office-hours

---
name: office-hours
description: Use when a founder question is too vague to route — e.g. 'should we grow faster?' — or before drafting a strategy brief.
category: C-Level Advisory
version: 1.0.0
tools: []
---

# /cs:office-hours — Six-Question Founder Interrogation

**Command:** `/cs:office-hours <topic>`

Before any advice, the founder must answer six questions. Modeled on YC office hours: no analysis until the founder has done the thinking.

## When to Run

- Before starting any major initiative
- Before fundraising
- Before a strategic pivot
- When the founder is excited
- When the answer is "obvious"

## The Six Questions

Founder must answer **all six** in writing before any C-role weighs in.

### 1. Problem
**Whose problem is this, and how do they describe it in their own words?**
- Not your framing. Their words.
- If you can't quote a customer, you don't have a problem worth solving.

### 2. Customer
**Who is the ICP? Name one real person who would buy this today.**
- Real human. Real company. Real seat.
- If you can't name one, the ICP isn't ready.

### 3. Distribution
**How does the customer first hear your name?**
- Channel, intent, search query, friend, conference.
- If the answer is "we'll figure out marketing later," the answer is no.

### 4. Defensibility
**If this works, what stops a competitor from copying it in 6 months?**
- Network effects, switching costs, data moat, regulatory moat, brand.
- "We'll execute better" is not a defense.

### 5. Capital
**What does this cost, when does it pay back, and what's the alternative use of the money?**
- Total spend, payback months, opportunity cost.

### 6. Founder Fit
**Why are you the right person to do this — and why does this matter enough to spend the next 3 years on it?**
- Founder-market fit is the strongest predictor of survival.

## Output Format

After the founder answers all six:

```markdown
# Office Hours Brief: <topic>
**Founder:** <name>

## Answers
[Verbatim founder responses to all 6 questions]

---

**Assessment:**
- 🟢 GREEN — ship the brief to /cs:boardroom
- 🟡 YELLOW — sharpen Q[N] before proceeding
- 🔴 RED — kill or redefine; do not proceed
```

## Routing

- Single-role question → corresponding `/cs:{role}-review`
- Multi-role question → `/cs:brief` then `/cs:boardroom`

---

**Version:** 1.0.0