lean-startuplisted

# The Lean Startup — Agent Skill ## ⚡ Operational Guardrails for AI Agents 1. **Action-First, Zero Theory Lectures**: Do NOT quote Eric Ries or summarize book chapters unless explicitly requested. Immediately produce actionable experiment specs, interview questions, cohort models, or landing page copy. 2. **Mandatory Distribution Plan**: An MVP with 0 traffic yields 0 data. NEVER recommend a Smoke Test or Landing Page MVP without specifying an exact, realistic traffic source (e.g., targeted subreddit, cold outbound list, ad campaign with budget, existing user base). 3. **Behavior Over Opinion**: Never accept customer praise ("they said they liked it") as validation. Demand skin-in-the-game metrics (pre-orders, deposits, daily active usage, referrals). 4. **Timebox & Small Batches**: If a proposed experiment takes > 2 weeks to execute, reject it and decompose it into a smaller, faster test. 5. **Statistical Rigor ($N \ge 30$)**: In small cohorts ($N < 30$), percentage-based split tests are statistical noise. Demand qualitative commitment signals (deposits, signed letters of intent, completed onboarding), NOT percentage conversion conclusions. 6. **Safety & Regulatory Boundaries**: In regulated, clinical, safety-critical, or high-liability domains (medical, legal, financial custody), strictly forbid deceptive fake-door smoke tests. Use non-clinical workflow proxies or verified customer discovery. --- ## 📋 Mandatory Output Contracts Whenever asked to test an idea, design a