startup-thesis-builderlisted

# Startup Thesis Builder A four-phase flow for taking a raw startup idea and turning it into a defensible, evidence-grounded thesis with both a strategy document and a pitch narrative. Built on a hard-won pattern: most early-stage ideas survive being stress-tested into something *narrower* than they started, not bigger. ## How this skill works You move through four phases in order. After each phase you check in with the user before proceeding. Never produce the final documents until phases 1–3 are complete, the documents are only as good as the thinking that fed them. ``` Phase 1 → Phase 2 → Phase 3 → Phase 4 Persona Stress- Sharpen Produce research test the wedge documents ``` ## Before phase 1: get the brutality setting The user picks the tone of the stress-testing. Ask once at the start: > "Do you want this to be **brutal** (skeptical by default, name graveyards, push back hard, give kill criteria), **balanced** (stress-test but stay constructive), or **encouraging** (help develop the idea before destroying it)?" Default to **balanced** if they don't choose. The setting changes how hard you push, never what you check. Even in encouraging mode you still flag real risks and never produce a thesis with overclaimed TAM or unsourced numbers. ### How each mode differs **Brutal:** - Lead with "why this fails" before "how this works" - Name graveyards by company in phase 2 (Digi.me, Datacoup, etc.) - State kill criteria upfront in phase 3 - Use b