tonbistudio Shrimp Brainstorming
Overview
Use this skill to turn an early project or business idea into a well-reasoned direction without forcing it through a rigid interview. The process is research-led and user-led: the user can ask questions, challenge findings, introduce constraints, or change direction at any point.
The goal is not to manufacture certainty or generate a generic list of ideas. The goal is to find the most credible wedge, expose weak assumptions, identify the cheapest useful test, and, when requested, produce a self-contained final-spec.md that explains both the conclusion and how it was reached.
When to Use
Use when the user:
- Presents a vague product, service, startup, creator venture, tool, or business idea.
- Wants market, competitor, pricing, feasibility, monetization, distribution, or customer research for that idea.
- Wants to validate, refine, pivot, or abandon the idea.
- Wants a complete documented handoff for a project or business direction.
Do not use for:
- A simple factual lookup with no project or business decision attached.
- A settled implementation task where the product and scope are already decided.
- A generic request for many random startup ideas without intent to investigate one.
Conversation Model
This is user-led inquiry, not a mandatory question funnel.
Default loop:
User raises an idea or question
→ research and return a useful, opinionated response
→ user reacts, redirects, or asks the next question
→ update the working record after a material change
Ask a clarifying question only when a genuine ambiguity would send research toward the wrong domain, customer, or problem. Prefer a stated assumption and useful work over repeatedly pausing for permission.
Do not default to one-question-at-a-time interrogation. The user may drive the conversation by asking questions, requesting research, disputing a premise, or changing the destination.
Working Model
Maintain these concepts throughout the exploration:
| Concept | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Destination | What this exploration must make clear, such as a decision, validation plan, or handoff spec. |
| Current thesis | The best current statement of the opportunity and wedge. It can change. |
| Decision frontier | Sharp questions or tests worth resolving next. |
| Fog of war | In-scope uncertainty that is not yet clear enough to investigate precisely. |
| Out of scope | Work consciously deferred or excluded from this effort. |
| Rejected paths | Alternatives considered and rejected, with reasons. |
These are organizational tools, not issue tickets or a forced workflow.
Workflow
1. Orient
Identify the initial idea, intended destination, and material constraints already stated by the user.
- State assumptions when needed.
- Distinguish what is known, guessed, and unknown.
- Do not turn a vague idea into a detailed spec before it earns that specificity.
Complete when: there is a short current thesis and an initial decision frontier.
2. Research the reality
Research the facts that determine whether the idea is worth pursuing.
Depending on the idea, investigate:
- Direct competitors, adjacent products, substitutes, and inspirations.
- Customers, buyer pain, willingness to pay, and existing spending.
- Market timing, distribution, platform constraints, and technical feasibility.
- Pricing, business models, risks, and credible alternatives.
Label claims as evidence, inference, or assumption. Do not confuse “no direct competitor found” with “good idea.”
Complete when: the most important claims have sources or are explicitly marked as unproven.
3. Find the wedge
Turn broad ambition into a narrow first move.
- Prefer a concrete buyer, problem, and outcome over a large category claim.
- Identify what is differentiated, what is commodity, and what would be difficult to copy.
- Call out weak assumptions directly.
- Prefer small, fast, low-cost validation over elaborate plans.
Complete when: the current thesis states who it is for, what it does first, and why that first step is plausible.
4. Give a Shrimp Verdict
Give a candid verdict whenever enough evidence exists to make one. The verdict is revisable as new evidence appears.
- Shrimp-Yes: pursue the current wedge. State why and name the next test.
- Shrimp-Maybe: promising, but dependent on a specific unanswered question or validation step.
- Shrimp-No: not worth pursuing as framed. Explain why, and offer a pivot only if a credible one exists.
Avoid false precision. A verdict is a decision aid, not a guarantee.
Complete when: the user can understand the recommendation, its evidence, and what would change it.
5. Maintain the living record
For an exploration that persists beyond a quick response, keep a lightweight idea folder:
idea-name/
├── concept-brief.md # Current source of truth
├── research-ledger.md # Findings, sources, confidence, implications
├── brainstorm.md # Optional raw transcript, preserved unchanged
└── final-spec.md # Complete clarified handoff, created on request
Update the concept brief and research ledger after material research, constraints, pivots, or decisions.
Never silently erase a rejected hypothesis. Move it to Rejected paths with the reason it changed.
If the user supplies a transcript as brainstorm.md, preserve it unchanged. If no full transcript is available, create a clearly labelled summary rather than fabricating one.
Complete when: the current thesis, decision frontier, and reasoning remain recoverable without rereading the entire chat.
6. Create the final handoff
Create final-spec.md only when the user asks for the final handoff or clearly indicates the direction is settled enough to document.
final-spec.md is not merely a snapshot of the final idea. It is a self-contained, readable account of the exploration. A reader who never saw the conversation should understand the original spark, what changed, why it changed, what was rejected, and what should happen next.
Use the template at templates/final-spec.md.
Complete when: the handoff includes the decision history, evidence, remaining uncertainty, and a concrete next step or implementation plan.
Common Pitfalls
- Interrogating instead of helping. Do research and bring back useful material. Ask only the questions that genuinely unblock the next useful step.
- Premature certainty. Keep assumptions visible until evidence resolves them.
- Generic competitor research. Classify competitors as direct, adjacent, substitute, inspiration, or noise, then explain the implication.
- Premature scope. Do not design a full platform when a narrow wedge or manual test can prove the core claim.
- Forgetting the journey. The final handoff must explain the path to the conclusion, not just present a polished endpoint.
- Treating lack of competitors as validation. Check customer pain, existing spend, substitutes, distribution, and willingness to change behavior.
Verification Checklist
Before concluding a brainstorm or delivering a final handoff, verify:
- The current thesis identifies a user, problem, and plausible first wedge.
- Material factual claims are sourced or labelled as assumptions.
- Direct competitors, substitutes, and adjacent options were considered where relevant.
- Rejected paths and decision rationale are preserved.
- The Shrimp Verdict is candid and includes the next test or reason to stop.
- The final spec, if requested, can be understood without access to the original conversation.