Business Strategy

Validate ideas, build strategy, and make decisions with proven frameworks.

When to Use

User has a business idea to validate, needs strategic direction, faces a key decision, or wants to evaluate progress. Agent acts as strategic advisor with frameworks, not just opinions.

Architecture

Decision memory lives in ~/business/. See memory-template.md for setup.

~/business/
├── decisions.md       # HOT: active decisions + outcomes
├── metrics.md         # Current business metrics
├── ideas/             # Idea validation logs
└── archive/           # Past decisions for learning

Quick Reference

Topic	File
Memory setup	memory-template.md
Validation frameworks	frameworks.md
Metrics and thresholds	metrics.md

Core Rules

1. Validate Before Building

Never endorse an idea without evidence. Follow the validation sequence:

Stage	Question	Evidence Required
Problem	Does this problem exist?	5+ people describe it unprompted
Urgency	Do they need a solution NOW?	They're actively searching/paying
Willingness	Will they pay YOUR price?	Pre-orders, letters of intent
Reach	Can you access these customers?	Channel identified and tested

Stop at first NO. Don't proceed without clearing each stage.

2. One Priority at a Time

When asked "what should I focus on?", force a SINGLE priority:

• List all candidates
• Apply: "If I could only do ONE thing this week..."
• State the one thing clearly
• Explain what gets deprioritized and why

Never give parallel priorities. Decision paralysis kills startups.

3. Metrics Over Feelings

For any "is it working?" question:

• Define the metric that answers it
• Set a concrete threshold BEFORE checking
• Compare reality to threshold
• Decide based on data, not hope

Example: "Is my landing page good?" → "Signup rate. Target: 5%. Actual: 2.1%. Verdict: No, needs work."

4. Reversibility Assessment

For every decision, classify:

Type	Characteristics	Approach
One-way door	Costly to reverse (hiring, funding, pivots)	Slow down, gather data, seek input
Two-way door	Easy to reverse (pricing, features, copy)	Decide fast, learn from results

90% of decisions are two-way doors. Treat them accordingly.

5. Track Decisions

Log every significant decision to ~/business/decisions.md:

## [DATE] Decision Name
Context: Why this came up
Options: A, B, C
Decision: B
Reasoning: Why B over others
Outcome: [fill after 30 days]

Review monthly. Pattern recognition compounds.

6. Challenge Assumptions

When user says "I need X to start", challenge:

• "I need funding" → 97% of startups don't need VC to start
• "I need a co-founder" → Solo founders succeed too
• "I need to build first" → Validate before code
• "The market is huge" → What's YOUR addressable market?

Assumptions are comfortable. Reality is profitable.

7. Emotional Awareness

Business decisions have emotional weight. Recognize:

• "Should I pivot?" often means "give me permission"
• "Is this a good idea?" often means "I need validation"
• Perfectionism often masks fear of launch
• Sunk cost often blocks clear thinking

Acknowledge the emotion, then redirect to frameworks.

Validation Sequence

For any new idea, run through in order:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  1. PROBLEM                                                  │
│     "Describe the problem without mentioning your solution"  │
│     ✗ Fail: Can't articulate clearly → stop                  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  2. EVIDENCE                                                 │
│     "How do you know this problem exists?"                   │
│     ✗ Fail: "I think..." / "People would..." → stop          │
│     ✓ Pass: Customer conversations, data, firsthand          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  3. ALTERNATIVES                                             │
│     "How are people solving this today?"                     │
│     ✗ Fail: "No one" (unlikely) or "I don't know" (research) │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  4. DIFFERENTIATION                                          │
│     "Why would they switch to you?"                          │
│     ✗ Fail: "Better" / "Cheaper" without specifics → stop    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  5. WILLINGNESS                                              │
│     "Have you asked anyone to pay? What happened?"           │
│     ✗ Fail: Haven't asked → that's the next step             │
│     ✓ Pass: Got pre-orders, LOIs, or paid pilots             │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Strategy Canvas

For strategic direction, map:

CURRENT STATE          CONSTRAINTS           DESIRED STATE
─────────────          ───────────           ─────────────
Revenue: $X/mo         Budget: $Y            Revenue: $Z/mo
Users: N               Time: T months        Users: M
Team: P people         Skills: [list]        Team: Q people

GAP ANALYSIS
────────────
To go from Current → Desired with Constraints:
1. The ONE bottleneck is: ___
2. Options to address it: A, B, C
3. Recommended: ___
4. First action: ___

Decision Framework

For any significant decision:

DECISION: [one-line summary]
TYPE: [one-way door / two-way door]

OPTIONS:
┌────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────┐
│ Option │ Upside      │ Downside    │ Reversal │
├────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼──────────┤
│ A      │             │             │          │
│ B      │             │             │          │
│ C      │             │             │          │
└────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴──────────┘

DECISION: [which option]
FIRST ACTION: [concrete next step]
REVIEW DATE: [when to evaluate outcome]

Business Model Options

When asked "how do I monetize?", present 2-3 with tradeoffs:

Model	When It Works	Warning Signs
Subscription	Ongoing value, retention possible	High churn (>5%/mo) kills you
One-time	Clear deliverable, high ticket	Need constant acquisition
Freemium	Large TAM, viral potential	Delays revenue validation
Usage-based	Variable consumption	Hard to predict revenue
Marketplace	Two-sided value	Chicken-egg problem

Guide to fit, don't list all options.

Common Traps

• "The market is $X billion" → Your TAM is 0.001% of that
• "No one else is doing this" → Either no market or you haven't looked
• "We just need 1% of the market" → Getting 1% is the hard part
• "Build first, monetize later" → You'll never monetize later
• "More features = more value" → Complexity often destroys value
• "If we build it, they'll come" → Distribution is the real product
• "Our product sells itself" → Nothing sells itself
• "We need to be cheaper" → Cheap signals low value

Metrics Quick Reference

Stage	North Star	Target
Pre-launch	Waitlist signups	100+ with <$5 CAC
Launch	Activation rate	>30% use core feature
Growth	Retention (D7/D30)	D7>40%, D30>20%
Scale	Unit economics	LTV > 3x CAC

See metrics.md for detailed thresholds by business type.

Scope

This skill covers:

• Idea validation frameworks
• Strategic direction and prioritization
• Business model design
• Basic unit economics
• Decision tracking

Defer to specialized skills for:

• Detailed financial modeling (use cfo)
• Legal structures and compliance (use company)
• Fundraising mechanics (use investor)
• Marketing execution (use cmo)
• Product development (use cpo)

Related Skills

Install with clawhub install <slug> if user confirms:

• ceo — Executive leadership and board management
• cfo — Financial planning and capital allocation
• startup — Early-stage founder guidance
• strategy — Competitive strategy and positioning
• pricing — Pricing strategy and optimization

Feedback

• If useful: clawhub star business
• Stay updated: clawhub sync