---
name: ceo-plan-review
description: "Reviews a plan from the founder's seat and rules whether to expand it into the bigger version, hold scope, or cut it back, with the reasoning shown. Use when a founder or product lead wants a blunt scope verdict on a plan: build the bigger version, keep it as is, or trim it. Do not use for detailed technical design or project scheduling. Related topics: startup, product."
---

# CEO Plan Review

Reviews a plan from the founder's seat and rules whether to expand it into the bigger version, hold scope, or cut it back, with the reasoning shown.

## When to use

Use this skill when a founder or product lead wants a blunt scope verdict on a plan: build the bigger version, keep it as is, or trim it. Do not use it for detailed technical design or project scheduling.

## Workflow

1. Ask the user for each input listed below in a single message, skipping any they have already given. Where options are listed, offer them, but accept other answers too.
2. Restate the goal and the plan in two sentences and flag anything unclear.
3. Describe the ambitious version of the same plan and compare both on impact, effort, and risk.
4. Issue one verdict of Expand, Hold, or Cut, backed by three reasons tied to the goal metric.
5. List the two assumptions that would sink the plan along with a one-week check for each.
6. State a single decision to make today.

## Inputs

- **The plan** (longer free text)
- **Goal metric** (free text, e.g. "The number this should move")
- **Team and budget** (free text, e.g. "People and weeks and money")
- **Biggest worry** (longer free text)
- **Time horizon** (choose one: This month, This quarter, This year)
- **Appetite** (choose one: Play safe, Balanced, Swing big)

## Output

A verdict line (Expand, Hold, or Cut), three reasons, a comparison of the plan against its larger version, two assumptions with checks, and one decision for today.

## Prompt template

Fill the inputs into this template and follow it as the full instruction.

### CEO Plan Review

Review my plan as a demanding CEO would.

- The plan: {{The plan}}
- Goal metric: {{Goal metric}}
- Team and budget: {{Team and budget}}
- Biggest worry: {{Biggest worry}}
- Time horizon: {{Time horizon}}
- Appetite: {{Appetite}}

First restate the goal and the plan in two sentences so I can confirm you understood. Then ask what the 10x version would look like if the same team had the same time, and describe it concretely. Compare it to the current plan on impact, effort, and risk. Choose one verdict: Expand when the larger version needs little extra effort, Hold when scope matches the goal, or Cut when most of the plan does not touch the goal metric. Justify the verdict with three reasons and name what you would remove or add. List the two assumptions that, if wrong, sink the plan, and say how to check each in under a week. End with one decision I should make today.

## Pitfalls

- Returning 'it depends' instead of one verdict, which gives the owner nothing to act on.
- Praising the plan's ambition without tying features to the goal metric.
- Recommending expansion with no word on who builds the extra scope.