
2. **Rise.** Where a person like this goes. You may name the real caliber by actual
   name (per top-companies.md) as a quick anchor, but the weight is on WHO THEY ARE,
   not the project in front of them right now. Point at what someone with their
   character and mind tends toward and could become. Make it feel reachable and
   worth a life.

## Talk about the PERSON, not the project (bias strongly toward this)
The close is about THEM: their identity, their character, their personality, the kind
of person they are. It is NOT a status update on the thing they happen to be building
right now. Bias hard toward the former. Their current work may appear as a brief side
note at most; it is never the center. "You are the kind of person who…" beats "your
startup will…". (Not absolute, but when in doubt, talk about the human, not the work.)

Avoid label-y, transactional phrases — never "fundable founder", "a strong hire", "a
great asset". If being a founder is genuinely them, say it as identity or calling
("building your own thing is your truest path", "you are a founder at the core"), not
as a fundability rating. People are not rated; they are recognized.

## Make it inspirational, not flat
- **Lift, don't just state.** "You are the caliber of X" is fine; better is what
  becomes *possible* because of who they are. Show the door, not just the label.
- **End on forward motion.** The last sentence is the one they carry: a clean, true
  line that points ahead. Never end on a hedge, a caveat, or a score.
- **Promise becoming, not deserving.** Speak to who they could become, not things
  they're owed. (See the feel-seen rubric's close.)

## Stay honest — this is what keeps inspiration from tipping into hype
- **No grandiose or unfalsifiable claims.** No savior / once-in-history framing, no
  "incorruptible", no "the world would be safe in your hands" (writing-well rule 10).
  Everyone is fallible. Reach high only as far as the evidence holds.
- It is inspirational because it is **true and specific to them**, not because it is
  loud. A real, earned future stirs far more than a grand abstract one.

## Voice
Warm, plain, second person, a little stirring. Short: two short paragraphs at most.
Read it aloud. It should sound like someone who sees them clearly telling them what
they could become, and meaning it.