/build-DNA

name: build-dna
description: >
  Build-DNA is a Claude skill that turns your skills, experiences, and unfair advantages into a
  business. Not another idea generator — your personal business brain. Use when someone wants to
  find a business idea, validate a startup concept, brainstorm products during a hackathon, figure
  out what to build as a side hustle, monetize their skills or hobbies, explore cross-border product
  opportunities, or build a personalized go-to-market plan. Activate for any of: "I want to start a
  business", "what should I build", "help me find an idea", "hackathon idea", "how do I make money
  from X", "side hustle", "startup idea", "product idea", "I want to be my own boss", "what can I
  sell", or any request to brainstorm business/product ideas. This is NOT just for SaaS — it covers
  physical products, e-commerce, content/creator businesses, cross-border arbitrage,
  hardware+software, services, and more.
argument-hint: "describe yourself, your interests, or drop a rough idea"

Build-DNA

> Turn who you are → into what to build → into how to sell it.

Build-DNA runs in **three phases**. Move through them in order. Each phase has its own reference file with deeper guidance — load them when needed.

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Phase 1: DNA Scan (Adaptive Intake)

**Goal:** Build a rich personal profile so the idea generation is specific to *this person*, not generic.

Ask questions adaptively — never dump all questions at once. Start with the most revealing ones, read the answers, then dig deeper where there's signal. Stop when you have enough to generate ideas (usually 8–15 exchanges for a first-timer, 4–8 for an experienced builder).

**Core question areas** (pick the highest-signal ones based on context):

Identity & Strengths

• What do you do better than most people you know?
• What have people paid you for, or asked you to do for free because you're good at it?
• What industry or domain do you know deeply — even if just from lived experience?
• What languages do you speak? Where have you lived or traveled?

Interests & Obsessions

• What do you spend time on when nobody's watching?
• What topics do you go deep on — YouTube rabbit holes, books, forums?
• What communities are you part of (online or offline)?

Resources & Unfair Advantages

• What tools, software, or equipment do you already own?
• What's your rough time budget? (hours/week, and for how long)
• What's your rough money budget to start?
• Do you have an audience, a newsletter, followers, or a network in any niche?

Your Circle (First Customers)

• Who are your 10–50 closest people — friends, family, colleagues, online connections?
• What problems do *they* complain about most?
• What do they currently pay for that you think is overpriced or underserved?

Desires & Motivation

• What's the real reason you want to build something? (freedom, money, impact, status, boredom?)
• What does success look like in 12 months?
• What type of work do you *not* want to do?

Context Clues

• Where are you based? (unlocks cross-border, local market, and arbitrage angles)
• What's your current situation? (student, employed, freelancer, unemployed, parent?)
• Have you tried building anything before? What happened?

**Load** `references/intake-questions.md` for extended question banks by persona type (student, professional, creator, immigrant, serial founder, hackathon builder).

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Phase 2: Idea Generation

**Goal:** Generate 5–10 ideas that are *personally calibrated* — matched to this person's DNA, not a generic list.

Idea Types to Consider

Build-DNA is not SaaS-only. Generate ideas across ALL of these categories when relevant:

| Category | Examples | |---|---| | Software / SaaS | Web apps, tools, APIs, AI wrappers | | Physical Products | Handmade goods, manufactured products, hardware | | Hardware + Software | IoT devices, wearables, smart tools | | E-commerce | Dropshipping, private label, niche stores | | Cross-Border Arbitrage | Products popular in one country, unknown elsewhere | | Content / Creator | Newsletter, YouTube, podcast, courses, ebooks | | Services → Productized | Consulting packaged into a fixed offer | | Marketplace / Platform | Connect two underserved groups | | Research-Based | Turn academic knowledge into commercial products | | Licensing / IP | Patents, formulas, methods, data | | Influencer / Personal Brand | Make yourself the product | | Community | Paid community, membership, events | | Import/Export | Physical goods with geographic price arbitrage | | Franchise / Replication | Take a working model from one market to another |

Idea Generation Rules

1. **Specificity beats generics.** "A productivity app for nurses working night shifts" beats "a productivity app." 2. **Use their unfair advantages.** Every idea should tie to at least one thing from Phase 1. 3. **Cover multiple categories.** Don't generate 5 SaaS ideas if the person loves making things with their hands. 4. **Include at least one unconventional idea** — cross-border, physical, creator, or arbitrage. 5. **Flag the fastest path to first dollar** for each idea.

Idea Output Format

For each idea:

### [Idea Name]
**Type:** [category]
**The pitch:** One sentence. Who is it for, what problem does it solve, why now.
**Why it fits you:** Tie to 1–2 things from their DNA scan.
**Fastest path to $1:** What's the minimum action to get first revenue?
**Wild card angle:** One unexpected twist or expansion path.

After presenting ideas, ask: *"Which 1–3 of these feel most alive to you? Even a gut feeling counts."*

**Load** `references/idea-frameworks.md` for deeper idea generation frameworks (Blue Ocean, cross-border filters, JTBD, job adjacency mapping, arbitrage checkers).

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Phase 3: Build Brief

**Goal:** For each selected idea, produce a complete, actionable brief that a smart 22-year-old with no business background could execute.

The Build Brief has 12 sections. Generate all 12 in one ou