Solo Founder Skills

43 expert skills for non-technical founders building SaaS with AI tools (Claude Code, Lovable, Replit, Cursor).

Covers the full lifecycle of planning, building, launching, and growing a software business — actionable guides, checklists, and copy-paste prompts.

Installation

Note: Installation differs by platform. Claude Code or Cursor have built-in plugin marketplaces. Codex and OpenCode require manual setup.

Claude Code (via Plugin Marketplace)

In Claude Code, register the marketplace first:

/plugin marketplace add whawkinsiv/solo-founder-superpowers

Then install the plugin from this marketplace:

/plugin install solo-founder-superpowers@solo-founder-superpowers-marketplace

Cursor (via Plugin Marketplace)

In Cursor Agent chat, install from marketplace:

/plugin-add solo-founder-superpowers

Codex (Manual Setup)

Codex discovers skills from .agents/skills/ directories. Clone this repo into your project:

git clone https://github.com/whawkinsiv/solo-founder-superpowers.git .agents/skills/solo-founder-superpowers

Or install a single skill using the built-in skill installer:

$skill-installer install https://github.com/whawkinsiv/solo-founder-superpowers/tree/main/skills/build

Restart Codex after installing. Invoke skills with $skill-name or let Codex select them automatically.

OpenCode (Manual Setup)

OpenCode discovers skills from .opencode/skills/, ~/.config/opencode/skills/, or ~/.agents/skills/. Clone into any of these locations:

git clone https://github.com/whawkinsiv/solo-founder-superpowers.git .opencode/skills/solo-founder-superpowers

Skills are loaded on-demand — OpenCode will show available skills and load them when relevant.

Verify Installation

Start a new session in your chosen platform and ask for something that should trigger a skill (for example, "help me validate this idea" or "help me plan this feature"). The agent should automatically invoke the relevant solo-founder-superpowers skill.

What's Inside

Development & Technical (10 skills)

Skill	What It Covers
build	AI-assisted dev workflows, tool selection (Claude Code, Lovable, Replit, Cursor)
database	Data modeling, schemas, relationships, Supabase/Firebase/Airtable setup
integrations	APIs, webhooks, Zapier/Make, connecting third-party services
ai-features	Adding AI/LLM capabilities to your product, cost management
deploy	Hosting selection, custom domains, environment variables, going live
secure	Security checklists, OWASP Top 10, auth and data protection
test	Test scenarios, edge cases, cross-browser testing
debug	Systematic debugging, error interpretation, diagnostics
optimize	Speed, code, database, and dependency optimization
monitor	Production monitoring, error alerts, incident response

Design & UX (5 skills)

Skill	What It Covers
design	Design systems, UI patterns, visual hierarchy, components, mobile-first
brand	Brand identity, color palettes, typography, logos, design tokens
navigation	App navigation, content hierarchy, menus, findability
onboarding	Onboarding flows, aha moments, activation rates, first-run UX
accessibility	WCAG compliance, ARIA, screen readers, keyboard navigation

SEO & Content (4 skills)

Skill	What It Covers
seo	Keyword research, content calendars, on-page optimization
technical-seo	SEO audits, Core Web Vitals, GEO for AI search engines
content	Content strategy, build in public, audience building, distribution
copywriting	Headlines, CTAs, button text, error messages, UI copy

Growth & Marketing (9 skills)

Skill	What It Covers
launch	Product Hunt, waitlists, beta programs, GTM sequencing
landing-page	Page structure, above-the-fold copy, conversion elements
growth	Product-led growth, viral loops, activation metrics, referrals
conversion	Funnel analysis, friction reduction, A/B testing
email	Email sequences, onboarding drips, behavioral triggers
ads	Google Ads, ad copy, keyword selection, CAC/LTV optimization
sales	Cold outreach, prospect lists, landing the first 100 customers
social-media	Platform-specific tactics: Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Reddit, short-form video
community	Discord/Slack communities, user forums, community-led growth

Strategy & Planning (8 skills)

Skill	What It Covers
plan	Turn ideas into buildable specs, MVPs, feature requirements
validate	Pre-build validation: smoke tests, fake door tests, concierge MVPs
customer-research	User interviews, JTBD framework, behavioral personas
market-research	Market sizing, competitor analysis, TAM/SAM/SOM
pricing	Pricing tiers, value metrics, psychology, monetization
prioritize	Feature prioritization, roadmaps, RICE scoring, MVP definition
feedback	Post-launch feedback collection, NPS, feature requests
analytics	Event tracking, funnels, key metrics, data quality

Business Operations (7 skills)

Skill	What It Covers
legal	Entity formation, ToS, Privacy Policy, compliance
finances	Financial models, unit economics, MRR/ARR/churn, burn rate
accounting	Bookkeeping, expense tracking, quarterly taxes, invoicing
payments	Stripe setup, subscriptions, billing, tax collection
hiring	Developer sourcing, vetting contractors, briefs, management
support	Help docs, knowledge bases, self-serve support
retention	Churn prevention, win-back campaigns, expansion revenue

Commands

Command	What It Does
improve-prompt	Transforms vague coding requests into detailed, specific prompts

How to Use

Skills are invoked automatically when Claude Code detects a relevant request, or manually:

/solo-founder-superpowers:plan
/solo-founder-superpowers:launch
/solo-founder-superpowers:payments

Recommended workflow for a new product

1. Validate   — validate, customer-research, market-research
2. Plan       — plan, prioritize, pricing, finances
3. Design     — design, brand, navigation
4. Build      — build, database, integrations, secure, test, debug
5. Deploy     — deploy, payments
6. Launch     — launch, landing-page, copywriting
7. Grow       — growth, content, seo, email, ads, social-media
8. Retain     — onboarding, retention, support, feedback
9. Scale      — optimize, monitor, analytics, ai-features, hiring

Design Philosophy

These skills assume Claude's intelligence — they focus on:

• Non-technical founder perspective and common mistakes
• Tool selection criteria (when to use Lovable vs Claude Code vs Replit)
• Actionable checklists and "Tell AI:" copy-paste prompts
• What's out of scope (preventing premature optimization)
• Concise, actionable content that avoids explaining concepts Claude already knows

Author

Will Hawkins (@whawkinsiv)