Product Strategy Assessment

Purpose

Forces rigorous product thinking by applying YC's 6 mandatory questions before any major feature decision. Prevents "build first, think later" anti-pattern.

Usage

/product-strategy "new authentication system"
/product-strategy "API rate limiting redesign"

Workflow

Phase 1: YC Forced Questions

Before any implementation planning, answer ALL 6 questions. Incomplete answers block Phase 2.

#	Question	Must Answer
1	Who is the user?	Specific persona, not "everyone"
2	What problem does this solve?	Observable behavior, not assumed need
3	How do they solve it today?	Current workaround — if none exists, question the need
4	Why is this solution better?	Measurable improvement, not "it's newer"
5	What's the smallest version that validates the hypothesis?	MVP scope — ruthlessly cut
6	How will you know it worked?	Success metric, measurable within 2 weeks

Phase 2: CEO Scope Mode Assessment

Categorize the feature into one of 4 modes:

Mode	Signal	Action
Expansion	Strong user signal + clear gap	Full implementation, invest aggressively
Selective	Mixed signals, some demand	Targeted implementation, measure before expanding
Hold	Low signal, maintenance only	Keep working, no new investment
Reduction	Negative signal, cost > value	Phase out, redirect resources

Phase 3: Output

Generate structured assessment:

## Product Strategy: {feature}

### YC Assessment
1. User: {answer}
2. Problem: {answer}
3. Current solution: {answer}
4. Why better: {answer}
5. MVP: {answer}
6. Success metric: {answer}

### Scope Mode: {Expansion|Selective|Hold|Reduction}
Rationale: {why this mode}

### Recommendation
{Go / No-Go / Needs more data}
Next step: {specific action}

Integration

Rule	Interaction
R010	Orchestrator invokes skill; no file writes
R015	Transparent assessment — user sees all reasoning

Source

Adapted from garrytan/gstack /office-hours + /plan-ceo-review patterns.