Three-mode founder hiring skill — Plan, Evaluate, Decide

A skill that walks a founder of a small team through the entire hiring lifecycle in three explicit modes — Plan (define the role, write a job post, design a 3–4 step interview process), Evaluate (build a weighted scorecard, score candidates 1–5 with evidence, surface red/green flags), and Decide (force-test the gut call with pressure questions, frame the offer, or recommend "don't hire anyone right now"). It reads a BUSINESS_CONTEXT.md so company stage/revenue/team size shapes the conversation.

A bad early hire is the most expensive mistake a small-company founder can make. The skill embeds hard limits that prevent the usual failures: 3–4 interview steps maximum (long processes lose the best candidates), 2 weeks first-contact-to-offer, must-haves are sacred (no compromise even for a likeable candidate), and an explicit path to recommending no hire when the founder is hiring to avoid doing the work themselves.

1. The skill triggers on phrases like "I need to hire," "interview questions for," "should I hire," "evaluate this candidate."
2. Check BUSINESS_CONTEXT.md; if absent, ask one-shot (company, team size, revenue, current quarter focus) and save it.
3. Determine mode (Plan / Evaluate / Decide); if unclear, ask which.
4. Plan mode: start with "What problem does this hire solve?" — if the founder can't state it in one sentence, push back ("Are you sure this is a hire, or a process you haven't built?"). Walk 7 role-definition questions, generate a sub-500-word job post avoiding clichés, recommend sourcing, and design a lean 4-step process (resume screen 5min → phone screen 20min → working session 60min simulating the actual job → final 45min). Save to hiring/[role-slug]-hiring-plan.md.
5. Evaluate mode: build a weighted scorecard from must-haves; score each candidate 1–5 with specific evidence per criterion (no hand-waving); surface red flags (vague impact claims, comp mismatch, badmouthing prior employers) and green flags (specific examples, sharp questions, ownership).
6. Decide mode: ask the three forcing questions, pressure-test must-haves and 90-day/12-month realism against the cost of a wrong hire vs the cost of waiting; if green-lit, define comp/timeline/negotiation boundaries; if not, give explicit reasons to pump the brakes.

Decide Mode forcing questions:
"If you had to decide right now, who would you pick?"
"What's your biggest hesitation?"
"Is this a 'hell yes' or a 'probably'?"
If it's not a hell yes, it's a no — for early hires, at least.

Job post anti-words: "Fast-paced environment" (chaotic), "Wear many hats"
(undefined), "Self-starter" (no management), "Rockstar/ninja/guru".

The dominant anti-pattern the skill is built to catch: hiring to avoid doing the work — when a founder can't state the problem the hire solves in one sentence, the answer is usually a process they haven't built, not a person. The other recurring trap is compromising on a must-have because a candidate is likeable; the skill treats must-haves as non-negotiable on purpose. The best interview question is a work sample that simulates the real job, not a behavioral one.