How to use the Startup Team Composition Planner agent skill

What is an agent skill and what does this one do?

An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with instructions that an AI agent reads when a request matches the skill's description. This skill is not a software tool; it is a written playbook the agent applies to your question.

Once installed, the agent can advise on team building for early-stage startups from pre-seed through Series A. The skill gives stage-based headcount guidance (pre-seed at 2-5 people, seed at 5-15, Series A at 15-50), role-by-role hiring plans, US salary and fully-loaded cost benchmarks with geographic adjustments, typical founder and employee equity ranges, option pool sizing, org chart design and a hiring budget tied to revenue milestones.

Install the team-composition-analysis skill

Download the ZIP file from this page. Then choose one of the two install routes below.

For Claude Code, unzip the file into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want the skill only for that project. The skill folder should contain SKILL.md and references/details.md.

In the Claude apps, you can instead upload the ZIP under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the ZIP

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You do not need a special command. The skill is meant to be used when your request matches its description: planning headcount, deciding which roles to hire next, setting compensation or equity ranges, designing org structure, or building a hiring budget aligned to funding milestones.

Describe your stage and situation in plain language. The more concrete you are about revenue, funding and the roles you are considering, the more useful the plan will be.

• Which roles should we hire next? We are seed stage at about $1M ARR.
• Build a hiring budget for the next 12 months for a Series A company with 10 engineers and 4 salespeople.
• What equity should a first engineer get before our pre-seed round?
• How big should our option pool be for a Series A round?
• Draft an org chart for a company moving from seed to Series A.

Examples of what the agent will produce

For a seed-stage company, the agent can list key hires such as an engineering lead with two to three engineers, a first sales or business development hire, a product manager and a marketing or growth lead. For budgeting, it applies a headcount formula: role count times fully-loaded cost times the share of the year each person is employed.

For equity, the skill explains that investors often require an option pool before investment, which dilutes founders. It includes a worked example with a $10M pre-money valuation and a 15% post-money pool.

What you need before you start

The skill lists no required tools, scripts or network access. You need an agent environment that can load skills, such as Claude Code or the Claude apps with Skills enabled, and your own facts about the company: stage, revenue, funding plans and target roles.

The skill runs no scripts and uses no network connection. It works from its written guidelines and the numbers you provide.

Safety notes and limits

Treat the output as planning guidance, not as legal or tax advice. The skill's equity and option pool figures are generic and need a lawyer or accountant to confirm before you grant anything.

The salary benchmarks are labelled US 2024 ranges. They may not match your city, remote policy or talent pool, so check them against current local data before setting an offer.

The skill has no scripts and no network access, so it will not look up live market data. Any numbers you need current should come from you or a source you verify.

Tips for better results

Give the stage, current team size, ARR range and funding timeline in your first message. Ask for the role-by-role plan first, then the budget, then the org chart, so each step builds on the last.

Account for hiring time. The skill suggests that recruiting can take 6 to 24 weeks depending on seniority, plus ramp time before someone is productive, and recommends adding a 2-3 month buffer to hiring plans.

• State your location, since the skill applies geographic adjustments to salaries.
• Ask which roles should be contractors and which should be full-time.
• Check any equity number against your own cap table and legal advice before sharing it.