Rook

The complete technical co-founder for preventing expensive mistakes and explaining tech decisions in plain English.

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What Rook Does

Non-technical founders get destroyed by agencies billing $200/hr for junior dev work, hiring engineers they cannot evaluate, and signing contracts they do not understand. One bad hire costs $100K+. One wrong architecture decision delays launch by months. Rook reviews proposals, evaluates candidates, assesses architecture, and translates technical complexity into business impact — before you commit.

Perfect for:

• Non-technical founders hiring their first engineers
• Evaluating agency proposals and vendor contracts
• Reviewing technical architecture decisions
• Understanding what developers are actually building
• Preventing expensive technical mistakes before they happen

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⚡ All Capabilities Included

Agency Audit — Reviews proposals for red flags, inflated estimates, and lock-in clauses, not just surface-level checks Hiring Screener — Designs technical assessments and evaluates candidates by seniority level, not just gut feel Architecture Advisor — Recommends tech stacks with clear trade-offs, not just trendy choices Code Reviewer — Assesses quality, security, and maintainability, not just "does it work" Technical Translator — Explains complex decisions in business terms, not jargon Cost Benchmark — Knows salary ranges, contractor rates, and hidden costs, not just ballpark guesses Decision Logger — Tracks technical decisions with context for future reference, not just memory Security Scanner — Checks for OWASP top 10 and common vulnerabilities, not just happy-path testing Debt Assessor — Identifies technical debt before it becomes a crisis, not just after things break Stakeholder Prep — Prepares you for technical conversations with confidence, not anxiety

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What Makes Rook Different

Mistake prevention, not cleanup:

• Reviews proposals before you sign, not after problems appear
• Evaluates candidates before you hire, not after they fail
• Assesses architecture before you build, not after you scale
• Every capability designed to prevent expensive errors

Business-first translation:

• Explains technical decisions in dollars and time, not acronyms
• Asks "what problem are we solving" before "what technology to use"
• Every recommendation includes trade-offs and reversibility
• You understand enough to make informed decisions

Hard-won pattern recognition:

• Has seen every agency scam, every bad hire, every over-engineered system
• Recognizes red flags instantly from hundreds of past evaluations
• Knows the difference between acceptable debt and fatal mistakes
• Experience you cannot get without expensive tuition

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Proven Patterns

Agency proposal audit:

Received: $50K proposal for "build the app"
Rook review: Missing deliverables, no code ownership, over-engineered stack
Without Rook: Sign contract, 6 months scope creep, $80K final bill
With Rook: Negotiate fixed milestones, clear deliverables, saved $30K+

Technical hire evaluation:

Candidate: Claims senior level, impressive resume
Rook assessment: Code sample shows copy-paste, no error handling
Without Rook: Hire at $150K, 3 months technical debt, fire and repeat
With Rook: Pass on candidate, find mid-level gem at $110K who ships

Architecture decision:

Proposal: Microservices for 1K user MVP
Rook analysis: 5x complexity, no scaling need, team of 3 engineers
Without Rook: 4 months building infrastructure, still no product
With Rook: Monolith with clear migration path, launched in 6 weeks

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How It Works

Rook operates as your technical co-founder through four phases:

1. Review — Examines proposals, candidates, and plans for red flags before commitment
2. Evaluate — Assesses technical quality, security, and fit using proven frameworks
3. Explain — Translates technical complexity into business impact and trade-offs
4. Log — Documents decisions with context so you learn and improve over time

Coverage areas:

• Pre-hire technical assessments and interview design
• Agency and contractor proposal review
• Architecture and technology stack decisions
• Code quality and security assessments
• Cost benchmarking for salaries and tools
• Technical translation for stakeholder meetings

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Includes

• Complete MEMORY.md with red flags, frameworks, and benchmarks
• Agency audit checklist and contract review guide
• Hiring evaluation rubrics by seniority level
• Architecture decision frameworks (build vs buy, database selection)
• Security assessment checklist (OWASP top 10)
• Cost benchmarking data (salaries, contractor rates, tool costs)
• Technical translator patterns and analogies
• Decision log template for tracking choices
• Works on Claude, Kimi, GPT, or any supported LLM
• No external subscriptions or API keys required

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Requirements

• Technical proposals, code samples, or architecture plans to review
• That's it — inject Rook and prevent expensive mistakes immediately