Startup Validation Pack: 25 Prompts to Stress-Test Your Business Idea

Role
Act as a skeptical Venture Capitalist and Product Strategist with 20+ years of experience analyzing early-stage startups. You have seen thousands of companies fail and understand the subtle patterns that lead to failure?including hidden unit economic flaws, false market signals, and operational bottlenecks.
Task
Perform a “Pre-Mortem” analysis on my startup idea. Instead of validating why it will succeed, I want you to assume that 2 years from now, this startup has FAILED completely. Your task is to work backward to identify the specific “Fatal Flaws” that caused this failure.
Context
I am building a startup in the [INPUT: Industry/Sector, e.g., EdTech] space.
My core idea is: [INPUT: Short description of idea, e.g., A platform that connects retired teachers with students for on-demand tutoring via video chat].
My target audience is: [INPUT: Target Audience, e.g., High school students preparing for SATs].
My proposed monetization model is: [INPUT: Revenue Model, e.g., Subscription of $20/month].
Output Instructions
Analyze the idea and provide a report covering these 5 critical failure categories. Be brutally honest, direct, and critical. Do not sugarcoat.

Market False Positives: Why might the “demand” I think exists actually be a mirage? (e.g., nice-to-have vs. need-to-have).
Unit Economics Collapse: Analyze the math. Where will the Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) likely exceed Lifetime Value (LTV)? What hidden costs am I ignoring?
Distribution Bottlenecks: Assume nobody signs up. What is the specific friction point in my go-to-market strategy that blocked growth?
The “Why Now” Trap: Why might this be the wrong timing? (Too early? Too late? Technology not ready?)
Operational fragility: What is the single hardest operational piece to scale that will break when volume increases?

Formatting

Use bullet points for clarity.
For each point, provide a “Mitigation Tactic” (a specific 1-sentence strategic fix).
End with a “Risk Score” (0-10) where 10 is “Extremely Risky/High Probability of Failure.”

Role
Act as a Senior Product Marketing Manager and certified Strategyzer consultant. You specialize in helping startups achieve “Product-Market Fit” by aligning their product features directly with customer psychological needs. You are an expert in the “Value Proposition Canvas” framework.

Task
Create a detailed “Value Proposition Canvas” for my startup idea. You must map out two distinct sides: the Customer Profile (their world) and the Value Map (my solution), and then explicitly draw the connection between them.
Context

My Product/Idea: [INPUT: Product Name & Description, e.g., “MealPrepAI” – an app that auto-generates grocery lists based on macros]
Target Customer: [INPUT: Specific Customer Segment, e.g., Busy corporate professionals who lift weights]

Output Instructions
Please structure your response into these 3 distinct sections. Be specific, not generic.
Part 1: The Customer Profile (The “Why”)
Customer Jobs: What functional, social, and emotional tasks is the customer trying to get done? (e.g., “Look good in a suit,” “Save 2 hours on Sunday”).
Pains: What annoys them, slows them down, or risks a negative outcome before, during, or after the job? (e.g., “Buying ingredients I never use,” “Eating boring chicken and rice”).
Gains: What outcomes do they desire or would surprise them positively? (e.g., “Hitting protein goals without tracking,” “Feeling high energy at 2 PM”).
Part 2: The Value Map (The “How”)
Products & Services: What exactly are we selling? (e.g., “Mobile App,” “Weekly PDF plan”).
Pain Relievers: How specifically does the product eliminate the pains listed above? (e.g., “One-click Instacart integration eliminates shopping time”).
Gain Creators: How does the product create the gains they desire? (e.g., “Chef-created recipes ensuring variety”).
Part 3: The Fit Analysis
The “Golden Thread”: Write one powerful sentence that links the biggest Pain directly to your best Pain Reliever.

Gap Warning: Identify one “Customer Job” or “Pain” that your current product description fails to address.
Formatting
Use a clean, structured table for Parts 1 and 2. Use bold text for key terms.

Role
Act as a brutally honest potential customer for my product. You are NOT my friend, and you do not care about my feelings. You are busy, skeptical, and only care about solving your own painful problems. You are unaware of my specific solution unless I mention it, and even then, you remain skeptical.
Task
Roleplay a customer discovery interview with me. I will ask you questions to validate my startup idea. Your goal is to:

Answer based on the [INPUT: Persona Description] profile.
If I ask biased questions (e.g., “Would you use this app?”), give vague, polite, but non-committal answers (e.g., “Maybe, it looks cool”).
If I ask specific, past-behavior questions (e.g., “When was the last time you struggled with X?”), give detailed, honest answers about your real habits, workarounds, and frustrations.
Reveal that you will NOT pay for a solution unless I uncover a truly urgent, expensive pain point.

Context
My Startup Idea: [INPUT: Short Idea Description]
Your Persona: [INPUT: Detailed Customer Persona, e.g., “A 35-year-old freelance graphic designer who hates accounting but is terrified of tax audits. Uses Excel sheets messily.”]
Rules for the Simulation
Do NOT break character.
Keep your answers concise (1-3 sentences), like a real conversation.
Wait for my response before speaking again.
If I fail to find a real pain point after 5 exchanges, end the interview by saying, “Look, I have to run, this doesn’t sound like something I need right now.”
Start
Acknowledge you understand the persona and wait for my first question.

Role
Act as a Lean Startup Coach and Product Strategy Expert. You specialize in the “Problem-Solution Fit” framework, helping founders distinguish between “nice-to-have” ideas (Vitamins) and “must-have” urgencies (Painkillers).
Task
Analyze the specific problem my startup aims to solve. Your goal is to score the “Pain Intensity” and “Market Urgency” of this problem to determine if it is worth solving.
Context
The Problem: [INPUT: Describe the problem you are solving, e.g., “Freelancers struggle to track unpaid invoices.”]
The Solution: [INPUT: Describe your solution, e.g., “An automated SMS bot that nags clients to pay.”]
Target User: [INPUT: Target User, e.g., “Freelance graphic designers.”]
Output Instructions
Evaluate the fit using these 4 criteria. Be critical and objective.

Pain Frequency: How often does this problem occur? (Daily, Weekly, or Once a year?)
Pain Intensity: On a scale of 1-10, how painful is it when it happens? (Is it a minor annoyance or a business-stopper?)
Current Workarounds: What are users currently doing to solve this? (e.g., Spreadsheets, hiring an assistant, or nothing?) Note: If they are doing “nothing,” the pain might not be real.
Willingness to Pay: Based on the intensity and workarounds, estimate the likelihood of this user paying for a solution.

The Verdict
Classify this idea as either:
A Vitamin: (Nice to have, hard to sell)
A Painkiller: (Urgent, easier to sell)
A Mosquito Bite: (Annoying but ignored)
Recommendations
If it’s a “Vitamin” or “Mosquito Bite,” suggest 2 specific ways to pivot the problem definition to make it a “Painkiller.”

Role
Act as a Business Model Innovation Consultant. You are an expert in lateral thinking and the “Pivot Pyramid” framework. Your goal is not to change the product, but to radically change how it makes money and who it serves to find a more profitable angle.
Task
Take my current core idea and generate 5 distinct business model pivots. For each pivot, you must completely change one key variable (Revenue Model, Customer Segment, or Delivery Channel) while keeping the core technology/value proposition the same.
Context
Core Idea/Product: [INPUT: Core Idea, e.g., “A drone delivery service for coffee shops.”]
Current Model: [INPUT: Current Model, e.g., “B2C delivery fee paid by customer per coffee.”]
Output Instructions
Generate 5 Pivots using these specific archetypes:

The “Whale Hunter” Pivot (B2C ? B2B Enterprise): How could this be sold to one giant corporate client instead of thousands of individuals?
The “SaaS-ification” Pivot (Transaction ? Subscription): How could this be turned into a recurring monthly revenue stream?
The “Platform” Pivot (Service ? Marketplace): Instead of doing the service, how do we build the network for others to do it?
The “Razor & Blade” Pivot: What cheap hardware/software can we give away to lock customers into a high-margin consumable?
The “Data Play” Pivot: How could the data generated by this business be more valuable than the service itself?

Formatting
For each pivot, provide:
New One-Liner: A snappy pitch for this new model.
Pros: Why this might scale faster.
Cons: The biggest risk of this specific model.

Role
Act as a Market Research Analyst and Venture Capital Associate. You specialize in “Bottom-Up” market sizing, which investors prefer over vague “Top-Down” estimates. You rely on Fermi estimation logic to build credible numbers from basic assumptions.
Task
Estimate the Total Addressable Market (TAM), Serviceable Available Market (SAM), and Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM) for my startup. Do NOT just search for a generic “Global Market Size” number. Instead, calculate it using specific variables (number of users ? price).
Context
My Product: [INPUT: Product, e.g., “A subscription box for gluten-free dog treats”]
Target Geography: [INPUT: Region, e.g., “United States”]
Target Customer: [INPUT: Customer, e.g., “Dog owners who buy premium pet food”]
Pricing Model: [INPUT: Price, e.g., “$30/month subscription”]
Output Instructions

Definitions: Briefly define TAM, SAM, and SOM in the context of this specific business.
The Logic Chain (Bottom-Up Math):

Step 1: Estimate total number of [Target Customers] in [Geography]. (Show your logic/sources).
Step 2: Filter for those likely to have the specific problem (SAM).
Step 3: Estimate a realistic Year 1-3 capture rate (SOM).

The Calculation Table:

TAM ($): (Total Potential Customers ? Annual Price)
SAM ($): (Segmented Customers ? Annual Price)
SOM ($): (Capture Rate ? SAM)

Sanity Check: Compare this bottom-up number to a known top-down industry statistic (I will search for this if needed) to see if it’s realistic.

Formatting
Use a table for the final numbers. Show all math formulas explicitly (e.g., 50M users ? $30 ? 12 months = $18B).

Role
Act as a Macro-Economic Strategist and Futurist. You specialize in the PESTLE analysis framework (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, Environmental). Your goal is to identify “Headwinds” (trends that will hurt the business) and “Tailwinds” (trends that will help it grow) over the next 3-5 years.
Task
Conduct a rigorous PESTLE analysis for my startup concept. Look beyond the obvious and identify non-obvious macro shifts that could make or break this business.
Context
Startup Concept: [INPUT: Concept, e.g., “A marketplace for renting high-end baby strollers and gear to travelers.”]
Target Market: [INPUT: Market, e.g., “Western Europe and North America.”]
Output Instructions
Analyze the 6 PESTLE factors. For each, identify 1 major OPPORTUNITY (Tailwind) and 1 major THREAT (Headwind).

Political: (e.g., Trade tariffs, government grants for sustainability).
Economic: (e.g., Inflation impact on luxury spending, disposable income trends).
Social: (e.g., Demographic shifts, “Access over Ownership” mindset).
Technological: (e.g., New mobile platforms, AI automation in logistics).
Legal: (e.g., Liability laws for rented gear, hygiene regulations).
Environmental: (e.g., Carbon footprint reduction, circular economy trends).

Strategic Summary
The “Wave” to Catch: What is the single biggest trend making this the perfect time to launch?
The “Tsunami” to Dodge: What is the biggest looming threat that could wipe us out in 5 years?
Formatting
Use a structured list. Be specific to the [Target Market] provided.

Role
Act as a Strategic Innovation Consultant expert in the “Blue Ocean Strategy” methodology. Your goal is to help me identify uncontested market space where the competition is irrelevant, rather than fighting for market share in a crowded “Red Ocean.”
Task
Analyze my industry and create a “Four Actions Framework” (ERRC Grid) to propose a new, differentiated value curve for my startup.
Context
Industry: [INPUT: Industry, e.g., “Budget Airlines”]
Target Customer: [INPUT: Customer, e.g., “Millennial travelers who hate hidden fees”]
Current Competitors: [INPUT: Major Competitors, e.g., “Ryanair, EasyJet, Wizz Air”]
Output Instructions
Apply the 4 Blue Ocean actions to the current industry standards:

ELIMINATE: What factors does the industry take for granted that should be completely removed? (e.g., in airlines: free meals, seat selection).
REDUCE: What factors should be reduced well below the industry standard? (e.g., legroom, check-in staff).
RAISE: What factors should be raised well above the industry standard? (e.g., punctuality, friendly service).
CREATE: What factors should be created that the industry has never offered? (e.g., subscription-based unlimited flights).

The New Value Curve
Summarize the new “Blue Ocean” product concept that emerges from these changes. How is it fundamentally different from the [Current Competitors]?
Formatting
Present the ERRC analysis in a clear list.
End with a 1-sentence “Blue Ocean Strategy Statement” (e.g., “The only [Product Category] that [Key Benefit] by [Action].”).

Role
Act as a Senior Legal Compliance Officer and Risk Analyst with expertise in international business law for startups. Your goal is to identify potential “Regulatory Landmines”?laws, compliance standards, or liability risks that could shut down a new business if ignored.
Task
Conduct a preliminary legal risk assessment for my startup concept. You are NOT giving legal advice, but rather flagging areas where I need to seek professional legal counsel.
Context
Startup Concept: [INPUT: Concept, e.g., “A telemedicine app using AI to diagnose skin rashes”]
Target Jurisdiction: [INPUT: Country/Region, e.g., “USA and European Union”]
Data Handling: [INPUT: Data Type, e.g., “We collect photos of patients and medical history”]
Output Instructions
Produce a “Risk Radar Report” covering these 4 categories. For each risk, assign a “Severity Score” (Low/Medium/High).

Industry-Specific Regulations: What specific bodies govern this space? (e.g., FDA, SEC, FAA). Are there licenses required before launch?
Data Privacy & Security: Based on the data we collect, what major privacy laws apply? (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA). What is the single biggest data liability?
Intellectual Property (IP) Risks: Are there patent thickets or copyright issues common in this specific niche? (e.g., AI-generated content copyright).
Consumer Protection & Liability: If the product fails or gives bad advice (especially for AI), can we be sued? What disclaimers are mandatory?

The “Red Flag” Summary
List the top 3 “Dealbreaker Risks” that I must solve before writing a single line of code.
Formatting
Use a structured table with columns: [Risk Category] | [Specific Threat] | [Severity Score] | [First Step to Mitigate].

Role
Act as an expert SEO Strategist specializing in early-stage startups. Your goal is to identify high-intent keywords that reveal what a target audience actually searches for online when they experience a problem. You focus on uncovering “problem-aware” and “solution-aware” keywords, not just generic terms.
Task
Generate a keyword research report for my startup idea. You must identify different types of keywords that map to various stages of the customer’s buying journey.
Context
Startup Idea: [INPUT: Idea, e.g., “An AI-powered tool that summarizes legal documents for non-lawyers.”]
Target Audience: [INPUT: Audience, e.g., “Small business owners without a legal team.”]
Core Problem it Solves: [INPUT: Problem, e.g., “Legal contracts are long, confusing, and expensive to review.”]
Output Instructions
Produce a “Search Demand Report” with these 4 sections:

Problem-Aware Keywords (Top of Funnel): What do people search for when they feel the pain but don’t know a solution exists? Think questions and frustrations.
Solution-Aware Keywords (Middle of Funnel): What do they search for when they are looking for a type of solution, but not a specific brand? Think comparisons and “best X for Y” queries.
Long-Tail “Money” Keywords (Bottom of Funnel): What highly specific phrases do they use right before they are ready to buy? These should have clear transactional intent.
Content Strategy Angle: Based on the keywords, suggest ONE topic for a blog post or guide that would attract high-intent users to our site (e.g., “How to Read a 50-Page Vendor Contract Without a Lawyer”).

Formatting
Present each keyword category as a distinct list. For each category, provide 5-7 keyword examples.

Role
Act as an Empathetic UX Researcher and Creative Storyteller. You specialize in “User Journey Mapping” and creating rich, narrative-driven personas that help product teams develop deep empathy for their users. You focus on sensory details, internal monologues, and emotional friction, not just functional tasks.
Task
Write a vivid, first-person “Day in the Life” diary entry from the perspective of my target customer. This narrative should highlight their specific struggles before they have my solution, showing the “Moment of Frustration” where my product would save the day.
Context
Target User: [INPUT: Specific User Persona, e.g., “A freelance social media manager juggling 5 clients.”]
The Core Problem: [INPUT: The Pain Point, e.g., “Manually resizing images for different platforms takes hours.”]
The Desired Outcome: [INPUT: The Goal, e.g., “Leaving work by 5 PM to spend time with kids.”]
Output Instructions
Write a 300-500 word narrative titled “Tuesday Morning Chaos.”

Morning Routine: Briefly set the scene. What is their state of mind waking up? (Stressed? Excited? Dread?)
The Trigger Event: Describe the specific moment the [Core Problem] hits them. What does it feel like? What is their internal monologue? (e.g., “Not this again…”)
The Hacky Workaround: Describe the annoying, inefficient way they currently solve it. (e.g., “Opening Photoshop, crashing, reopening…”).
The Emotional Toll: How does this impact their mood or schedule for the rest of the day? (e.g., skipping lunch, feeling like an amateur).

Formatting
Use a casual, diary-style tone. Use bold text for Emotional Keywords (e.g., overwhelmed, drained).

Role
Act as a Behavioral Psychologist and Neuromarketer. You specialize in “Psychographic Profiling”?going beyond basic demographics (age/location) to understand the hidden beliefs, values, fears, and secret desires that drive human decision-making. You understand that people buy products to solve emotional problems, not just functional ones.
Task
Create a deep psychological profile of my target customer. I want to understand what keeps them up at night, what they secretly envy, and what they aspire to be, specifically in relation to the problem my startup solves.
Context
Target Persona: [INPUT: Basic Persona, e.g., “Junior Software Developer looking for their first senior role.”]
The Problem Space: [INPUT: Problem Area, e.g., “Learning complex system architecture designs.”]
Output Instructions
Analyze the persona and provide these 4 psychological layers. Be specific, raw, and unfiltered.

The “3 AM” Fear: What is the specific, visceral anxiety that keeps them awake? (e.g., “I’m an imposter and I’ll be stuck as a junior forever while my friends get promoted.”)
The Secret Desire: What do they want but might be too embarrassed to admit? (e.g., “I don’t just want to learn architecture; I want to be the person everyone listens to in meetings.”)
The “Enemy” Narrative: Who or what do they blame for their current struggle? (e.g., “Gatekeeping senior engineers,” “Bad documentation,” “My lack of time”).
The Identity Shift: Complete this sentence: “Buying this product allows them to shift from being a [Current Negative Self-Image] to becoming a [Desired Positive Self-Image].”

Formatting
Use a table format for clarity.
Constraint: Do not use generic marketing fluff like “wants efficiency.” Use emotive language like “craves recognition.”

Role
Act as a Senior Sales Enablement Coach who specializes in high-ticket B2B sales and overcoming psychological resistance. Your goal is to “Red Team” my sales pitch by identifying the most likely reasons a prospect will say “No,” and then providing specific, empathy-driven rebuttal scripts to keep the conversation alive.
Task
Predict the top 5 distinct objections a prospect will raise against my startup’s offering. For each objection, provide a “reframe” script that acknowledges their concern without being defensive, and pivots the conversation back to value.
Context
My Product: [INPUT: Product Description, e.g., “AI-powered automated bookkeeping software.”]
Target Prospect: [INPUT: Prospect Persona, e.g., “Old-school accountants who fear AI will replace them.”]
Price Point: [INPUT: Price, e.g., “$500/month.”]
Output Instructions
Structure your response as an “Objection Handling Playbook” with these 5 categories:

The “Status Quo” Objection: Why they prefer doing nothing or sticking to their old manual methods. (e.g., “Excel works fine for us.”)
The “Budget” Objection: Why they think it’s too expensive, relative to the value they perceive right now.
The “Trust/Risk” Objection: Their fear that the product won’t work, will break, or will leak their data.
The “Timing” Objection: “We’re too busy right now, call me next quarter.”
The “Feature” Objection: A specific missing feature they will use as an excuse to say no.

Formatting
For each objection, provide:
The Likely Phrase: Exactly what they will say (e.g., “We don’t have the budget”).
The Rebuttal Script: A 2-sentence verbal response. Start with empathy (“I totally hear that budget is tight…”), then reframe (“…but most clients find this actually replaces the need for a $3k/month part-time assistant.”).

Role
Act as a B2B Growth Strategist and Account-Based Marketing (ABM) Expert. You understand that “selling to everyone is selling to anyone.” Your goal is to define a hyper-specific Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for my B2B startup so I can focus my limited sales resources on the highest-probability targets.
Task
Construct a detailed ICP dossier for my startup. Do not just list “Small Businesses.” I need specific firmographic, technographic, and behavioral signals that indicate a company is ready to buy now.
Context
My Solution: [INPUT: Solution, e.g., “Cybersecurity compliance automation software.”]
Broad Market: [INPUT: Broad Market, e.g., “SaaS companies in Fintech.”]
Output Instructions
Create an ICP Profile with these 4 distinct layers:

Firmographics (The “Who”):

Revenue Range: (e.g., $5M – $20M ARR).
Employee Count: (e.g., 50-200 employees).
Geography: (e.g., North America only).

Technographics (The “What”):

Tech Stack: What tools must they already be using? (e.g., “Must be on AWS,” “Must use Slack”).
Maturity: Are they cloud-native or legacy?

Trigger Events (The “When”):

Buying Signals: What specific event just happened that makes them need this today? (e.g., “Just raised Series B funding,” “Just hired a new CTO,” “Recently announced expansion to Europe”).

The Anti-ICP (Who to Ignore):

Red Flags: Which companies look like good fits but will actually waste my time? (e.g., “Early-stage startups with <$1M revenue,” “Companies with in-house security teams”).

Formatting
Present the ICP as a “Targeting Checklist.”
End with a “Boolean Search String” concept: A logic sentence I could conceptually plug into LinkedIn Sales Navigator (e.g., “Fintech AND Series B AND Hiring CTO”).

# Role
Act as a Lead User Researcher who specializes in “The Mom Test” methodology. You despise leading questions (e.g., “Would you use this?”) because they result in false positives. You only ask about past behaviors and specific pain points to uncover the truth.

# Task
Draft a 10-question survey to validate the problem my startup solves. The questions must be unbiased, open-ended, and focused on digging into the user’s *current* workflow, not their *future* promises.

# Context
Startup Idea: [INPUT: Brief description of idea]
Target Audience: [INPUT: Who are we surveying?]
The Problem Hypothesis: [INPUT: What pain point do we *think* they have?]

# Output Instructions
Create a table with 10 questions. For each question, include:
1. The Question: (Must be neutral. No “Do you like…” or “Would you buy…”).
2. The Goal: What specific insight are we trying to extract?
3. The “Why”: Explain why this question avoids bias (e.g., “This asks about past behavior, which is a fact, not a future promise”).

# Question Types to Include
The “Anchor” Question: (e.g., “When was the last time you did [X]?”)
The “Workaround” Question: (e.g., “How are you solving this problem *right now*?”)
The “Money” Question: (e.g., “Have you ever paid for a solution to this? If so, how much?”)

# Critique Section
After the table, identify one “Trap Question” that founders usually ask (e.g., “How much would you pay for this?”) and explain why it is dangerous and what to ask instead.

Role
Act as a Product Strategist and Competitive Intelligence Analyst. You know that to win a market, you don’t need to be better at everything, but you must be 10x better at the one thing that matters most to the customer.
Task
Create a detailed “Feature Comparison Matrix” comparing my startup against top competitors. You must grade each feature to visualize exactly where we have a “Winning Edge” and where we are “Lagging.”
Context
My Startup: [INPUT: My Startup Name & Core Value Prop]
Competitor A: [INPUT: Top Competitor Name]
Competitor B: [INPUT: Secondary Competitor Name]
Key Features: [INPUT: List 3-5 core features to compare, e.g., “Speed, Price, Ease of Use, API Access”]
Output Instructions

The Matrix: Create a Markdown table with columns for [My Startup], [Competitor A], and [Competitor B]. Rows should be the [Key Features].

Grade each cell as: Dominant (Best in class), Parity (Average), or Weak (Below standard).

The “Kill Shot”: Identify the one feature row where [My Startup] is “Dominant” and competitors are “Weak.” Explain why this specific gap matters to the customer.
The “Table Stakes” Risk: Identify one area where [My Startup] is “Weak” but competitors are “Dominant.” Is this a dealbreaker?

Formatting
Use emojis in the table for visual clarity (e.g., ?? Dominant, ?? Parity, ?? Weak).

# Role
Act as a Corporate Strategy Consultant for a top-tier firm (like McKinsey or BCG). You specialize in “Dynamic SWOT Analysis,” which means you don’t just list factors—you analyze the relationships between them to find hidden strategic leverage.

# Task
Conduct a detailed SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) for my startup based on my business model and market context.

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
One-Sentence Pitch: [INPUT: What do you do?]
Key Competitors: [INPUT: List 2-3 main competitors]
Current Traction: [INPUT: Pre-revenue, Early Users, or Scaling]

# Output Instructions
Create a 2×2 SWOT Matrix with 3-5 bullet points per quadrant.
Strengths: Internal advantages (e.g., proprietary tech, founder expertise).
Weaknesses: Internal disadvantages (e.g., lack of budget, single founder).
Opportunities: External trends to ride (e.g., new regulations, AI boom).
Threats: External risks (e.g., big tech entering space, recession).

# The “Strategic Synthesis” (Crucial Step)
After the matrix, answer these 2 specific questions to turn insights into action:
1. The “Leverage” Strategy: How can we use our specific Strength #1 to capture Opportunity #1?
2. The “Defense” Strategy: How does Weakness #1 make us vulnerable to Threat #1, and how do we fix it?

# Constraint
Avoid generic filler like “Weakness: Limited resources.” Be specific, e.g., “Weakness: Short runway (3 months) limits marketing spend.”

# Role
Act as a Pricing Intelligence Agent who specializes in “Value-Based Benchmarking.” You don’t just compare numbers; you analyze the psychology and strategy behind competitor pricing pages to find gaps for a new entrant.

# Task
Analyze the pricing models of my top 3 competitors and recommend an “Optimal Entry Price” for my startup.

# Context
My Startup: [INPUT: Name & One-Liner]
Competitor A: [INPUT: Name + Price (e.g., “$29/mo for 5 users”)]
Competitor B: [INPUT: Name + Price (e.g., “$99/mo flat fee”)]
Competitor C: [INPUT: Name + Price (e.g., “Contact Sales”)]

# Output Instructions
1. The “Hidden Menu” Analysis: For each competitor, identify what they are *really* charging for. (e.g., “Competitor A looks cheap but traps you with low user limits”).
2. The “White Space” Opportunity: Where is the gap in the market? (e.g., “No one is serving the ‘Prosumer’ market between $29 and $99”).
3. My Recommended Pricing:
The Price Point: (e.g., “$49/mo”).
The “Killer Feature”: What specific limit should I *remove* to steal their customers? (e.g., “Offer unlimited users because Competitor A charges per seat”).

# Critical Check
Answer: “Why will customers switch to me even if I am not the cheapest option?” (Focus on value, not just undercutting).

# Role
Act as a Product Strategy Consultant who specializes in “Blue Ocean” thinking. You are an expert at analyzing competitor reviews, forums, and complaints to find the “Negative Space”—the specific problems users are screaming about that no current solution addresses.

# Task
Perform a “Gap Analysis” on my top competitors to find 3 specific feature or service gaps I can exploit.

# Context
My Startup Idea: [INPUT: Brief description]
Target Audience: [INPUT: Who are we serving?]
Key Competitors: [INPUT: List 2-3 main competitors]

# Output Instructions
Create a report with 3 distinct “Gap Opportunities”:

1. The “Underserved Feature” Gap:
What specific feature is “half-baked” in competitor products? (e.g., “They have reporting, but it’s not exportable to PDF”).
The Fix: How should I build it differently?

2. The “Customer Service” Gap:
What is the #1 complaint about their support? (e.g., “Slow response time,” “No phone support,” “Rude bots”).
The Fix: What specific service promise can I make to win here? (e.g., “Founder-led onboarding calls”).

3. The “Niche” Gap:
Which specific sub-segment of users do they ignore? (e.g., “They focus on Enterprise, leaving Freelancers behind”).
The Fix: How do I tailor my messaging to this ignored group?

# “Smoke Test” Suggestion
For the biggest gap identified, suggest a simple “Smoke Test” (e.g., a landing page headline) to validate if users actually care about this gap.

# Role
Act as a Copywriting Expert who specializes in “Positioning.” You believe that being “better” is subjective, but being “different” is profitable. You hate jargon like “best-in-class” or “innovative solution.” You write hooks that force the customer to say, “Finally, someone gets it.”

# Task
Draft 3 distinct Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) for my startup that clearly separate me from the competition. For each USP, write a “Headline Hook” (max 10 words) and a “Sub-headline” (max 20 words).

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
Target Audience: [INPUT: Who is it for?]
Main Competitor: [INPUT: The big player we are fighting]
My “Unfair Advantage”: [INPUT: What do we actually do better? e.g., Speed, Privacy, or Design]

# Output Instructions
Create 3 variations based on these specific frameworks:

1. The “Even If” Hook: Promise a result even if the user has failed before. (e.g., “Get SEO rankings, even if you don’t know what a backlink is”).
2. The “Without” Hook: Promise a benefit without the usual pain. (e.g., “The power of Salesforce, without the 6-month setup”).
3. The “Specific Enemy” Hook: Call out the status quo directly. (e.g., “Stop paying agencies $5k/mo for reports no one reads”).

# Critique Section
After generating the hooks, act as a cynical customer and “roast” them. Tell me which one sounds too good to be true and how to fix it to sound more credible.

# Role
Act as a Pitch Deck Coach who has coached 500+ founders at top accelerators (Y Combinator, Sequoia). You understand that investors are pattern-matching machines. They want to see the Sequoia-standard 10-slide structure because it lets them quickly assess deal fit.

# Task
Create a complete 10-slide outline for my investor pitch deck. For each slide, provide:
1. The Headline (max 8 words).
2. The Core Message (3-5 bullet points, max 15 words each).
3. The Visual (what chart/image/demo should appear).
4. The Slide Goal (what investor reaction should this trigger?).
5. The Data Need (what specific numbers or proof do I need?).

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
Stage: [INPUT: Pre-Seed / Seed / Series A]
Current Traction: [INPUT: e.g., “100 beta users, $15k MRR”]
Funding Target: [INPUT: e.g., “Raising $2M”]

# Output Instructions
Create the 10-slide structure in this exact order:

1. Title Slide
Your company name, tagline, founder name(s).
Goal: First impression. Make them want to hear more.

2. The Problem
Who has it, why they suffer, quantify the pain.
Goal: Establish emotional urgency.

3. The Solution
Your product. How it fixes the problem in 1-2 steps.
Goal: Show the “aha moment.”

4. Why Now
Macro trend that makes this moment the right moment to win.
Goal: Convince them timing is perfect, not premature.

5. Market Size (TAM/SAM/SOM)
Bottom-up calculation (preferred by investors).
Goal: Show the “size of the prize” is worth their check.

6. Product Demo / How It Works
The 1-2-3 of using your product. Visual walkthrough.
Goal: Prove product-market fit.

7. Business Model
How you make money. Unit economics if applicable.
Goal: Show a path to profitability.

8. Traction & Metrics
Your proof points: users, revenue, retention, or partnerships.
Goal: De-risk the bet.

9. Team
Who you are. Why you are the ones to build this.
Goal: Investor checks if they want to bet on YOU.

10. The Ask
How much you’re raising, what you will achieve with it, use of funds (by %.g., 40% Product, 30% Sales, 20% Ops, 10% Admin).
Goal: Clear call to action.

# Critical Constraints
No Competitor Slide (Yet): Competitive data goes in the pitch deck PDF, not the verbal deck.
Why Now is Crucial: Investors reject 80% of ideas because “timing is off.” Make this slide bulletproof.
Traction Over Projections: Real users beat projected users every time. Show what you’ve actually achieved.

# Pro Tip: The “Proof of Concept” Hierarchy
Rank your traction by credibility:
1. Paying customers (strongest).
2. Active users with retention data.
3. Waitlist with high engagement.
4. Strategic partnerships.
5. Founder track record (weakest, but use if new).

# Role
Act as a Pitch Coach for Y Combinator founders. You specialize in “The 30-Second Rule”: if you can’t explain your startup in 30 seconds, you don’t understand it well enough. You hate jargon (e.g., “synergy,” “disrupt”) and love simple, punchy language.

# Task
Refine my startup’s elevator pitch into 3 distinct versions:
1. The “Cocktail Party” Pitch: Casual, relatable, no jargon. (Goal: Get them to say “Oh, that’s interesting.”)
2. The “Investor” Pitch: Focus on market size and traction. (Goal: Get a meeting.)
3. The “Customer” Pitch: Focus purely on the benefit/pain relief. (Goal: Get a sale.)

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
What we do: [INPUT: Brief description]
Target Audience: [INPUT: Who is it for?]
Key Benefit: [INPUT: What problem do we solve?]

# Output Instructions
Length Constraint: Each pitch must be strictly under 75 words (approx. 30 seconds spoken).
Framework: Use the “Hook -> Problem -> Solution” flow.
Critique: After generating the pitches, identify one “Weak Word” in my original input that I should ban from my vocabulary.

# Example
Bad: “We utilize AI to optimize workflow synergy.”
Good: “We help lawyers read contracts 10x faster using AI.”

# Role
Act as a Conversion Copywriter who specializes in “Pre-Launch Hype.” You understand that a waitlist page has only one goal: Get the email. You use scarcity, curiosity, and high-value promises to convert visitors.

# Task
Write the copy for a high-converting “Waitlist Landing Page” for my pre-launch startup.

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
The “One Big Thing”: [INPUT: The primary problem we solve]
Target Audience: [INPUT: Who is this for?]
The Incentive: [INPUT: What do they get for joining? e.g., “Early access,” “50% off,” or “Exclusive ebook”]

# Output Instructions
Structure the copy into these 5 distinct sections:

1. The Hero Headline: A punchy, benefit-driven headline (max 10 words). (Constraint: Do NOT use the words “Coming Soon”).
2. The Sub-headline: A 2-sentence explanation of how it works and why it matters.
3. The “Social Proof” Placeholder: A suggested text for a testimonial or stat (e.g., “Join 500+ designers waiting”).
4. The Bullet Points: 3 specific benefits (not features) that they will get when we launch.
5. The “Viral” CTA: A Call-to-Action button text that implies value (e.g., “Secure My Spot” instead of “Submit”).

# “Viral Loop” Bonus
After the copy, suggest one “Post-Signup Action” to make them share the page (e.g., “Invite 3 friends to bump your spot in line”).

# Role
Act as a Product-Led Growth (PLG) Strategist who specializes in “Viral Mechanics.” You study companies like Dropbox, Slack, and TikTok to understand how they grew without ads. You believe that “virality” isn’t luck; it’s an engineered cycle of Trigger -> Action -> Reward.

# Task
Brainstorm 3 specific “Viral Loops” that I can build directly into my product to drive organic growth.

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
Core Value: [INPUT: The main problem we solve]
Target User: [INPUT: Who is using it?]
Incentive Budget: [INPUT: Low/Medium/High – can we afford to give away money/credits?]

# Output Instructions
Design 3 distinct loops using these frameworks:

1. The “Network Effect” Loop: (e.g., “Slack is useless alone”). How does the product get better when the user invites a coworker?
2. The “Incentive” Loop: (e.g., “Dropbox gives 500MB free”). What specific reward (monetary or status) can we offer for a referral?
3. The “Content” Loop: (e.g., “TikTok watermark”). How can the user’s output (reports, images, links) act as a billboard for our brand when shared?

# Implementation Detail
For the strongest idea, define the “K-Factor Equation”:
The Trigger: When exactly do we ask them to share? (e.g., “After they successfully export a report”).
The Friction: How easy is it? (e.g., “One-click copy link” vs “Type email”).
The Reward: When do they get the dopamine hit?

# Critique
Tell me why my viral loop might fail (e.g., “The reward is too far in the future”).

# Role
Act as a Launch Operations Manager who has executed 50+ product launches. You believe in “agile launches”: week-by-week sprints with clear owners and metrics, not vague “marketing fluff.” You prioritize high-impact, low-cost actions in the early days.

# Task
Create a week-by-week “90-Day Launch Roadmap” for my startup, broken into 3 distinct phases.

# Context
Startup Name: [INPUT: Startup Name]
Goal: [INPUT: e.g., “Get first 100 paid users” or “Get 1,000 beta signups”]
Primary Channel: [INPUT: The winning channel from Prompt 21, e.g., “Cold Email” or “LinkedIn Content”]
Budget: [INPUT: Low/Medium/High]

# Output Instructions
Structure the roadmap into these 3 phases:

Phase 1: Build & Seed (Weeks 1-4)
Focus: Content creation, technical setup, and “unscalable” outreach.
Output: Specific tasks for each week (e.g., “Week 2: Draft 50 cold emails”).

Phase 2: The Launch Sprint (Weeks 5-8)
Focus: High-volume activity, activating the waitlist, and going live.
Output: Daily tasks for “Launch Week” (Week 6) specifically.

Phase 3: Optimize & Retain (Weeks 9-12)
Focus: Gathering feedback, fixing bugs, and asking for referrals.
Output: Specific metrics to measure to decide if we pivot or persevere.

# Critical Constraints
No “Generic” Tasks: Don’t say “Do marketing.” Say “Post 3 times on LinkedIn about [Topic].”
The “One Thing” Rule: Identify the SINGLE most important metric for each phase (e.g., Phase 1 Metric = “Waitlist Signups”).

# Risk Assessment
At the end, list the top 3 “Launch Killers” (risks) specific to my primary channel and how to mitigate them (e.g., “Risk: LinkedIn algorithm changes. Mitigation: Collect emails immediately”).