Solo Builder Playbook

A personalized growth advisor for solo builders, powered by real strategies from 19 founders who built apps to $10K-$200K+ MRR. Extracted from Starter Story interviews (2025-2026).

This is a Claude Code skill. Install it and get founder-tested growth strategies tailored to your specific project — Claude reads your repo, understands what you're building, and delivers actionable advice with real founder citations.

Install

All projects (global):

git clone https://github.com/drewautomates/solo-builder-playbook-skill.git ~/.claude/skills/solo-builder-playbook

Single project only:

cd your-project
git clone https://github.com/drewautomates/solo-builder-playbook-skill.git .claude/skills/solo-builder-playbook

Then restart Claude Code. The skill will be available as /solo-builder-playbook.

What Makes This Different

Most growth advice is generic. This skill is contextual.

Without context (typical chatbot):

"Consider using social media marketing. Create content that resonates with your target audience. Try multiple channels and see what works."

With Solo Builder Playbook (inside your project):

It looks like you're building a B2B SaaS with Next.js and Stripe. Based on your stack and stage, here's what worked for Roman — he grew his SaaS to $22K MRR through Reddit alone by posting genuine how-to content in subreddits where his target users hung out. Here's your 30-day plan...

The skill reads your README.md, package.json, and other project files to auto-detect your product type, tech stack, and stage — then routes you to the right playbooks with personalized action items.

How It Works

1. Detects your project — Scans your repo to understand what you're building, your tech stack, and your stage
2. Asks smart questions — Only asks what it can't figure out from your code (stage, MRR, what you've tried)
3. Routes to the right playbooks — A B2B SaaS gets different advice than a mobile app or dev tool
4. Delivers actionable outputs — Not summaries, but draft posts, growth plans, email sequences, and pricing copy for your product

What's Inside

17 playbooks covering every stage from idea to $100K+ MRR:

Playbook	What You'll Learn
Idea Selection	4-filter test for picking ideas that can reach $10K MRR
Distribution Strategy	Which growth channel fits your product type
Reddit Marketing	Roman's system: $2K to $22K MRR through Reddit alone
TikTok-First Apps	Louis's framework: $0 to $800K/year via organic TikTok
Discord Communities	Sam's screen-share selling trick for niche tools
Twitter/X	Build in public + DM support hack for SaaS growth
Influencer Marketing	George's 100-DMs-per-day outreach system
Partnerships	Hassam's equity-for-distribution model (0 to $25K in 48hrs)
SEO & Content	Bhanu's free-tools strategy: 50K monthly clicks, $0 ad spend
Lifetime Deals	Mike's 3-phase LTD hack to bootstrap $100K in runway
Pricing & Revenue	Pricing models and milestones from $0 to $200K MRR
Onboarding	George & Connor's conversion formula for free-to-paid
Vibe Coding	Building production apps with Cursor, Bolt, Replit in days
B2B SaaS Playbook	Full playbook: idea to $100K MRR (Mike + Tibo combined)
Mobile App Playbook	Content-first strategy for iOS/Android apps
Open Source	Nevo's launch-week plan: 5M downloads, $17K MRR
When to Pivot	Signal detection and Eyal's rebuild framework

Usage Examples

Broad question — Claude diagnoses first

You: /solo-builder-playbook How do I get users?

Claude: reads your repo, detects a Next.js SaaS with Stripe — "It looks like you're building a B2B SaaS. Here's what I'd recommend based on your stage..."

Specific question — Claude goes straight to the playbook

You: /solo-builder-playbook Should I do a lifetime deal?

Claude: pulls from the LTD playbook — "Mike used a 3-phase LTD strategy to bootstrap $100K in runway. Here's when it makes sense and when it backfires..."

Deliverable request — Claude generates real outputs

You: /solo-builder-playbook Write me some Reddit posts to promote my app

Claude: reads your product details, drafts 3 Reddit posts tailored to relevant subreddits with the right tone

Growth plan — Claude builds a roadmap

You: /solo-builder-playbook Give me a 30-day growth plan

Claude: diagnoses your stage and product type, creates a week-by-week action plan with specific milestones

The Founders

Data from founders making $10K-$200K+/month MRR:

Founder	Product	MRR	Key Channel
Tibo	Tweethunter/Taplio	$700K/mo	Twitter + Content
Mike	5 SaaS apps	$200K/mo	SEO + LTDs
Roman	QuillBot alternative	$22K/mo	Reddit
Louis	GlowUp AI	$67K/mo	TikTok
George	Wrestle AI	$17K/mo	Influencers
Connor	Payout	$20K/mo	Onboarding
Nevo	Postiz	$17K/mo	Open Source
Bhanu	SiteGPT	$13K/mo	SEO/Free Tools
Hassam	WhatsBot	$25K first 48hrs	Partnerships
+ 10 more...

How This Was Made

These playbooks were compiled by watching, transcribing, and cross-referencing 19 founder interviews from Starter Story. Content analysis was powered by Noverload — AI-powered knowledge management that turns saved content into actionable insights.

License

MIT