idea-to-pitch

name	idea-to-pitch
description	Stage 1 of the idea-to-pitch flow. Turns a 3-to-many-line product idea into the structured product brief that /create-product-pitch consumes. Runs a ledger-based discussion loop, asks batched clarifying questions, records every decision to an idea-ledger.md, then writes a product brief (readme.md + usecases.md) under the product's own directory. Use when the user invokes /idea-to-pitch, or says "idea to pitch", "turn my idea into a pitch", "shape this idea", "help me develop a product idea", or "I have an idea for a product".
metadata	{"version":"1.0.0"}

Idea to Pitch (Stage 1)

Turn a rough idea into a structured product brief that [[create-product-pitch]] can turn into a deck. The user arrives with three to many lines of raw idea. You leave them with a product folder a marketing pipeline can read without further questions.

The job is a short, ledger-based discussion loop, not a one-shot guess. You ask the few questions a pitch genuinely needs, record each answer to a durable ledger, and stop the moment the brief is complete enough to draft. Target the whole loop at a couple of ten-minute conversations, not an interrogation.

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Input

One of:

• A 3-to-many-line idea pasted directly into the prompt.
• A path to a rough notes file (.md, .txt, .docx).

First action: derive a short product slug from the idea (kebab-case, e.g. fleet-inspector). Confirm the slug and the target directory with the user in the first question batch if it is ambiguous. All artifacts live under <product>/, never in the repo root.

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The ledger

Create <product>/idea-ledger.md immediately, before the first question. It is the single source of truth for the conversation and survives across sessions.

# Idea Ledger: <product>

## Idea
<the user's raw seed, verbatim>

## Decisions
<append-only. one bullet per confirmed answer, tagged with the gap it closes>

## Open questions
<the gaps not yet closed, in priority order>

## Assumptions
<anything you inferred and are proceeding on without asking>

Update the ledger after every question round: move answered items from Open questions to Decisions, and record any inference in Assumptions. The ledger is what makes the loop resumable and what feeds the brief.

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Discussion loop

Each round: read the ledger, pick the highest-priority unanswered gaps, ask one batched AskUserQuestion (1 to 4 questions), then write the answers back to the ledger. Never ask one question at a time.

Close the gaps a pitch needs, in this priority order:

1. Problem and who has it which pain, and whose.
2. Target audience or personas end customers, resellers, internal teams, investors.
3. Core value proposition the one-sentence promise.
4. How it works the three or so capabilities or components.
5. Differentiation why this and not the obvious alternative.
6. Business model pricing tiers or how value is captured.
7. Use cases two or three concrete persona stories.

Always include a low-friction escape option such as "That is enough, draft the brief" so the user can cut the loop short. Cap the loop at four to five rounds; if gaps remain, fill them with explicit Assumptions rather than another round.

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Coverage checklist

Before drafting the brief, the ledger must answer: problem, audience, value proposition, three capabilities, one differentiator, a pricing or value-capture line, and at least two use cases. Anything still missing becomes an Assumptions entry the user can correct in Stage 2.

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Output contract

When the checklist is satisfied, confirm with the user, then write two files. These match the shape [[pitch-sources]] reads at the start of [[create-product-pitch]].

<product>/readme.md:

# <Product Name>

<one-sentence summary>

## Problem
<the pain and who feels it>

## Solution
<what it is + the three named components or capabilities>

## How it works
<the short mechanism>

## Differentiation
<why this over the obvious alternative>

## Audience
<the personas, one line each>

## Pricing
<tiers: name + price + one-line use case, or the value-capture model>

## Next step
<the concrete first move, e.g. a 30-day pilot>

<product>/assets/usecases.md:

# Use Cases

## <Persona 1>
<3 to 5 sentences. End on one quotable line.>

## <Persona 2>
<3 to 5 sentences. End on one quotable line.>

Keep idea-ledger.md as the decision trail. Do not delete it.

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Handoff

End the turn by pointing the user to Stage 2:

Brief ready at <product>/readme.md. Run /create-product-pitch <product> to generate the outline, slides, and Gamma deck.

[[create-product-pitch]] reads the brief directly, so no copy-paste is needed.

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Hard rules

• One batched question per round. Never ask questions one at a time.
• Ledger first. Write idea-ledger.md before the first question and update it after every round.
• Confirm before drafting. Show the user the gap summary and get a go-ahead before writing the brief.
• No em dashes in any prose you write. Use commas, colons, semicolons, or parentheses. The Stage 2 brand-voice gate will also catch leaks, but author clean.
• Artifacts under <product>/ only. Never write to the repo root.
• Respect the time budget. Cap at four to five rounds; convert remaining gaps to Assumptions rather than prolonging the loop.
• Don't re-read freshly written files to verify. Write would have errored if it failed.