Paths: File paths (
shared/,references/,../ln-*) are relative to skills repo root. If not found at CWD, locate this SKILL.md directory and go up one level for repo root.
Opportunity Discoverer
Traffic-First approach to finding next growth direction for existing product.
Core Philosophy
Anti-pattern: Idea → Surveys → Product → "where's traffic?" Correct: Traffic → Niche → MVP → Launch under existing demand
The 90% Developer Bug
Most fail because they:
- Invent idea with no analogs
- Ask 5 people "would you pay?" (they say yes for a hot dog)
- Build product with round sum
- Launch with "now let's set up traffic"
- Discover: no traffic exists, never did
No marketer will build funnel for what cold traffic doesn't buy.
Traffic-First Principles
| # | Principle | Anti-pattern | |---|-----------|--------------| | 1 | Traffic exists BEFORE product | Building then searching for traffic | | 2 | No surveys — measure real search demand | Asking "would you buy?" | | 3 | Existing demand — launch under what people search | Creating new category | | 4 | One channel, one idea — no spreading | Testing 5 channels at once | | 5 | KILL early — fail fast, don't waste time | Scoring all ideas equally |
Supporting Methodology
Marc Andreessen (pmarca):
"Validate market at practical level — go get paying customers to demonstrate market exists."
Sam Altman (YC):
"Who desperately needs the product? Best answer is going after large part of small market." "Test idea by launching or trying to sell — get letter of intent before code."
Purpose & Scope
- Discover growth direction BEFORE Epic creation
- Filter ideas through sequential KILL funnel
- Output: one recommended idea + one traffic channel
- Position: before ln-210 (Epic Coordinator)
When to Use
Use this skill when:
- Product exists, seeking next growth direction
- Have 3-10 potential ideas/niches
- Want to validate opportunity before committing
- Need to choose ONE channel to focus on
Do NOT use when:
- No product context (greenfield startup)
- Already have validated direction (skip to ln-210)
- Prioritizing existing Stories (use ln-230)
Input Parameters
| Parameter | Required | Description | Default | |-----------|----------|-------------|---------| | ideas | No | Comma-separated list | - | | context | No | Product description for generation | - | | strict | No | Strict KILL thresholds | true |
Input modes:
ideas="idea1, idea2, idea3"— evaluate listcontext="SaaS for X"— generate ideas from product- Both — generate + add user ideas
KILL Funnel Pipeline
Ideas pass through 6 sequential filters. Fail any filter = KILL immediately.
Idea → [Traffic?] → [Demand?] → [Competition?] → [Revenue?] → [Interest?] → [MVP?] → SURVIVOR
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL KILL
Filter 1: Traffic Channel
Question: Where do people look for this solution?
Research:
WebSearch: "[idea] how people find solutions"
WebSearch: "[idea] customer acquisition channels"
Valid channels:
| Channel | Signal | Best for | |---------|--------|----------| | Search/SEO | People Google "[problem] solution" | Info products, tools | | YouTube | Tutorial searches exist | Education, how-to | | Marketplaces | Category exists (ProductHunt, AppStore) | Apps, plugins | | Communities | Active subreddits, forums | Niche products | | Paid Ads | Competitors running ads | Proven demand | | Outbound | Clear ICP, reachable | B2B high-ticket |
KILL if: No identifiable channel where people actively look for solution.
Output: Channel name + rationale
Filter 2: Existing Demand
Question: Are people already searching for this?
Research:
WebSearch: "[idea] search volume 2025"
WebSearch: "[idea] Google Trends"
WebSearch: "[problem] forum discussions reddit"
Demand signals:
| Signal | Source | Interpretation | |--------|--------|----------------| | Search volume | Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs | Direct demand | | Trend direction | Google Trends | Growing/declining | | Forum activity | Reddit, HackerNews, StackOverflow | Pain level | | Competitor traffic | SimilarWeb, SEMrush | Market size |
KILL thresholds:
| Volume | Verdict | |--------|---------| | >10K/month | Strong demand | | 1K-10K/month | Viable niche | | <1K/month | KILL — insufficient demand |
Output: Monthly volume estimate + trend
Filter 3: Competition (Blue/Red Ocean)
Question: Can we enter this market?
Research:
WebSearch: "[idea] competitors 2025"
WebSearch: "[idea] alternatives comparison"
Classification:
| Competitors | Index | Ocean | Verdict | |-------------|-------|-------|---------| | 0 | 1 | Blue | Opportunity (validate demand exists) | | 1-2 | 2 | Emerging | Best entry point | | 3-5 | 3 | Growing | Differentiation needed | | 6-10 | 4 | Mature | Hard but possible | | >10 | 5 | Red | KILL — commoditized |
KILL if: Index 5 (Red Ocean) — too many competitors, race to bottom.
Output: Competitor count + Ocean type
Filter 4: Revenue Potential
Question: Will people pay enough?
Research:
WebSearch: "[idea] pricing SaaS"
WebSearch: "[competitor] pricing plans"
WebSearch: "[idea] willingness to pay"
Revenue indicators:
| ARPU | Market type | Viability | |------|-------------|-----------| | >$100/user/mo | Enterprise | High margin | | $50-100 | Professional | Good | | $20-50 | Prosumer | Viable | | $5-20 | Consumer | Volume needed | | <$5 | Ad-supported | KILL |
KILL if: <$20/user — not worth the effort for small team.
Output: Estimated $/user + pricing model
Filter 5: Personal Interest
Question: Will you enjoy building this?
Method: AskUserQuestion — rate 1-5
Rate your interest in building [idea]:
1 = Meh, would do for money only
2 = Low interest
3 = Neutral
4 = Interested
5 = Excited, would build for free
Why this matters:
- Low interest = burnout in 3 months
- High interest = sustained motivation through hard times
- You'll spend 2+ years on this
KILL if: Score 1-2 — you'll quit before PMF.
Output: Score 1-5
Filter 6: MVP-ability
Question: Can you launch in 4 weeks?
Assessment:
| Factor | Question | Red flag | |--------|----------|----------| | Tech | Existing skills or need to learn? | New stack | | Dependencies | External APIs, partners needed? | Waiting on others | | Content | Significant content creation? | Months of writing | | Regulations | Legal/compliance requirements? | Licenses, approvals | | Team | Solo or need to hire? | Can't start alone |
Time estimates:
| Weeks | Complexity | Verdict | |-------|------------|---------| | 1-2 | Solo, existing skills | Best | | 2-4 | Minor learning curve | Good | | 4-8 | Some new tech | Acceptable | | >8 | Significant infrastructure | KILL |
KILL if: >8 weeks to MVP — too slow to validate.
Output: Weeks estimate + blockers
Workflow
Phase 1: Input Processing (2 min)
-
Parse input:
- If
ideas: split comma-separated list - If
context: generate 5-7 ideas via WebSearch - If both: combine
- If
-
Validate count:
- Minimum: 3 ideas
- Maximum: 10 ideas
-
Create output directory:
mkdir -p docs/reference/research/
Output: Idea queue (3-10 items)
Phase 2: KILL Funnel (per idea)
Process each idea sequentially through all 6 filters:
FOR each idea:
Filter 1: Traffic Channel
IF no channel → KILL, log reason, NEXT idea
Filter 2: Existing Demand
IF <1K/month → KILL, log reason, NEXT idea
Filter 3: Competition
IF Index 5 → KILL, log reason, NEXT idea
Filter 4: Revenue
IF <$20/user → KILL, log reason, NEXT idea
Filter 5: Interest
AskUserQuestion for rating
IF score 1-2 → KILL, log reason, NEXT idea
Filter 6: MVP-ability
IF >8 weeks → KILL, log reason, NEXT idea
→ SURVIVOR: add to survivors list
Token efficiency:
- Process ONE idea at a time
- KILL early = less research needed
- Clear context after each idea
Phase 3: Rank Survivors (2 min)
If survivors exist:
-
Calculate composite score:
Score = Demand_score + (6 - Competition_index) + Revenue_score + Interest + MVP_score -
Sort by score descending
-
Select TOP recommendation
If no survivors:
- Report: "All ideas killed. Rethink direction."
- Show KILL log for learning
Phase 4: Output (2 min)
Generate: docs/reference/research/[YYYY-MM-DD]-discovery.md
Structure:
# Opportunity Discovery: [Date]
## Summary
- Ideas analyzed: X
- Survivors: Y
- Killed: Z
## TOP RECOMMENDATION
**Idea:** [Name]
**Channel:** [Primary channel]
**Why:** [2-3 sentence rationale]
### Key metrics:
- Demand: [volume]/month
- Competition: [Index] [Ocean type]
- Revenue: $[X]/user
- MVP: [X] weeks
## Survivors Table
| Idea | Channel | Demand | Competition | Revenue | Interest | MVP | Score |
|------|---------|--------|-------------|---------|----------|-----|-------|
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
## KILL Log
| Idea | Killed at | Reason |
|------|-----------|--------|
| ... | ... | ... |
## Next Steps
1. Create Epic with ln-210 for top recommendation
2. Focus on [channel] as primary acquisition
3. Target MVP in [X] weeks
Time-Box
| Ideas | Estimated time | |-------|---------------| | 3 | 15-20 min | | 5 | 25-35 min | | 10 | 50-70 min |
Note: KILL funnel is faster than full scoring — bad ideas die early.
Integration
Position in workflow:
Product exists
↓
ln-201 (Opportunity Discovery) ← THIS SKILL
↓
ln-210 (Epic Coordinator)
↓
ln-220 (Story Coordinator)
Dependencies:
- WebSearch (all filters except Interest)
- AskUserQuestion (Interest filter)
- Write, Bash (output)
Critical Rules
- Traffic first — no traffic channel = no analysis
- KILL immediately — don't score dead ideas
- One recommendation — avoid paralysis
- No surveys — real search data only
- Interest matters — you'll quit if bored
- MVP speed — slow launch = slow learning
Example Usage
With ideas:
ln-201-opportunity-discoverer ideas="AI writing tool, code review bot, translation API"
With context:
ln-201-opportunity-discoverer context="B2B developer tools SaaS"
Example output:
# Opportunity Discovery: 2026-01-29
## TOP RECOMMENDATION
**Idea:** Code review bot
**Channel:** SEO (developers search "code review tool")
**Why:** Growing demand (15K/mo), emerging market (3 competitors),
$50/user pricing proven, can MVP in 3 weeks with existing skills.
## KILL Log
| Idea | Killed at | Reason |
|------|-----------|--------|
| AI writing | Competition | Red Ocean (25+ competitors) |
| Translation API | Revenue | Commoditized, <$10/user |
Reference Files
| File | Purpose | |------|---------| | filter_criteria.md | KILL thresholds for all filters | | channel_analysis.md | Traffic channel identification | | discovery_template.md | Output markdown template |
Version: 2.0.0 Last Updated: 2026-01-29