{"id":2092,"slug":"anti-pattern-email-gate-before-result","title":"Anti-pattern — email-gate BEFORE delivering the result","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["lead-capture-gating"],"reference_body":"**Anti-pattern:** Forcing email signup before showing the tier / diagnosis.\n\n**Why it fails:** Optimizes for capture, not communication. Inverts the honest order ([[rule-show-result-before-email-gate]]). Reads as a lead-gen tool, not a diagnostic.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** This is the single biggest separator between honest diagnostic and lead-gen scorecard. The widget MUST deliver value first.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-presenting-tiers-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget presentation layer — tiered results without overclaiming (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:03.527Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:03.527Z"}