Most AI prompt lists are useless.
They give you 50 prompts for things you’ll never actually do. “Write a poem about your product values.” Nobody is doing that.
These are the 7 prompts I use every single day. They’re not impressive. They’re just consistently useful.
The Morning Email Triage Prompt
Every morning before I open a single email, I copy my subject lines and senders into this:
“I am a startup founder. Here are my inbox subject lines and senders from this morning: [paste list]. Sort them into 4 categories: (1) Requires my personal response today, (2) Can be delegated or templated, (3) FYI only, (4) Delete or unsubscribe. For category 1, tell me which to handle first and why. Be ruthless — if something can wait, say so.”
Time saved: 45 minutes of inbox anxiety compressed into 10 minutes of focused action.
The Decision Clarity Prompt
When I’m stuck on a decision — and I mean genuinely stuck, not just procrastinating — I use this:
“I need to make a decision about [describe decision]. Here are the options I’m considering: [list options]. Here’s what’s making it hard: [describe the friction]. Ask me the 3 questions that would make this decision obvious if I could answer them clearly. Don’t give me a recommendation yet — just the questions.”
The questions it generates are almost always the ones I was avoiding. Answering them usually makes the decision clear.
The Meeting Prep Prompt
Before any important external meeting — investor, customer, partner — I run this:
“I have a meeting tomorrow with [describe who and their role/company]. The purpose of the meeting is [describe]. Here’s what I know about them: [any context you have]. Give me: (1) The 3 things they most likely want from this meeting, (2) The 2 most important questions I should ask them, (3) The one thing I should make sure I communicate clearly, (4) Any likely objections or difficult questions I should be ready for.”
I’ve gone into fewer meetings unprepared since I started doing this.
The Feedback Processing Prompt
When I get difficult feedback — from a customer, an investor, a team member — I use this before I respond:
“I received this feedback: [paste feedback]. Before I respond, help me process it honestly: (1) What’s the most charitable interpretation of what they’re saying? (2) What’s the most accurate interpretation, even if it’s uncomfortable? (3) What would I need to believe about myself or my work to dismiss this feedback — and is that belief justified? (4) What’s the 10% of this feedback that’s most worth taking seriously?”
This stops me from responding defensively and helps me find the signal in feedback that initially feels unfair.
The Weekly Update Draft Prompt
Every Friday I send a brief update to my investors and advisors. I use this prompt to draft it:
“I need to write a weekly update email to my investors and advisors. Here’s what happened this week: [bullet points of key events, metrics, decisions]. Write a concise update that: leads with the most important metric or milestone, is honest about what’s not working, ends with one specific ask or question for the reader, and takes under 2 minutes to read. Sound like a founder who respects their investors’ time.”
This used to take me an hour. It now takes 10 minutes.
The Difficult Conversation Prep Prompt
Before any difficult conversation — performance issues, co-founder tension, customer complaints — I use this:
“I need to have a difficult conversation with [describe the person and their role]. The issue is: [describe the situation]. What I want to achieve from the conversation is: [describe your goal]. Help me: (1) Open the conversation in a way that doesn’t put them immediately on the defensive, (2) State the core issue clearly without being aggressive, (3) Anticipate how they might respond and how to handle each response, (4) Land on a clear next step regardless of how the conversation goes.”
The End-of-Day Reset Prompt
The last thing I do before closing my laptop:
“Here is what I worked on today: [brief list]. Here is what I didn’t finish: [brief list]. Given what I know about my priorities this week, tell me: (1) Did I spend today on the right things? (2) What’s the single most important thing to do first tomorrow morning? (3) Is there anything on my unfinished list I should just stop doing entirely?”
The answer to question 3 is almost always yes.
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