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. |