Nicolas Cole

So how do you think about prompting AI? I think there's, let's just pause here. There's two very different types of ways of interacting with ChatGPT, Claude, any AI model. One is conversationally, so you're sort of chunking things out piece by piece and it's more of a dialogue.

And another is where you think through all of the potential situations and hypotheticals and you assemble a massive prompt that then you feed into the AI model and it generates some sort of output. And I think part of where people go wrong is A, they don't realize that those are two different things.

And another is where you think through all of the potential situations and hypotheticals and you assemble a massive prompt that then you feed into the AI model and it generates some sort of output. And I think part of where people go wrong is A, they don't realize that those are two different things.

And another is where you think through all of the potential situations and hypotheticals and you assemble a massive prompt that then you feed into the AI model and it generates some sort of output. And I think part of where people go wrong is A, they don't realize that those are two different things.

And then B, they sort of sit in the middle and it's like a half-baked prompt that's sort of mid-conversation and then the AI is not giving it the output that they want. So that's usually the problem that I see. So here, if we're starting to write something, I start conversationally. So I might say something like,

And then B, they sort of sit in the middle and it's like a half-baked prompt that's sort of mid-conversation and then the AI is not giving it the output that they want. So that's usually the problem that I see. So here, if we're starting to write something, I start conversationally. So I might say something like,

And then B, they sort of sit in the middle and it's like a half-baked prompt that's sort of mid-conversation and then the AI is not giving it the output that they want. So that's usually the problem that I see. So here, if we're starting to write something, I start conversationally. So I might say something like,

I'm going to take this, I'm going to say, I recently came up with an idea for an 800 word article. Reed Hastings had a strange rule, right? That thing. And then I go back and I take my goals and I'm like, here are the goals of the piece I want to write. And I might give some extra context here because I have a podcast where I share startup ideas with entrepreneurial listeners.

I'm going to take this, I'm going to say, I recently came up with an idea for an 800 word article. Reed Hastings had a strange rule, right? That thing. And then I go back and I take my goals and I'm like, here are the goals of the piece I want to write. And I might give some extra context here because I have a podcast where I share startup ideas with entrepreneurial listeners.

I'm going to take this, I'm going to say, I recently came up with an idea for an 800 word article. Reed Hastings had a strange rule, right? That thing. And then I go back and I take my goals and I'm like, here are the goals of the piece I want to write. And I might give some extra context here because I have a podcast where I share startup ideas with entrepreneurial listeners.

Because a lot of the value I provide is how to get started doing something entrepreneurial. and want this piece to be connected to our Reed to Hastings story. Can you please generate 20 potential headlines for this sort of piece, and under each headline, list out three to five main points that would make up the content of that piece.

Because a lot of the value I provide is how to get started doing something entrepreneurial. and want this piece to be connected to our Reed to Hastings story. Can you please generate 20 potential headlines for this sort of piece, and under each headline, list out three to five main points that would make up the content of that piece.

Because a lot of the value I provide is how to get started doing something entrepreneurial. and want this piece to be connected to our Reed to Hastings story. Can you please generate 20 potential headlines for this sort of piece, and under each headline, list out three to five main points that would make up the content of that piece.

So all we're doing is we're basically saying, here's the little bit that we came up with. Now, can you just start feeding me ideas? Here, the reason that I ask for these bullets and these main points is because the thing that most writers and most people who want to write don't realize is that many of the decisions get made before you start writing.

So all we're doing is we're basically saying, here's the little bit that we came up with. Now, can you just start feeding me ideas? Here, the reason that I ask for these bullets and these main points is because the thing that most writers and most people who want to write don't realize is that many of the decisions get made before you start writing.

So all we're doing is we're basically saying, here's the little bit that we came up with. Now, can you just start feeding me ideas? Here, the reason that I ask for these bullets and these main points is because the thing that most writers and most people who want to write don't realize is that many of the decisions get made before you start writing.

If you come up with an idea and your first thought is, I should open a Google Doc and I should start writing, you've already failed. You already did it wrong. And the reason is because so many of these ideas, you can come to the conclusions that you need to before you begin the writing process. And when you do that, the writing is significantly easier.

If you come up with an idea and your first thought is, I should open a Google Doc and I should start writing, you've already failed. You already did it wrong. And the reason is because so many of these ideas, you can come to the conclusions that you need to before you begin the writing process. And when you do that, the writing is significantly easier.

If you come up with an idea and your first thought is, I should open a Google Doc and I should start writing, you've already failed. You already did it wrong. And the reason is because so many of these ideas, you can come to the conclusions that you need to before you begin the writing process. And when you do that, the writing is significantly easier.

It gets compounded with AI where not only does it get easier, but now you can defer a lot of the lower leverage stuff to the technology. So there's like a hierarchy. And if you make the first mistake, then you make all the mistakes under it, right? So here's a, like, this is kind of cool. Stop saying blockbuster. Why ignoring the obvious can accelerate your startup growth.