Next Executive Hire Planner
Decides which exec role to add next and in what form (full-time, fractional, interim, or not yet), with a first-year scorecard.
Before & after
Same prompt, same agent — the only difference is the skill.
That's an important strategic decision. You'll want to consider factors like cost, time to market, internal expertise, and long-term maintenance. Building internally gives you more control but requires significant resources. Buying from a vendor is faster but less flexible. I'd recommend creating a comparison matrix of your options, weighing the pros and cons, and considering your company's current capacity and goals.
ROUTED TO: Chief Financial Officer / Build-vs-Buy Decision Framework AVAILABLE ADVISOR SKILLS IN THIS BUNDLE: -> cfo-cap-allocation: capital budgeting, ROI models, cash-flow impact -> cfo-vendor-evaluation: vendor risk, contract negotiation, TCO analysis -> cto-build-assessment: engineering capacity, technical debt implications -> chief-of-staff-routing: C-suite orchestration, cross-functional alignment -> board-meeting-protocol: board-level decision framing RECOMMENDED WORKFLOW: 1. Start with cfo-cap-allocation (models 3-year TCO for each path) 2. Run cto-build-assessment in parallel (engineering timeline + staffing cost) 3. Feed results into cfo-vendor-evaluation (contracts, SLAs, lock-in risks) 4. Escalate findings via chief-of-staff-routing for final executive alignment 5. Frame decision for board using board-meeting-protocol template ESTIMATED TIME: 2 hours per advisor, decision-ready brief in 4 hours. INVOKE NOW: Which advisor fits your immediate need? (CFO, CTO, Chief of Staff)
About this skill
Most early executive mis-hires are the wrong level or form for the stage, not the wrong person. This skill decides which leadership gap to fill next and how, before you write a job description.
What it does
- Checks readiness signals by function: finance, sales, marketing, product, engineering, operations, people, security, legal
- Chooses the form: full-time, fractional, interim, advisor, outside firm, or not yet
- Flags common traps: VP Sales before repeatability, early C-titles, strategic CFO when the gap is clean books
- Starts with a conversation when a new exec would sit above someone on the current team
- Writes a first-year scorecard: mission, outcomes, and the decisions the founder hands over
What you get
A ranked gap plan, one recommended next hire with its form and scorecard, and a not-yet list with the signal that would change each.
Best for
Founders from seed to Series B deciding whether to hire a CFO, VP Sales, COO, CMO, or fractional leader.
SKILL.md preview
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name: next-executive-hire-planner
description: Decide which executive function a startup should add next and in what form - full-time VP, C-level, fractional, interim, advisor, outside firm, or not yet - based on stage, where the founder's time is going, and the signals that a function has outgrown its current owner, then define the first-year scorecard for that role. Use when the user says "which exec should I hire next?", "do I need a CFO or a controller?", "is it time for a VP Sales?", "fractional CMO or full-time?", "what leadership team do I need at Series A?", or "I'm drowning, what should I hand off?", including casual asks like "should I hire a COO?"
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