
Founder Interview
FreeStreamline your company's onboarding process.
Free · Opens the source repo
What Founder Interview does
The /cs:onboard command is a structured interview tool designed for founders using c-level agents. It facilitates the creation of a comprehensive company context file, ~/.claude/company-context.md, which serves as a foundational document for any c-suite advisor interacting with the company. This skill is particularly useful for new startups or organizations undergoing significant changes, such as fundraising or restructuring, where a clear understanding of the company’s current status is essential.
During the onboarding process, the founder is guided through a series of 12 targeted questions that cover vital aspects of the business, including company identity, business model, financial posture, and strategic context. The responses collected through this interview populate the company context file in a standardized format, ensuring that all advisors have access to consistent and accurate information. This reduces ambiguity and enhances decision-making efficiency by providing a clear snapshot of the organization’s goals, risks, and operational metrics.
The skill is ideal for founders who are setting up their virtual C-suite for the first time or for those who need to refresh their company’s context after significant changes. It emphasizes the importance of context in advisory roles, ensuring that every cs-* advisor has the necessary background to provide informed guidance. By running this skill, founders can ensure that their advisors are not operating in a vacuum but are well-informed about the company's current landscape, which is crucial for effective collaboration and strategic planning.
The /cs:onboard command not only saves time but also enhances the quality of interactions with advisors by providing a structured and comprehensive overview of the company. It is an essential first step for any founder looking to leverage AI-driven advisory tools effectively.
When to use it
Use this skill when setting up the virtual C-suite for a new company or after significant changes like fundraising.
When not to use it
Avoid this skill if your company context is already well-documented and does not require updates or if you are not using c-level agents.
What you can build with it
Setting Up a New Company
Use this skill to establish a clear context for your new startup, ensuring all advisors are aligned from the start.
Post-Fundraising Updates
After securing funding, re-run the onboarding to reflect new financial metrics and strategic priorities.
Preparing for Board Meetings
Before high-stakes decisions, use this skill to ensure all advisors have the latest company context.
How to install Founder Interview
View source1. Install with the skills CLI
npx skills add alirezarezvani/claude-skills/onboard --agent claude-code2. Or install it manually
Download the skill folder and drop it into ~/.claude/skills/ for all projects, or .claude/skills/ to scope it to one repo. Restart Claude Code so it picks up the new skill.
Anthropic's agentic coding CLI, and the reference implementation of Agent Skills. Drop a skill folder into ~/.claude/skills and Claude Code loads it automatically whenever a task matches the skill's description. Claude Code docs
Inside SKILL.md
Written by alirezarezvani/cs:onboard — Founder Interview
Command: /cs:onboard
The first command to run when adopting c-level-agents. A structured founder interview that produces ~/.claude/company-context.md — the file every cs-* advisor reads before responding. Without this, the advisors are guessing.
What This Produces
~/.claude/company-context.md — a single file with the durable facts about the company. Read by:
cs-chief-of-staff(routing decisions)- Every cs-* advisor (context for any question)
/cs:brief(assumptions in any new decision)
The Interview (12 Questions)
Company Basics
- Company name and one-sentence pitch.
- Stage: pre-seed / seed / Series A / Series B / Series C+ / public
- Headcount: total, by function (eng / product / GTM / ops / G&A)
- Geographic distribution: HQ + remote split, key countries
Business Model
- Revenue model: SaaS subscription / usage / transaction / marketplace / hardware / services
- ICP: name one real customer and describe what they have in common with others
- ACV: median and range; deal count last 12 months
- Growth rate: ARR YoY; if pre-revenue, leading metric (users, MAU, etc.)
Financial Posture
- Runway: months of cash at current burn; bear-case months
- Last raise: amount, valuation, lead investor, date
Strategic Context
- Top 3 priorities for the current quarter (in plain language)
- Top 3 risks the founder loses sleep over (be specific)
Output Format
Canonical schema: ~/.claude/company-context.md is owned by the cs-onboard skill and follows its 7-dimension schema (../../../skills/cs-onboard/templates/company-context-template.md): Company Identity, Stage & Scale, Founder Profile, Team & Culture, Market & Competition, Current Challenges, Goals & Ambition. The 12 questions above are a faster structured intake that populates that same file — Identity/Business/Financial → Stage & Scale, Team → Team & Culture, Quarter priorities/risks → Current Challenges + Goals & Ambition. Write [not captured] for dimensions the quick intake doesn't reach (Founder Profile, Market & Competition); run the full cs-onboard interview to fill them. Never create a second context file or a divergent layout.
The intake summary captured by the 12 questions:
# Company Context
**Generated:** YYYY-MM-DD
**Last updated:** YYYY-MM-DD
## Identity
- **Company:** <name>
- **Pitch:** <one sentence>
- **Stage:** <stage>
- **HQ + remote:** <distribution>
## Business
- **Model:** <type>
- **ICP:** <description + named customer>
- **ACV:** $<median> (range $<low> - $<high>)
- **Deal count (LTM):** N
- **ARR growth (YoY):** X%
## Financial
- **Cash on hand:** $<amount>
- **Net burn (monthly):** $<amount>
- **Runway base:** N months
- **Runway bear:** N months
- **Last raise:** $<amount> at $<post> in <month YYYY>, led by <investor>
## Team
- **Total headcount:** N
- **Eng:** N | Product: N | GTM: N | Ops: N | G&A: N
## Quarter
- **Top priorities (Q<X> YYYY):**
1. <priority>
2. <priority>
3. <priority>
- **Top risks:**
1. <risk>
2. <risk>
3. <risk>
## Routing Hints
[Optional: any role the founder wants to use sparingly or rely on heavily]
Workflow
- Walk the founder through all 12 questions
- Quote founder's own words wherever possible (don't paraphrase the ICP)
- Save to
~/.claude/company-context.md - (Optional) If llm-wiki bridge is configured: symlink to vault
ln -sf ~/company-vault/00-meta/company-context.md ~/.claude/company-context.md - Confirm with founder: read the file back, ask "anything missing?"
When to Re-Run
- After a fundraise (numbers change)
- After a major pivot or product launch
- After 6+ months (most facts have drifted)
- After a major hire (team distribution changes)
- Always before a
/cs:boardroomfor a high-stakes decision
Persistence
By default, ~/.claude/company-context.md is local to the founder's machine. To make it persistent across machines / shareable:
- Markdown vault (recommended): see
../../references/llm-wiki-bridge.md - Encrypted dotfile sync: age + git
- Shared team: keep in a private repo, symlink from
~/.claude/
Related
- Skill:
cs-onboard— the underlying interview protocol - Skill:
context-engine— reads this file - Reference:
../../references/llm-wiki-bridge.md
Version: 1.0.0
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