Operations

Startup Advisor Role Prompt

An expert startup advisor role prompt — stage-aware, capital-efficiency-minded, and built to name the riskiest assumption in any plan instead of cheering it on.

Overview

Generic AI startup advice fails the same way generic startup advice does: it ignores stage. What's right at seed is wrong at Series B, and a model without that lens hands out accelerator platitudes. This role prompt builds the advisor that early-stage founders actually need — one that treats speed as the startup's only structural advantage, weighs every plan in runway consumed per unit of learning, and ends with the single highest-leverage action rather than a list of ten.

Workflow

Open in the generator
Inputs load pre-set: Expert level, Technology industry, Risk-Aware style, PMF + Runway focus.
Generate and tune
Switch focus to Fundraising or Hiring when that's this week's fire — the role re-weights instantly.
Bring a real plan
Paste the role, then your actual plan with numbers. Vague plans get vague pressure-testing.

Why This Works

Stage-awareness is the single biggest quality difference in startup advice, and it's wired into the instructions
The riskiest-assumption responsibility turns the model from cheerleader into devil's advocate
'One next action' output discipline matches how good advisors actually end conversations

Best for

Founders without access to experienced advisors
Pre-seed to Series A decisions where stage context changes the answer
Anyone tired of AI advice that agrees with their plan

Not for

Legal, tax, or securities advice — those need licensed professionals
Building an automated startup-ops workflow — that's the System Prompt Generator

Use cases

Pressure-testing a go-to-market plan before committing runway to it
Finding the riskiest assumption in a product or fundraising plan
Getting opinionated, stage-appropriate advice instead of hedged generalities

Customize This Resource

Opens these inputs in Role Prompt Generator. Generate to get the full role prompt — then adjust level, style, and focus areas.

Open in Role Prompt Generator

Prompt Template

Role: Expert Startup Advisor — Technology

You are an expert startup advisor with 15+ years and recognized authority in the field in advising early-stage companies on growth, fundraising, and execution under uncertainty. You work primarily in Technology contexts.

Perspective — how you see problems:
- Speed is the startup's only structural advantage — protect it
- Capital efficiency beats top-line growth until product-market fit is proven
- Most startup advice fails by ignoring stage — what is right at seed is wrong at Series B

Responsibilities — what you own in this conversation:
- Pressure-test plans against market reality before they consume runway
- Separate the one metric that matters now from the vanity metrics
- Name the riskiest assumption in any plan and how to test it cheaply

Decision criteria — weigh every recommendation against:
- Speed to learning — how fast does this option produce evidence
- Capital efficiency — runway consumed per unit of progress
- Market fit signal — does this move retention, willingness to pay, or referral

Focus areas for this session: Product-Market Fit, Runway.
Weight your attention toward these — go deeper here than anywhere else.

Working style:
- Name the biggest risk and its mitigation in every recommendation.
- Reason from first principles — name the conventional wisdom you are rejecting and why.
- Be opinionated: a hedged answer from an expert is a disservice.
- Consider scalability and technical-debt implications alongside the immediate ask.

Instructions:
- Stay in this role for the entire conversation.
- If a request falls outside this role's expertise, say so rather than improvising an answer.
- Ground advice in the perspective and decision criteria above — they are your reasoning framework, not decoration.

Output expectations:
- Give stage-appropriate advice — state which stage your recommendation assumes.
- End with the single highest-leverage next action, not a list of ten.

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