Expert prompts for founders at every stage — fundraising, go-to-market, customer acquisition, team building, and scaling from idea to Series A.
Seed round pitch narrative
Help me build a compelling narrative for my seed round pitch deck. Company: [company name] Problem: [problem you solve] Solution: [your product/service] Traction: [key metrics — users, revenue, growth rate] Team: [2-3 sentences on why this team] Ask: [$amount] to achieve [milestones] Create a narrative arc that flows across 10 slides. For each slide, give me: the one thing it must communicate, the key supporting point, and what a skeptical investor would challenge.
Cold investor outreach email
Write a cold outreach email to a VC investor at [firm name] who has backed [relevant portfolio company]. Context: - My startup: [description in one sentence] - Why them: [specific reason this investor is relevant] - Traction hook: [most impressive metric or milestone] - Ask: 20-minute intro call Keep it under 150 words. Lead with the traction hook. End with a clear, easy CTA. No buzzwords, no "disrupting", no "revolutionary".
Pre-empt investor due diligence questions
I'm preparing for a Series A investor due diligence call. My startup is in [industry], with [ARR], [growth rate], and [team size]. Generate the 15 hardest questions a rigorous Series A investor would ask across: - Unit economics (CAC, LTV, payback period, gross margin) - Market size and competitive dynamics - Product and technical risks - Team gaps and key person dependency - Scalability of the go-to-market motion For each question, help me draft a strong, honest answer that acknowledges limitations while showing clear-eyed awareness.
Monthly investor update template
Write a monthly investor update email template for a [stage] startup that covers: - KPIs this month (with MoM change): Revenue/MRR, Customer Count, Burn Rate, Runway - Top 3 wins this month (specific and concrete) - Top 2 challenges (honest — investors respect transparency) - What we need from investors (specific ask or introduction) - Focus for next month Keep it to 350 words maximum. Tone: confident but honest. Use headers for easy scanning. This should take the founder 20 minutes to fill in each month.
ICP definition and channel strategy
Help me define my ideal customer profile (ICP) and match it to acquisition channels. Product: [brief description] Current customers (if any): [describe your best customers] Problem solved: [core problem] For each ICP candidate I describe, tell me: 1. Whether this is a strong ICP (decision-making power, budget, pain severity) 2. Which 2–3 acquisition channels match where this ICP hangs out 3. What the hook/angle should be for this segment 4. Red flags that this might not be the right primary ICP yet
Pricing model and packaging strategy
Help me design a pricing strategy for [product/service]. Current situation: [free, freemium, or paid? any existing price points?] Target customers: [SMB / mid-market / enterprise] Core value delivered: [what outcome does your product create?] Competitors' pricing: [if known] Recommend: 1. Pricing model (flat rate / per seat / usage-based / tiered / hybrid) with rationale 2. 2-3 pricing tiers with names and what's included at each 3. The one metric to price on that best correlates with value 4. How to test and validate these price points before committing
Product launch campaign plan
Create a 6-week product launch plan for [product] targeting [audience]. Include for each week: - Primary objective - Key activities (content, outreach, paid, events) - Expected outcomes / success metrics - Owner (founder, marketing, sales) Also include: - Pre-launch: waitlist or beta strategy - Launch day: announcement sequence (social, email, PR, community) - Post-launch: early user feedback loop and iteration plan Prioritise activities by impact-to-effort ratio.
Positioning statement and messaging hierarchy
Write a positioning statement and messaging hierarchy for [product] targeting [audience]. Category: [what category does your product belong to?] Target customer: [specific ICP] Key differentiator: [what do you do that no close competitor does as well?] Proof point: [one specific evidence point — metric, customer, case study] Deliverables: 1. One-sentence positioning statement (for Geoffrey Moore's template: "For [customer] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [benefit], unlike [alternative] which [limitation]") 2. Three-level messaging: headline (8 words), subheadline (20 words), expanded (50 words) 3. The 3 objections this positioning might face and how to counter each
Multi-channel acquisition strategy
Design a customer acquisition strategy for [startup] with a budget of [$X/month]. Business model: [SaaS / marketplace / consumer / B2B] ICP: [describe ideal customer] Stage: [pre-PMF / post-PMF / scaling] For each of the following channels, assess: likelihood of success for this business, expected CAC range, time to first results, and effort to set up: Content/SEO, Paid Social, Paid Search, Outbound Sales, Partnerships, Community, Virality/Referral. Then recommend a phased plan: what to do in months 1–3, 4–6, and 7–12, based on prioritising one channel deeply before expanding.
Churn analysis and retention strategy
Help me build a retention strategy for [product]. Current situation: [monthly churn rate, typical customer tenure, main reasons customers leave if known] Product type: [SaaS / subscription / marketplace] Provide: 1. A framework for segmenting churned customers to find patterns 2. The 3 most common root causes of churn for this business type and how to diagnose which applies to me 3. An early warning system — which in-product behaviours predict churn 30 days before it happens? 4. Intervention playbook: what to do for at-risk customers at 30/60/90 day marks 5. One structural change that would most reduce churn long-term
Referral programme design
Design a customer referral programme for [product] that drives [X% of new customers] within 3 months. Current customer base: [size and engagement level] Average deal value: [$ amount] Product type: [B2B / B2C] Include: - Reward structure for referrer and referee (and why this combination works) - The trigger moment — when to ask for a referral in the customer journey - The ask copy (email + in-app message) - How to make sharing frictionless - How to track and attribute referrals - One viral mechanic that could make this self-propagating
Product-led growth motion design
Help me design a product-led growth (PLG) motion for [product]. Current model: [sales-led / marketing-led / no current motion] Product type: [collaboration tool / analytics / dev tool / other] Potential free tier value: [what would make a free tier genuinely valuable?] Design: 1. Free tier scope — what to include and crucially what to gate 2. The natural expansion trigger (what makes users want to upgrade?) 3. Viral/collaboration loop — how does using the product expose it to others? 4. The "aha moment" — what must a new user experience in session 1? 5. Onboarding sequence to get users to the aha moment in <10 minutes
First hires prioritisation framework
Help me decide who to hire first as a [stage: pre-seed / seed / Series A] startup. Current team: [founders and their skills] Immediate bottleneck: [what is slowing growth most right now?] 6-month goal: [what milestone are you working toward?] For each potential first hire (engineer, designer, salesperson, marketer, ops): 1. How much would this hire unlock growth given your specific bottleneck? 2. What evidence do you need before this hire is justified? 3. What's the risk of hiring this person too early? 4. Could this be covered by a contractor or part-time hire first? Recommend my top 1-2 hires in priority order with rationale.
Company values and culture document
Help me write a company values document for [startup name]. Context: [what does your company do, what stage are you at, what's your mission?] Team size: [current headcount] The problem we want values to solve: [e.g., decision-making without founders in the room, hiring filter, handling disagreements] For each value you recommend: - Name (memorable, not generic) - What it means in practice (2-3 specific examples of the value in action) - What it explicitly does NOT mean (to prevent misinterpretation) - How you would test for this in a hiring interview Aim for 4-5 values max. Avoid "integrity", "excellence", and "customer-first" unless you can make them genuinely specific to your culture.
Quarterly OKR framework
Help me set OKRs for [startup name] for Q[X] [year]. Stage: [pre-seed / seed / Series A] Previous quarter's results: [key outcomes] Company priority this quarter: [the one thing that matters most] For each of these 3 focus areas — [Area 1, Area 2, Area 3] — write: - One Objective (inspiring, qualitative, time-bound to the quarter) - 3 Key Results (measurable, specific, binary or quantifiable) - The one metric that, if achieved, would prove the objective was met Then: identify the top 3 dependencies or risks that could prevent us from hitting these OKRs.
Performance review framework for early-stage teams
Design a lightweight performance review process for a startup with [X] employees at [stage]. Constraints: founders have limited time, process must take <2 hours per employee per quarter, must be honest about performance without bureaucracy. Include: - The 3-4 dimensions to evaluate (relevant for a startup context) - A simple rating rubric that avoids grade inflation - Questions to guide the review conversation - How to handle the "this person is great but in the wrong role" scenario - How to document decisions about raises or equity refreshes - What NOT to include (to keep it lightweight)
Customer discovery interview script
Write a customer discovery interview script for [startup] targeting [customer type]. We are testing these assumptions: 1. [Assumption 1 — e.g., "This customer type loses >3 hours/week on this problem"] 2. [Assumption 2 — e.g., "They would pay $X/month to solve it"] 3. [Assumption 3 — e.g., "They currently use [workaround] and are unhappy with it"] The script should: - Open with rapport-building (not selling) - Use open questions that expose truth rather than validate our assumptions - Include follow-up probes for the richest answers - End with a test of willingness to pay (without pitching) - Take 30-40 minutes total Include 5 things NOT to say during a customer discovery interview.
Deep competitive landscape analysis
Conduct a competitive analysis for [startup] in the [market] space. Competitors to analyse: [list 4-6 direct and indirect competitors] For each competitor, cover: - Positioning and target customer - Pricing model and price points (if known) - Key strengths (what they do genuinely well) - Key weaknesses or gaps - Recent moves (funding, product launches, partnerships) Then synthesise: - The positioning white space none of them own - The segment that is most underserved - The most defensible differentiator available to us - The competitor most likely to move against us first and how
Bottom-up and top-down market sizing
Help me size the market for [product/service] credibly for an investor deck. Product description: [what it does, who buys it, at what price] Geography: [target market — US, EU, global] Provide both approaches: Top-down: total market (cite source) → apply segment filters → realistic addressable market Bottom-up: number of qualifying companies/consumers × penetration assumption × price point = SAM For each approach: - Walk through the calculation step by step - Identify the assumptions that have the most impact on the result - Suggest where to find data to validate each assumption - Give me a range (conservative to optimistic) rather than a single number
Product-market fit measurement framework
Help me design a framework to measure product-market fit for [product]. Stage: [beta / early customers / post-launch] Current user base: [size and how they were acquired] Include: 1. The Sean Ellis / Superhuman PMF survey (40% "very disappointed" benchmark) — adapted for my product 2. Retention metrics that indicate strong PMF for this business model 3. NPS interpretation: what score range indicates strong enough PMF to scale? 4. Qualitative signals — what would customers say that would prove PMF? 5. The single most honest test of whether we have PMF yet: [proposed question or metric] Also: what would have to be true for us to be scaling prematurely?
12-month product and growth roadmap
Create a 12-month roadmap for [startup] that balances product development and customer growth. Current state: [ARR/users, stage, key strengths] Goal in 12 months: [target state — ARR, customers, team size] Key constraints: [budget, team size, technical debt, other] For each quarter, define: - Primary theme (one-sentence focus) - Top 2 product milestones - Top 2 growth/commercial milestones - Key hire or resource decision - Success metric for the quarter - Dependencies or risks Then: identify the 3 assumptions this roadmap depends on being true.
Geographic or segment expansion strategy
We're considering expanding [into a new geography / to a new customer segment]. Current market: [describe]. Proposed expansion: [describe]. Analyse: 1. Market attractiveness: size, growth rate, competitive intensity, regulatory complexity 2. Expansion readiness: do we have PMF strong enough to justify expansion? 3. Localisation requirements: what needs to change (product, pricing, team, partnerships)? 4. Entry strategy: direct, partnership, or acquisition? 5. Resource requirements and expected timeline to profitability in the new market 6. The biggest risk in this expansion and how to mitigate it Recommend: go / no-go / wait 6 months, with the one piece of evidence that would change your recommendation.
Annual strategy and planning session facilitation
Help me design an annual planning session for a [stage] startup with [team size] people. Duration: [half-day / full day] Goal: align the team on priorities for next year and set OKRs Design an agenda that covers: - Retrospective: what worked, what didn't, what surprised us this year - Market review: how has the competitive landscape changed? - Strategic choices: what are we committing to and what are we saying no to? - OKR setting for the year and Q1 - Team and resource planning - Communication: how we'll share the plan with the full team Include facilitation questions and exercises for each section. Identify the most important decision the team must make during the session.
Acquisition or partnership evaluation
Help me evaluate whether to [acquire / partner with] [company/opportunity]. Context: [brief description of the target company and what they do] Our rationale: [why are we considering this?] Alternative: [what happens if we don't do this deal?] Evaluate across: 1. Strategic fit: does this accelerate our core strategy or distract from it? 2. Financial terms: what's a reasonable valuation range and why? 3. Integration complexity: what would it actually take to integrate people, product, and customers? 4. Risk profile: what are the top 5 risks, and which is deal-breaking? 5. Timing: why now? What changes if we wait 6-12 months? Recommendation: pursue / pass / negotiate harder on [specific term], with the one question we must answer before deciding.