saitarrunsaitarrun/Devforge-ai/skills/startup-lifecycle/SKILL.md

startup-lifecycle

Skill4 starsChanged 5 months agoApache-2.0View on GitHub

End-to-end founder playbook, product-market fit (PMF) telemetry, SaaS monetization, churn analysis, growth loops, and investor-ready unit economics (CAC, LTV, MRR).

In this repository48 other files it gives its agents.
- CLAUDE.mdCLAUDE.md
- api-designSkill
- improve-codebase-architectureSkill
- architectureSkill
- cicdSkill
- cloud-infraSkill
- codebase-navigatorSkill
- code-qualitySkill
- code-reviewSkill
- code-standardsSkill
- configuration-managementSkill
- contract-testingSkill
- dependency-managementSkill
- diagnoseSkill
- documentationSkill
- dynamic-routingSkill
- enterprise-architectureSkill
- enterprise-test-suitesSkill
- git-guardrails-claude-codeSkill
- grill-meSkill
- handoffSkill
- intent-clarificationSkill
- triageSkill
- legacy-modernizationSkill
- llm-evalsSkill
- observabilitySkill
- ops-sreSkill
- performance-optimizationSkill
- to-issuesSkill
- playwrightSkill
- to-prdSkill
- setup-pre-commitSkill
- prototypeSkill
- pr-reviewSkill
- ralph-loopSkill
- requirementsSkill
- root-cause-analysisSkill
- security-auditSkill
- security-patchingSkill
- tddSkill
- testingSkill
- threat-modelingSkill
- to-issuesSkill
- token-efficiencySkill
- to-prdSkill
- ux-designSkill
- write-a-skillSkill
- zoom-outSkill

The file

We split this skill into the rules it gives an agent

1 rule. About 0 are common, 0 are distinctive, and 1 is very specific to this project.

≈0
Common · estimate
Many files like this have a rule of this kind.
≈0
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

Very specific:
Every startup repository should maintain a live metrics tracker in docs/startup-metrics.md:
line 54

≈ “Common” is an estimate: at least 1 in 5 of the 350,495 skill 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.

Keep what fits and drop the rest. Your version, ready for your agents.

Files

SKILL.md

Software Startup Full Lifecycle & Growth Skill

This skill guides founders and engineering teams through building, launching, operating, monetizing, and scaling a high-growth SaaS / AI startup directly from the repository.

1. The Startup Growth Engine Matrix

[Phase 1: 0 to 1 — Problem-Market Fit & MVP]
  ↳ Grill-Me Ideation → Scope Minimization (3 Tracer Slices) → Landing Page Waitlist + Stripe Pre-orders
          ↓
[Phase 2: 1 to 10 — Product-Market Fit (PMF) & Telemetry]
  ↳ PostHog / Mixpanel Event Tracking → North Star Metric → Sean Ellis PMF Survey (>40% "Very Disappointed")
          ↓
[Phase 3: 10 to 100 — SaaS Monetization & Growth Loops]
  ↳ Stripe Billing / Polar / LemonSqueezy (Subscriptions, Metered Tokens, Team Seats) → Referral & SEO Loops
          ↓
[Phase 4: Scale — Unit Economics & Operational Governance]
  ↳ Churn & Retention Cohorts → LTV / CAC Ratio (>3:1) → SOC2 / Compliance → Self-Serve Enterprise Upgrades

2. Startup Engineering Standards

A. SaaS Monetization & Pricing Architecture

Pricing Models:
- Tiered Subscriptions: Free / Starter / Pro / Enterprise.
- Usage-Based (Metered): Bill per API call, token consumed, or storage GB.
- Per-Seat: Scaled pricing per team member.
Billing Provider Integration: Stripe Elements, Customer Portal, Webhook Handlers (invoice.payment_succeeded, customer.subscription.deleted), and dunning email triggers.

B. Founder Telemetry & Analytics Instrumentation

North Star Metric: Track the one event indicating primary user value (e.g. query_executed, report_exported, claim_processed).
Funnel Drop-Off Tracking:
- User Visited Landing Page → Signed Up → Completed Onboarding → Invited Teammate → Paid.
Feature Flags & A/B Testing: PostHog / LaunchDarkly flags to test pricing experiments and checkout flows safely.

C. Automated Customer Feedback & Churn Mitigation

NPS & In-App Surveys: Automated survey trigger after 7 days of active usage.
Cancellation Flow: Capture exit reason (Too expensive, missing feature, buggy, switched to competitor) and trigger discount/rescue offer.

3. Investor & Unit Economics Dashboard

Every startup repository should maintain a live metrics tracker in docs/startup-metrics.md:

Metric	Target / Benchmark	Formula / Meaning
MRR / ARR	Growing 15-20% MoM	Monthly / Annual Recurring Revenue
CAC	Payback < 12 months	Customer Acquisition Cost
LTV	LTV : CAC > 3.0	Lifetime Value per Customer
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)	> 110% for B2B	Expansion revenue outpacing churn
Burn Multiple	< 1.5	Net Burn / Net New ARR

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