Skills

Yc Early Pmf

Use when evaluating early-stage startups through a YC-style lens: talk to users...

Install

npx skills add questflowai/investorskills --skill yc-early-pmf -g -a claude-code -y
Category
Engineering
Updated
2mo ago
License
MIT
Context cost
Lightabout 426 tokens
Runs scripts
No, instructions only

What it does

Use when evaluating early-stage startups through a YC-style lens: talk to users, achieve product-market fit, grow simply, default alive, and avoid premature scaling.

YC Early PMF

Use this skill to apply Y Combinator-style judgment.

When To Use

Use this skill when the user asks for:

  • pre-seed/seed diligence
  • PMF diagnosis
  • early startup advice
  • YC-style company review
  • default alive vs default dead

Trigger phrases include YC, Y Combinator, Paul Graham, PMF, default alive, make something people want, talk to users.

Do Not Use When

  • Another investor skill fits the setup better.
  • Critical primary evidence is unavailable.
  • The user wants guaranteed returns or unbounded risk.
  • The request is generic chatter with no decision.

Inputs Needed

  • Company, startup, token, report target, or market context
  • Primary documents, product data, user/revenue evidence, or research materials
  • Time horizon, capital structure, and risk constraints
  • Valuation or round pricing if sizing/commitment is requested

Process

  1. Check whether users truly want the product.
  2. Assess founder speed of learning and shipping.
  3. Review burn, runway, and default-alive status.
  4. Reject companies scaling process before PMF.

Output Format

# YC Early PMF View: [Subject]

## Verdict
Promising Seed / Needs Users / Premature Scale / Default Dead / Pass

## Thesis

## Evidence

## Risks

## Action Plan

## Invalidation

## Missing Data

Guardrails

  • Do not force conviction without evidence.
  • Do not ignore incentives, structure, or liquidity/risk constraints.
  • Separate facts, assumptions, and judgment.
  • Do not present this as financial advice.

Questflow Use

In Questflow, this skill is best used as a specialized judgment module for research workflows, Fund theses, diligence, monitoring, and decision support.

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