Framework

TRACE The Verified Research Loop

TRACE is a five-step research loop: Target, Retrieve, Assess, Cross-check, Export. Target locks stakes, scope, and output format before a search runs. Retrieve gathers independent sources instead of one confident pass. Assess tiers each source so weight follows credibility. Cross-check requires a second source before a load-bearing claim can enter the memo. Export is a claim ledger a co-founder can act on without redoing the work. Fluent collection is not research. TRACE is the verification structure.

The moves
5

When to use it

Use it when a clean, confident answer is about to move a market, a hire, a regulation check, or a deal, and nobody can point at the source behind the number.

The moves

  1. 01

    Target

    Lock stakes, scope, and output format before a single search runs.

  2. 02

    Retrieve

    Gather independent sources instead of trusting one confident pass.

  3. 03

    Assess

    Tier each source (primary, secondary, advocacy, anonymous) so weight follows credibility.

  4. 04

    Cross-check

    Require a second source before a load-bearing claim earns a place in the memo.

  5. 05

    Export

    Ship a claim ledger and a memo a co-founder or investor can act on without redoing the work.

The book

Available now

The Verified Research Loop

Deep Online Research for Entrepreneurs Using AI Without Trusting It Blindly

Open the book
The series

Related frameworks

CALIBRATE

The Calibrated Mind

CALIBRATE is the practice of matching the strength of a judgment to the strength of the evidence, then updating when the facts move. Confidence is a report, not a personality trait. A loud claim with a thin source is a calibration failure, not conviction.

GRAIN

The RAG Engineer

GRAIN is a retrieval loop: Gather, Rank, Assemble, Inspect, Navigate. Gather collects candidate passages. Rank orders them for the question actually asked. Assemble builds the context the model may see. Inspect checks that the cited chunk is the one used. Navigate decides the next lookup or the refusal. If you cannot point at the passage, you do not have retrieval. You have a fluent guess.

SENSE

AI Agents for Startup Strategy

SENSE is a five-move strategic intelligence layer: Scan, Evaluate, Navigate, Simulate, Execute. It turns agent work from a productivity shortcut into a sourced claim that changes a watchlist, an assumption register, or a Monday decision.

Terminology

Not a vendor research product, not RAG, and not a generic “research loop” slogan. TRACE is the named system in The Verified Research Loop, available now in English and Dutch paperback, hardcover, and Kindle.

Citation

TRACE (The Verified Research Loop). Len P. van der Hof, Systems for the Strategic Self. https://lenvanderhof.com/frameworks/trace/

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