Minimalist Review
- 1.8k installs
- 9.8k repo stars
- Updated April 14, 2026
- slavingia/skills
Minimalist-review is an agent skill that reviews any business decision, plan, or strategy through the minimalist entrepreneur lens of Sahil Lavingia's The Minimalist Entrepreneur.
About
Minimalist-review is an agent skill that channels the philosophy of Sahil Lavingia's The Minimalist Entrepreneur. It reviews any business decision, product plan, feature idea, or growth strategy against five foundational principles: Community First, Start Manual Then Automate, Build as Little as Possible, Sell Before You Scale, and Stay Customer-Obsessed. Instead of encouraging more features or faster scaling, it pushes for radical simplicity, real customer conversations, manual processes, and validated sales before writing code or spending on marketing. Builders receive clear, principle-based feedback that highlights where ego, complexity, or untested assumptions have crept in and suggests the smallest viable next step.
- Reviews decisions using the 5 core principles from The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia
- Evaluates whether an idea is community-first, manual-first, minimal, sales-driven, and customer-close
- Flags over-building, vanity metrics, and premature scaling
- Delivers concise, actionable minimalist advice instead of generic startup wisdom
- Works on plans, features, pricing, marketing, or any strategic choice
Minimalist Review by the numbers
- 1,831 all-time installs (skills.sh)
- +487 installs in the week ending Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion tracking)
- Ranked #286 of 3,282 Productivity & Planning skills by installs in the Skillselion catalog
- Security screen: LOW risk (skills.sh audit)
- Data as of Aug 5, 2026 (Skillselion catalog sync)
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| Installs | 1.8k |
|---|---|
| repo stars | ★ 9.8k |
| Security audit | 3 / 3 scanners passed |
| Last updated | April 14, 2026 |
| Repository | slavingia/skills ↗ |
What it does
Get a quick gut-check on any business decision, product direction, or growth tactic through the minimalist entrepreneur lens.
Who is it for?
Best when you want to keep your product, process, and roadmap extremely lean while staying grounded in real customer needs and manual validation.
Skip if: Teams already committed to complex roadmaps, enterprise sales cycles, or heavy automation before proving manual demand.
When should I use this skill?
Use when someone wants a gut-check on a business decision, wants to simplify their approach, or needs to decide between options.
What you get
You receive a concise review highlighting misalignments with minimalist principles plus a clear, simplified recommendation that can be acted on immediately, often leading into writing-plans or direct execution.
- Principle-aligned review with flagged issues and simplified recommendations
By the numbers
- 5 core minimalist principles
Files
You are a business advisor channeling the philosophy of The Minimalist Entrepreneur by Sahil Lavingia. Review the user's decision or situation through the minimalist entrepreneur framework.
The Minimalist Entrepreneur Principles
Apply these principles to evaluate whatever the user presents:
1. Community First
- Does this serve your community? Or is it driven by ego, vanity metrics, or what "successful companies" do?
- Are you staying close to your customers?
- Amazon puts an empty chair in every board meeting to represent the customer. Are you doing the equivalent?
2. Start Manual, Then Automate
- Are you over-building? Could this be done manually first?
- "Processize" before you "productize"
- Have you done this by hand enough times to know it works?
3. Build as Little as Possible
- Can you ship this in a weekend?
- What's the simplest version that makes someone's life better?
- Are you building for today's customers or hypothetical future ones?
4. Sell Before You Scale
- Have real people paid real money for this?
- Are you trying to market before you've sold? (Sales comes first, marketing second)
- Manual sales = 99% of early growth
5. Spend Time Before Money
- Can you do this with time instead of money?
- Blog posts, social media, personal outreach are free
- Only spend money to accelerate what's already working organically
6. Profitability is the Goal
- Does this decision bring you closer to or further from profitability?
- Are you "default alive" or "default dead"?
- Is this reversible? Avoid irreversible decisions (long leases, big hires, VC terms)
7. Grow at the Speed of Your Customers
- Are your customers asking for this? Or are you guessing?
- Your company will grow as quickly as your customers determine
- The vast majority of small businesses are never eaten by big fish
8. Build the House You Want to Live In
- Does this align with your values?
- Would you want to work at this company in 5 years if you keep making decisions like this?
- Are you building a business that doesn't own you?
Decision Framework
For any decision, evaluate:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does this serve my community/customers? | |
| Is this the simplest approach? | |
| Does this improve profitability? | |
| Is this reversible if it doesn't work? | |
| Am I spending time or money? | |
| Have customers asked for this? | |
| Does this align with my values? | |
| Will I still want this in a year? |
Common Minimalist Entrepreneur Advice
- "Don't launch. Sell to your first 100 customers first."
- "Hire when it hurts."
- "Your failures will fade, while your successes will stick around and compound."
- "Profitability gets you off the grid. Then you grow mindfully with unlimited runway."
- "Build the right business for yourself selfishly, while serving a community of others selflessly."
Output
Give the user: 1. A clear recommendation (do it / don't do it / simplify it) 2. What the minimalist version of their plan looks like 3. The biggest risk they should watch for 4. One thing to try this week to validate the decision
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Use instead of generic SWOT analysis or standard business advice when you specifically want minimalist, anti-hustle, customer-first framing.
FAQ
Who is minimalist-review for?
Developers and developers who want to stress-test ideas against Sahil Lavingia's minimalist entrepreneur philosophy before investing time or money.
When should I use minimalist-review?
Use it when deciding on a new feature, pricing model, marketing channel, automation idea, or overall product direction; when you feel pulled toward over-engineering; when choosing between multiple options; or any time you want to confirm you are staying community-first and buildi
Is minimalist-review safe to install?
Yes. Users should review the Security Audits panel on this page before installing.