majiayu000 Founder Skill
Router skill for startup workflows. Detects task type and routes to appropriate workflow that produces usable artifacts.
When This Skill Activates
You're working on:
- Validating a product idea or value proposition
- Calculating market size (TAM/SAM/SOM)
- Analyzing competitive landscape or threats
- Building or evaluating a pitch deck
- Preparing for investor meetings
- Modeling unit economics, projections, or cash flow
- Planning a product launch
- Creating board reports or updates
Workflow Selection
Announce which workflow you're using before starting:
| Task Type | Workflow | Reference | Output Artifact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idea validation, stress testing | Validate Idea | references/validate.md |
JSON scores + GO/ITERATE/KILL |
| TAM/SAM/SOM, market opportunity | Size Market | references/market-size.md |
Tables + Marp slide |
| Competition, threats, positioning | Analyze Competition | references/compete.md |
Threat matrix + heat map |
| Pitch deck creation or eval | Build Pitch Deck | references/pitch.md |
Marp deck (10-12 slides) |
| Investor Q&A, meeting prep | Prep for Investors | references/investor-prep.md |
Q&A document |
| Unit economics, projections, cash | Model Financials | references/financials.md |
Spreadsheet-ready tables |
| Launch planning, 90-day roadmap | Plan Launch | references/launch.md |
Phased execution plan |
| Board deck, metrics summary | Report to Board | references/board.md |
Marp deck + summary |
Related Thinking Tools
From hope/skills/soul/references/tools/:
| Tool | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Abstraction Ladder | Reframe pivot decisions |
| Hard Choice | GO/KILL verdicts with no clear winner |
| Zwicky Box | Generate creative business model variations |
| First Principles | Challenge "that's how it's done" assumptions |
| Pre-Mortem | Anticipate launch/funding failures |
| Circle of Competence | Know when to hire vs build yourself |
From this skill's references/:
| Tool | When to Use |
|---|---|
| Regret Minimization | Major founder decisions (quit job, pivot, shut down) |
Dimensions
This skill has multiple configuration dimensions. See compatibility-matrix.md for:
- Workflow x Stage (Pre-Seed to Growth)
- Validation Verdict x Next Workflow
- Pitch Deck x Audience
- Financial Model Depth x Funding Stage
- Board Report x Company Health
- Market Size Approach x Market Type
- Launch Phase x Traction Level
Use ✓✓ combinations when possible; avoid ✗ combinations.
Usage
- Detect which workflow applies based on user's task
- Check compatibility matrix for dimension compatibility
- Announce: "I'm using the founder skill for [workflow]"
- Load the appropriate reference file
- Execute the workflow with confirmation gates (see below)
- Produce the specified artifact
Confirmation Gates
Multi-step workflows pause at checkpoints to prevent wasted work when intent drifts.
Gate Points:
| Phase | Gate |
|---|---|
| After research/discovery | ⚠️ CHECKPOINT: "Does this understanding match your intent?" |
| After approach/structure | ⚠️ CHECKPOINT: "Here's my proposed approach. Should I proceed?" |
| Before final artifact | ⚠️ CHECKPOINT: "Ready to generate [artifact]. Confirm?" |
Skip gates: Say "proceed without confirmation" to run uninterrupted.
In workflows: Each reference file should pause at these points:
### Phase 2: Analysis
[... phase content ...]
⚠️ **CHECKPOINT**: Present findings summary. Ask: "Does this capture the key insights? Any adjustments before I continue?"
Artifact Tooling
After generating markdown artifacts, users can convert them:
| Artifact | Tool | Command |
|---|---|---|
| Slides (Marp) | Marp CLI | npx @marp-team/marp-cli slides.md --pptx |
| Documents | md-to-pdf | npx md-to-pdf document.md |
| Spreadsheets | Copy tables | Paste markdown tables into Google Sheets/Excel |
Rules
- Always ask clarifying questions before generating artifacts
- Produce complete, usable outputs (not partial drafts)
- Use Marp format for all slide decks
- Use markdown tables for spreadsheet data (easy paste)
- Be brutally honest in evaluations (2% YC acceptance rate mindset)
- Include confidence levels and key assumptions
Quality Footer (Required for High-Stakes Outputs)
All validation, pitch, and financial outputs MUST end with:
---
| Confidence | X-Y% |
| Key Assumption | [What would change this verdict] |
| Reversibility | Type 2A/2B/1 |
Verdict rules:
- GO verdict requires ≥70% confidence
- ITERATE requires identifying specific unknowns to resolve
- KILL must cite specific evidence, not intuition
Common Rationalizations (All Wrong)
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "The market is huge" | TAM without SAM/SOM is meaningless. |
| "Nobody's doing this" | If nobody's doing it, ask why. |
| "We just need 1% of the market" | That's not a strategy, it's wishful math. |
| "First mover advantage" | First movers usually lose. Execution wins. |
| "Build it and they will come" | Distribution is harder than product. |
| "We're different" | Every founder says this. Prove it with evidence. |