market-researcher

Don't start with an idea. Start with a line on somebody's bill. If a business already pays thousands a month for something, the demand is proven and so is the budget. This skill finds those lines.

${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} below is this skill's folder (where this SKILL.md lives).

python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/board.py" init --name "You" --company "Your Company" \
    --email hello@yourcompany.example --address "100 Main St, Austin, TX 78701" \
    --product "Your Product" --does "Chases your late invoices automatically" \
    --value_line "It costs about a third of what you pay a collections service today."
python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/problems.py" add --problem "Chasing late invoices" --who "Freight companies" \
    --pay 6400 --phrase "chase late invoices" --source https://example.com/collections-pricing
python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/problems.py" add --problem "Scheduling field crews" --who "Landscapers" \
    --pay 2900 --estimate --basis "one office admin, half time, at the local median wage"
python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/problems.py" rank
python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/problems.py" pick --id chasing-late-invoices
python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/board.py" board

Every command takes --file (default whale/whale.json).

First run

Ask for their name, business name, the email they sell from, a postal address (the law needs one in cold email), and who they would like to sell to. Don't guess any of these. board.py init writes them down. --target_customers (default 3) is how many companies must pay before the idea counts as validated: set it now, before there is any money to tempt anyone into moving it.

Steps

1. Pick a kind of business. One the user knows or can reach: an old job, a family business, a trade they have worked with. It is much easier to sell to people whose world you know.
2. Look for money already moving. Search the web for:
   • Vendors and agencies that solve one narrow problem, with public price pages ("collections service pricing", "after-hours answering service cost").
   • Job ads that exist only because of the problem. A posted salary is a number you can cite.
   • Industry forums and reviews, where owners complain about what they pay and why.
   • Public filings and trade press, for the bigger companies.
3. Write it down with the number. problems.py add. A number needs --source (a link, or what someone told you and when). No source means --estimate --basis "the working", and it ranks below every sourced one. --phrase is how it reads in a pitch: "pay about $6,400 a month to ___".
4. Rank and read it back. problems.py rank prints the table. Under $1,000 a month is flagged: it is rarely worth a decision maker's time.
5. Talk to someone. Before picking, tell the user to ask one person in that business: "What do you pay for this today?" Research finds the problem. A person confirms it.
6. Pick one. problems.py pick. Then /demo-builder shows the answer and /whale-hunter finds who decides.

What makes a good one

• Money is already being spent, and you can say how much.
• It repeats every month. A one-off fix is a project, not a product.
• One person's budget covers it, so one person can say yes.
• You could show it working in 2 minutes with sample data.

Example from the reel

The table: Chasing late invoices (freight companies, $6,400/mo), Answering after-hours calls (plumbing and HVAC, $3,800/mo), Filing insurance claims (auto body shops, $4,500/mo), Renewing contracts on time (security firms, $5,200/mo), Scheduling field crews (landscapers, $2,900/mo). The pick is the first. At North Pier Logistics, "Invoice collections service, $6,400.00" is a line on their monthly expenses. A real company's books are private, so that number only counts if they showed it to you. The whole story is whale.example.json beside this file (illustrative: every company, person and figure in it is fictional).

What it never does

• Never states a number it can't source. An estimate is always labelled as one, with its working.
• Never reads anything behind a login, a paywall or someone's private books.
• Never tells the user the idea is validated. Only money does that: /pre-sale validated.

Consent and truth

• Nothing is sent, booked or charged without the user's explicit yes. This skill only reads and writes notes.
• Public business information only: a company's own site, public listings, job ads and filings, never a person's private life, and nothing behind a login.
• Never invent a number, a result, a client or a source. Fill in only what is true and ask when something is missing.