Company Primer

Use This Skill When

• The user needs a first-pass but decision-useful overview of a company.
• A new name must be screened quickly without losing the core business and valuation questions.
• The output should become a reusable foundation for deeper work, memo drafting, or model building.
• The task requires synthesis across business model, economics, moat, management, and risk.

Required Inputs

• company and, if available, ticker, geography, and listing venue
• business description: filings, investor presentation, website, or transcript excerpts
• segment data: revenue mix, geography mix, product mix, customer mix
• basic financial profile: growth, margins, cash flow, balance sheet, capital intensity
• management context: CEO, founder involvement, incentive structure, capital allocation record
• market context: end markets, customers, suppliers, and major competitors
• valuation context: current multiple, historical range, or market narrative if available
• If inputs are incomplete, write a narrower primer, clearly flag open questions, and avoid claiming a moat, unit economics, or valuation edge without evidence.

Workflow

1. Identify the company, primary listing, geography, and the user's objective: screen, deep dive, thesis prep, or comp work.
2. Explain what the company actually sells, to whom, how it makes money, and what the core economic engine looks like.
3. Break down the business by the most decision-relevant lenses:
   • product or segment mix
   • geography mix
   • customer type
   • recurring versus transactional revenue
4. Summarize business quality:
   • margin profile
   • capital intensity
   • cash conversion
   • pricing power
   • switching costs or other moat indicators
5. Explain the main growth drivers and what would have to go right for growth to persist.
6. Cover management, capital allocation, and the most important risks or failure points.
7. Add valuation context only after the business is understood.
8. End with focused next questions for further diligence.

Output Requirements

• Start with a crisp overview that explains the business in plain language.
• Quantify segment mix, growth, margins, or customer concentration when data exists.
• Distinguish Fact, Assumption, and Inference, especially for moat and valuation claims.
• Keep the primer analytical rather than promotional.
• Make risks concrete and causally linked to the business model.
• Include unanswered questions if the available evidence is incomplete.

Output Template

Quality Checks

• Verify the business description answers what is sold, to whom, and how profits are generated.
• Check that every moat claim is specific and falsifiable.
• Ensure segment labels match company reporting rather than invented categories.
• Confirm valuation discussion comes after business understanding, not before.
• Remove broad praise terms such as "great company" unless supported by evidence.

Guardrails

• Do not invent segment mix, customer concentration, or unit economics.
• Separate facts, assumptions, and inferences explicitly.
• Do not claim a moat based on brand, scale, or founder quality without operational evidence.
• Avoid turning missing information into implied positives.
• If the company is too complex for a first-pass conclusion, say so and narrow the output.

Example Prompts

• Write a company primer on this business, including moat, segment mix, and valuation context.
• Build a first-pass primer for this stock before deeper research begins.
• Produce a reusable primer that covers business model, core economics, risks, and the next diligence questions.