Proof Has a Shelf Life

A proof point from three years ago carries far less weight than one from this quarter. Stakeholders read recency as relevance, and a stale receipt invites the question of why you have not produced anything since.

Audit your top three proof points every quarter. For each, ask: is the metric still accurate, is the company still using it, can I describe the result in one breath without checking notes? If any answer is no, the proof has decayed and needs either a fresh number or a replacement.

The people who get cited as experts keep their proof shelf full of recent work — not their best year ever.