Plan CEO Review
Review the plan from a founder/product strategy perspective before execution.
Do not implement. Keep the user in control of every scope change.
Guardrails
- Challenge assumptions directly and write down unresolved ambiguity.
- Prefer focus over expansion unless the user explicitly chooses an expansion mode.
- Treat each opportunity as optional until accepted. Do not smuggle rejected ideas into scope.
- Define success in observable product or business terms, not vague quality claims.
Skill Chain
For a full founder/product review, run these local skills in order:
/plan-review-intake - find the plan and local .planning/* context.
/interrogate-me - stress-test the problem, user, scope, assumptions, risks, and tradeoffs.
/plan-review-scope - establish what already exists, what is in scope, and what is out of scope.
/plan-ceo-strategy - select the review mode and challenge the product direction.
/plan-ceo-opportunities - surface expansion, simplification, positioning, and trust opportunities one at a time.
/plan-ceo-wrapup - write the .planning/reviews/plan-ceo-review.md artifact.
If a named skill is unavailable, inline that section using the same instructions
from the corresponding skill file name above.
Review Modes
SCOPE EXPANSION: dream bigger and propose high-leverage improvements. Every expansion requires explicit opt-in.
SELECTIVE EXPANSION: preserve baseline scope while offering optional improvements one by one.
HOLD SCOPE: make the accepted scope sharper, more coherent, and safer without expanding or reducing it.
SCOPE REDUCTION: find the smallest version that still achieves the core outcome.
Once the user chooses a mode, do not drift modes.
Product Review Principles
- Start with the user problem, not the proposed implementation.
- Separate reversible decisions from one-way decisions.
- Prefer focus: fewer things, better.
- Challenge proxy metrics that do not prove user value.
- Look for trust, safety, onboarding, and retention consequences.
- Ask what would make the plan fail, then remove or expose those failure paths.
- Prefer complete, bounded work over shortcuts that leave avoidable quality gaps.
- Write all durable outputs under
.planning/*.
Required Output
Write or update .planning/reviews/plan-ceo-review.md with:
Status: CLEAR, CLEAR_WITH_CONCERNS, NEEDS_DECISION, or BLOCKED
Review mode
Plan reviewed
Problem framing
Target users and use cases
Scope decisions
Accepted opportunities
Rejected opportunities
NOT in scope
Risks and reversibility
Success metrics
TODO proposals
Unresolved decisions
Completion summary
When a larger strategy document is useful, write it under:
.planning/strategy/{feature-slug}.md
Do not write durable workflow artifacts outside .planning/*.
Install: npx skills add ChristopherAlphonse/calphonse-skills --skill plan-ceo-review
1---2name: plan-ceo-review3description: Founder-mode product review. Rethinks the problem, challenges scope, searches for stronger product opportunities, and chooses one of four review modes: SCOPE EXPANSION, SELECTIVE EXPANSION, HOLD SCOPE, or SCOPE REDUCTION.4---56# Plan CEO Review78Review the plan from a founder/product strategy perspective before execution.9Do not implement. Keep the user in control of every scope change.1011## Guardrails1213- Challenge assumptions directly and write down unresolved ambiguity.14- Prefer focus over expansion unless the user explicitly chooses an expansion mode.15- Treat each opportunity as optional until accepted. Do not smuggle rejected ideas into scope.16- Define success in observable product or business terms, not vague quality claims.1718## Skill Chain1920For a full founder/product review, run these local skills in order:21221. `/plan-review-intake` - find the plan and local `.planning/*` context.232. `/interrogate-me` - stress-test the problem, user, scope, assumptions, risks, and tradeoffs.243. `/plan-review-scope` - establish what already exists, what is in scope, and what is out of scope.254. `/plan-ceo-strategy` - select the review mode and challenge the product direction.265. `/plan-ceo-opportunities` - surface expansion, simplification, positioning, and trust opportunities one at a time.276. `/plan-ceo-wrapup` - write the `.planning/reviews/plan-ceo-review.md` artifact.2829If a named skill is unavailable, inline that section using the same instructions30from the corresponding skill file name above.3132## Review Modes3334- `SCOPE EXPANSION`: dream bigger and propose high-leverage improvements. Every expansion requires explicit opt-in.35- `SELECTIVE EXPANSION`: preserve baseline scope while offering optional improvements one by one.36- `HOLD SCOPE`: make the accepted scope sharper, more coherent, and safer without expanding or reducing it.37- `SCOPE REDUCTION`: find the smallest version that still achieves the core outcome.3839Once the user chooses a mode, do not drift modes.4041## Product Review Principles4243- Start with the user problem, not the proposed implementation.44- Separate reversible decisions from one-way decisions.45- Prefer focus: fewer things, better.46- Challenge proxy metrics that do not prove user value.47- Look for trust, safety, onboarding, and retention consequences.48- Ask what would make the plan fail, then remove or expose those failure paths.49- Prefer complete, bounded work over shortcuts that leave avoidable quality gaps.50- Write all durable outputs under `.planning/*`.5152## Required Output5354Write or update `.planning/reviews/plan-ceo-review.md` with:5556- `Status`: `CLEAR`, `CLEAR_WITH_CONCERNS`, `NEEDS_DECISION`, or `BLOCKED`57- `Review mode`58- `Plan reviewed`59- `Problem framing`60- `Target users and use cases`61- `Scope decisions`62- `Accepted opportunities`63- `Rejected opportunities`64- `NOT in scope`65- `Risks and reversibility`66- `Success metrics`67- `TODO proposals`68- `Unresolved decisions`69- `Completion summary`7071When a larger strategy document is useful, write it under:7273`.planning/strategy/{feature-slug}.md`7475Do not write durable workflow artifacts outside `.planning/*`.76---7778> **Install:** ``npx skills add ChristopherAlphonse/calphonse-skills --skill plan-ceo-review``