sales-skills/sales-startup-ai

startup.ai Platform Help

startup.ai (startup.ai) is an AI startup builder / no-code app builder — "turn your idea into reality." You describe an idea in plain language and it builds a working first version of the app (with a Live Preview that updates as you edit), scores the concept in an Idea Evaluation (an overall score plus Market / Problem / Revenue sub-scores), lets you browse a directory of AI-evaluated ideas (the Idea Browser), and one-click Publishes the app to a public URL with a custom domain (Vercel-hosted, HTTPS). It is the rare tool in this space that spans evaluate + discover + actually build & deploy in one product — but a generated score and a shipped app are not validated demand, and it has no documented public API (a UI tool).

⚠️ Name disambiguation. This is startup.ai (the AI builder). Several similarly named tools exist — stratup.ai is a separate AI idea generator, startupadeasai.com ("Startup Ideas AI") is another. If the user means an idea-generator/discovery tool, that's an /sales-idea-validation question, not this skill.

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 startup.ai?
   • A) Build an app / MVP from an idea (AI Builder, Live Preview, editing)
   • B) Read the Idea Evaluation score (overall + Market / Problem / Revenue) and what to do with it
   • C) Browse the Idea Browser to find an idea worth building
   • D) Publish / deploy to a public URL or custom domain (and what the free vs Pro plan gates)
   • E) Get more useful output, or ask whether it has an API to automate/export
2. Do you already have a clear idea description? Build and score quality track the detail you give it.
3. Are you trying to decide whether to build, or to build? If it's the go/no-go, that's a /sales-idea-validation question — route in Step 2.

Skip-ahead: if the user's prompt already contains enough context, go straight to Step 3.

Step 2 — Route or answer directly

| If the user's question is about… | Route to | |---|---| | The validate-before-building method, or comparing idea-validation/builder tools across the market | /sales-idea-validation {question} | | Building the actual smoke-test / landing page the demand test runs on (as a general strategy) | /sales-funnel {question} | | Growing a pre-launch waitlist / capturing real demand once you test | /sales-audience-growth {question} | | Content / marketing strategy for the launched app | /sales-content {question} | | A different similarly named tool (stratup.ai, Startup Ideas AI, an idea generator) | /sales-idea-validation {question} |

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

Otherwise, answer startup.ai-specific questions using Step 3.

Step 3 — startup.ai platform reference

Read references/platform-guide.md for the full reference — the module lineup (AI Builder, Live Preview, Idea Evaluation, Idea Browser, Publish) and what each produces, how the Idea Evaluation score is structured, the free-vs-Pro plan split and best-effort credit economics, the custom-domain/Vercel deploy path, how to frame the idea input for better build + score output, and the no-public-API automation reality.

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

Step 4 — Actionable guidance

• Read the Idea Evaluation as a directional AI opinion, not demand. The overall score and its Market / Problem / Revenue sub-scores are an LLM's read of the concept — a high score is not proof anyone will pay. Keep the structured parts (which sub-score is weak, the market framing) to sharpen the pitch, and take the go/no-go from a real behavior test — route it to /sales-idea-validation (smoke test / pre-sale).
• Name the build-first trap explicitly. startup.ai makes building + deploying so frictionless that the founder can skip demand testing entirely — the exact anti-pattern. Tell the user a shipped app is not a validated app (building is cheap now; demand evidence is the scarce thing). The upside: the app it deploys can double as the smoke-test page — publish it, drive a little targeted traffic, and read the conversion; that is the proof.
• Frame a rich idea input — build and score quality track input depth. A one-line prompt yields a generic app and a generic score; feed it a specific customer, the exact problem, and how it's different, then re-run and compare. Treat the generated app as an editable first draft.
• Model pricing as free-vs-Pro with a monthly credit budget, and flag it as best-effort. Whenever pricing or "is it worth it" comes up, name the split: a free tier (prototype/build in the editor) vs a Pro monthly plan (best-effort ~a set number of credits/mo) that unlocks public deploy and private ideas. Credits meter generations/builds, so iterating on the same app draws them down — tell the user to confirm current tiers, credit counts, and what each build costs at startup.ai.
• There's no public API — don't plan an integration around it. If asked to automate or export, say plainly there's no documented public API, no webhooks, no Zapier/Make, no MCP; it's a UI tool. The deployed app has its own public URL, but the builder itself can't be scripted — copy outputs manually, or use a tool built for programmatic generation, and automate real signals (deployed-page analytics), not generated assets.
• Disambiguate the name before answering. startup.ai (this builder) is easily confused with stratup.ai and "Startup Ideas AI" (idea generators) — if the user means a discovery/generator tool, route to /sales-idea-validation.

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) — the module lineup, credits, and pricing move; verify at startup.ai.

• An Idea Evaluation score is not validated demand. Market / Problem / Revenue sub-scores are an AI opinion; pair them with a real demand test (/sales-idea-validation).
• A shipped app is not a validated app. startup.ai's whole pitch — build + deploy in minutes — makes it easy to skip validation. Use the deployed page as the smoke test; measure the committed action.
• Public deploy and private ideas are Pro-gated. The free tier builds a prototype; publishing to a public URL / custom domain and keeping ideas private need the paid Pro plan (best-effort — confirm).
• Builds/generations burn credits. Pro includes a monthly credit budget; iterating on the same app consumes it, so re-runs aren't free — budget accordingly.
• Name collisions. startup.ai (this builder) ≠ stratup.ai (idea generator) ≠ startupadeasai.com ("Startup Ideas AI"). Route generator/discovery questions to /sales-idea-validation.
• No documented public API. It's a web tool; don't plan integrations around the builder.

Related skills

• /sales-idea-validation — The tool-agnostic validate-before-building method + the full validator/builder landscape (use this to actually decide build-or-not)
• /sales-funnel — Build the smoke-test / landing page the demand test runs on (startup.ai's deployed app can serve as one)
• /sales-frederick — Frederick AI — a sibling AI co-founder whose agents also build & ship apps and landing pages (credit-metered)
• /sales-sololaunch — SoloLaunch — a sibling AI startup builder that generates a name/logo/brand/timeline asset kit (no app build)
• /sales-ideabrowser — IdeaBrowser — the paid idea-discovery catalog (startup.ai's Idea Browser is a lighter, bundled version)
• /sales-audience-growth — Grow a pre-launch waitlist and capture real demand
• /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: "startup.ai scored my idea 7.8/10 — should I build it?"

User says: "startup.ai gave my shift-scheduling idea an overall 7.8 with Market 8, Problem 7, Revenue 6. Good to build?" Skill does: Reframes the score as a directional AI opinion, not demand — keeps the useful signal (Revenue is the weakest sub-score, so willingness-to-pay is the open question) and prescribes a real test: build the app, publish it as a smoke-test page, drive a little targeted traffic to a pre-set conversion threshold, then attempt a pre-sale. Routes the go/no-go to /sales-idea-validation. Result: The founder gets a decision from stranger behavior, using the score only to sharpen where to probe.

Example 2: Build and deploy an MVP, then know it's worth it

User says: "I want to build my MVP on startup.ai and ship it to a custom domain — is that validation?" Skill does: Explains the AI Builder + Live Preview + one-click Publish flow and that public deploy / custom domain is Pro-gated, then separates shipped from validated — startup.ai will happily deploy an app nobody wants. Recommends using the deployed page as the smoke test (measure a committed action), and routes the demand decision to /sales-idea-validation and the traffic capture to /sales-audience-growth. Result: The user ships fast but gates the "is it worth it" verdict on real conversion, not the deploy.

Example 3: Can I automate startup.ai via API? (developer/automation)

User says: "I want to generate and score 20 ideas from a script — what's startup.ai's API?" Skill does: States plainly there's no documented public API, no webhooks, no Zapier/Make, no MCP — it's a UI tool, so there's no supported way to batch builds or pull scores. Suggests copying outputs manually or calling an LLM API directly for bulk scoring, and notes the thing worth automating is a real demand signal (deployed-page analytics), not generated apps — pointing to /sales-idea-validation. Result: The user avoids building on a non-existent API and picks a workable path.

Troubleshooting

The generated app or score feels generic

Symptom: The built app is barebones or the Idea Evaluation reads like it could fit any product. Cause: The idea input was thin — startup.ai's build and scoring need detail to beat a generic model. Solution: Re-run with a rich description — specific customer, the exact problem, how the solution differs, current stage — and compare variants. Treat the app as an editable first draft, not a finished MVP.

Can't publish / no custom domain / hit a limit

Symptom: The Publish/deploy option is locked, the custom domain won't attach, or generations stopped. Cause: Public deploy and private ideas are Pro-gated, and builds/generations consume a monthly credit budget — the free tier builds a prototype but reserves publishing and private ideas for Pro. Solution: If you'll actively build and ship, weigh the monthly Pro fee and its credit budget against how much you'll iterate; confirm the current tiers, credit counts, and per-build cost at startup.ai.

"Is there an API?" / wrong startup.ai

Symptom: Looking for API docs to automate builds/scores, or confused between startup.ai and stratup.ai. Cause: startup.ai has no documented public API (it's a UI tool); stratup.ai and "Startup Ideas AI" are different products — idea generators, not this builder. Solution: Don't build an integration around the builder — copy outputs manually or call an LLM API directly. If the task is generating/discovering an idea, that's /sales-idea-validation. Automate real demand signals (deployed-page analytics) instead.