startup-skill MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

Idea validation framework (demand, willingness to pay, technical feasibility)
JTBD-style interview prompts and analysis
Competitive scans with source-backed claims
Business model sketches (pricing, acquisition, unit economics)
Lightweight planning — 30/60/90, OKR drafts
Adversarial red-team prompts (why this fails)

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

startup-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "startup-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/startup-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "startup-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/startup-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "startup-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/startup-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "startup-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/startup-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "startup-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/startup-skill"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "startup-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill",
          "~/.claude/skills/startup-skill"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add startup-skill -- git clone https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill ~/.claude/skills/startup-skill

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use startup-skill

How to pressure-test a startup idea before you build

👤 First-time founders and side-project builders ⏱ ~60 min beginner

When to use: You have an idea that excites you and you want to hear the case against it before committing a quarter.

Prerequisites

Skill installed — git clone https://github.com/ferdinandobons/startup-skill ~/.claude/skills/startup-skill

Flow

Frame the idea

Validate this idea using startup-skill: 'AI-powered observability for Rails apps, targeting 5-20 dev teams.'✓ Copied

→ Structured breakdown: customer, problem, willingness-to-pay, existing alternatives
Adversarial review

Now play devil's advocate — give me 5 reasons this fails in 18 months.✓ Copied

→ Specific, falsifiable failure modes (not generic)
Draft 5 validation interviews

Write 5 customer interview questions to disconfirm my riskiest assumption.✓ Copied

→ Non-leading, behavior-probing questions

Outcome: A go/no-go decision backed by specific risks and a kill-criteria list.

Pitfalls

Claude defaults to cheerleading — Explicit framing: 'act as a skeptical senior VC who has seen this category fail twice'
Interview questions leak the answer — Ask for Mom Test-style questions only

Combine with: goose-skill

Run a competitive scan with sourced claims

👤 Founders preparing a pitch or positioning doc ⏱ ~40 min intermediate

When to use: You need to know who's in your category and where the gaps are.

Flow

Scope the category

Use startup-skill competitive scan for 'error monitoring for Rails apps'. Require URLs for every feature claim.✓ Copied

→ Vendor table with linked source per feature
Identify the whitespace

What positioning claim is unowned in this table?✓ Copied

→ Specific angle backed by the table

Outcome: A positioning angle you can defend in an investor meeting.

Pitfalls

Hallucinated features or pricing — Reject any claim without a URL; re-check URLs are real by asking Claude to fetch them

Combine with: goose-skill

Draft a 30/60/90-day plan for a new role or initiative

👤 Founders and early employees needing a plan, fast ⏱ ~25 min beginner

When to use: New role, new team, or new product direction.

Flow

Seed with context

30/60/90 for a founding PM joining a 10-person dev tools startup. Primary goal: ship the self-serve signup.✓ Copied

→ Milestones per phase with ownership and dependencies
Pressure-test

What's over-scoped? What's the one thing that if we skip ruins the plan?✓ Copied

→ Specific cuts + the single critical path item

Outcome: A realistic plan with a stated critical path and cut candidates.

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

startup-skill + goose-skill

Startup validates the bet, Goose executes GTM

Validate the idea with startup-skill; if it passes, generate ICP and outbound with goose-skills.✓ Copied

startup-skill + ai-marketing-claude-code-skill

Startup sets positioning, marketing skill drives campaigns

Run positioning workshop with startup-skill, then feed to ai-marketing skill for campaign planning.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call
Idea validation	-	Pre-commit to a direction
JTBD interviews	-	Customer research
Competitive scan	-	Positioning and pitch prep
Business model sketch	-	Before setting prices
30/60/90 & OKRs	-	Starting something new

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: None
Tokens per call: 10-30k for a full validation pass
Monetary: Free
Tip: Batch questions into one session per topic to reuse context.

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: No credentials

Data egress: Competitive scan uses Claude's web search; no persistent egress

Confidential ideas shared with Claude are subject to Anthropic's data policy — consider a workspace with no-training setting.

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Validation output feels like a pep talk

Explicitly ask for the adversarial mode and require failure modes before strengths

Competitive scan invents features

Require URLs for every claim; reject unsourced ones

Alternatives

startup-skill vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
goose-skill	You're past validation and need GTM execution	Less idea-stage depth

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

🔍 Browse all 400+ MCP servers and Skills