SPEC-1-AI Startup Co-Founder Platform
Implementation
This implementation is designed so that:
• A lazy programmer can deploy it
• A security engineer won’t panic
• A contractor team can execute it without ambiguity
Phase 1: Repository & Project Structure
1. Create Repository
mkdir ai-startup-cofounder
cd ai-startup-cofounder
git init
2. Directory Layout
ai-startup-cofounder/
├── backend/
│ ├── app/
│ │ ├── [Link]
│ │ ├── api/
│ │ ├── core/
│ │ ├── models/
│ │ ├── security/
│ │ ├── ai/
│ │ └── audit/
│ ├── [Link]
│ └── Dockerfile
├── frontend/
│ └── (later – internal UI)
├── infra/
│ ├── [Link]
│ └── postgres/
├── prompts/
│ ├── system_core.md
│ ├── role_cto.md
│ ├── role_ceo.md
│ └── role_cfo.md
└── [Link]
Phase 2: Backend (FastAPI)
1. Python Environment
python3.11 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
2. Dependencies (backend/[Link])
fastapi
uvicorn
sqlalchemy
psycopg2-binary
pydantic
python-jose
passlib[bcrypt]
cryptography
python-dotenv
Phase 3: Database Setup (PostgreSQL)
Dockerized Postgres (infra/[Link])
version: "3.9"
services:
db:
image: postgres:15
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: ai_admin
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: strong_password_here
POSTGRES_DB: ai_cofounder
volumes:
- pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
ports:
- "5432:5432"
volumes:
pgdata:
Security Notes
• Password must be rotated in production
• Never expose Postgres publicly
• Use Docker secrets later
Phase 4: Authentication & RBAC
Password Security
• Bcrypt hashing
• No plaintext storage
• Rate-limited login attempts
Role Enforcement (Example)
def require_role(required_role):
def checker(user):
if [Link] != required_role:
raise HTTPException(status_code=403)
return checker
Phase 5: AI Orchestration (Advisory Only)
AI Execution Rules
• temperature = 0
• Max tokens enforced
• Output validated via Pydantic schema
• Role-separated prompts
Execution Flow
User Input
→ Sanitize
→ Context Builder
→ Role Prompt Merge
→ LLM Call
→ Schema Validation
→ Encrypt + Store
No function calling
No tool execution
No auto-approval
Phase 6: Prompt Security
Prompt Storage Rules
• Stored in repo
• Versioned
• Read-only at runtime
Injection Defense
• Strip markdown/code from user input
• Reject instructions targeting system behavior
• Context partitioning per role
Phase 7: Encryption
Field-Level Encryption
• [Link]
• ai_outputs.response
Use Fernet (AES-128 + HMAC) via cryptography
Key handling:
• Stored in .env
• Different key per environment
• Rotated quarterly
Phase 8: Audit Logging (Mandatory)
Every action logs:
• User
• Role
• Idea ID
• Prompt version
• Timestamp
• Hash of AI output
Audit logs are append-only
Phase 9: Dockerization (Backend)
Backend Dockerfile
FROM python:3.11-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY backend/[Link] .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r [Link]
COPY backend/app ./app
CMD ["uvicorn", "[Link]:app", "--host", "[Link]", "--port", "8000"]
Phase 10: Deployment Modes
Option A: Local / Self-Hosted
docker-compose up -d
docker build -t ai-backend backend/
docker run -p 8000:8000 ai-backend
Option B: Cloud (Later)
• Same containers
• Add:
• Managed Postgres
• Secrets manager
• HTTPS ingress
Phase 11: Human-in-the-Loop Enforcement
No phase progression unless:
• CTO + CEO + CFO explicitly approve
• Approval logged and signed
SPEC-1-AI Startup Co-Founder Platform
Milestones
Milestone 1: Secure Foundation (Week 1)
Owner: Ryan (CTO)
• Repository initialized
• FastAPI skeleton running
• PostgreSQL deployed via Docker
• RBAC implemented
• Password hashing + JWT auth
• 2FA enforced for all users
• Audit logging framework live
Exit Criteria:
• All endpoints protected
• All actions logged
• No plaintext secrets
⸻
Milestone 2: AI Advisory Core (Week 2)
Owner: Ryan (CTO)
• Prompt templates finalized
• Deterministic AI execution enforced
• Role-specific outputs generated
• Output validation schemas implemented
• Prompt injection defenses active
Exit Criteria:
• Same input → same output
• AI cannot progress workflow alone
• Outputs labeled by role
Milestone 3: Business & Financial Intelligence (Week 3)
Owners:
• Victor (CEO): business logic
• Daniel (CFO): financial logic
• Market validation framework
• Pricing & monetization analysis
• Cost modeling
• Tax & compliance checks
• Risk flagging
Exit Criteria:
• CEO & CFO sign off on advisories
• No financial recommendation without assumptions listed
Milestone 4: Approval & Governance Engine (Week 4)
Owner: Ryan (CTO)
• Multi-founder approval workflow
• Digital acknowledgment required
• Immutable approval records
• Phase progression locked
Exit Criteria:
• No phase advancement without unanimous consent
• Full audit trace from idea → approval
Milestone 5: Dual Deployment Readiness (Week 5)
Owner: Ryan (CTO)
• Cloud-ready configuration
• Self-host deployment validated
• Secrets externalized
• HTTPS enforced
• Backup & restore tested
Exit Criteria:
• One-command deploy
• Disaster recovery verified
⸻
Gathering Results
Success Metrics
Technical (CTO)
• 100% encrypted sensitive fields
• Zero critical security findings
• AI determinism verified
• Mean response time < 2s (internal)
Business (CEO)
• Idea clarity score improves per iteration
• Reduced time from idea → plan
• Clear go/no-go signals generated
Financial (CFO)
• Cost projections within ±10% realism
• Tax/compliance flags accurate
• Burn rate visibility
Post-Production Review
• Weekly audit log review
• Quarterly security key rotation
• Prompt version reviews
• Founders retrospective every 30 days
⸻
Final Outcome
You will have:
• A secure AI co-founder
• That cannot act autonomously
• That forces alignment
• That prevents bad ideas from scaling
• And prevents founder disputes
This is not a toy — it’s a real internal product you can later commercialize.
SPEC-1-AI Startup Co-Founder Platform
Threat Modeling (STRIDE)
Scope of Threat Model
In-scope components:
• Web UI
• FastAPI Backend
• AI Orchestrator
• PostgreSQL Database
• Authentication & RBAC
• Prompt Store
• Audit Logs
Out of scope (for now):
• Public users
• Payments
• Third-party integrations
STRIDE Breakdown
1. Spoofing Identity
Threats
• Attacker impersonates Ryan / Victor / Daniel
• Stolen JWTs
• Credential reuse attacks
Mitigations
• Mandatory 2FA (TOTP or hardware key)
• Short-lived JWTs (≤15 min)
• Refresh tokens bound to device fingerprint
• Passwords hashed with bcrypt (high cost factor)
• Login rate limiting + IP throttling
Residual Risk: Low
Owner: CTO (Ryan)
2. Tampering with Data
Threats
• Modification of startup ideas
• Altered AI outputs
• Manipulated approval decisions
Mitigations
• Field-level encryption on sensitive columns
• Append-only audit logs
• Hash of AI outputs stored separately
• Database role separation (read vs write)
• No direct DB access from UI
Residual Risk: Low
Owner: CTO
3. Repudiation
Threats
• Founder denies approving a decision
• Disputes over who changed what
Mitigations
• Every action logged with:
• User ID
• Role
• Timestamp
• Action hash
• Explicit digital acknowledgment required
• Immutable approval records
• Time-synced server clock (NTP)
Residual Risk: Very Low
Owner: CTO + CEO
⸻
4. Information Disclosure
Threats
• Startup ideas leaked
• Financial projections exposed
• Prompt leakage
• AI responses visible to wrong role
Mitigations
• TLS 1.3 everywhere
• AES encryption at rest
• Per-role access enforcement
• Secrets stored outside repo
• Prompt templates never sent to client
• Encrypted backups
Residual Risk: Low
Owner: CTO + CFO
5. Denial of Service (DoS)
Threats
• Internal abuse (looped AI requests)
• Resource exhaustion
• DB lock contention
Mitigations
• Rate limiting per user
• AI request quotas
• Timeout on AI calls
• DB connection pooling
• Circuit breaker on AI failures
Residual Risk: Medium (acceptable for internal use)
Owner: CTO
6. Elevation of Privilege
Threats
• CEO/CFO accessing CTO-only functions
• Bypassing approval workflow
• Prompt injection attempting system control
Mitigations
• Strict RBAC enforcement
• Backend-only authorization checks
• No client-side trust
• Prompt injection defenses:
• Instruction stripping
• Output schema validation
• No AI tool execution permissions
Residual Risk: Low
Owner: CTO