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* feat: C-Suite expansion — 8 new executive advisory roles Add COO, CPO, CMO, CFO, CRO, CISO, CHRO advisors and Executive Mentor. Expands C-level advisory from 2 to 10 roles with 74 total files. Each role includes: - SKILL.md (lean, <5KB, ~1200 tokens for context efficiency) - Reference docs (loaded on demand, not at startup) - Python analysis scripts (stdlib only, runnable CLI) Executive Mentor features /em: slash commands (challenge, board-prep, hard-call, stress-test, postmortem) with devil's advocate agent. 21 Python tools, 24 reference frameworks, 28,379 total lines. All SKILL.md files combined: ~17K tokens (8.5% of 200K context window). Badge: 88 → 116 skills * feat: C-Suite orchestration layer + 18 complementary skills ORCHESTRATION (new): - cs-onboard: Founder interview → company-context.md - chief-of-staff: Routing, synthesis, inter-agent orchestration - board-meeting: 6-phase multi-agent deliberation protocol - decision-logger: Two-layer memory (raw transcripts + approved decisions) - agent-protocol: Inter-agent invocation with loop prevention - context-engine: Company context loading + anonymization CROSS-CUTTING CAPABILITIES (new): - board-deck-builder: Board/investor update assembly - scenario-war-room: Cascading multi-variable what-if modeling - competitive-intel: Systematic competitor tracking + battlecards - org-health-diagnostic: Cross-functional health scoring (8 dimensions) - ma-playbook: M&A strategy (acquiring + being acquired) - intl-expansion: International market entry frameworks CULTURE & COLLABORATION (new): - culture-architect: Values → behaviors, culture code, health assessment - company-os: EOS/Scaling Up operating system selection + implementation - founder-coach: Founder development, delegation, blind spots - strategic-alignment: Strategy cascade, silo detection, alignment scoring - change-management: ADKAR-based change rollout framework - internal-narrative: One story across employees/investors/customers UPGRADES TO EXISTING ROLES: - All 10 roles get reasoning technique directives - All 10 roles get company-context.md integration - All 10 roles get board meeting isolation rules - CEO gets stage-adaptive temporal horizons (seed→C) Key design decisions: - Two-layer memory prevents hallucinated consensus from rejected ideas - Phase 2 isolation: agents think independently before cross-examination - Executive Mentor (The Critic) sees all perspectives, others don't - 25 Python tools total (stdlib only, no dependencies) 52 new files, 10 modified, 10,862 new lines. Total C-suite ecosystem: 134 files, 39,131 lines. * fix: connect all dots — Chief of Staff routes to all 28 skills - Added complementary skills registry to routing-matrix.md - Chief of Staff SKILL.md now lists all 28 skills in ecosystem - Added integration tables to scenario-war-room and competitive-intel - Badge: 116 → 134 skills - README: C-Level Advisory count 10 → 28 Quality audit passed: ✅ All 10 roles: company-context, reasoning, isolation, invocation ✅ All 6 phases in board meeting ✅ Two-layer memory with DO_NOT_RESURFACE ✅ Loop prevention (no self-invoke, max depth 2, no circular) ✅ All /em: commands present ✅ All complementary skills cross-reference roles ✅ Chief of Staff routes to every skill in ecosystem * refactor: CEO + CTO advisors upgraded to C-suite parity Both roles now match the structural standard of all new roles: - CEO: 11.7KB → 6.8KB SKILL.md (heavy content stays in references) - CTO: 10KB → 7.2KB SKILL.md (heavy content stays in references) Added to both: - Integration table (who they work with and when) - Key diagnostic questions - Structured metrics dashboard table - Consistent section ordering (Keywords → Quick Start → Responsibilities → Questions → Metrics → Red Flags → Integration → Reasoning → Context) CEO additions: - Stage-adaptive temporal horizons (seed=3m/6m/12m → B+=1y/3y/5y) - Cross-references to culture-architect and board-deck-builder CTO additions: - Key Questions section (7 diagnostic questions) - Structured metrics table (DORA + debt + team + architecture + cost) - Cross-references to all peer roles All 10 roles now pass structural parity: ✅ Keywords ✅ QuickStart ✅ Questions ✅ Metrics ✅ RedFlags ✅ Integration * feat: add proactive triggers + output artifacts to all 10 roles Every C-suite role now specifies: - Proactive Triggers: 'surface these without being asked' — context-driven early warnings that make advisors proactive, not reactive - Output Artifacts: concrete deliverables per request type (what you ask → what you get) CEO: runway alerts, board prep triggers, strategy review nudges CTO: deploy frequency monitoring, tech debt thresholds, bus factor flags COO: blocker detection, scaling threshold warnings, cadence gaps CPO: retention curve monitoring, portfolio dog detection, research gaps CMO: CAC trend monitoring, positioning gaps, budget staleness CFO: runway forecasting, burn multiple alerts, scenario planning gaps CRO: NRR monitoring, pipeline coverage, pricing review triggers CISO: audit overdue alerts, compliance gaps, vendor risk CHRO: retention risk, comp band gaps, org scaling thresholds Executive Mentor: board prep triggers, groupthink detection, hard call surfacing This transforms the C-suite from reactive advisors into proactive partners. * feat: User Communication Standard — structured output for all roles Defines 3 output formats in agent-protocol/SKILL.md: 1. Standard Output: Bottom Line → What → Why → How to Act → Risks → Your Decision 2. Proactive Alert: What I Noticed → Why It Matters → Action → Urgency (🔴🟡⚪) 3. Board Meeting: Decision Required → Perspectives → Agree/Disagree → Critic → Action Items 10 non-negotiable rules: - Bottom line first, always - Results and decisions only (no process narration) - What + Why + How for every finding - Actions have owners and deadlines ('we should consider' is banned) - Decisions framed as options with trade-offs - Founder is the highest authority — roles recommend, founder decides - Risks are concrete (if X → Y, costs $Z) - Max 5 bullets per section - No jargon without explanation - Silence over fabricated updates All 10 roles reference this standard. Chief of Staff enforces it as a quality gate. Board meeting Phase 4 uses the Board Meeting Output format. * feat: Internal Quality Loop — verification before delivery No role presents to the founder without passing verification: Step 1: Self-Verification (every role, every time) - Source attribution: where did each data point come from? - Assumption audit: [VERIFIED] vs [ASSUMED] tags on every finding - Confidence scoring: 🟢 high / 🟡 medium / 🔴 low per finding - Contradiction check against company-context + decision log - 'So what?' test: every finding needs a business consequence Step 2: Peer Verification (cross-functional) - Financial claims → CFO validates math - Revenue projections → CRO validates pipeline backing - Technical feasibility → CTO validates - People/hiring impact → CHRO validates - Skip for single-domain, low-stakes questions Step 3: Critic Pre-Screen (high-stakes only) - Irreversible decisions, >20% runway impact, strategy changes - Executive Mentor finds weakest point before founder sees it - Suspicious consensus triggers mandatory pre-screen Step 4: Course Correction (after founder feedback) - Approve → log + assign actions - Modify → re-verify changed parts - Reject → DO_NOT_RESURFACE + learn why - 30/60/90 day post-decision review Board meeting contributions now require self-verified format with confidence tags and source attribution on every finding. * fix: resolve PR review issues 1, 4, and minor observation Issue 1: c-level-advisor/CLAUDE.md — completely rewritten - Was: 2 skills (CEO, CTO only), dated Nov 2025 - Now: full 28-skill ecosystem map with architecture diagram, all roles/orchestration/cross-cutting/culture skills listed, design decisions, integration with other domains Issue 4: Root CLAUDE.md — updated all stale counts - 87 → 134 skills across all 3 references - C-Level: 2 → 33 (10 roles + 5 mentor commands + 18 complementary) - Tool count: 160+ → 185+ - Reference count: 200+ → 250+ Minor observation: Documented plugin.json convention - Explained in c-level-advisor/CLAUDE.md that only executive-mentor has plugin.json because only it has slash commands (/em: namespace) - Other skills are invoked by name through Chief of Staff or directly Also fixed: README.md 88+ → 134 in two places (first line + skills section) * fix: update all plugin/index registrations for 28-skill C-suite 1. c-level-advisor/.claude-plugin/plugin.json — v2.0.0 - Was: 2 skills, generic description - Now: all 28 skills listed with descriptions, all 25 scripts, namespace 'cs', full ecosystem description 2. .codex/skills-index.json — added 18 complementary skills - Was: 10 roles only - Now: 28 total c-level entries (10 roles + 6 orchestration + 6 cross-cutting + 6 culture) - Each with full description for skill discovery 3. .claude-plugin/marketplace.json — updated c-level-skills entry - Was: generic 2-skill description - Now: v2.0.0, full 28-skill ecosystem description, skills_count: 28, scripts_count: 25 * feat: add root SKILL.md for c-level-advisor ClawHub package --------- Co-authored-by: Leo <leo@openclaw.ai>
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Regional Expansion Guide
Specific considerations for key regions. Not exhaustive — these are the patterns that trip up most expanding companies.
Europe
DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland)
- Language: German required for SMB. Enterprise sometimes English.
- Sales: Relationship-driven, longer cycles, value formal proposals
- Pricing: Willing to pay premium for quality and reliability
- Compliance: GDPR, industry-specific (MDR for medical devices, BaFin for finance)
- Payment: SEPA, invoice preferred for B2B (not credit cards)
- Culture: Punctuality matters. Directness is respected. Don't oversell.
- Data: Strong preference for EU data residency
- Entity: GmbH for subsidiary, typically €25K minimum capital
Nordics (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland)
- Language: English widely accepted in business
- Sales: Consensus-driven decisions, flat hierarchies
- Pricing: High willingness to pay, value innovation
- Compliance: GDPR, strong data protection culture
- Culture: Equality-focused, sustainability matters, low-key approach preferred
- Entry: Often the easiest European expansion for English-speaking companies
France
- Language: French required, even for enterprise (most buyers prefer it)
- Sales: Formal, hierarchical decision-making, relationships matter
- Pricing: Price-sensitive but willing to invest in proven solutions
- Compliance: GDPR + CNIL (strict data authority), French hosting preference
- Culture: Business lunches are real meetings. Email etiquette matters.
- Entity: SAS or SARL, complex employment law
UK
- Language: English (obviously)
- Sales: Similar to US but smaller deal sizes
- Pricing: Competitive market, price comparisons common
- Compliance: UK GDPR (post-Brexit), FCA for finance
- Culture: Understated, humor works, don't be too pushy
- Post-Brexit: Separate data adequacy, some regulatory divergence
Southern Europe (Spain, Italy, Portugal)
- Language: Local language strongly preferred
- Sales: Relationship-heavy, trust-based, longer cycles
- Pricing: Lower willingness to pay than Northern Europe
- Entry: Partner/reseller model often more effective than direct
- Culture: Personal relationships precede business relationships
- Timing: August is essentially closed in many industries
Eastern Europe (Poland, Czech Republic, Romania)
- Language: Local language for SMB, English for enterprise/tech
- Sales: Growing market, value-conscious, quick adoption of new tech
- Pricing: 30-50% of Western European pricing
- Talent: Excellent engineering talent for local offices
- Entry: Often good for first offshore team, not just sales
United States
General
- Entity: Delaware C-Corp if seeking US investment
- Sales: Expect American-style responsiveness (same-day replies)
- Pricing: Higher than Europe (typically 20-40%)
- Compliance: State-by-state complexity (privacy, tax nexus)
- Culture: Optimistic, results-oriented, comfortable with direct outreach
- Legal: More litigious environment, good contracts essential
Regional Differences
| Region | Characteristics |
|---|---|
| West Coast | Tech-forward, early adopters, startup-friendly |
| East Coast | Enterprise-heavy, finance and healthcare strong |
| Midwest | Manufacturing, agriculture, relationship-driven, underserved |
| South | Growing tech hubs (Austin, Atlanta, Nashville), cost-conscious |
Key Considerations
- Sales tax: Complex, state-dependent, use automation (Stripe Tax, Avalara)
- Privacy: California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut have state laws
- Employment: At-will, but benefits expectations are high
- Health insurance: Expected by employees (significant cost)
APAC
Singapore
- Best entry point for APAC (English, business-friendly, strong rule of law)
- Low tax, easy incorporation, access to Southeast Asian markets
- Small domestic market — use as hub, not primary market
Australia
- English-speaking, familiar business culture (similar to UK)
- Strong B2B market, good for SaaS
- Data privacy: Australian Privacy Act
- Time zones: Challenge for support from Europe
Japan
- Highest quality bar in the world — products must be polished
- Local partner essential (trust, introductions, support)
- Japanese localization is non-negotiable
- Long sales cycles but very loyal once committed
- Business etiquette matters significantly
India
- Huge market but price-sensitive
- Strong engineering talent market
- Relationship-driven, patience required
- UPI and local payment methods essential
- Often better as talent market than sales market initially
LATAM
General
- Portuguese (Brazil) and Spanish (rest) — two distinct markets
- Growing SaaS adoption, especially in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia
- Price-sensitive but growing willingness to pay for quality
- Boleto (Brazil) and local payment methods essential
- Currency volatility can affect pricing strategy
Brazil
- Largest LATAM market by far
- Complex tax system (NF-e, ICMS, PIS/COFINS)
- Portuguese required, no exceptions
- Strong startup ecosystem (São Paulo)
- Data privacy: LGPD (similar to GDPR)
Mexico
- Second largest LATAM market
- Growing US business ties
- Spanish required
- Proximity to US is strategic advantage
- Increasing SaaS adoption
Cross-Region Patterns
What Works Everywhere
- Start with existing customer demand (pull, not push)
- Invest in local language support before local sales
- Price for the market, not for your cost structure
- Build local case studies as fast as possible
- Find one strong local partner before hiring
What Never Works
- Assuming English is enough (even when people speak it)
- Copy-pasting marketing materials with just translation
- Ignoring local payment preferences
- Treating "Europe" or "APAC" as single markets
- Sending your best home-market rep without local context