Skill: weakness-detection
Purpose
Before triggering the pivot engine, understand WHY dimensions are weak. A low distribution score might mean "no viral loop" (fixable) or "fundamentally wrong category for organic growth" (structural). Surface the root cause, not just the symptom.
Input
- Idea slug
memory/ideas/<slug>/scores.json (required)memory/ideas/<slug>/idea.md (business_model)- All available dimension files in
memory/ideas/<slug>/
memory/market_insights/<niche>-*-<YYYY>-<MM>.md (to tell a knowledge gap from a real weakness)
Weakness Classification
| Root Cause Type |
Description |
Fix Type |
| Structural |
Inherent to the idea, can't be pivoted away |
Drop or major pivot |
| Situational |
Weak due to user's current constraints |
Fixable (more time, budget) |
| Knowledge gap |
Weak because data is missing |
Run more research |
| Addressable |
Weak but has a clear fix |
Targeted pivot |
Weak Threshold
A dimension is weak when its score is below 40, or when it is the lowest-scoring dimension and below 55. Any dimension below 25 (a killer dimension in idea-scoring) is weak and automatically critical. Missing dimensions (null) are weak with root_cause_type: knowledge-gap.
Severity Matrix
overall_weakness_severity |
Condition |
| fatal |
Any structural weakness below 25, OR two or more structural weaknesses below 40, OR Demand and Distribution both weak |
| major |
One structural weakness below 40, OR two or more addressable/situational weaknesses below 40, OR one killer dimension that is addressable |
| minor |
Everything else: weaknesses are addressable, situational, or knowledge gaps, and none is below 25 |
Failure Mode Library
Use these as starting points for failure_mode; make each specific to the idea and cite the score that predicts it.
| Dimension |
Typical B2C failure mode |
Typical B2B failure mode |
| Demand |
Launch gets installs from curiosity, D7 collapses because the problem was interesting, not painful |
Buyers agree the problem is coming, nobody has it yet; the product is 18 months early and cancels at first renewal |
| Competition |
Incumbent with 100K ratings adds the differentiating feature in one release |
Funded adjacent vendor already owns the buyer relationship and ships the module in a quarter |
| Monetization |
Free tier is good enough; conversion stays under 2% and revenue never covers acquisition |
Revealed price is $0 (free tools, checklists); the buyer never forms a budget line |
| Distribution |
The only working channel (one creator, one subreddit) exhausts at a few thousand installs |
Warm network exhausts at 20-30 customers and SEO or partnerships never ramp before runway ends |
| Retention |
No external trigger; the habit never forms and D30 sits under 5% |
Customer business mortality: the buyer churns because the buyer fails, regardless of product |
| Founder-Market Fit |
Founder cannot produce content in the channel the category requires |
Founder has no access to the buyer and the sale needs a relationship they do not have |
Process
- Load
scores.json and identify weak dimensions with the threshold above.
- For each weak dimension, read its source file and write a one-paragraph root cause. Name the specific value that produced the low score (a ratio, a churn figure, a competitor, a missing channel).
- Classify the root cause: structural (inherent to the idea; changing it changes the idea), situational (the founder's current constraints: time, budget, audience), knowledge-gap (the file is missing or rests on one source), addressable (a clear fix exists that changes one variable).
- Describe the failure mode if the idea proceeds unchanged, using the library as a starting point.
- Sort weaknesses into
critical_weaknesses (structural, or any dimension below 25) and addressable_weaknesses (addressable or situational).
- Assign
overall_weakness_severity from the matrix and write the file.
Output
Write to memory/ideas/<slug>/weaknesses.json:
{
"idea_slug": "",
"detected_at": "YYYY-MM-DD",
"weak_threshold_applied": "score < 40, or lowest dimension < 55",
"weak_dimensions": [
{
"dimension": "",
"score": 0,
"root_cause_type": "structural | situational | knowledge-gap | addressable",
"root_cause_description": "",
"failure_mode": "",
"source_value_cited": ""
}
],
"critical_weaknesses": [],
"addressable_weaknesses": [],
"knowledge_gaps": [],
"overall_weakness_severity": "fatal | major | minor",
"severity_rationale": ""
}
Notes
- pivot-engine only generates options for
addressable_weaknesses; knowledge_gaps are sent back to the relevant research skill instead of being pivoted around.
- When
overall_weakness_severity is fatal, say so plainly when presenting; the honest output of this skill is sometimes "no pivot can fix this".
1---2name: weakness-detection3description: Analyzes idea-scoring output to identify the weakest dimensions, root causes of low scores, and probable failure modes if the idea were pursued as-is.4---56<!-- version: 0.2.0 | outputs: memory/ideas/<slug>/weaknesses.json -->78# Skill: weakness-detection910## Purpose1112Before triggering the pivot engine, understand WHY dimensions are weak. A low distribution score might mean "no viral loop" (fixable) or "fundamentally wrong category for organic growth" (structural). Surface the root cause, not just the symptom.1314## Input1516- Idea slug17- `memory/ideas/<slug>/scores.json` (required)18- `memory/ideas/<slug>/idea.md` (`business_model`)19- All available dimension files in `memory/ideas/<slug>/`20- `memory/market_insights/<niche>-*-<YYYY>-<MM>.md` (to tell a knowledge gap from a real weakness)2122## Weakness Classification2324| Root Cause Type | Description | Fix Type |25|---|---|---|26| Structural | Inherent to the idea, can't be pivoted away | Drop or major pivot |27| Situational | Weak due to user's current constraints | Fixable (more time, budget) |28| Knowledge gap | Weak because data is missing | Run more research |29| Addressable | Weak but has a clear fix | Targeted pivot |3031## Weak Threshold3233A dimension is **weak** when its score is below 40, or when it is the lowest-scoring dimension and below 55. Any dimension below 25 (a killer dimension in idea-scoring) is weak and automatically **critical**. Missing dimensions (null) are weak with `root_cause_type: knowledge-gap`.3435## Severity Matrix3637| `overall_weakness_severity` | Condition |38|---|---|39| **fatal** | Any structural weakness below 25, OR two or more structural weaknesses below 40, OR Demand and Distribution both weak |40| **major** | One structural weakness below 40, OR two or more addressable/situational weaknesses below 40, OR one killer dimension that is addressable |41| **minor** | Everything else: weaknesses are addressable, situational, or knowledge gaps, and none is below 25 |4243## Failure Mode Library4445Use these as starting points for `failure_mode`; make each specific to the idea and cite the score that predicts it.4647| Dimension | Typical B2C failure mode | Typical B2B failure mode |48|---|---|---|49| Demand | Launch gets installs from curiosity, D7 collapses because the problem was interesting, not painful | Buyers agree the problem is coming, nobody has it yet; the product is 18 months early and cancels at first renewal |50| Competition | Incumbent with 100K ratings adds the differentiating feature in one release | Funded adjacent vendor already owns the buyer relationship and ships the module in a quarter |51| Monetization | Free tier is good enough; conversion stays under 2% and revenue never covers acquisition | Revealed price is $0 (free tools, checklists); the buyer never forms a budget line |52| Distribution | The only working channel (one creator, one subreddit) exhausts at a few thousand installs | Warm network exhausts at 20-30 customers and SEO or partnerships never ramp before runway ends |53| Retention | No external trigger; the habit never forms and D30 sits under 5% | Customer business mortality: the buyer churns because the buyer fails, regardless of product |54| Founder-Market Fit | Founder cannot produce content in the channel the category requires | Founder has no access to the buyer and the sale needs a relationship they do not have |5556## Process57581. Load `scores.json` and identify weak dimensions with the threshold above.592. For each weak dimension, read its source file and write a one-paragraph root cause. Name the specific value that produced the low score (a ratio, a churn figure, a competitor, a missing channel).603. Classify the root cause: **structural** (inherent to the idea; changing it changes the idea), **situational** (the founder's current constraints: time, budget, audience), **knowledge-gap** (the file is missing or rests on one source), **addressable** (a clear fix exists that changes one variable).614. Describe the failure mode if the idea proceeds unchanged, using the library as a starting point.625. Sort weaknesses into `critical_weaknesses` (structural, or any dimension below 25) and `addressable_weaknesses` (addressable or situational).636. Assign `overall_weakness_severity` from the matrix and write the file.6465## Output6667Write to `memory/ideas/<slug>/weaknesses.json`:6869```json70{71 "idea_slug": "",72 "detected_at": "YYYY-MM-DD",73 "weak_threshold_applied": "score < 40, or lowest dimension < 55",74 "weak_dimensions": [75 {76 "dimension": "",77 "score": 0,78 "root_cause_type": "structural | situational | knowledge-gap | addressable",79 "root_cause_description": "",80 "failure_mode": "",81 "source_value_cited": ""82 }83 ],84 "critical_weaknesses": [],85 "addressable_weaknesses": [],86 "knowledge_gaps": [],87 "overall_weakness_severity": "fatal | major | minor",88 "severity_rationale": ""89}90```9192## Notes9394- pivot-engine only generates options for `addressable_weaknesses`; `knowledge_gaps` are sent back to the relevant research skill instead of being pivoted around.95- When `overall_weakness_severity` is fatal, say so plainly when presenting; the honest output of this skill is sometimes "no pivot can fix this".
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