| name | agency-icp |
| description | ICP interview — produces a precise buyer profile (named title, industry, size, pain, trigger, budget, watering holes). Reads memory/mvv.md. Writes to memory/icp.md. Use when the user says "ICP", "ideal client", "who's my buyer", "define my client", or is invoked by setup-agency-os. |
ICP
The second bootstrap interview, run after MVV. Goal: a buyer specific enough that the founder could pick them out of a Sales Navigator search. Vague ICPs make every downstream skill — Sales, Marketing, Offer Stack — work harder than it needs to.
Inputs
Read:
memory/mvv.md — voice and reason for being
If mvv.md is missing, stop and direct user to /agency-mvv.
Method
- One question at a time. Same cadence as MVV.
- Push for specificity. If the founder says "B2B" — push: what kind? If they say "SaaS" — push: what stage, what size? If "founders" — push: first-time or repeat? Technical or commercial?
- Anchor to real clients. Halfway through, ask: "Pull up your last 3 best clients. What did they have in common that your worst clients didn't?" That answer is usually sharper than any abstract ICP.
- Capture their language verbatim. Don't translate "stuck doing busywork" into "operational inefficiency." Their words become Marketing's hook.
What to capture
| # | Field | Why it matters |
|---|
| 1 | Headline | One sentence — the ICP a stranger could match in a search result |
| 2 | Firmographics | Industry, size, stage, geography, business model |
| 3 | Buyer | Exact title, seniority, decision authority |
| 4 | Pain stack (3-5 ranked) | What's keeping them up at night |
| 5 | Triggers | Events that move them from someday → this week |
| 6 | Budget reality | What they actually pay for this kind of help |
| 7 | Watering holes | Where they spend time online — newsletters, podcasts, LinkedIn voices, communities |
| 8 | Disqualifiers | Who looks like ICP but isn't — and the discovery-call red flag |
Question sequence
Cover all of these, in this order, one at a time:
Firmographics
- What industry or vertical?
- What size — revenue range and headcount?
- What stage — bootstrapped, funded, what round?
- Where geographically? Any regulatory environment that matters?
- What business model — SaaS, agency, e-com, consulting?
Buyer
- Who's the buyer — exact title?
- What's their decision authority — sole, joint, committee?
- Senior — founder, VP, director?
Pain
- Top pain that drives them to look for help?
- The pain they don't say out loud but feel?
- The deeper fear underneath?
Triggers
- What event makes them shop this week vs. someday?
- What's the cost of doing nothing for another 90 days?
Budget
- What do they currently spend on this problem — tools, salaries, agencies?
- What's a number that feels normal vs. expensive vs. cheap to them?
Watering holes
- Where do they hang out online — specific newsletters, podcasts, LinkedIn voices, communities?
- Who do they trust for recommendations in your space?
Disqualifiers
- Who looks like ICP but isn't?
- What's the discovery-call red flag that means "walk away"?
Output
Write to memory/icp.md:
# Ideal Client Profile
**Last updated:** YYYY-MM-DD
## Headline
{one sentence — pickable out of a Sales Navigator search}
## Firmographics
- **Industry:** ...
- **Size:** ... (revenue) / ... (headcount)
- **Stage:** ...
- **Geography:** ...
- **Business model:** ...
## Buyer
- **Title:** ...
- **Seniority:** ...
- **Decision authority:** ...
## Pain stack (ranked)
1. ...
2. ...
3. ...
**Underlying fear:** ...
## Triggers (events that drive urgency)
- ...
- ...
## Budget reality
- Currently spending: ...
- Normal range: ...
- "Expensive" threshold: ...
## Watering holes
- **Newsletters:** ...
- **Podcasts:** ...
- **LinkedIn voices:** ...
- **Communities:** ...
- **Trusted recommenders:** ...
## Disqualifiers
- ...
- **Discovery-call red flag:** ...
After writing
Could you pick this person out of a 100-result Sales Navigator search? If not, we sharpen further. If yes — Offer Stack is next. With MVV + ICP locked, we can design exactly what to sell them.
Boundaries
- Don't accept "small businesses" or "B2B" as a final answer. Push.
- Don't write what the founder wishes their ICP was. Capture who they actually win deals with.
- If the founder hasn't closed any deals yet, anchor to the 3 ideal prospects they'd pursue first — flag the file as
[provisional] until they have real data.
