# defining-icp

A skill that narrows your audience to one tight segment where the product wins, then checks the pick against cold outreach data.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 450 installs · ★ 1434
- Author: RefoundAI
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-07-16
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/defining-icp

## What it does

The skill walks you through four steps. First, strip away broad demographics and find a comically narrow beachhead where your solution is a 10x improvement. Then define three specific attributes that separate your ICP from the general market. Next, validate the segment through signal quality — cold outreach response rates and user behavior. Finally, plan expansion: when the current niche is dominated, where do you go next.

It packs insights from 15 Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter pieces, quoting Geoffrey Moore, Jeanne Grosser and Lulu Cheng Meservey. Templates included: a 9-step identification checklist, an ICP definition spreadsheet, the ICP Specificity Test, a B2B segmentation and persona layering model, and a super-specific who template for B2C. The full artifact list lives in `references/artifacts.md`.

The skill's hard rule is reachability: an ICP must be a single market segment where the problem's value is roughly the same and you can reach people roughly the same way. "People who use Excel" fails both tests. Worth knowing before you write copy or set up ads.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill defining-icp -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/defining-icp/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill defining-icp -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill defining-icp -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install RefoundAI/lenny-skills defining-icp
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill defining-icp -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills --path skills/defining-icp
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add RefoundAI/lenny-skills --skill defining-icp -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/RefoundAI/lenny-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/defining-icp/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- narrow a broad audience down to one tight segment
- name three attributes that set your ICP apart
- validate a segment against cold outreach response rates
- decide when a niche is dominated and it's time to move adjacent
- tell a bad audience apart from a bad product

## Example prompts
- help me define the ICP for my B2B product
- check whether my segment is narrow enough
- outline the expansion path from my current niche

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: af823ae3e471b84f.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE af823ae3e471b84f
```text
---
name: defining-icp
description: Help users identify their most high-value customers by defining a hyper-specific ICP that maximizes product-market fit and acquisition efficiency.
---

# Defining Your ICP

Narrow your focus to win a market beachhead and build undeniable momentum.

Help the user with defining your icp using insights from 15 guests and posts across Lenny's Podcast and Newsletter.

## How to Help

1. **Identify the Narrowest Possible Segment** - Help the user strip away broad demographics to find a comically narrow beachhead where their solution is a 10x improvement.
2. **Extract Key Attributes** - Guide the user to define three specific and unique characteristics that separate their ICP from the general market.
3. **Validate Through Signal Quality** - Use cold outreach data and user behavior to confirm if the chosen segment feels acute pain and demonstrates urgency.
4. **Plan for Strategic Expansion** - Determine when the current niche is dominated and outline the sequence for moving into adjacent segments.

## Core Principles

### Dominate the niche to gain power
Geoffrey Moore: "The tendency when you're in the chasm is, 'I just need more customers. I should take any customer I could find,' because we need revenue. It's like taking a match and running it back and forth under a log. It's not going to light the log. So how do you start a fire? Well, you start it by putting a little kindling, little crumpled up paper, and you hold the match in one place until the fire starts."

Target a segment where you can realistically achieve 30% to 50% market share within two years. Resisting the urge to pursue every customer for revenue is essential to build ecosystem power.

### Optimize via high-signal attributes
Jeanne Grosser: "And what this was was effectively a company universe. So you can think of this as a massive database. Every row was a different company on the planet and every column was an attribute about that company that would help you sell to them in a more targeted fashion."

Identify key business attributes, such as industry or business model, that signal a high need for your specific product. Build a database that segments the market based on these correlations.

### Align with your natural audience
Lulu Cheng Meservey: "There's going to be people who are just not your natural audience, and you should know that and not waste your time. But if your natural audience cares about X and you're offering Y, then it's your job to create the API or to create the bridge from X to Y."

Focus limited resources on audiences that already have pre-existing interests aligned with your mission. Dedicate time to understanding their specific passion points and ignore misaligned groups.

### Avoid the bad audience trap
```
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