Show HN: CC Founder Decision Engine

A developer released the CC Founder Decision Engine, an interactive AI advisor powered by Claude Code that synthesizes wisdom from 25+ founders and investors to help startup founders make strategic decisions. The tool runs as a Claude Code project and uses slash commands for decision-making, idea validation, hiring, fundraising, and other startup challenges.

A decision operating system for startup founders, powered by Claude Code. Synthesizes the wisdom of 25+ legendary founders, investors, and thinkers into an interactive AI advisor that helps you make the highest-leverage decisions at every stage of building a company. This is not a reading list. It's a decision engine — an interactive system that: - Routes your decisions through battle-tested frameworks from the world's best founders - Challenges your assumptions before you commit - Runs pre-mortems on your plans before they fail - Evaluates your startup through investor eyes - Keeps you honest with weekly and quarterly checklists It runs as a Claude Code project. When you boot it up, Claude becomes a strategic co-founder who has internalized the decision-making of Paul Graham, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Naval Ravikant, Warren Buffett, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk, Marc Andreessen, and 15+ others. cd ~/decision-engine claude That's it. The CLAUDE.md kernel loads automatically and transforms Claude into your founder advisor. Then use slash commands: /decide should I pursue enterprise or SMB customers first? /build an AI tool that automates bookkeeping for freelancers /pivot we've been at this for 8 months with 200 users but no growth /hire considering bringing on a VP of Sales at Series A /raise thinking about raising a $3M seed at $15M post /contrarian a marketplace connecting local chefs with home diners /premortem launching in 3 new cities simultaneously next quarter /weekly | Command | Purpose | What It Does | |---|---|---| /decide <decision | Universal router | Classifies your decision, runs the 5-question Pre-Decision Protocol, applies the right frameworks, gives a recommendation | /build <idea | Idea validation | Runs Graham's Three-Filter, Thiel's Contrarian Test, Caldwell's Tar Pit Check, Sequoia's PMF Archetypes, and Chesky's 11-Star design | /pivot <context | Pivot vs. persevere | Diagnostic on time, user signals, hypothesis quality, and energy direction. Applies YC's pivot matrix and Buffett's punch card | /hire <role/context | Hiring decisions | Pre-hire necessity check, candidate evaluation Buffett's integrity test, Musk's problem-solving interview, Rabois's barrel classification | /raise <context | Fundraising strategy | Default alive check, readiness checklist, amount formula, investor selection criteria, process playbook, term sheet red flags | /scale <context | Scaling diagnostic | PMF reality check, a16z phase identification, blitzscaling criteria, executive hiring sequence, danger signals | /wartime <context | Leadership mode | Diagnoses peacetime vs. wartime, provides mode-specific operating playbook, identifies switch triggers | /weekly | Weekly check-in | Interactive 10-question founder checklist covering metrics, focus, customers, speed, and long-term thinking | /contrarian <idea | Stress test | Thiel's contrarian framework, consensus check, Graham's "sounds bad/actually good" filter, Dixon's timing signal, Buffett's inversion | /premortem <plan | Failure analysis | Assumes the plan failed. Generates 5+ failure scenarios, runs Munger's bias audit, elimination round, Buffett scorecard, clear verdict | Specialized sub-agents for deeper analysis. Claude Code can invoke these automatically or you can request them. | Agent | Role | Voice | |---|---|---| advisor | Full-context strategic advisor | Synthesized — all 25+ thinkers | contrarian | Devil's advocate that challenges every assumption | Peter Thiel + Charlie Munger | premortem | Inversion analyst — assumes failure, finds kill shots | Charlie Munger + Warren Buffett | investor-lens | Evaluates from top-tier VC perspective | Marc Andreessen + Sequoia Capital | Ask Claude to invoke agents directly: "Run the contrarian agent on my idea for an AI writing assistant" "Have the investor-lens agent evaluate my startup as if I'm pitching at a partner meeting" "I need a pre-mortem on our decision to go all-in on enterprise sales" The decision engine is built on 6 research files totaling 185K+ of distilled, actionable frameworks: | File | Lines | Contents | |---|---|---| 00-DECISION-ENGINE.md | 586 | Start here. Master index, 7 meta-frameworks, 5 decision playbooks Build, Pivot, Raise, Scale, Wartime , weekly/quarterly checklists, one-page cheat sheet | 01-yc-wisdom.md | 671 | Paul Graham 6 frameworks , Sam Altman execution stack , Michael Seibel MVP/pivot , Dalton Caldwell tar pits , Jessica Livingston founder character . 40+ quotes, 5 decision trees, 5 quick checklists | 02-vc-wisdom.md | 961 | Marc Andreessen BPMF/APMF, idea maze , Ben Horowitz peacetime/wartime, management debt , Keith Rabois barrels vs. ammunition , Elad Gil scaling playbook , Chris Dixon timing signals , Sequoia 3 PMF archetypes , Vinod Khosla black swan investing . 16 fundraising commandments | 03-jobs-gates.md | 429 | Steve Jobs 350→10 elimination, product intuition, A-player compounding, NeXT lessons and Bill Gates Think Weeks, IBM deal, Internet Tidal Wave, platform thinking . 10 actionable frameworks, comparison table | 04-naval-buffett-ellison.md | 511 | Naval Ravikant leverage hierarchy, specific knowledge, 4 types of luck , Warren Buffett + Charlie Munger circle of competence, moats, inversion, punch card, 8 mental models , Larry Ellison zero-sum strategy, acquisition framework, platform lock-in . 5 cross-cutting frameworks | 05-modern-founders.md | 689 | Elon Musk first principles, 5-step algorithm, idiot index , Jeff Bezos Day 1, two-way doors, flywheel, regret minimization , Peter Thiel Zero to One, contrarian framework, power law , Reid Hoffman blitzscaling , Brian Chesky 11-star experience , Patrick Collison talent density , Jensen Huang platform bets . 10 actionable frameworks | Seven cross-cutting principles that ALL the greats share, extracted from the full research: - Focus Is Subtraction — Jobs 350→10 , Musk delete algorithm , Bezos Day 1 , Chesky COVID cuts , Buffett "say no to almost everything" - The Leverage Hierarchy — Code/media capital labor your time. Always push toward higher leverage. Naval - The Moat Imperative — Network effects switching costs tech brand scale. If a billionaire could destroy you, fix that first. Buffett, Thiel, a16z - The Speed Doctrine — 70% info is enough for reversible decisions. "If the schedule is long, it's wrong." Bezos, Musk, Collison, Altman - The People Equation — First 5 hires set the company's permanent ceiling. Barrels ammunition. Integrity is non-negotiable. Jobs, Rabois, Buffett - The Contrarian Imperative — If everyone agrees, the opportunity is gone. The best ideas look wrong to most smart people. Thiel, Graham, Buffett, Dixon - The Compounding Principle — Always choose the option that builds value over time. Short-term thinkers are your competition. Naval, Buffett, Bezos, Huang ╔═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ HIGHEST LEVERAGE DECISION RULES ║ ╠═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ ║ ║ 1. SUBTRACT FIRST Jobs, Musk, Bezos ║ ║ → What should NOT exist? Delete it. ║ ║ ║ ║ 2. SPEED PERFECTION Bezos, Musk, Collison ║ ║ → 70% info is enough. Decide. Iterate. ║ ║ ║ ║ 3. SEEK ASYMMETRY Naval, Buffett, Thiel ║ ║ → Capped downside + unlimited upside = go. ║ ║ ║ ║ 4. BUILD MOATS Buffett, Thiel, Ellison ║ ║ → If a billionaire could destroy you, fix that. ║ ║ ║ ║ 5. HIRE BARRELS Rabois, Jobs, Musk ║ ║ → One barrel ten ammunition. ║ ║ ║ ║ 6. COMPOUND EVERYTHING Naval, Buffett, Bezos ║ ║ → Choose the option that builds over time. ║ ║ ║ ║ 7. THINK CONTRARIAN Thiel, Graham, Buffett ║ ║ → If everyone agrees, the opportunity is gone. ║ ║ ║ ║ 8. OBSESS OVER CUSTOMERS Bezos, Graham, Chesky ║ ║ → Not competitors. Not metrics. Customers. ║ ║ ║ ║ 9. INVERT THE QUESTION Munger, Buffett ║ ║ → "How does this fail?" before "How does this win?" ║ ║ ║ ║ 10. PLAY THE LONG GAME Bezos, Naval, Huang ║ ║ → Short-term thinkers are your competition. ║ ║ ║ ╚═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ decision-engine/ │ ├── CLAUDE.md Kernel — loaded into every session │ Defines identity, principles, behavior │ ├── 00-DECISION-ENGINE.md Master index + playbooks + checklists ├── 01-yc-wisdom.md Knowledge base: YCombinator ├── 02-vc-wisdom.md Knowledge base: VCs & a16z ├── 03-jobs-gates.md Knowledge base: Jobs & Gates ├── 04-naval-buffett-ellison.md Knowledge base: Naval, Buffett, Ellison ├── 05-modern-founders.md Knowledge base: Musk, Bezos, Thiel, etc. │ └── .claude/ ├── commands/ Slash commands interactive playbooks │ ├── decide.md /decide — universal router │ ├── build.md /build — idea validation │ ├── pivot.md /pivot — pivot vs. persevere │ ├── hire.md /hire — hiring framework │ ├── raise.md /raise — fundraising strategy │ ├── scale.md /scale — scaling diagnostic │ ├── wartime.md /wartime — leadership mode │ ├── weekly.md /weekly — founder checklist │ ├── contrarian.md /contrarian — stress test │ └── premortem.md /premortem — failure analysis │ ├── agents/ Specialized sub-agents │ ├── advisor.md General founder advisor │ ├── contrarian.md Devil's advocate │ ├── premortem.md Inversion analyst │ └── investor-lens.md VC perspective evaluator │ └── skills/ Lazy-loaded capabilities ├── decision-frameworks/ │ └── SKILL.md Auto-activates on decision questions └── founder-wisdom/ └── SKILL.md Auto-activates for specific thinkers | Layer | Role | Analogy | |---|---|---| CLAUDE.md | Core identity and operating principles | OS kernel | | Knowledge base 00-05 | Decision frameworks and founder wisdom | System libraries | | Slash commands | Interactive decision playbooks | CLI tools / system calls | | Agents | Specialized analytical perspectives | Co-processors | | Skills | Context-aware framework activation | Drivers / modules | | Name | Company | Primary Contribution | |---|---|---| | Steve Jobs | Apple, Pixar, NeXT | Focus, product intuition, A-player teams | | Bill Gates | Microsoft | Platform thinking, competitive strategy, Think Weeks | | Elon Musk | Tesla, SpaceX | First principles, speed, the deletion algorithm | | Jeff Bezos | Amazon | Day 1 thinking, two-way doors, customer obsession | | Larry Ellison | Oracle | Competitive strategy, acquisitions, platform lock-in | | Brian Chesky | Airbnb | 11-star experience, doing things that don't scale | | Patrick Collison | Stripe | Infrastructure thinking, talent density, craft | | Jensen Huang | NVIDIA | Platform bets, AI as infrastructure | | Name | Affiliation | Primary Contribution | |---|---|---| | Paul Graham | Y Combinator | Idea validation, PMF, "Do Things That Don't Scale" | | Sam Altman | Y Combinator, OpenAI | Execution speed, team building | | Marc Andreessen | a16z | Market Product Team, PMF, scaling | | Ben Horowitz | a16z | Peacetime/wartime CEO, management debt | | Peter Thiel | Founders Fund | Zero to One, contrarian thinking, monopoly strategy | | Naval Ravikant | AngelList | Leverage, specific knowledge, wealth creation | | Warren Buffett | Berkshire Hathaway | Moats, circle of competence, long-term compounding | | Charlie Munger | Berkshire Hathaway | Inversion, mental models, bias detection | | Reid Hoffman | LinkedIn, Greylock | Blitzscaling, network effects | | Keith Rabois | Khosla, Founders Fund | Barrels vs. ammunition, operations | | Chris Dixon | a16z | Timing signals, idea maze | | Elad Gil | Color Genomics | Post-PMF scaling, executive hiring | | Vinod Khosla | Khosla Ventures | Black swan investing, founder criteria | | Michael Seibel | Y Combinator | MVP philosophy, pivot vs. iterate | | Dalton Caldwell | Y Combinator | Tar pit ideas, pivot quality | | Jessica Livingston | Y Combinator | Founder character assessment | | Name | Primary Contribution | |---|---| | Sequoia Capital | 3 PMF archetypes Hair on Fire, Hard Fact, Future Vision | | a16z | Network effects taxonomy, fundraising commandments, scaling phases | | Y Combinator | Startup school curriculum, batch wisdom from 1,000+ startups | Research was conducted across 50+ web sources including: - Paul Graham's essays paulgraham.com - Sam Altman's Startup Playbook - a16z blog and podcast archives - Jeff Bezos's annual shareholder letters 1997-2021 - Peter Thiel's CS183 Stanford lectures and Zero to One - Walter Isaacson's biographies of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk - Ben Horowitz's The Hard Thing About Hard Things The Almanack of Naval Ravikant - Reid Hoffman's Blitzscaling - Elad Gil's High Growth Handbook - Warren Buffett's annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders - Charlie Munger's Poor Charlie's Almanack - Sequoia Capital's Arc PMF framework - YCombinator's seed fundraising guide - Farnam Street fs.blog interview transcripts - Masters of Scale podcast transcripts - Hacker News founder wisdom threads - D Conference and Lost Interview transcripts - Create or extend a knowledge base file 01-05 with their frameworks - Add them to the founder-wisdom skill in .claude/skills/founder-wisdom/SKILL.md - Update the source map in 00-DECISION-ENGINE.md - Create a new .md file in .claude/commands/ - Use $ARGUMENTS for user input - Reference the relevant knowledge base files - Add it to CLAUDE.md and this README - Create a new .md file in .claude/agents/ with YAML frontmatter - Define name , description , and allowedTools - Give it a clear voice, framework set, and response format - Add it to CLAUDE.md and this README This is a personal decision tool. The frameworks, quotes, and mental models referenced herein are attributed to their original creators. This project is a synthesis for personal use and education. Built with Claude Code agent teams. 4,835+ lines of synthesized founder wisdom. March 2026.