Agent skills for startup founders
SKILL.md files for 0→1 founders shipping AI products in Cursor or Claude Code: validate, scope, sell, price, and raise without repeating yourself every prompt. Install once and your agent applies the right framework from discovery through early GTM and fundraising.
Validate & discover
Test ideas, measure PMF, and run continuous discovery before you over-build.
- ProductMeasuring Product-Market FitAssess and achieve PMF with Sean Ellis surveys, retention signals, and scale-vs-iterate decisions. Frameworks from 46 product leaders on Lenny’s Podcast.
Refound AI590 - ProductOpportunity Solution TreeStructure continuous discovery with Teresa Torres’ OST: map a desired outcome to opportunities, solutions, and experiments. Prioritize problems before features.
phuryn10k - ProductAI EvalsCreate and run AI evaluations for LLM products: rubrics, test cases, failure analysis, and Pass/Fail criteria. Treat evals as the product requirement doc for AI features.Refound AI590
- ProductAI Product StrategyDecide where AI belongs in your product: strategic bets, build-vs-buy, and avoiding AI-for-AI’s-sake. Complements shipping-focused AI product engineering skills.Refound AI590
- ProductJust ScrapeScrape and extract structured data from websites for competitive research, market intel, and PM discovery workflows using the ScrapeGraphAI CLI.
scrapegraphai2.1k - MarketingFirecrawlCrawl, scrape, and search the web with Firecrawl for competitive research, SEO audits, market intel, and content extraction at scale.
firecrawl5.4k - ProductResearchInvestigate a question against high-trust primary sources and capture findings as a Markdown file in the repo for PM and founder discovery work.
mattpocock144.9k - ProductGrillingRelentless multi-round interviewing that maps a plan as a design tree: ask the whole frontier each round with recommended answers, then recompute as decisions settle.mattpocock144.9k
- ProductLoop MeGrill recurring life and work loops into workflow specs: triggers, checkpoints, briefs, and push-right human-in-the-loop design for agent-runnable workflows.mattpocock144.9k
Scope & build
Cut scope to an MVP and ship with agentic coding workflows.
- ProductScoping & CuttingScope MVPs and cut features ruthlessly before launch. Decide what ships now vs later when time and runway are constrained.Refound AI590
- EngineeringVibe CodingBuild software with AI coding tools as a non-traditional developer: prompting patterns, iteration loops, and shipping working prototypes in Cursor or Claude Code.Refound AI590
- ProductAI ProductShip LLM features to production: structured output, streaming, prompt versioning. Avoid demo-ware, context stuffing, unvalidated output.
sickn33156 - ProductStripe Best PracticesGuide Stripe integration decisions: Checkout Sessions vs PaymentIntents, Connect platforms, billing, webhooks, API key security, and migrating from deprecated APIs.
Stripe890 - EngineeringDeploy to VercelDeploy projects to Vercel from the agent: environment setup, build configuration, preview URLs, and production deployment workflows.
Vercel28k - ProductSkill CreatorCreate effective agent skills: SKILL.md structure, frontmatter, triggers, progressive disclosure, and packaging instructions for Cursor and Claude Code.
Anthropic52k - EngineeringFind SkillsDiscover and install agent skills from the open ecosystem. Search skills.sh, verify quality, and install with npx skills when users need capabilities beyond your current setup.Vercel Labs2.4k
Sell & price
Early sales motion and pricing before you have a full GTM team.
- MarketingFounder SalesClose your first customers before you have a sales team: discovery calls, objection handling, and early GTM motion for technical founders.Refound AI590
- ProductPricing StrategyDesign pricing models, packaging, and willingness-to-pay research. Goes beyond landing-page CRO into monetization architecture for early-stage products.Refound AI590
Launch & grow
Ship your first release and get early traction.
- MarketingProduct LaunchPlan product launches with the ORB framework (owned, rented, borrowed channels) and phased rollout from internal alpha to full launch.
coreyhaines313.9k - MarketingMarketing IdeasBrainstorm and prioritize from 139 proven SaaS marketing tactics, filtered by stage, budget, timeline, and your product context.coreyhaines3133.7k
- MarketingPage CROOptimize landing pages, homepages, pricing pages, and marketing pages for conversions: value prop clarity, headlines, CTAs, trust signals, and friction fixes with test ideas.coreyhaines3136.5k
- MarketingOnboarding CROOptimize post-signup onboarding and activation: define aha moments, map time-to-value, design checklists and empty states, and coordinate trigger-based emails.coreyhaines3136.5k
- MarketingLead MagnetsPlan, create, and optimize lead magnets for email capture: format selection, value framing, landing page structure, and distribution strategy.coreyhaines3136.5k
- MarketingAd CreativeGenerate and iterate ad creative at scale: headlines, descriptions, primary text, and full variations for Google, Meta, LinkedIn, and other paid platforms.coreyhaines3136.5k
- MarketingChurn PreventionReduce churn with cancellation flows, save offers, exit surveys, win-back sequences, and retention experiments for SaaS and subscription products.coreyhaines3136.5k
- MarketingReferral ProgramDesign, optimize, and analyze referral and affiliate programs: incentives, viral loops, partner payouts, and word-of-mouth growth mechanics.coreyhaines3136.5k
Raise & pitch
Fundraising strategy, investor prep, and pitch materials.
- ProductFundraisingNavigate fundraising strategy: whether to raise, investor relationships, pitch prep, and common founder mistakes. Distilled from Lenny’s Podcast guests.Refound AI590
- MarketingPitch DeckCreate or refine seed and Series A pitch decks with slide-by-slide narrative structure, not just bullet points. Story arc for investor presentations.
shawnpang120 - MarketingYC Pitch DeckBuild investor pitch decks in YC and Sequoia formats: problem, solution, why now, traction, and ask—for fundraising, Demo Day, and YC apps.
guia-matthieu145
Beyond skills
Skills install into your agent. These guides, prompts, and frameworks show the rest of the stack.
- AI prompts for foundersOne-shot PRFAQ and problem framing when you do not need a skill yet.
- Product launch workflowChain GTM and launch steps across multiple prompts.
- Designing AI agentsScope agent behavior before tools and irreversible actions.
- Agentic UX frameworkAutonomy and trust patterns for early product AI.
Frequently asked questions
What are agent skills for startup founders?
Agent skills are SKILL.md instruction files that teach Cursor, Claude Code, and other coding agents how to run founder workflows (measuring PMF, scoping an MVP, writing a pitch deck, or preparing for fundraising) without you re-explaining the framework every session.
How do I install founder skills in Cursor?
Use npx skills add with the GitHub source shown on each skill page, or copy the SKILL.md into .cursor/skills/ in your project. Each skill page includes install commands and the full skill content.
Which founder skills should I install first?
Start with Measuring Product-Market Fit and Scoping & Cutting before you build. Add Vibe Coding or AI Product if you ship in code. Add Fundraising and Pitch Deck when you are actively raising.
How are skills different from prompts on this site?
Prompts are one-shot copy-paste instructions for ChatGPT or Claude chat. Skills persist in your coding agent and trigger automatically when relevant, which is better for repeated founder workflows like discovery, PRDs, and launch prep.