Playbooks
- Step-by-step actions, not explanations. Use these when something is on fire, you're shipping a project, or you want a quick win
- Each playbook lists what you need before you start, then walks the steps in order
- Want the foundations instead? The Guide is 15 lessons, about 105 minutes
Something's on fire, or you're shipping a project, or you want a quick win. Follow these.
Playbooks solve immediate problems. The Guide teaches you the foundations: 15 lessons covering payments, chargebacks, fraud, operations, and costs (~105 min total).
If nothing is actively on fire:
- Pick one metric that's been bugging you (auth rate, chargeback ratio, fraud rate)
- Form a hypothesis about why it's off
- Design one small test to validate or invalidate that hypothesis
- Run it long enough to read. Auth rate shows within days; chargebacks and fraud take weeks. A change customers see follows the seven live-test points
That's how you make progress without getting lost in optimization theater.
Just got approved? Do these before your first live transaction.
Order flagged? Use Should I fulfill this order?.
You're using AI-written Stripe code? Review the integration before launch.
Use these when you don't have time to think.
Bots keep trying cards? Use the incident steps. A credential was exposed? Use the Stripe key response.
High-impact improvements you can ship fast.
1-2 weeks
Resolve eligible disputes early, then compare chargebacks on similar payments before and after setup
1-2 weeks
Liability shift without killing conversion
2-4 weeks
Higher auth rates, lower fraud, better mobile
Same day
Step-by-step from request to resolution
For when nothing's broken and you just want the numbers better.
These ones need planning.
Over $1M/month? These cover what changes.
How Playbooks Work
Each playbook has:
- Trigger criteria - How to know you need this playbook
- Steps - Do these in order
- Checkpoints - How to know each step worked
- Success criteria - How to know you're done
Playbooks are for doing, not understanding. They're hypothesis-test-learn cycles, not checklists to follow blindly. If you want the concepts, the main sections have them.
The Experimental Mindset
Throwing tools at a problem you haven't diagnosed is expensive guessing. Every playbook should get you to:
- Understand why (talk to customers, look at data)
- Form a hypothesis (we think it's X because of Y)
- Test (change one thing, measure for 2 weeks)
- Learn (did it work? why or why not?)
Even in a crisis, you're running experiments. They're just faster and higher-stakes.
Next Steps
- Reduce Chargebacks Fast - Ratio spiking
- Survive Fraud Attack - Fraud in progress
- Breach Response - Data breach suspected
- Fix Auth Rates - Sudden auth drop
- Set Up Dispute Alerts - Prevent chargebacks
- First-Time 3DS - Liability shift
- Digital Wallets - Mobile conversion
- Fraud Fundamentals - Understand concepts
- Chargeback Basics - How disputes work
- Benchmarks - What "good" looks like
See Also
- Chargeback Metrics - Tracking dispute ratios
- Fraud Metrics - Monitoring fraud rates
- Payments Metrics - Auth rate tracking
- Network Programs - VAMP, ECM thresholds
- 3D Secure - Authentication setup
- Chargeback Alerts - Alert services
- Processor Management - Working with processors
- Experimentation - Testing methodology