Note Capture & Normalization

Purpose

This step preserves truth.

The goal is to:

High-level summaries are not enough. Direct quotes matter.

Do not rely on memory or post-hoc notes.

Tool	Why
Granola	Records off local audio driver; no third bot
Native platform recording	Acceptable fallback
External note-taker bots	Avoid if possible

Granola is preferred because it is invisible to the meeting and produces clean transcripts.

Always:

This builds trust and avoids downstream issues.

Reason	Impact
Exact language	Reveals real pain
Direct quotes	High credibility in exec readouts
Avoids bias	Prevents over-interpretation
Cross-validation	Confirms themes across interviews

Executive decks land harder when they include:

"We spend more time validating data than using it."

That power is lost in summaries.

Within 24 hours of the interview:

Do not wait until synthesis week.

Every interview is normalized into the same structure.

Section	What Goes Here
Role & scope	Accountability and decisions
Core workflows	Repeated or manual work
Pain points	Friction, failures, delays
Systems & data	Tools, SoR vs SoT
Reporting and latency	Freshness, mismatches
Constraints	Security, policy, risk
Desired outcomes	What "better" means
Notable quotes	Verbatim excerpts

This structure mirrors the interview framework.

Guidelines:

Example:

"We don't trust the number until we've checked it three times." (Finance)

AI may be used to:

AI may not:

If normalization feels tedious, it's working. This is where rigor is established.

Next step is Opportunity Identification, where normalized notes become scorable inputs.