Founder-led Sales : Research and Narrative Building Prompts - Part 2 of 3
Discover AI Prompts for Research and Narrative Building techniques designed for solopreneurs and startup founders. Learn to do comprehensive research and craft compelling narratives using AI.
The feedback from part 1 was incredible. In case you have missed reading Part 1, here is the link.
Some founder friends pinged and said,
"This is exactly what I needed to get started with GTM. Can you share more on prompts?"
"Your tips on crafting a value proposition really helped me clarify my narrative. How about a process for narrative building using prompts?"
"I applied your outreach strategies and already have a few meetings scheduled!"
As a founder who has built multiple startups through founder-led sales and having helped over 150 founders refine their GTM strategies and 24 others with detailed execution processes, I’m going to share my AI prompts for founder-led sales.
In part 1, I covered the following key points:
1. What's founder-led sales? What's my personal story?
2. How have I started with Founder Led Sales? What have been ups and downs?
3. How do I plan work items when launch a new initiative as a founder? And How does work items evolve over time?
In this second part, I’ll dive into how AI Prompts (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude etc) can transform your founder-led sales approach.
4. How Is AI Enabling Your Work Items in Founder Led Sales?
4.1 - AI Prompts for Research
4.1.1 - AI Prompts for Identify Broad Segments
4.1.2 - AI Prompts for Detailed Segment Characteristics
4.1.3 - AI Prompts for Identifying Primary Challenges
4.1.4 - AI Prompts for Validation Questions
4.1.5 - AI Prompts for Personalized Outreach Template
4.2 - AI Prompts for Narrative Building
4.2.1 - AI Prompts for Identify the Core Value Proposition
4.2.2 - Research Target Segment’s Key Challenges and Aspirations
4.2.3 - Craft a Problem-Solution Narrative Framework
4.2.4 - Emotional Hooks and Credibility for the Narrative
4.2.5 - Finalize and Test the Narrative in an Outreach Message
I will cover remaining topics in Part 3, where i will publish about
4. How Is AI Enabling Your Work Items in Founder Led Sales?
4.3 - AI Prompts for Collateral Creation
4.4 - AI Prompts for Conversation Personalization
4.5 - AI Prompts for Brainstorming
5. My “Founder-led Sales” Playbook
Let me know in the comment or over a DM, if you test any of the following prompts.
Research Prompts
Prompt #1 - Identify Broad Segments
Prompt:
Identify potential target segments for [product/service] by following this structured process:
Determine the offering type: Based on the description of [product/service], classify it as primarily a B2B (business-to-business) or B2C (business-to-consumer) offering. Explain your reasoning briefly to set the context for the segmentation.
Identify relevant segments:
For B2B: List industries (e.g., technology, healthcare, manufacturing), company sizes (e.g., small businesses with 1-50 employees, mid-sized firms with 51-500 employees, or large enterprises with 500+ employees), and geographic areas (e.g., urban hubs, specific regions, or countries) that could benefit from [product/service].
For B2C: List consumer demographics (e.g., age ranges, gender, income levels), geographic areas (e.g., cities, rural regions, or global markets), and other relevant factors (e.g., lifestyle preferences, purchasing behaviors) that could indicate potential customers.
Provide examples and justifications: For each identified segment, offer specific examples (e.g., "mid-sized tech companies in Silicon Valley" or "young professionals aged 25-34 in urban centers") and explain why these segments are relevant. Base your reasoning on the unique features, benefits, or problem-solving capabilities of [product/service], and highlight how it addresses specific needs or pain points of the segment.
Support with data: Enhance your analysis by incorporating insights from available market research, industry reports, or demographic data. For example, reference trends like "a 2023 report showing 60% growth in demand for [product/service category] in the healthcare sector" or "census data indicating a high concentration of [target demographic] in [geographic area]." If exact data isn’t available, suggest plausible sources or types of data that would validate your choices.
By following this process, you will generate a comprehensive and actionable list of potential target segments for [product/service], tailored to whether it is a B2B or B2C offering. This structured approach ensures your segmentation is logical, data-informed, and directly tied to the value proposition of [product/service], empowering you to build a targeted and effective marketing strategy.Prompt #2 - Detailed Segment Characteristics
Prompt:
Based on the target market segment identified in the previous step for [product/service], write a comprehensive and actionable guide for founders detailing its key characteristics—revenue range, employee count, typical challenges, and technology stack—to inform marketing and business strategies. As a marketing expert, structure the guide as follows:
Why It Matters: Clearly explain why each characteristic (revenue range, employee count, typical challenges, and technology stack) is essential for founders to understand. Connect each one to specific benefits, such as optimizing pricing strategies, tailoring outreach, solving customer pain points, or aligning product features with existing tools.
Research Methods: Provide precise, step-by-step methods to uncover data for each characteristic. Recommend specific, founder-friendly tools (e.g., LinkedIn Sales Navigator for employee counts, ZoomInfo or Dun & Bradstreet for revenue estimates, customer surveys via Typeform for challenges, and G2 or BuiltWith for technology stacks) and reliable sources (e.g., SEC filings, trade association reports, or competitor websites). Include tips to overcome common research hurdles, like limited data access.
Strategic Insights: Highlight actionable insights founders can gain from each characteristic (e.g., how revenue range reveals purchasing power, or how tech stack signals integration needs) and explain how these solve real-world problems like poor lead qualification, product misalignment, or inefficient sales cycles.
Actionable Tips: Offer practical, time-saving advice for researching and analyzing each characteristic. For example, suggest quick ways to estimate revenue via industry benchmarks, or how to use free tools like LinkedIn filters to gauge employee counts. Ensure the tips are detailed enough to execute immediately.
Examples and Case Studies: Include vivid, relatable examples or mini case studies showing how similar businesses (ideally in the same industry or size as [product/service] targets) used this analysis to drive results—e.g., a SaaS founder identifying a $5M-$20M revenue segment to refine pricing, or a startup spotting a CRM-heavy segment to pitch integrations.
Next Steps: Conclude with a concise checklist or framework founders can use to compile their findings into a segment profile, ready to guide marketing campaigns, sales pitches, or product tweaks.
The guide should equip founders with detailed, research-backed characteristics and the confidence to apply them directly to their marketing efforts and business decisions for [product/service]. Keep the tone engaging, practical, and laser-focused on the needs of founders eager to dive deep into segment research and turn insights into action.Prompt #3 - Identifying Primary Challenges
Prompt:
Create a detailed guide to research and summarize the primary challenges faced by [target segment], and identify specific pain points that [product/service] can address, tailored for small business owners and marketing professionals. As a business owner and marketing leader, structure the guide as follows:
Why It’s Worth It: Explain why understanding [target segment]’s challenges (e.g., inefficiencies, cost issues) is essential for positioning [product/service], highlighting outcomes like stronger pitches or higher sales.
How It Solves Problems: Show how this research sparks curiosity to address [target segment]’s struggles (e.g., wasted time, missed opportunities), tying [product/service]’s features to their relief.
What They’ll Learn: Detail that readers will uncover [target segment]’s top pain points and learn to align [product/service] as the fix.
Actionable Research Tips: Offer specific methods to identify challenges, such as:
Scanning industry-specific forums or social media groups for [target segment]’s complaints.
Reviewing 5-10 customer feedback sources (e.g., reviews, testimonials) relevant to [target segment].
Surveying 3-5 [target segment] contacts using simple tools like Google Forms.
Suggest adding credibility with data (e.g., “A [year/source] report shows [stat about segment’s challenge]”).
Pain Points and Solutions: Instruct readers to list 3-5 specific pain points for [target segment] (e.g., [example pain point]) and connect each to [product/service]’s strengths (e.g., [feature]), hinting at next steps like outreach prep.
Examples/Case Studies: Provide 2-3 relatable examples, such as “[Company X from target segment], facing [challenge], solvable by [product/service feature],” with vivid details.
Data Support: Include research (e.g., “A [year/source] study notes [stat about segment’s issue]”) to ground the analysis.
Step-by-Step Process: Detail a plan: (1) Choose 2-3 research tactics, (2) Identify 5 key challenges, (3) Match to [product/service] benefits, (4) Summarize for marketing or sales use.
By the end, I should have a concise, actionable summary of [target segment]’s challenges and confidence to position [product/service] as the solution, boosting my marketing and sales efforts. Ensure it’s practical, engaging, and ready to drive results.Prompt #4 - Validation Questions
Prompt:
Generate a set of validation questions for business owners and marketing professionals to ask prospects in each [segment], designed to gauge interest and fit for [product/service]. As a founder and GTM leader, explain why crafting these questions is worth their time, how these questions can spark curiosity to uncover prospect needs and align them with [product/service], and what they’ll learn about qualifying leads effectively. Provide actionable tips on creating questions that poke at [segment]-specific pain points, build credibility with targeted phrasing (e.g., referencing industry norms or results), specify outcomes like purchase intent, and leave room for follow-up discussions. Include specific examples or mini case studies of validation questions applied to [segment] prospects (e.g., a question that revealed a fit for [product/service]), making the guide relatable and engaging. Support your approach with data or research—such as sales studies on question effectiveness or lead qualification stats—and outline a clear, step-by-step process for readers to craft their own set of 5-7 questions per [segment]. By the end, readers should have a ready-to-use question set and feel confident in their ability to validate prospects, enhancing their sales and marketing strategies for [product/service].Prompt #5 - Personalized Outreach Template
Prompt:
Create a comprehensive guide to draft a personalized outreach email template that highlights how [product/service] solves the identified challenges for companies in the target segment, tailored for small business owners and marketing professionals. As a founder and GTM leader, explain why crafting this email is worth their effort, how it can generate curiosity to address segment-specific challenges with [product/service], and what they’ll learn about converting prospects into conversations. Provide actionable tips on structuring the email to poke at segment pain points, add credibility with quantifiable proof (e.g., results or metrics from [product/service]), specify outcomes like time savings or revenue growth, and end with a cliffhanger that prompts a reply. Include specific examples or mini case studies of effective outreach emails sent to similar target segments, showing how they tied [product/service] to real challenges, to make the guide relatable and inspiring. Support your approach with data or research—such as email response rate stats or personalization impact studies—and provide a clear, step-by-step process for readers to build their own email template, from subject line to call-to-action. By the end, readers should have a polished, ready-to-use email template and feel confident in their ability to engage their target segment, boosting their outreach and sales strategies for [product/service].Narrative Building Prompts
Prompt #1: Identify the Core Value Proposition
Prompt:
Write a detailed and actionable guide for founders to identify the core value proposition of [product/service] that makes it uniquely valuable to [target audience], serving as the foundation for narratives in outreach, validation, marketing, and sales. As a marketing expert, begin by asking the user to provide: (1) a brief description of [product/service] (e.g., “AI-driven project management tool”), (2) the [target audience] (e.g., “mid-sized tech startups with 20-100 employees”), and (3) any additional context (e.g., current challenges, competitors, or user feedback). Then, explain why pinpointing this value is the critical first step in crafting a narrative that resonates, how it bridges [product/service] to [target audience]’s specific needs or aspirations, and what founders will gain—a precise, audience-tailored anchor for storytelling across multiple channels. Provide actionable steps to uncover this value proposition, including: (1) analyzing [product/service]’s standout features or benefits, (2) collecting insights from [target audience] (e.g., via surveys, interviews, or reviews), and (3) benchmarking against 2-3 competitors to highlight differentiation. Suggest framing the value with specificity (e.g., “slashes project delays by 25%” vs. “improves efficiency”) and credibility (e.g., “proven by 30 [target audience] clients”). Include a detailed example tied to the user’s input—e.g., if [product/service] is “a CRM for [target audience] like small retailers,” show how it “cuts customer follow-up time by 15 hours weekly, as seen with RetailX.” Offer a clear process: (1) List the top 3-5 features of [product/service], (2) Map each to a [target audience] need or pain point, (3) Draft a one-sentence value proposition, (4) Validate it with a quick test (e.g., feedback from a [target audience] contact). By the end, founders should have a sharp, detailed, and validated value proposition—specific to [product/service] and [target audience]—ready to drive compelling narratives for outreach emails, validation calls, marketing campaigns, and sales pitches.Prompt #2: Research Target Segment’s Key Challenges and Aspirations
Prompt:
Based on the core value proposition identified for [product/service], create a detailed and actionable guide for founders to research and summarize the key challenges and aspirations of [target segment], deepening the narrative by rooting it in their real-world context. As a marketing expert, begin by asking the user to provide: (1) a brief description of [product/service] (e.g., “cloud-based inventory tool”), (2) the [target segment] (e.g., “small retail businesses with 5-20 employees”), and (3) any additional details (e.g., industry trends, competitor landscape, or known pain points). Then, explain why understanding these challenges and aspirations is essential for crafting a narrative that connects emotionally and practically, how it links [product/service] to [target segment]’s pain points and ambitions, and what founders will uncover—specific, resonant insights to make their story compelling. Provide actionable steps to gather this data, including: (1) Scan [target segment]-relevant platforms (e.g., LinkedIn groups, Reddit threads, or industry forums) for recurring complaints, (2) Survey or interview 3-5 [target segment] members using simple tools like Google Forms or direct outreach, (3) Analyze 2-3 competitor blogs, case studies, or marketing materials for aspiration trends. Suggest framing findings with specificity (e.g., “[target segment] loses $10K annually to X”) and credibility (e.g., “A [year/source] report shows 65% of [segment] cite Y as a barrier”). Include a detailed example tied to the user’s input—e.g., if [target segment] is “small retailers” and [product/service] is “an inventory tool,” note “Retailers crave efficiency but drown in stock errors—our tool cuts discrepancies by 40%, per Beta Shop’s results.” Offer a clear process: (1) Collect data from 2-3 sources, (2) Identify 3-5 key challenges and aspirations, (3) Quantify their impact and link to [product/service], (4) Summarize in a concise list. By the end, founders should have a sharp, detailed list of 3-5 [target segment]-specific challenges and aspirations—backed by data and examples—ready to weave into a powerful narrative for [product/service].Prompt #3: Craft a Problem-Solution Narrative Framework
Prompt:
Using the value proposition and [target segment]’s challenges/aspirations identified in prior steps, develop a detailed and actionable guide for founders to craft a problem-solution narrative framework for [product/service], linking [target segment]’s challenges to [product/service]’s solutions. As a marketing expert, begin by asking the user to provide: (1) a brief description of [product/service] (e.g., “AI-powered customer support tool”), (2) the [target segment] (e.g., “small e-commerce businesses with 10-50 employees”), and (3) any additional context (e.g., specific challenges from prior research, key features, or success metrics). Then, explain why this framework hooks [target segment] by addressing their reality, how it positions [product/service] as the clear solution, and what founders will create—a concise, persuasive story that resonates and drives action. Provide actionable tips for building the narrative: (1) Start with a vivid [target segment] pain point (e.g., “Drowning in customer inquiries?”), (2) Amplify the stakes with tangible consequences (e.g., “Losing $500 daily to slow responses”), (3) Present [product/service] as the fix with specific proof (e.g., “Cuts response time by 60%, as seen with 20 [segment] clients”). Include a detailed example tied to the user’s input—e.g., if [target segment] is “e-commerce businesses” and [product/service] is “an AI support tool,” write “For e-commerce owners, endless support tickets kill margins—our AI tool slashes resolution time by 3 hours daily, boosting ShopZ’s revenue 15%.” Offer a clear process: (1) Select 1-2 top challenges from prior research, (2) Match each to a [product/service] benefit with a metric or proof point, (3) Draft a 3-5 sentence framework (problem, stakes, solution), (4) Test readability with a peer or [target segment] contact. By the end, founders should have a sharp, detailed narrative framework—specific to [product/service] and [target segment]—ready to refine for outreach, marketing, or sales pitches.Prompt #4: Emotional Hooks and Credibility for the Narrative
Prompt:
Based on the problem-solution narrative framework for [product/service] and [target audience], develop a detailed and actionable guide for founders to enrich their narrative with emotional hooks and credibility, enhancing its resonance and trustworthiness for [target audience]. As a marketing expert, begin by asking the user to provide: (1) a brief description of [product/service] (e.g., “cloud-based payroll software”), (2) the [target audience] (e.g., “small accounting firms with 5-25 employees”), and (3) any additional context (e.g., key challenges from prior steps, user testimonials, or measurable outcomes). Then, explain why emotional hooks and credibility captivate [target audience], how these elements make [product/service] relatable and convincing, and what founders will achieve—a compelling narrative that inspires trust and action. Provide actionable tips for enriching the story: (1) Tap into [target audience] emotions tied to their challenges (e.g., “Tired of payroll headaches? Reclaim your peace of mind”), (2) Bolster credibility with specific evidence (e.g., “Saved Firm X $10K annually, per their CFO”), (3) Tease a vivid transformation (e.g., “From stress to confidence in one setup”). Include a detailed example linked to the user’s input—e.g., if [target audience] is “small accounting firms” and [product/service] is “payroll software,” write “For accountants, payroll errors spark dread—our software cut Firm Y’s mistakes by 50%, lifting profits 15%.” Offer a clear process: (1) Identify 1-2 emotions from [target audience]’s challenges (e.g., frustration, fear), (2) Add a quantifiable stat or testimonial tied to [product/service], (3) Revise the framework with an emotional hook and transformation teaser, (4) Check impact with a [target audience] peer. By the end, founders should have a sharp, emotionally charged, and credible narrative draft—specific to [product/service] and [target audience]—ready to inspire action in outreach, marketing, or sales.Prompt #5: Finalize and Test the Narrative in an Outreach Message
Prompt:
Using the enriched narrative for [product/service] and [target segment], develop a detailed and actionable guide for founders to finalize and test their narrative in a concise outreach message (e.g., email or LinkedIn pitch) tailored for [target segment]. As a marketing expert, begin by asking the user to provide: (1) a brief description of [product/service] (e.g., “automated invoicing software”), (2) the [target segment] (e.g., “freelancers with 1-5 clients”), and (3) any additional context (e.g., key narrative elements from prior steps, preferred outreach channel, or response goals). Then, explain why finalizing and testing the narrative sharpens its impact, how it ensures [product/service] connects with [target segment]’s needs and triggers responses, and what founders will gain—a polished, validated message ready to drive engagement. Provide actionable tips for crafting the message: (1) Limit it to 3-5 sentences for brevity, (2) Open with an emotional or pain-point hook (e.g., “Sick of chasing [segment] payments?”), (3) Highlight [product/service]’s solution with proof (e.g., “Saved Freelancer X $200 monthly”), (4) End with a clear, low-friction call-to-action (e.g., “Reply ‘yes’ for a 5-min demo”). Include a detailed example tied to the user’s input—e.g., if [target segment] is “freelancers” and [product/service] is “invoicing software,” write “Hi [Name], tired of late payments? Our tool got Freelancer Y paid 3x faster—want to see how?” Offer a clear process: (1) Draft the message using the narrative, (2) Send to 3-5 [target segment] contacts via their preferred channel, (3) Track responses (e.g., opens, replies), (4) Refine based on feedback or results. By the end, founders should have a sharp, tested outreach message—specific to [product/service] and [target segment]—proven to engage and ready for broader use in outreach campaigns. Write in a conversational tone and 5th grade English. Write in direct sentences.Loved this post?
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