YC Office Hours
garrytan/gstack
Runs a YC-style office hours session that pressure-tests a product idea before any code and ends in a design document instead of an implementation.
Evaluates or drafts a strategy using Rumelt's kernel of diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions, to expose goal lists posing as strategy.
Install Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel
$ npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a claude-codeProject install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.
$ gh skill install amplitude/builder-skills good-strategy-bad-strategy --agent claude-codeProject scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy .claude/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.
Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/
Install the "good-strategy-bad-strategy" agent skill from https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy into .claude/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "good-strategy-bad-strategy", then confirm the skill loads.Claude Code copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$skill-installer install https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategyType this inside Codex. $skill-installer <name> installs a curated skill from openai/skills. The installer writes to $CODEX_HOME/skills (default ~/.codex/skills). Restart Codex if the skill does not show up.
$ npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a codexProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.codex/skills/.
$ gh skill install amplitude/builder-skills good-strategy-bad-strategy --agent codexProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .agents/skills && cp -r skills-src/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy .agents/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.agents/skills/ instead of .agents/skills for a personal install.
Codex skills documentation · loads skills from .agents/skills/
Install the "good-strategy-bad-strategy" agent skill from https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy into .agents/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "good-strategy-bad-strategy", then confirm the skill loads.Codex copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a cursorProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.cursor/skills/.
$ gh skill install amplitude/builder-skills good-strategy-bad-strategy --agent cursorProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .cursor/skills && cp -r skills-src/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy .cursor/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.cursor/skills/ instead of .cursor/skills for a personal install.
Cursor skills documentation · loads skills from .cursor/skills/, .agents/skills/, .claude/skills/, .codex/skills/
Install the "good-strategy-bad-strategy" agent skill from https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy into .cursor/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "good-strategy-bad-strategy", then confirm the skill loads.Cursor copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gemini skills install https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git --path product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy--scope user (default) or --scope workspace; --path is the subfolder of the repo that holds the skill; --consent skips the security confirmation prompt.
$ npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a gemini-cliProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.gemini/skills/.
$ gh skill install amplitude/builder-skills good-strategy-bad-strategy --agent gemini-cliProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .gemini/skills && cp -r skills-src/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy .gemini/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.gemini/skills/ instead of .gemini/skills for a personal install, then run /skills reload.
Gemini CLI skills documentation · loads skills from .gemini/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "good-strategy-bad-strategy" agent skill from https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy into .gemini/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "good-strategy-bad-strategy", then confirm the skill loads.Gemini CLI copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ gh skill install amplitude/builder-skills good-strategy-bad-strategyInstalls for Copilot at project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Preview a skill first with gh skill preview. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).
$ npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a github-copilotProject install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.copilot/skills/.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .github/skills && cp -r skills-src/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy .github/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.copilot/skills/ instead of .github/skills for a personal install. Commit .github/skills so cloud agent and code review can use it.
GitHub Copilot skills documentation · loads skills from .github/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "good-strategy-bad-strategy" agent skill from https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy into .github/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "good-strategy-bad-strategy", then confirm the skill loads.GitHub Copilot copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
$ npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a opencodeOpenCode documents no install command of its own. Project install goes to .agents/skills/; add -g for ~/.config/opencode/skills/.
$ gh skill install amplitude/builder-skills good-strategy-bad-strategy --agent opencodeProject scope by default (.agents/skills/); add --scope user for a personal install.
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills.git skills-src && mkdir -p .opencode/skills && cp -r skills-src/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy .opencode/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy && rm -rf skills-srcUse ~/.config/opencode/skills/ instead of .opencode/skills for a personal install.
OpenCode skills documentation · loads skills from .opencode/skills/, .claude/skills/, .agents/skills/
Install the "good-strategy-bad-strategy" agent skill from https://github.com/amplitude/builder-skills/tree/main/product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy into .opencode/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy/ in this project. Copy the whole folder (SKILL.md and every file beside it), keep the folder name "good-strategy-bad-strategy", then confirm the skill loads.OpenCode copies the folder itself, the same result as the manual copy. Check what it changed before you commit it.
Facts
- Skill name
good-strategy-bad-strategy- GitHub stars
- 159
- Token cost
- ~2.2k tokens
- SKILL.md length
- 199 words
- Files
- 2 (incl. references)
- Skills in repo
- 61
- Repo updated
- First seen
- Licence
- None found
At a glance
Evaluates or drafts a strategy using Rumelt's kernel of diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions, to expose goal lists posing as strategy.
- Checking whether a strategy document is really a list of goals
- SKILL.md covers Prompt Template and Tips
- Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md
- Writing a diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions for a product or company
What it does
Richard Rumelt's kernel of good strategy is applied to evaluate or write a strategy: a clear-eyed diagnosis of the challenge, a guiding policy for dealing with it and a set of coherent actions that carry out the policy. If a piece is missing, what you have is a list of goals or a wish, and the skill exists to expose that and push toward the hard choices.
It supplies a prompt template that frames the agent as a strategist and takes your context, with references/framework.md holding framework definitions and diagnostic patterns. The tips note that skipping the diagnosis is the most common failure, that a 30-page document is probably not a strategy because the kernel should fit on one page, and that the diagnosis is where courage is needed. It suggests pairing with the 7-powers, playing-to-win, pre-mortem and prioritize skills.
When your agent uses it
- Checking whether a strategy document is really a list of goals
- Writing a diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions for a product or company
- Cutting through vague plans to the hard choices
Example prompts
- “Here is our product strategy doc. Is it a real strategy or just a list of goals?”
- “Draft a diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions for our struggling onboarding funnel.”
- “Apply Rumelt's kernel to our plan to enter the enterprise market and point out the missing pieces.”
What it can do on your machine
Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 51838c2. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.
Tool permissions
Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.
From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.
Runs code
No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md.
From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.
Network
No URLs in SKILL.md.
From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.
Credentials
Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.
From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.
Context cost
Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel loads about 2.2k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.7k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 77 tokens; SKILL.md has 199 words of instructions outside code blocks.
Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.
Safety
Auto-check passed
The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.
Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.
SKILL.md
Without a licence we can't republish the file, so here is its outline and opening line. It has 199 words (~2,200 tokens).
“Most strategies aren't strategies. They're goal lists, vague aspirations, or refusals to make hard choices. This skill forces you to tell the difference — and fix it.”
- name
- good-strategy-bad-strategy
- suggest_when
- User asks to evaluate a strategy, says "is this a good strategy", "strategic plan review", "our strategy is too vague", "we have goals but no strategy", "how…
Files
SKILL.md and 1 other file (references) in product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy of amplitude/builder-skills.
- SKILL.md
- references/framework.md
Open the folder on GitHubat commit 51838c2
Compare with similar skills
Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.
| Skill | Stars | Used in | Tokens | Auto-check | Licence | Repo updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel this skillamplitude/builder-skills | 159 | — | ~2.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | None | |
| YC Office Hoursgarrytan/gstack | 136k | — | ~4.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Business Modelphuryn/pm-skills | 27k | — | ~1.4k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Idea ValidatorMathews-Tom/armory | 329 | — | ~2.9k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Biz Blue Oceanasgard-ai-platform/skills | 242 | — | ~2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT | |
| Zhang Yiming Perspectivealchaincyf/zhang-yiming-skill | 175 | 1 repos | ~3.2k | Automated safety check: Pass | MIT |
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Apply Blue Ocean Strategy to create uncontested market space through value innovation.
Zhang Yiming Perspective
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Related
Questions about Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel
What does Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel do?
Evaluates or drafts a strategy using Rumelt's kernel of diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions, to expose goal lists posing as strategy. Richard Rumelt's kernel of good strategy is applied to evaluate or write a strategy: a clear-eyed diagnosis of the challenge, a guiding policy for dealing with it and a set of coherent actions that carry out the policy. If a piece is missing, what you have is a list of goals or a wish, and the skill exists to expose that and push toward the hard choices.
When should I use Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel?
Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel fits situations like: checking whether a strategy document is really a list of goals; writing a diagnosis, guiding policy and coherent actions for a product or company; cutting through vague plans to the hard choices.
How do I install Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel in Claude Code?
Run `npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy in amplitude/builder-skills) into .claude/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.
How do I install Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel in Codex?
Run `npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (product-skills/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy in amplitude/builder-skills) into .agents/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.
Can I use Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?
Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add amplitude/builder-skills --skill good-strategy-bad-strategy -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy, .gemini/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy, .github/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy and .opencode/skills/good-strategy-bad-strategy in your project.
What does Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel need to run?
SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel is instructions for the agent only.
Does Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel access the network?
SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.
Is Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel safe to install?
Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.
What licence does Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel use?
No licence was found for Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel or its repository. Without one, default copyright applies: ask the author before reusing or redistributing it.
How many tokens does Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel use?
About 2.2k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 8.8k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full. Its references folder adds about 2.5k tokens, read only when the agent opens those files.
What are the alternatives to Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel?
Skills that share tags, products or a category with Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel: YC Office Hours (garrytan/gstack, 136k stars), Business Model (phuryn/pm-skills, 27k stars), Idea Validator (Mathews-Tom/armory, 329 stars) and Biz Blue Ocean (asgard-ai-platform/skills, 242 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.
Who maintains Good Strategy Bad Strategy Kernel?
amplitude (a GitHub organization) maintains it in amplitude/builder-skills, which has 159 GitHub stars. The repository holds 61 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on July 24, 2026.
Source: amplitude/builder-skills on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.