Backward-From-The-Future Visioning
Write the story of your success from ten years ahead, then mine the gems.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 85%
Backward-From-The-Future Visioning is an exercise Allbirds borrowed from Zingerman's Deli (and akin to Amazon's future press release). About a month after launch, the ~10-person founding team seated themselves in the summer of 2026 — ten years out — and wrote the story of the journey that brought the company to where it got. Each person wrote by hand for 20 minutes without lifting the pen, no computers allowed, then read aloud to the group. The leaders unearthed the gems from each and steered them into a three-page narrative. That document was institutionalized: every final-round candidate reads and digests it, and their reaction reveals whether they belong. The company still uses it and has barely deviated from it.
Origin
Zwillinger openly credits Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor for the visioning process — 'this isn't our idea, we stole it' — noting all good ideas have some inspiration, and likens it to Amazon's famous end-of-project press release.
Core principles
- 01Seat yourself far in the future and narrate the journey that got you there.
- 02Handwriting without lifting the pen forces unfiltered, honest articulation.
- 03Leaders unearth the gems from everyone's writing and steer the direction.
- 04The resulting narrative doubles as a hiring filter for values fit.
How to run it
- 1
Seat yourself in the future
Choose a vantage point well forward (Allbirds used ten years) and frame the task as looking back on the journey.
Pro tip Ten years was their default but the horizon can be shorter.
- 2
Handwrite for 20 minutes, no lifting the pen
Everyone writes the narrative of what brought the company to its future state, by hand, without lifting pen from paper, no computer or typewriter.
Pro tip The no-lift constraint keeps people from over-editing and forces authentic flow.
- 3
Read aloud and unearth the gems
Each person reads their piece to the group; leaders extract the strongest ideas and steer them toward the highest-impact articulation.
- 4
Institutionalize as a hiring filter
Compile the gems into a short narrative and give it to every final-round candidate to reveal whether they get more or less excited.
Pro tip Reactions separate people who join for the right reasons from those who don't.
In the wild
A month after launch the ~10-person team ran the exercise looking back from summer 2026, producing a three-page prose narrative of the company's journey.
→ Still used today; every final-round candidate reads it, and the company has 'not skewed very far' from it.
Common mistakes
Letting people type or over-edit
Allowing computers or lifting the pen invites polishing and self-censorship, losing the raw, honest articulation the exercise is designed to surface.
Is it for you?
Best for
Early-stage founding teams (Allbirds did it with ~10 people) wanting to crystallize and institutionalize a shared vision.
Not ideal for
Solo founders or teams needing near-term tactical plans rather than long-horizon vision.
From the transcript
“we went through a multi-day exercise where we wrote out looking back from the seat of the summer of 2026 10 years before writing about…”
“they weren't allowed to lift their pen off the paper physical pen physical paper no typewriter no computer and not lift their pen off the…”
From the episode
Joey Zwillinger, Allbirds Co-founder: How We Earned 7 Figures in Our First 30 Days With 0 Marketing Spend
Joey Zwillinger