Expert Knowledge File Template: Turn What You Know Into Claude Context

# [Your Name / Company] Knowledge File ## My Market
Industry: [specific niche, not "tech" or "SaaS"]
Buyer profile: [who actually signs the check, title, company size, pain state]
Buyer's actual language: [exact phrases they use for their problem, not your marketing language]
What they've already tried and why it failed: [be specific]
Seasonal patterns or buying cycles: [if relevant] ## My Product
What it does (functional): [one sentence, no jargon]
What it replaces or makes unnecessary: [specific]
The thing customers only discover after buying that they love: [specific]
The objection that kills 80% of lost deals: [and how I handle it]
Pricing logic: [why this number, what anchors it] ## What I Know That General Research Won't Surface
- [Insider fact 1, something you learned from being in this market]
- [Insider fact 2]
- [Insider fact 3]
- [Competitive intelligence that matters] ## My Operating Constraints
Cash position / runway: [honest range]
Team capacity: [what can realistically get done in a week]
What I'm not willing to do: [strategic non-starters] ## Decisions Already Made (Don't Re-Open)
- [Decision 1 with brief reasoning]
- [Decision 2] ## Open Questions I'm Working Through
- [Question 1]
- [Question 2]

Once your knowledge file is filled: 1. Save it as `knowledge.md` in any project directory, or add it to your CLAUDE.md. 2. When asking Claude for advice, reference it explicitly:
"Using my knowledge file context, help me [task]." 3. When Claude gives generic advice, push back:
"That's generic. Given what you know about my specific buyer and constraints in the knowledge file, what's actually the right move?" 4. Update it quarterly. Markets change. Your constraints change. Stale context is worse than no context. 5. Never share the file with Claude through a public prompt. Keep it in a local file that Claude reads from your system, not pasted into a chat that could be logged.