Skillset optimized for indie makers, and bootstrapped solo founders building SaaS applications with AI tools (Lovable, Replit, Claude Code).
Overview
Claude Code skills for a solo, bootstrapped founder who builds a software business alone. The skills follow one order: . Get the first 10 paying customers by hand, build the smallest version they need, ship it safely, then grow to 100. Not sure where to start? Ask "where do I start?" The journey skill finds your stage and names your next step. Skills load automatically when your request matches them. You can also call one directly, for example /solo-founder:validate. - A skill that would only repeat what Claude already knows does not ship. - Each SKILL.md has 150 lines or fewer. The detail goes into a reference file, only where the skill needs one. - You work inside Claude Code, and Claude does the work. - A skill names a vendor only when the vendor is the advice, as with Stripe for payments. Will Hawkins (@whawkinsiv). MIT license.
README
Solo Founder Skills
Claude Code skills for a solo, bootstrapped founder who builds a software business alone.
The skills follow one order: sell before you build. Get the first 10 paying customers by hand, build the smallest version they need, ship it safely, then grow to 100.
Install
In Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add whawkinsiv/solo-founder-skills
/plugin install solo-founder@solo-founder-skills-marketplace
Not sure where to start? Ask “where do I start?” The journey skill finds your stage and names your next step.
What’s inside
| Stage | Skill | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Start | journey | Finds your stage from paying customers, not code, and names the next step |
| Start | focus | Is this activity, purchase, or feature worth it? One verdict and a plan for this week |
| Start | about-me | Captures your writing voice in ABOUT-ME.md, so content sounds like you |
| Idea | validate | Finds a problem, tests demand with the cheapest experiment, scores the evidence, and gives a dated verdict |
| Idea | is-this-an-app | Decides what form the idea should take, including “no build at all” |
| Idea | domain-name | Names the product and checks domain availability |
| Sell | pricing | One simple price before 10 customers, tiers after |
| Sell | landing-page | A page that sells: one offer, one price, one action, real proof only |
| Sell | A branded address on your domain that lands in inboxes | |
| Sell | first-customers | The first 10 paying customers by hand, then 100. Launch after 10, not before |
| Sell | payments | Payment links first, then Stripe Checkout, the customer portal, and webhooks |
| Build | build | Scopes the first version from what you already do by hand, then builds it one tested piece at a time |
| Build | beautify | Makes an AI-built app look designed, handle every UI state, and pass a design review |
| Ship | secure | Finds the security holes AI-built apps ship with, and fixes them |
| Ship | go-live | The go/no-go check: the core flow, payments, backups, alerts, and rollback |
| Grow | content | One platform, building in public, and writing in your own voice |
| Grow | seo | Audits your code for search and AI-answer visibility, then fixes it |
| Grow | retention | Onboarding, customer conversations, support, and cancellations, by hand first |
| Grow | humanize | Removes AI writing patterns without inventing facts |
| Run | finances | Your quit number, your runway, and whether the business survives without outside money |
| Run | legal | Entity, terms, privacy policy, and data rights, drafted for a lawyer to review |
Skills load automatically when your request matches them. You can also call one directly, for example /solo-founder:validate.
Design rules
- Each skill changes what Claude does. A skill that would only repeat what Claude already knows does not ship.
- Short. Each SKILL.md has 150 lines or fewer. The detail goes into a reference file, only where the skill needs one.
- Instructions to Claude, not prompts to paste. You work inside Claude Code, and Claude does the work.
- No vendor lock-in. A skill names a vendor only when the vendor is the advice, as with Stripe for payments.
Author
Will Hawkins (@whawkinsiv). MIT license.
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Install
npx skillfish add whawkinsiv/solo-founder-skills