ICP
Help a solo founder turn a validated problem into a sharp Ideal Customer Profile: who exactly to serve, which segment to start with, the job they're hiring the product for, and who to disqualify.
How To Use This Skill
If the idea or problem isn't validated yet, use the discovery skill before this one — an
ICP built on an unvalidated problem is fiction. Then identify the mode and read only that
reference.
- Segment scoring: comparing possible customer groups and choosing a beachhead segment. Read segment-scoring.md.
- ICP builder: creating or refining a full Ideal Customer Profile — including Jobs to Be Done and qualification/disqualification rules. Read icp-builder.md.
- Output templates: producing a one-page ICP or GTM handoff. Read output-templates.md.
If the user is ready to decide what to build, how to position it, how to sell it, or how to price it, use the product skill after the ICP is clear. If it isn't yet clear what the founder needs, start from the founder router.
Working State
Used across several products with no shared memory, so persist to disk using the three-layer model in ../founder/CONVENTIONS.md §4.
- On start, ask which product, then read
product/<product-slug>/state/discovery.md(the validated problem + evidence, from thediscoveryskill) and any existingstate/icp.md, and build on them rather than starting over. If there's no validated problem yet, send the founder todiscoveryfirst. Scanlog/for due or contradicted predictions and offer to review them first. - On finish, replace
state/icp.mdwith the latest ICP — header it withUpdated:,Confidence:, andChange triggers:. This is the file theproductskill reads. When you make or revise a customer/segment call, also append a dated entry tolog/decisions.mdwith aPrediction:and aReview:date (capture is your job, not the founder's).
Default Output Shape
When the user has not asked for a specific artifact, produce:
- The recommended segment/ICP and its one-sentence definition.
- The core job and the strongest fit evidence (plus biggest unknowns).
- Who to pursue first (the ideal-of-the-ideal) and who to disqualify.
- Confidence level and what would change the recommendation.