minimalist-review▌
slavingia/skills · updated Apr 8, 2026
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You are a business advisor channeling the philosophy of The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia. Review the user's decision or situation through the minimalist entrepreneur framework.
You are a business advisor channeling the philosophy of The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia. Review the user's decision or situation through the minimalist entrepreneur framework.
The Minimalist Entrepreneur Principles
Apply these principles to evaluate whatever the user presents:
1. Community First
- Does this serve your community? Or is it driven by ego, vanity metrics, or what "successful companies" do?
- Are you staying close to your customers?
- Amazon puts an empty chair in every board meeting to represent the customer. Are you doing the equivalent?
2. Start Manual, Then Automate
- Are you over-building? Could this be done manually first?
- "Processize" before you "productize"
- Have you done this by hand enough times to know it works?
3. Build as Little as Possible
- Can you ship this in a weekend?
- What's the simplest version that makes someone's life better?
- Are you building for today's customers or hypothetical future ones?
4. Sell Before You Scale
- Have real people paid real money for this?
- Are you trying to market before you've sold? (Sales comes first, marketing second)
- Manual sales = 99% of early growth
5. Spend Time Before Money
- Can you do this with time instead of money?
- Blog posts, social media, personal outreach are free
- Only spend money to accelerate what's already working organically
6. Profitability is the Goal
- Does this decision bring you closer to or further from profitability?
- Are you "default alive" or "default dead"?
- Is this reversible? Avoid irreversible decisions (long leases, big hires, VC terms)
7. Grow at the Speed of Your Customers
- Are your customers asking for this? Or are you guessing?
- Your company will grow as quickly as your customers determine
- The vast majority of small businesses are never eaten by big fish
8. Build the House You Want to Live In
- Does this align with your values?
- Would you want to work at this company in 5 years if you keep making decisions like this?
- Are you building a business that doesn't own you?
Decision Framework
For any decision, evaluate:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does this serve my community/customers? | |
| Is this the simplest approach? | |
| Does this improve profitability? | |
| Is this reversible if it doesn't work? | |
| Am I spending time or money? | |
| Have customers asked for this? | |
| Does this align with my values? | |
| Will I still want this in a year? |
Common Minimalist Entrepreneur Advice
- "Don't launch. Sell to your first 100 customers first."
- "Hire when it hurts."
- "Your failures will fade, while your successes will stick around and compound."
- "Profitability gets you off the grid. Then you grow mindfully with unlimited runway."
- "Build the right business for yourself selfishly, while serving a community of others selflessly."
Output
Give the user:
- A clear recommendation (do it / don't do it / simplify it)
- What the minimalist version of their plan looks like
- The biggest risk they should watch for
- One thing to try this week to validate the decision
How to use minimalist-review on Cursor
AI-first code editor with Composer
Prerequisites
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
- ›Cursor installed and configured on your development machine
- ›Node.js version 16.0+ with npm package manager (verify with
node --version) - ›Active project directory or workspace where you want to add minimalist-review
Execute installation command
Execute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
The skills CLI fetches minimalist-review from GitHub repository slavingia/skills and configures it for Cursor.
Select Cursor when prompted
The CLI will show a list of available agents. Use arrow keys to navigate and space to select Cursor:
Verify installation
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
Reload or restart Cursor to activate minimalist-review. Access the skill through slash commands (e.g., /minimalist-review) or your agent's skill management interface.
Security & Verification Notice
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your development environment. Always verify the publisher's identity, review recent commits, and test in isolated environments before production deployment.
List & Monetize Your Skill
Submit your Claude Code skill and start earning
Use Cases▌
User Story & Requirements Generation
Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs
Example
Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios
Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage
Competitive Analysis
Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps
Example
Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities
Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days
Roadmap Prioritization
Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs
Example
Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Stakeholder Communication
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
Example
Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement
Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead
Implementation Guide▌
Prerequisites
- ›Claude Desktop or compatible AI client
- ›Access to product documentation and roadmap tools (Jira, Notion, etc.)
- ›Understanding of product management frameworks (RICE, Jobs-to-be-Done, etc.)
- ›Stakeholder contact information and communication channels
Time Estimate
30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Installation Steps
- 1.Install product management skill
- 2.Start with user story generation for known feature
- 3.Progress to competitive analysis: research 2-3 competitors
- 4.Use for roadmap prioritization: apply RICE/ICE scoring
- 5.Draft stakeholder communications and refine based on feedback
- 6.Build template library for recurring PM tasks
- 7.Share effective prompts with product team
Common Pitfalls
- ⚠Not validating competitive research—verify facts before sharing
- ⚠Accepting user stories without involving engineering team
- ⚠Over-relying on frameworks without qualitative judgment
- ⚠Not customizing outputs to company culture and communication style
- ⚠Skipping stakeholder validation of generated requirements
Best Practices▌
✓ Do
- +Validate research and competitive analysis with real data
- +Collaborate with engineering when generating technical requirements
- +Customize frameworks and templates to your company context
- +Use skill for first drafts, refine with stakeholder input
- +Document successful prompt patterns for PM tasks
- +Combine AI efficiency with human judgment and intuition
✗ Don't
- −Don't publish competitive analysis without fact-checking
- −Don't finalize user stories without engineering review
- −Don't make prioritization decisions solely on AI scoring
- −Don't skip customer validation of generated requirements
- −Don't ignore company-specific context and culture
💡 Pro Tips
- ★Provide context: company goals, constraints, customer feedback
- ★Ask for alternatives: 'Show 3 ways to prioritize this roadmap'
- ★Request stakeholder-specific formatting: 'Executive summary vs. engineering spec'
- ★Use skill for 70% generation + 30% customization to company needs
When to Use This▌
✓ Use When
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid When
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
Learning Path▌
- 1Basic: user stories, feature specs, status updates
- 2Intermediate: competitive analysis, prioritization frameworks, PRDs
- 3Advanced: product strategy, go-to-market planning, OKR setting
- 4Expert: product vision, market positioning, business model innovation
Discussion
Product Hunt–style comments (not star reviews)- No comments yet — start the thread.
Ratings
4.7★★★★★57 reviews- ★★★★★Amina Farah· Dec 28, 2024
minimalist-review has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.
- ★★★★★Amina Nasser· Dec 20, 2024
Keeps context tight: minimalist-review is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
- ★★★★★Dhruvi Jain· Dec 16, 2024
Keeps context tight: minimalist-review is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
- ★★★★★Evelyn Jackson· Dec 4, 2024
Registry listing for minimalist-review matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
- ★★★★★Valentina White· Dec 4, 2024
minimalist-review reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
- ★★★★★Lucas Reddy· Nov 23, 2024
Keeps context tight: minimalist-review is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
- ★★★★★Mei Srinivasan· Nov 23, 2024
minimalist-review is among the better-maintained entries we tried; worth keeping pinned for repeat workflows.
- ★★★★★Yusuf Taylor· Nov 11, 2024
Registry listing for minimalist-review matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
- ★★★★★Oshnikdeep· Nov 7, 2024
Registry listing for minimalist-review matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
- ★★★★★Ganesh Mohane· Oct 26, 2024
minimalist-review reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
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