Prompts founders can paste and use today.

Act as a skeptical investor who has seen this idea fail before. My idea: [IDEA IN TWO SENTENCES]. My customer: [WHO]. Give me the five most likely reasons it fails, ranked by how likely each is. For each, tell me what evidence would prove you wrong and the cheapest way to get it this week. Do not flatter me.

I am interviewing [TYPE OF CUSTOMER] about [PROBLEM]. Write 10 interview questions about what they did in the last 30 days, not what they would do in future. No leading questions. Add 3 follow-ups that dig into cost, time and workarounds. Tell me which answers would mean the problem is not painful enough.

Here are notes from [NUMBER] customer interviews: [PASTE NOTES]. Group what you find into themes. For each theme give the number of people who raised it and two quotes in their own words. Separate what people said from what you are guessing. End with the one thing that surprised you.

Estimate the market for [PRODUCT] bottom-up. Count [NUMBER OF POSSIBLE CUSTOMERS] times [PRICE PER YEAR]. List every assumption, mark each as solid, shaky or a guess, and show how the answer changes if the shakiest one is wrong by half. Do not use top-down figures such as 1% of a huge market.

List how [TARGET CUSTOMER] solves [PROBLEM] today, including spreadsheets, hiring someone, and doing nothing. For each option give what they like, what they hate, and what it costs them. Then tell me where [MY PRODUCT] is clearly better and where it is not. Mark anything you are not sure about.

Here is my pitch: [PASTE PITCH]. Read it as a partner at a seed fund with ten minutes. Mark the first sentence where you would stop believing me. List the five questions you would ask that I have not answered. Rewrite the opening 100 words so the problem and the proof come first.

Play an investor in a first meeting for my company: [ONE-LINE DESCRIPTION], [STAGE], raising [AMOUNT]. Ask me one hard question at a time and wait for my answer. After each answer, score it out of 10, say what was weak, and then ask a tougher follow-up. Start with the question I am least ready for.

Write a monthly investor update from these notes: [PASTE NUMBERS AND EVENTS]. Use this order: headline in one line, key numbers versus last month, what worked, what did not, biggest risk, and the specific help I need. Keep it under 250 words. Do not hide bad news.

Write a cold email to [INVESTOR NAME] at [FUND]. Under 120 words. Open with why this investor and not another, based on [THEIR PAST INVESTMENT OR POST]. Then one line on what we do, one proof point ([TRACTION]), and one clear ask. No flattery, no buzzwords. Give me two subject lines.

Here is my 12-month plan: [PASTE REVENUE, COSTS, HIRING]. List the five assumptions that matter most. For each, show what happens to runway if it is 30% worse. Tell me which month I would run out of cash in the bad case and what I should decide today to avoid it.

I need to hire a [ROLE] at a [STAGE] company. Write a scorecard with: the mission of the role in one sentence, three outcomes they must deliver in the first 90 days, five skills that actually matter, and three things that sound important but are not. Keep it under one page.

Write a job post for [ROLE] using this scorecard: [PASTE]. Be plain and specific. Include what the first 90 days look like, what we pay ([RANGE]), how we work, and one honest downside of working here. No clichés such as rockstar or fast-paced. Under 300 words.

Using this scorecard for [ROLE]: [PASTE]. Write 8 interview questions about real past situations, one or two per outcome. For each add what a strong answer sounds like, what a weak answer sounds like, and one follow-up to test depth.

I interviewed [NUMBER] candidates for [ROLE]. Here are my notes: [PASTE]. Score each from 1 to 5 against each scorecard item, citing the note that supports the score. Mark where I have no evidence. Tell me which questions I should ask in a second round, and flag any place where I may be biased toward people like me.

Write a 30-60-90 day plan for a new [ROLE] joining a team of [SIZE]. Use these goals: [GOALS]. For each period give 3 outcomes, who they should meet, what to learn, and how I will know it is going well. Keep it to one page and avoid vague goals such as get up to speed.

Here is how I describe my company today: [PASTE]. Our best customers are [WHO] and they choose us because [REASON]. Write three one-sentence positioning statements in the form we help [WHO] do [WHAT] so that [RESULT]. Then tell me which words are vague and what a skeptical buyer would ask next.

Write 10 homepage headlines with a one-line subhead for [PRODUCT]. Our customer is [WHO] and the main pain is [PAIN]. Use different angles: outcome, pain, speed, cost, proof. Avoid hype words. Tell me which two you would test first and why.

Write a 4-message outreach sequence to [TARGET ROLE] at [TYPE OF COMPANY]. We help them [OUTCOME]. Each message under 90 words, each with a different angle (problem, proof, question, goodbye). No fake familiarity. Add the one personal detail I should look up before sending each one.

Turn this customer story into a one-page case study: [PASTE NOTES]. Use: situation, what they tried before, what we did, the result in numbers, a direct quote. Flag every number or claim I need the customer to confirm. Do not invent anything.

I want to test whether [CHANNEL] can bring customers for [PRODUCT]. Design a 30-day experiment: one audience, 8 pieces of content, one call to action, and the number that would tell me to continue or stop. Keep the time cost under [HOURS] hours a week.

I do this task often: [TASK]. Here is how I do it, in rough notes: [PASTE]. Turn it into a numbered checklist for someone new. Add what to check at each step, the mistakes people usually make, and what to do when something looks wrong. Ask me about any step that is unclear before you write it.

Here is a list of what I did this week: [PASTE TASKS WITH ROUGH HOURS]. Score each on four questions: does it repeat, does it follow clear rules, is it low risk if it goes wrong, and does it not need me. Rank the top three to hand off, and for each say what the hand-off would need.

My goals this quarter are: [GOALS]. My commitments this week are: [PASTE CALENDAR AND TO-DO]. Tell me what to cut, what to delegate, and what to do first. Give me a plan with three priorities, each tied to a goal. Challenge anything that looks busy but does not matter.

Here is a meeting transcript or notes: [PASTE]. List the decisions made, the actions with an owner and a due date, and the open questions. If an action has no owner or date, mark it NEEDS OWNER or NEEDS DATE. Keep it under 150 words.

Here are my numbers for this week and last week: [PASTE]. Summarise in five lines: what grew, what dropped, the biggest change, one possible cause to check, and one decision I should make. Do not explain causes you cannot see in the data.

Write a one-page spec for [FEATURE]. Include the problem in the customer’s words, who it is for, the smallest version that solves it, what is not included, how we will know it worked, and open questions. Ask me what is missing before you write it.

Break this feature into tasks that each take one to three days: [FEATURE AND CONTEXT]. Order them so something usable ships first. For each task add the risk, what it depends on, and how to test it. Flag any task that is really three tasks.

Here is a customer bug report: [PASTE]. Explain it back in plain words: what the customer tried, what they expected, what happened. List what I still need to know and the three most likely causes. Draft a short reply that tells the customer we are on it without promising a date.

Here is my backlog and what I know about each item: [PASTE]. Score each on customer pain, number of customers affected, effort, and strategic fit, using only the evidence given. Show the table, then recommend the top three and tell me which item looks important but has the weakest evidence.

I need a tool for [JOB]. Options: [LIST]. My budget is [AMOUNT] and my team is [SIZE AND SKILL]. Compare them on cost over 12 months, setup time, lock-in, and what happens if we outgrow it. Recommend one, say what would change your mind, and mark anything you are not sure is current.