yc-execution-and-customer-discovery - SKILL.md Agent Skill

name: yc-execution-and-customer-discovery description: A high-velocity framework for identifying growth bottlenecks and validating product-market fit through direct observation. Use this during weekly team sprints, when momentum stalls, or when planning customer interviews.

YC Execution and Customer Discovery Framework

This framework is designed to eliminate "fake work" and refocus early-stage teams on the only two things that matter: building product and talking to users. It utilizes the specific questioning and accountability methods used by Y Combinator partners to drive startup progress.

The Execution Loop (Office Hours Pattern)

Stop giving general status updates. Use these specific questions to uncover hidden blockers and maintain a bi-weekly momentum.

Individual Velocity Check

Ask this question to yourself or your team weekly: "What is holding us back from moving faster right now?"

Do not accept "strategy" or "long-term planning" as an answer.
Focus on immediate friction: technical debt, lack of leads, fear of a specific conversation, or unclear priorities.
Force a crystallization of the single most important task.

The Bi-Weekly Accountability Sprint

In a group or team setting, track progress using these three data points:

The Retrospective: What were the goals for the last two weeks? Did we hit them?
The Root Cause: If we missed a goal, exactly what came in the way? (Be ruthlessly honest).
The Forward Goal: What are the specific, measurable goals for the next two weeks?

Tactical Customer Discovery

Most founders fail because they are afraid of customer rejection. Use these tactics to gather high-signal data.

The "Watch, Don't Ask" Method

Instead of asking customers what they want, observe their current pain.

Scenario: If building an automation tool, have the user screen-share their daily workflow in Excel.
Signal: Look for repetitive, manual tasks they don't even realize are "hard" because they've internalized the friction.
Principle: Intensity of pain is discovered by watching a user's struggle, not by hearing their opinion.

The Volume Rule

To find the 10% of users who are "early adopters," you must be willing to face 90% indifference.

Target Metrics: Aim to talk to 25–50 potential customers before finalizing a product direction.
Outreach Strategy: You often need to reach 10 people to get 1 meeting. Plan your outreach volume accordingly.
The Indifference Mindset: Internalize that users aren't "hating" your product; they are busy and indifferent. This gives you a "second chance" to reach out again in 6 months with a better version.

The Strategy vs. Execution Spectrum

For early-stage products, strategy is often a distraction.

The Rule: Execution is the strategy until you have product-market fit.
The Focus: Your "strategy" should simply be a list of priorities from top to bottom. Work on item #1 until it is done. Avoid "strategy sessions" that assume you can do multiple things at once.

Examples

Example 1: B2B SaaS Bottleneck

Context: A team is struggling to grow their user base despite a "good" product.
The Velocity Question: "What's holding us back?"
The Discovery: "We are afraid to call the 50 leads we generated because the UI isn't perfect."
Application: Move from "perfecting UI" to a 2-week goal of "Call all 50 leads and watch them try to sign up."
Output: Discovered that users couldn't find the 'Invite' button—a 5-minute fix that was more important than the UI polish.

Example 2: Validating a New Hardware Concept

Context: A founder wants to build a new EV charging network.
Application: Instead of a survey, the founder rents a non-Tesla EV and drives to 10 different charging stations to record the experience.
Observation: The apps are fragmented and the payment flow fails 30% of the time.
Output: Pivot from "better chargers" to "software that unifies the charging experience (Plaid for EV)."

Common Pitfalls

Confusing Validation with Progress: Thinking that getting accepted into an accelerator or raising a seed round equals Product-Market Fit. Only customer usage and "exciting new progress" every two weeks count.
Over-valuing Strategy: Spending weeks on a "5-year roadmap" when you haven't talked to 10 customers yet.
Asking Leading Questions: Asking "Would you use this?" (Users say 'yes' to be nice). Instead, ask "How do you solve this today?" and "Show me the last time you did this."
Non-Technical Founder Isolation: Trying to "spec" a product for a contractor. You cannot "spec" your way to a great product; you must be part of the iterative loop.