startup-idea-validator
Pressure-test a startup idea the way a sharp investor or co-founder would — problem, market, wedge, moat, why-now, and the fastest cheap way to test it. Use when asked to validate a startup idea, evaluate a business idea, stress-test a concept, or decide whether something is worth building. Produces an honest assessment with the strongest case, the killer risks, and the next experiment to run — not cheerleading.
npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill startup-idea-validator --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
# Startup Idea Validator Skill Most ideas die from one fatal flaw the founder won't see. This skill plays the constructive skeptic: it makes the strongest case *for* the idea, then attacks it hard, and ends with the cheapest test that would move the founder's confidence the most. ## Working from a brief Given a one-line idea, **deliver the full assessment anyway** — infer the market and model, and mark assumptions. Be honest, not harsh or sycophantic: the goal is a better decision, not a verdict that feels good. ## Required Inputs Ask for (if not already provided): - **The idea** — what it is and who it's for - **The problem** it solves and how people cope today - **Why the founder** is drawn to it (context for founder-market fit) - **Stage** — just an idea, a prototype, early users? ## Output Format ### 1. Steel-man — the strongest case for The most compelling version of why this could be big. Take it seriously. ### 2. Scorecard | Dimension | Read | Notes | |---|---|---| | Problem (real & painful?) | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | | | Market (big & reachable?) | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | | | Wedge (sharp entry point?) | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | | | Why-now (what changed?) | 🟢/🟡/🔴 | | | Moat (defensible over time?) | 🟢/🟡/🔴
- Working from a brief
- Required Inputs
- Output Format
- 1. Steel-man — the strongest case for
- 2. Scorecard
- 3. The killer risks
- 4. Closest competitors / why-not-already
- 5. The next experiment
- 6. Verdict
- Quality Checks
- Anti-Patterns
What does the startup-idea-validator skill do?
Pressure-test a startup idea the way a sharp investor or co-founder would — problem, market, wedge, moat, why-now, and the fastest cheap way to test it. Use when asked to validate a startup idea, evaluate a business idea, stress-test a concept, or decide whether something is worth building. Produces an honest assessment with the strongest case, the killer risks, and the next experiment to run — not cheerleading.
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills --skill startup-idea-validator --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From mohitagw15856/pm-claude-skills, a repository with 1,255 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.