sales-skills/sales-aicofounder

aicofounder Platform Help

aicofounder (aicofounder.com) is an AI "co-founder" that walks solo founders through structured phases from idea to launch — not a general chatbot. Its edge is multi-agent deep market research that scans Reddit and X for real demand signals (grounding validation in actual discussions rather than pure LLM opinion), plus idea validation, competitive analysis, a visual product canvas, a planning agent (finds your biggest constraint → step-by-step tasks), a website builder, a content calendar, and persistent project memory. Trusted by 90K+ founders. Because its research is grounded in Reddit/X it's a stronger gut check than a pure-LLM validator — but still not a substitute for your own demand test, and it has no documented public API (a UI tool).

Step 1 — Gather context

If references/learnings.md exists, read it first for accumulated platform knowledge.

Ask only what you can't infer:

1. What do you want from aicofounder?
   • A) Run the market-research / idea-validation phases and interpret the Reddit/X demand signals
   • B) Use the planning agent / visual canvas to turn research into an action plan
   • C) Understand the free monthly credits vs the paid plan
   • D) Get the most out of its structured workflow (how to frame your idea)
2. Do you have a specific idea + target customer in mind? The phased workflow needs a concrete starting point.

Skip-ahead: if the user wants the validate-before-building method or to compare validators, that's a /sales-idea-validation question — route in Step 2.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the user's question is about… | Route to | |---|---| | The validate-before-building method, or comparing idea validators/co-pilots across the market | /sales-idea-validation {question} | | A dedicated AI idea validator (instant score/report) rather than a phased co-pilot | /sales-validator-ai {question} | | Reddit-based real-demand discovery as a standalone signal | /sales-trendseeker {question} | | Growing a pre-launch waitlist / capturing real demand | /sales-audience-growth {question} |

When routing, give the exact command: "This is a {domain} question — run: /sales-idea-validation {original question}"

Otherwise, answer aicofounder-specific questions using Step 3.

Step 3 — aicofounder platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full reference — the phase/feature lineup (research, validation, canvas, planning agent, website builder, content calendar), the free-credits vs paid split and best-effort pricing, how to frame an idea for the most useful research, and the no-public-API automation reality.

Answer using only the relevant section — don't dump the full reference.

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

• Lean on the Reddit/X demand research — it's the strongest part — but still confirm with your own test. aicofounder's edge over a pure-LLM validator is that it grounds validation in real Reddit/X discussions, so treat those demand signals as genuinely useful evidence. Still tell the user that an AI-synthesized research summary is not the same as a stranger taking an action — confirm the go/no-go with a smoke test / pre-sale (route the method to /sales-idea-validation).
• Frame a concrete idea + target customer before running the phases. The structured workflow and research quality depend on a specific starting point (who it's for, the exact problem, and current stage) — a vague idea yields a vague plan. Have the user fill the context richly, then let the phases build on it.
• Use the planning agent's output as an editable plan, not gospel. The "biggest constraint → tasks" output and the generated plan are AI drafts — have the user sanity-check the identified constraint against their own reality and re-order tasks to fit; the value is the structure, not blind execution.
• Budget around the free monthly credits, and flag pricing as best-effort. It's free to start with ~15 credits/month, no credit card, and the first phases (idea discovery + market research) are free; a paid plan unlocks advanced features — frame the buy decision around how many projects/phases they'll run, not a monthly cost. Third-party quotes for the paid tier disagree (~$25/mo vs ~$149) — tell the user to confirm current pricing at aicofounder.com and start on the free credits.
• There's no public API — don't plan an integration around it. If asked to automate, say plainly there's no documented public API; it's a UI tool. For programmatic needs use a tool built for it, or export/copy manually. Automate real signals (landing-page conversions), not an AI research summary.

If you discover a gotcha or tip not in references/learnings.md, append it there with today's date.

Gotchas

Best-effort from research (2026-07) — features/pricing move; verify at aicofounder.com.

• Grounded, but still AI-synthesized. Reddit/X demand research is stronger than a pure-LLM score, but it's an AI summary of discussions — not a stranger paying you. Confirm with a real demand test.
• Pricing quotes disagree (free ~15 credits/mo; paid quoted ~$25/mo vs ~$149). Confirm live; start free.
• Output quality tracks input. A vague idea/target → a generic plan; frame a concrete customer + problem.
• No documented public API. It's a web tool; don't plan integrations around it.
• A generated plan is not validated demand — the planning agent will happily plan a launch for an idea no one wants; the Reddit research is the check, and your own pre-sale is the proof.

Related skills

• /sales-idea-validation — The tool-agnostic validate-before-building method + the full validator/co-pilot landscape (use this to actually decide build-or-not)
• /sales-validator-ai — Validator AI platform help (a dedicated instant AI idea validator — the score-and-report sibling)
• /sales-founderpal — FounderPal platform help (solopreneur AI marketing generators — persona/strategy sibling)
• /sales-trendseeker — Trend Seeker platform help (Reddit-based demand discovery as a standalone real signal)
• /sales-do — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do -a claude-code

Examples

Example 1: Run market research on an idea

User says: "I have an idea for a tool for freelance designers — can aicofounder tell me if there's demand?" Skill does: Points to aicofounder's multi-agent research phase that scans Reddit/X for real pain-point discussions among the target audience, frames a concrete customer + problem first for better signal, and reads the output as genuine (grounded) evidence — while stressing the go/no-go still needs a real demand test (smoke test / pre-sale via /sales-idea-validation), because a research summary isn't a stranger paying. Result: The founder gets grounded demand signal from aicofounder and a plan to confirm it for real.

Example 2: "It planned my whole launch — am I validated?"

User says: "aicofounder gave me a full plan from idea to launch. Does that mean it's validated?" Skill does: Separates a generated plan from validated demand — the planning agent will map a launch for an idea nobody wants — keeps the Reddit research + constraint analysis as useful input, and routes the build-or-not decision to a real demand test via /sales-idea-validation. Result: The founder executes the plan only after real demand signal, not because an agent produced steps.

Example 3: Can I automate aicofounder via API? (developer/automation)

User says: "I want to run 20 ideas through aicofounder's research automatically — what's the API?" Skill does: States plainly there's no documented public API (it's a UI tool), so there's no supported way to batch it; suggests running ideas manually or using a tool built for programmatic research, and notes the thing worth automating is a real demand signal, not an AI research summary — pointing to /sales-idea-validation. Result: The user avoids building on a non-existent API and picks a workable path.

Troubleshooting

The plan/research feels generic

Symptom: aicofounder's output could apply to almost any product. Cause: The idea/target was too vague — the phased workflow and research need a concrete starting point. Solution: Re-run with a specific customer, the exact problem, and current stage; the research (especially the Reddit/X pain-point scan) sharpens a lot with a precise audience.

Is the paid plan worth it over the free credits?

Symptom: Deciding whether to pay after the free credits. Cause: Free tier is ~15 credits/month (first phases free); paid unlocks advanced features, and quotes vary. Solution: Start on the free credits to see if the workflow fits; if you'll run many projects/phases, weigh the paid plan — and confirm the current price at aicofounder.com (third-party quotes disagree).

"Is there an API?" / can't automate it

Symptom: Looking for API docs or a way to batch runs. Cause: aicofounder has no documented public API; it's a web tool. Solution: Don't build an integration around it — run ideas manually or use a tool intended for programmatic use; automate real demand signals (landing-page analytics) instead. See /sales-idea-validation.