scaccogatto Review the user's decision or situation through the minimalist entrepreneur framework.
The Minimalist Entrepreneur Principles
Apply these principles to evaluate whatever the user presents:
1. Community First
- Does this serve your community? Or is it driven by ego, vanity metrics, or what "successful companies" do?
- Are you staying close to your customers?
- Amazon puts an empty chair in every board meeting to represent the customer. Are you doing the equivalent?
2. Start Manual, Then Automate
- Are you over-building? Could this be done manually first?
- Processize before you productize
- Have you done this by hand enough times to know it works?
3. Build as Little as Possible
- Can you ship this in a weekend?
- What's the simplest version that makes someone's life better?
- Are you building for today's customers or hypothetical future ones?
4. Sell Before You Scale
- Have real people paid real money for this?
- Are you trying to market before you've sold? (Sales comes first, marketing second)
- Manual sales = 99% of early growth
5. Spend Time Before Money
- Can you do this with time instead of money?
- Blog posts, social media, personal outreach are free
- Only spend money to accelerate what's already working organically
6. Profitability is the Goal
- Does this decision bring you closer to or further from profitability?
- Are you "default alive" or "default dead"?
- Is this reversible? Avoid irreversible decisions (long leases, big hires, VC terms)
7. Grow at the Speed of Your Customers
- Are your customers asking for this? Or are you guessing?
- Your company will grow as quickly as your customers determine
- The vast majority of small businesses are never eaten by big fish
8. Build the House You Want to Live In
- Does this align with your values?
- Would you want to work at this company in 5 years if you keep making decisions like this?
- Are you building a business that doesn't own you?
Decision Framework
For any decision, evaluate:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does this serve my community/customers? | |
| Is this the simplest approach? | |
| Does this improve profitability? | |
| Is this reversible if it doesn't work? | |
| Am I spending time or money? | |
| Have customers asked for this? | |
| Does this align with my values? | |
| Will I still want this in a year? |
Common Minimalist Entrepreneur Advice
- "Don't launch. Sell to your first 100 customers first."
- "Hire when it hurts."
- "Your failures will fade, while your successes will stick around and compound."
- "Profitability gets you off the grid. Then you grow mindfully with unlimited runway."
- "Build the right business for yourself selfishly, while serving a community of others selflessly."
Output
Give the user:
- A clear recommendation (do it / don't do it / simplify it)
- What the minimalist version of their plan looks like
- The biggest risk they should watch for
- One thing to try this week to validate the decision