Mix-not-match. Teams that ship are teams that contrast.

$ what's in here

• why we mix, not match
• the 14-day countdown
• how a team actually forms
• available vs booked

$ why we mix, not match

Teams that ship aren't homogeneous. They have contrast built in:

• One optimist + one critic per team.
• Mixed ages, energy levels, commitment levels, focus patterns.
• "Match slightly above" — junior paired with senior who teaches; senior paired with stretch projects.
• Skill is the floor. Persona axes weigh toward contrast, not similarity.

This is why the interview captures personality and working-style axes — mindset (optimist/critic), team orientation (lone wolf/team player), listening style, focus pattern, conflict style, contribution-beyond-code. The matcher composes weak signals into mixed teams.

$ the 14-day countdown

From the moment a founder posts a project, there are 14 days for a team to form. If a team forms, the room opens. If 14 days pass without a full team, the project goes dormant.

Inside those 14 days, visibility is staged:

• Days 0–7 — visible only to Deep platform-tier devs (the ones who've completed an Exitr project). Best chance: serious devs see it first.
• Days 8–14 — visible to everyone (Open + Deep). Self-sorts to motivated newcomers if no Deep dev bit.
• Day 15 — expired. Founder gets a refund. Project archived.

The countdown exists because side projects die in weeks, not months. Slow matching is no matching.

$ how a team actually forms

Not a swipe app. Not a click-and-hire marketplace. Teams form through staged signal exchange:

1. Founder posts. The Gatekeeper validates the spec, generates a public brief.
2. Matching engine pings devs in the target tier range with a real fit score.
3. Devs review the public brief and decide whether to accept the ping.
4. Acceptors land in the founder's inbox with the reasoning from the deep match pass.
5. Founder picks the team. First meeting is scheduled.
6. First meeting okayed → the room opens, the contract is signed, the build begins.

$ available vs booked

You're either matchable or you're not. Two states, one command:

• available — default. Open to new project pings. Visible in /explore.
• booked — auto-flipped when you accept a project. Portfolio stays public, but you're out of the matching pool for that cycle.

Re-prompted at end of the 3-month build cycle: "available again?" One command — exitr status available or exitr status booked.