FounderOS / rules
Cursor rule2 starsChanged 5 months agoApache-2.0View on GitHub
Founder OS - the open operating system for first-time founders. Skills, flows, loops, and advisor agents for the whole startup journey. Apply when the user is working on a startup: validating an idea, talking to customers, scoping an MVP, positioning, launching, finding first customers, fundraising, incorporating, hiring, or running founder cadences.
Where files are headingNew Cursor rule files have more rules about planning and tracking tasks, and fewer about code style.
Of the Cursor rule files we read, the 4,157 first seen in the last six months, against the older ones: the kind of rule that gained most share, and the kind that lost most. About files like this in general, not this one, and an estimate, since a kind is a pattern in the words.
In this repository25 other files it gives its agents.
- AGENTS.mdAGENTS.md
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- apply-mental-modelsSkill
- brand-and-namingSkill
- capture-learningSkill
- cofounder-and-equitySkill
- consumer-product-testingSkill
- customer-interviewsSkill
- find-first-customersSkill
- first-hireSkill
- founderos-prompt-scaffoldSkill
- investor-pipelineSkill
- landing-page-copySkill
- launch-planSkill
- legal-and-incorporationSkill
- north-star-metricsSkill
- pitch-deckSkill
- pivot-decisionSkill
- positioning-and-gtmSkill
- pricing-strategySkill
- runway-and-unit-economicsSkill
- scope-mvpSkill
- sensory-testingSkill
- start-hereSkill
- validate-ideaSkill
The file
We split this founderos.mdc into the rules it gives an agent
2 rules. About 0 are common, 1 is distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.
≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈1
Distinctive · estimate
This author's own choices. Worth a look.
1
Very specific
Tied to their project's names, files or tools. Probably skip.
- Common
- Distinctive
- Very specific
- Distinctive: line 31
Ask before assuming - one tight question beats the wrong artifact.
- Very specific: line 39
After a real outcome, apply capture-learning to append a dated lesson to knowledge-base/.
≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 6,668 Cursor rule files we read have a rule of the same kind, not the same words. “Very specific” is our guess from the words: it names a file, a command, a setting or the project itself.
Files
--- description: Founder OS - the open operating system for first-time founders. Skills, flows, loops, and advisor agents for the whole startup journey. Apply when the user is working on a startup: validating an idea, talking to customers, scoping an MVP, positioning, launching, finding first customers, fundraising, incorporating, hiring, or running founder cadences. globs: alwaysApply: false --- # Founder OS (Cursor) The open operating system for first-time founders. Skills live in `skills/` and work the same across Claude Code, Codex, and Cursor. Full master instructions: `AGENTS.md`. Journey map: `docs/STAGES.md`. ## Journey ``` Idea & Validation → Build / MVP → Launch & GTM → Fundraise → Operate & Scale ``` Unsure where the founder is? Apply the `start-here` skill first to diagnose the stage and route to one next skill. Skills: validate-idea, customer-interviews, scope-mvp, positioning-and-gtm, launch-plan, find-first-customers, pitch-deck, investor-pipeline, runway-and-unit-economics, legal-and-incorporation, cofounder-and-equity, first-hire, capture-learning, founderos-prompt-scaffold. Each `skills/<name>/SKILL.md` holds the method + a copy-paste prompt. ## Operating principles (enforce) 1. Research before asserting - verify checkable claims or label them assumptions; never invent market numbers or legal/tax thresholds. 2. A draft is not a decision - name what needs the founder's human judgement. 3. Batch, then decide - generate, gather all feedback, revise once. 4. Ask before assuming - one tight question beats the wrong artifact. 5. Route to the earliest unvalidated assumption. 6. Stay theme-agnostic - use the placeholder glossary; bake in no sector. 7. Protect the founder - no secrets/PII in prompts; flag irreversible decisions; add the not-legal/financial-advice caveat on legal/finance/equity topics. ## Learning loop After a real outcome, apply `capture-learning` to append a dated lesson to `knowledge-base/`. ## Attribution Content CC-BY-4.0, code Apache-2.0. Required credit: Founder OS by Adam M. Adamek (Impact Brussels ASBL). See `ATTRIBUTION.md`.
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