| name | prospector |
| description | Find, enrich, and qualify prospects against your library's ICP criteria. Use when user says "find prospects", "who should I target", "find VPs at [company]", "build a list", "prospect for", or asks to find people matching ICP. Do NOT use for single-account deep research — use /octave:research instead. |
/octave:prospector - ICP-Fit Prospecting
Find companies and people that match your Ideal Customer Profile. Uses your library's segments, personas, and Motion ICP cells to search for and score prospects. Returns qualified prospect lists with fit reasoning, recommended approaches, and filter suggestions for scaling in Apollo, Clay, or LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
Usage
/octave:prospector [options]
Options
--motion <name> - Scope to a specific Motion's ICP cells (persona × segment matrix)
--segment <name> - Filter by market segment
--persona <name> - Target specific persona type
--company <domain> - Find people at a specific company
--similar-to <domain> - Find companies similar to this one
--count <n> - Number of results (default: 10)
Examples
/octave:prospector # Interactive mode
/octave:prospector --motion "Enterprise Outbound" # Use Motion ICP cells
/octave:prospector --segment "Healthcare" # Healthcare companies
/octave:prospector --persona "CTO" --segment "SaaS" # CTOs at SaaS companies
/octave:prospector --similar-to stripe.com # Companies like Stripe
/octave:prospector --company acme.com # Decision makers at Acme
Instructions
When the user runs /octave:prospector:
Step 1: Determine Search Mode
If no options provided, ask:
What kind of prospects are you looking for?
1. Companies that fit a Motion's ICP cells (persona × segment matrix)
2. People at a specific company
3. Companies similar to a reference account
4. Open search (I'll help you define criteria)
Your choice:
Step 2: Gather ICP Criteria
Use MCP tools to gather ICP criteria from your library:
From Motion / Motion ICP cells:
list_motions()
list_motion_icps({ motionOId: "<motion_oId>" })
find_motion_icp({ motionIcpOId: "<motion_icp_oId>", includeLearnings: true })
Extract from the Motion ICP cell narrative (Target ICP overview, Operating landscape, Strategic narrative):
- Target segment characteristics (firmographics, industry, signals)
- Buyer persona titles, seniority, department
- Pains and consequences (invert to search signals — companies showing these pains)
- Methodology cues (engagement triggers, qualifying signals)
From Segment:
get_entity({ oId: "<segment_oId>" })
Extract:
- Firmographic criteria (size, industry, location)
- Common characteristics
- Segment-specific signals
From Persona:
get_entity({ oId: "<persona_oId>" })
Extract:
- Common job titles
- Seniority level
- Department/function
Step 3: Build Search Criteria
Translate library criteria to search parameters:
Building Search Criteria
========================
From your library, I'll search for:
Company Criteria:
- Industry: SaaS, Technology
- Size: 100-1000 employees
- Stage: Series A+
- Location: US, UK, Canada
Person Criteria:
- Titles: CTO, VP Engineering, Head of Engineering
- Seniority: VP+
- Department: Engineering, Technology
Derived from:
- Segment: "Scaling SaaS Companies"
- Persona: "CTO - Enterprise Tech"
- Motion: "Enterprise Outbound — DevOps"
- Motion ICP cell: "CTO × Scaling SaaS"
Proceed with this search? (or adjust criteria)
Step 4: Execute Search
For Company Search:
find_company({
industry: "<industry>",
employeeCount: { min: X, max: Y },
keywords: ["<relevant keywords>"],
limit: 10
})
For Person Search:
find_person({
searchMode: "people",
fuzzyTitles: ["CTO", "VP Engineering"],
companyDomain: "<domain>", // if specified
employeeCount: { min: X, max: Y },
industry: "<industry>",
limit: 10
})
For Similar Companies:
find_similar_companies({
referenceCompany: { domain: "<domain>" },
numResults: 10,
similarityTraits: ["industry", "size", "business_model"]
})
For People at Company:
find_person({
searchMode: "people",
companyDomain: "<domain>",
fuzzyTitles: ["<titles from persona>"],
limit: 10
})
Step 5: Score and Present Results
For each result, calculate ICP fit:
Company Scoring:
qualify_company({
companyDomain: "<domain>",
additionalContext: "Evaluating fit for [Motion / Motion ICP cell / segment]"
})
Person Scoring:
qualify_person({
person: { linkedInProfile: "<url>" },
additionalContext: "Evaluating fit for [persona] in [Motion ICP cell]"
})
Present results:
See results-output.md for the prospect results template.
Step 6: Generate Filter Recommendations
After presenting results, provide filters for scale:
See scale-filters.md for the scale-search filter template (Apollo, Clay, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ideal signals).
Step 7: Deep Dive Options
Offer to go deeper on specific prospects:
Research Company:
enrich_company({ companyDomain: "techcorp.com" })
Present enriched data with:
- Full company profile
- Recent news and events
- Key people and org structure
- Technology stack
- Funding history
- Growth signals
Find Contacts:
find_person({
searchMode: "people",
companyDomain: "techcorp.com",
fuzzyTitles: ["<persona titles>"],
limit: 5
})
Then for each:
enrich_person({
person: { linkedInProfile: "<url>" }
})
Generate Outreach:
Suggest running /octave:generate email or /octave:research for selected prospects.
ICP Criteria Translation
| Library Concept | Search Parameter |
|---|
| Segment firmographics | Industry, employee count, location |
| Segment characteristics | Keywords, technologies |
| Persona job titles | fuzzyTitles, exactTitles |
| Persona seniority | Seniority filter |
| Motion ICP cell pains | Invert as search signals (companies exhibiting these pains) |
| Motion ICP cell methodology | Engagement triggers, qualifying signals |
| Product fit criteria | Technology stack, business model |
MCP Tools Used
Search Operations
find_company - Company search with filters
find_person - People search with filters
find_similar_companies - Lookalike company search
find_similar_people - Lookalike people search
Enrichment Operations
enrich_company - Full company intelligence
enrich_person - Full person intelligence
qualify_company - ICP scoring for company
qualify_person - ICP scoring for person
Library Context
list_motions - List Motions in the workspace
list_motion_icps - List Motion ICP cells (persona × segment) for a Motion
find_motion_icp - Fetch a Motion ICP cell narrative + Learning Loop learnings (drives ICP criteria)
get_entity - Get segment/persona details
search_knowledge_base - Find relevant messaging
Output Modes
Default: Interactive
Shows results with scoring, asks for next steps.
List Mode: --format list
Compact list format for quick scanning:
Companies (10 results)
=====================
1. TechCorp (techcorp.com) - 92/100 - SaaS, 450 emp
2. DataFlow (dataflow.io) - 85/100 - SaaS, 230 emp
3. CloudBase (cloudbase.com) - 78/100 - Infra, 180 emp
...
Export Mode: --format csv
Outputs CSV-compatible format:
Company,Domain,Score,Industry,Employees,Location,Recommended Motion ICP Cell
TechCorp,techcorp.com,92,SaaS,450,San Francisco,Enterprise Outbound — CTO × Scaling SaaS
DataFlow,dataflow.io,85,SaaS,230,New York,Growth Outbound — CTO × Growth SaaS
...
Error Handling
No Results:
No companies found matching your criteria.
Try:
- Broadening the search (larger employee range, more industries)
- Removing specific filters
- Using similar-to search with a known good-fit company
Current filters: [show active filters]
Missing Motion Context:
Motion "[name]" not found in your workspace.
Available Motions:
- Enterprise Outbound
- SMB Quick Close
- Healthcare Vertical
Or run /octave:audit to see your library coverage.
API Limits:
Search returned maximum results. Narrow your criteria for more targeted results.
Suggestions:
- Add industry filter
- Specify location
- Use tighter employee range
Related Skills
/octave:research - Deep dive on specific prospects
/octave:generate - Create outreach for prospects
/octave:brainstorm - Generate campaign ideas for prospect lists
/octave:audit - Ensure library has good ICP definitions
/octave:abm - Full account plan for top prospects
/octave:icp-refine - Refine ICP definitions from deal data
/octave:qual-doctor - Tune the qualification scoring that powers prospector's ICP filters