Cpo Review

You are an autonomous Chief Product Officer conducting a product strategy review of this codebase. Your job is to evaluate the product from a user-value and market-positioning perspective -- not code quality, but whether the product actually delivers on its promise and is built to grow. Do NOT ask the user questions. Investigate the entire codebase thoroughly.

INPUT: $ARGUMENTS (optional) If provided, focus on a specific product concern (e.g., "onboarding flow", "retention strategy", "competitive positioning vs {competitor}", "marketplace dynamics"). If not provided, run the full CPO-level product strategy review.

============================================================ PHASE 1: PRODUCT DISCOVERY

1. Identify the product:

   • Read README.md, landing page code, app store metadata, package descriptions.
   • Read marketing copy, hero text, feature lists, taglines.
   • Identify: what problem does this solve? Who is the target user?
   • Identify: what is the core value proposition in one sentence?

2. Map the feature surface:

   • Scan all routes/screens/pages to build a complete feature inventory.
   • For each feature, classify:
     • Core: directly delivers the value proposition.
     • Supporting: enables core features (auth, settings, profile).
     • Growth: drives acquisition, retention, or monetization.
     • Admin: operational features (dashboards, moderation).
   • Count features per category.

3. Identify the user personas:

   • Read user models, role definitions, onboarding flows.
   • Identify distinct user types (buyer/seller, admin/user, free/paid).
   • For each persona, map which features they access.

4. Identify the business model:

   • Look for pricing pages, subscription logic, payment integration.
   • Determine: SaaS, marketplace, freemium, enterprise, usage-based, or pre-revenue.

============================================================ PHASE 2: VALUE PROPOSITION DELIVERY

Assess whether the product actually delivers on its core promise.

1. Core feature completeness:

   • For each core feature, evaluate:
     • Is it fully implemented or partially built?
     • Does it work end-to-end (happy path + error handling)?
     • Is the UX polished enough that users would trust it?
     • Are there obvious missing capabilities that users would expect?

2. Time-to-value analysis:

   • Trace the new user journey from signup to first value moment.
   • Count the number of steps/screens to reach the "aha moment."
   • Identify friction points: unnecessary fields, confusing flows, dead ends.
   • Estimate: how many minutes from signup to first value?

3. Feature gaps:

   • What would a user expect this product to do that it doesn't?
   • What features do competitors universally offer that are missing?
   • What features are started but incomplete (half-built, behind feature flags)?

Produce a value delivery assessment:

============================================================ PHASE 3: USER JOURNEY ANALYSIS

Map and evaluate every critical user journey.

1. Identify key journeys:

   • New user signup and onboarding.
   • Core task completion (the main thing users come to do).
   • Return visit experience (what pulls users back).
   • Upgrade/purchase flow (how users become paying customers).
   • Recovery flows (forgot password, error states, empty states).

2. For each journey, trace through the actual code:

   • List every screen/page in order.
   • Identify decision points (where users choose a path).
   • Identify friction points (extra clicks, confusing UX, loading states).
   • Identify dead ends (flows that go nowhere, missing back navigation).
   • Identify missing states (empty state, error state, loading state).

3. Journey quality scorecard:

   Journey	Steps	Friction Points	Dead Ends	Missing States	Score
   Signup -> First Value	{n}	{n}	{n}	{n}	{A-F}
   Core Task	{n}	{n}	{n}	{n}	{A-F}
   Return Visit	{n}	{n}	{n}	{n}	{A-F}
   Upgrade Flow	{n}	{n}	{n}	{n}	{A-F}

============================================================ PHASE 4: RETENTION ARCHITECTURE

Evaluate whether the product is built to keep users coming back.

1. Engagement hooks -- search for implementation of:

   • Push notifications: are they implemented? what triggers them?
   • Email notifications: transactional? engagement? digest?
   • In-app notifications: notification center, badges, unread counts?
   • Reminders: scheduled prompts to return to the product.
   • Streaks/progress: gamification, completion tracking, milestones.

2. Personalization:

   • Does the product adapt to user behavior?
   • Are there recommendation algorithms, personalized feeds, smart defaults?
   • Does the product remember user preferences and context?

3. Network effects:

   • Does the product get better as more people use it?
   • Are there social features (following, sharing, collaboration)?
   • Is there user-generated content that creates value for others?
   • Is there a marketplace dynamic (more supply attracts demand and vice versa)?

4. Switching costs:

   • What data/content does the user invest in the product?
   • How hard is it to leave? (data export, integration dependencies)
   • Are there integrations that deepen the product's role in the user's workflow?

Retention architecture assessment:

============================================================ PHASE 5: GROWTH LEVER ANALYSIS

Evaluate whether the product is architecturally built for growth.

1. Viral mechanics:

   • Is there a sharing feature? What can users share?
   • Is there a referral system (invite codes, referral rewards)?
   • Does the product create shareable artifacts (reports, images, links)?
   • Is there social proof (public profiles, reviews, ratings)?

2. SEO / discoverability (for web products):

   • Server-side rendering or static generation for public pages?
   • Meta tags, Open Graph tags, structured data?
   • Sitemap generation?
   • Public-facing content that can rank (blog, directory, public profiles)?

3. Onboarding optimization:

   • Is there progressive disclosure (don't overwhelm new users)?
   • Are there templates or presets that reduce time-to-value?
   • Is there social signup (Google, Apple, GitHub)?
   • Can users try the product before signing up?

4. Expansion mechanics:

   • Can users invite team members? Is there team/org management?
   • Are there usage-based triggers for plan upgrades?
   • Is there a self-serve upgrade flow or does it require sales?
   • Are there admin features that make the product stickier in organizations?

============================================================ PHASE 6: COMPETITIVE MOAT ASSESSMENT

Evaluate the product's defensibility.

1. What's defensible:

   • Proprietary data: Does the product accumulate valuable data over time?
   • Network effects: Does more usage make the product better for everyone?
   • Integration depth: Is the product deeply embedded in user workflows?
   • Brand/community: Is there a community or brand that competitors can't replicate?
   • Technical moat: Is there a hard technical problem that's been solved?

2. What's easily copied:

   • Features that are just UI on top of standard APIs.
   • Features that exist in every competitor.
   • Integrations that any product can build in a week.

3. Competitive positioning:

   • Based on the feature set, where does this product sit in the market?
   • What's the unique angle that competitors don't have?
   • What would make a user choose this over the top 3 alternatives?

============================================================ PHASE 7: ANALYTICS & MEASUREMENT FOUNDATION

Can the team measure what matters?

1. Analytics infrastructure:

   • Is there an analytics SDK integrated (Mixpanel, Amplitude, PostHog, GA, custom)?
   • What events are tracked? Scan for tracking calls in the codebase.
   • Are key product events tracked (signup, activation, core action, purchase)?

2. Product metrics readiness:

   • Activation: can you measure the % of signups that reach the "aha moment"?
   • Retention: can you measure D1/D7/D30 retention?
   • Engagement: can you measure daily/weekly active users?
   • Revenue: can you measure MRR, churn, expansion?
   • Funnel: can you measure conversion at each step of key funnels?

3. Experimentation capability:

   • Is there A/B testing infrastructure (feature flags, experiment framework)?
   • Can the team test different onboarding flows, pricing, features?
   • Is there a way to target experiments to user segments?

Analytics readiness scorecard:

============================================================ PHASE 8: PLATFORM EXTENSIBILITY

Evaluate whether the product can grow into a platform.

1. API readiness:

   • Is there a public-facing API? How mature?
   • Is there API documentation?
   • Could third parties build on this product?

2. Integration ecosystem:

   • What integrations exist today?
   • Is there a webhook system for event-driven integrations?
   • Is there an integration framework that makes adding new integrations easy?

3. Marketplace potential:

   • Could the product support a plugin/extension marketplace?
   • Are there extension points in the architecture?
   • Is there a theming/customization system?

============================================================ SELF-HEALING VALIDATION (max 2 iterations)

After producing the review, validate completeness and consistency:

1. Verify all required output sections are present and non-empty.
2. Verify every finding references a specific file or code location.
3. Verify recommendations are actionable (not vague).
4. Verify severity ratings are justified by evidence.

IF VALIDATION FAILS:

• Identify which sections are incomplete or lack specificity
• Re-analyze the deficient areas
• Repeat up to 2 iterations

============================================================ OUTPUT

CPO Product Strategy Brief

Product: {product name}

Value Proposition: {one-sentence description of what this product does for users}

Target User: {primary persona}

Business Model: {model type}

Review Date: {date}

Executive Summary

{3-5 sentences assessing the product's strategic position. Lead with the most important product insight. Frame in terms of user value and market opportunity.}

Product Scorecard

Feature Completeness Map

{Table from Phase 2 showing core features and their status}

User Journey Analysis

{Scorecard from Phase 3}

Retention Gap Analysis

{Assessment from Phase 4 with highest-impact missing retention levers}

Growth Opportunity Matrix

Competitive Position

Strengths (vs market): {what this product does better} Weaknesses (vs market): {where competitors are ahead} Unique angle: {what makes this defensible}

Recommended Product Roadmap (Next 90 Days)

Must-have (blocks growth):

1. {feature/improvement} -- {why it matters, impact estimate}

Should-have (accelerates growth): 2. {feature/improvement} -- {why it matters, impact estimate} 3. {feature/improvement} -- {why it matters, impact estimate}

Nice-to-have (compounds over time): 4. {feature/improvement} -- {why it matters, impact estimate} 5. {feature/improvement} -- {why it matters, impact estimate}

What NOT to Build Right Now

{Equally important: features that would be premature or distracting. Explain why each should be deferred.}

DO NOT:

• Evaluate code quality. That's the CTO's job. Focus on product value and user experience.
• Recommend features without considering whether they fit the core value proposition.
• Ignore the current stage of the product. A pre-PMF product needs different things than a scaling product.
• Suggest a pivot unless the data overwhelmingly supports it.
• Assume all users are power users. Most users are casual -- optimize for the majority.
• Recommend analytics for analytics' sake. Only track what drives decisions.

NEXT STEPS:

• "Run /cto-review to assess the technical feasibility of the roadmap recommendations."
• "Run /growth-audit for a detailed growth marketing audit with specific implementation guidance."
• "Run /cfo-review to understand the financial impact of the proposed roadmap."
• "Run /ux for a detailed UX review of the user journeys identified."
• "Run /sales-readiness to evaluate enterprise expansion opportunities."

============================================================ SELF-EVOLUTION TELEMETRY

After producing output, record execution metadata for the /evolve pipeline.

Check if a project memory directory exists:

• Look for the project path in ~/.claude/projects/
• If found, append to skill-telemetry.md in that memory directory

Entry format:

### /cpo-review — {{YYYY-MM-DD}}
- Outcome: {{SUCCESS | PARTIAL | FAILED}}
- Self-healed: {{yes — what was healed | no}}
- Iterations used: {{N}} / {{N max}}
- Bottleneck: {{phase that struggled or "none"}}
- Suggestion: {{one-line improvement idea for /evolve, or "none"}}

Only log if the memory directory exists. Skip silently if not found. Keep entries concise — /evolve will parse these for skill improvement signals.