Use lean-canvas

Turn a startup or internal-product idea into a lean canvas that finds what could kill it

Turn a startup or internal-product idea into a lean canvas that finds what could kill it — the nine boxes filled only from what the user said, each entry tagged evidence-backed (with its source) or assumption, the assumptions ranked by how likely each is wrong times how badly the idea fails if it is, the cheapest test with a pass/fail line set in advance for the top ones, a computed unit-economics check when price and costs are given, and a plain call when the idea should change before anything is built.

Reach for it when the user says "lean canvas", "help me think through my startup idea", "what are the riskiest assumptions", "how do I validate this idea", "is this idea worth building", or "poke holes in my business model".

Install it

npx skilldrop-cli install lean-canvas                 # Claude Code, your user folder
npx skilldrop-cli install lean-canvas --project       # Claude Code, this repo
npx skilldrop-cli install lean-canvas --ide cursor    # or kiro, codex, antigravity, copilot

It is part of the Product manager pack: --pack product-manager installs it with its neighbours.

It ships scripts, so it needs Python 3 (standard library only, nothing to install). What they may touch is declared in its manifest.

Ask for it

Say it the way you would to a colleague. Requests like these route to it:

• "Fill in a lean canvas for my idea: a subscription app that plans weekly meals for parents of kids with food allergies"
• "What are the riskiest assumptions in my startup idea, and how do I test them before I write any code?"
• "Poke holes in my business model — $49/month, we pay about $300 to get each customer, they stay around five months"
• "I want to pitch an internal tool to the ops leadership team. Is it worth building, and what should I validate first?"
• "How do I validate this idea cheaply this month? It's a marketplace for renting camping gear between neighbours"

Requests like these belong to a different skill, so it shouldn't answer them:

• "Write the business case for the new routing platform with build, buy and do-nothing options and NPV for the steering committee"
• "The exec team approved the idea — write the press release and FAQ working backwards from launch"
• "Run a Five Forces analysis on the meal-kit market before we decide whether to enter"

If another skill answers instead, ask for this one by name: "use lean-canvas".

Check what you get

A good result:

• The first lines are the riskiest assumption and its test, not the canvas.
• Every canvas entry carries a tag, and every [evidence] names the source the user gave.
• Wrong-segment and opinion-only evidence is downgraded and said to be.
• A feature claimed as an unfair advantage is moved out, and the box reads "none yet" if nothing else qualifies.
• Each channel is checked against the early adopter, mismatches named.
• Unit economics are computed with the derivation shown, and payback longer than lifetime is flagged.
• Each top test has a sample, a pre-set pass/fail line, a cost and a time.
• Nothing is invented: no market sizes, competitors, prices, churn or channels the user didn't give.

See a worked example

• bike repair

Use something else when

• An investment case with options, NPV, payback ranges and a sponsor — business-case
• The press release and FAQ for an idea that is already approved — prfaq
• Market attractiveness, competitors, SWOT or Five Forces — strategy-analysis
• How to measure a feature that has shipped or is about to — success-metrics
• Turning interview notes or tickets already collected into themes — feedback-synthesis

Next

• SKILL.md, the instructions the agent reads
• Its page on the site
• Related: business-case, feedback-synthesis, prfaq, strategy-analysis, success-metrics

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