Claude Prompts for Investor-Grade Business Plans
20 copy-paste Claude prompts for business plans that survive investor scrutiny: market sizing math, defensible financial projections, competitive landscape, go-to-market specifics, and the executive summary that opens the door.
In short: This page contains 15 copy-paste ready prompts, organized into 4 categories with a description and pro tip for each. The first 5 prompts are free instantly, no signup needed. Hand-curated and tested by the AI Academy team.
Strategy + Market
4 promptsMarket Sizing — TAM/SAM/SOM
1/15✨ What it does
Claude builds TAM, SAM, and SOM for [business] with top-down and bottom-up methods, plus assumptions, sources, and a math check. Plug in the business, then keep only the figures you can defend in a pitch.
Help me build TAM/SAM/SOM for [business]. Approach: top-down (industry size × penetration) AND bottom-up (target customers × ARPU). Show both. Output: TAM (total industry $), SAM (addressable for our model $), SOM (realistic capture year 1-3 $), assumptions explicit, where data is from. Pressure-test math.
Pro tip: Top-down only = "$1T market, just need 0.1%" = lazy. Bottom-up only = "10K customers × $100" = no context. Both = credible. Investors check both directions.
Competitive Landscape Map
2/15✨ What it does
Claude maps the competitive landscape for [business]: direct competitors with positioning, substitutes, adjacent threats, possible incumbents, market structure, and your honest place in it. Name the business, then use the map to sharpen how you describe yourselves.
Map competitive landscape for [business]. Output: direct competitors (3-5 with positioning + revenue if known), indirect competitors (substitutes), adjacent threats (could enter), incumbents possibly entering, market structure (consolidating / fragmenting). Frame YOUR positioning relative to all. Honest about strengths.
Pro tip: Most plans claim "no direct competition" = red flag for investors. Means founder hasn't looked or market doesn't exist. Real plans show competition + articulate why we win specific segments.
Go-to-Market Strategy
3/15✨ What it does
Claude writes a go-to-market plan for [product] launching to [target market], with ideal customer titles, three channels ranked by CAC and scale, sales motion, pricing, expansion, and 90-day milestones. Fill both blanks, then fund the first channel you will actually run.
GTM strategy for [product] launching to [target market]. Output: ideal customer profile (specific job titles + company specs), 3 acquisition channels ranked by CAC + scalability, sales motion (self-serve / inside sales / enterprise), pricing entry point, expansion path within accounts, 90-day GTM milestones.
Pro tip: GTM strategy weakest part of most plans. Three channels ranked > "we'll try everything." Specific ICP > "small business owners." Specific motion > "we'll figure it out."
Customer Discovery Synthesis
4/15✨ What it does
Claude synthesizes [Paste 5-10 customer interview transcripts] into jobs people need done, pain in time or money, workarounds, willingness to pay, deal-breakers, and emerging segments. Drop in your interviews, then put that evidence in the plan instead of opinions.
[Paste 5-10 customer interview transcripts]. Synthesize for business plan: jobs to be done patterns, pain quantification (in time/$/frustration), workarounds they use today, willingness to pay signal, deal-breaker objections, segments emerging. Real customer evidence > opinion.
Pro tip: Plans claiming "customers want X" without evidence = founder opinion. Plans citing customer interviews with specific quotes = evidence-based. Investors weigh the latter 10x more.
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Financials
4 promptsFinancial Projections — Bottom-Up
5/15✨ What it does
Claude builds 3-year bottom-up projections for [business model] from customers, conversion, and ARPU, with costs, a monthly year-1 P&L, quarterly years 2-3, and a sensitivity table. Enter the model, then stress the three assumptions before you show investors.
Build 3-year financial projections bottom-up for [business model]. Drivers: customers acquired per channel × conversion × ARPU. Costs: COGS, S&M (with CAC), R&D (with team plan), G&A. Output: monthly P&L year 1, quarterly years 2-3. Highlight: gross margin, EBITDA, burn, runway. Sensitivity table for top 3 assumptions.
Pro tip: Top-down projections ("market × 1%") = wishful. Bottom-up (customer acquisition math) = credible. Sensitivity table on key assumptions = mature. All three = investor-ready.
Unit Economics Breakdown
6/15✨ What it does
Claude calculates unit economics for [business]: CAC by channel, LTV, LTV/CAC, payback, contribution margin, breakeven volume, and where ratios can improve, honest about today versus target. Add the business, then mark which number you will try to move first.
Unit economics for [business]. Output: CAC (by channel), LTV (gross margin × payback × retention curve), LTV/CAC ratio, payback period, contribution margin per customer, breakeven volume, leverage points (where can ratios improve). Be honest about current state vs target state.
Pro tip: Healthy SaaS LTV/CAC = 3+. Payback < 12 mo. If not yet, plan should explicitly say "today X, target Y by month Z, here's how." Honest projection beats optimistic fiction.
Funding Ask Calculation
7/15✨ What it does
Claude calculates a funding ask for [business]: dollars for [duration] of runway, a milestone ladder, a valuation range, dilution math, and a follow-on plan that answers why this amount. Fill both blanks, then check the ask against milestones you can actually hit.
Calculate funding ask for [business]. Inputs: current burn, growth plan, milestones to hit, runway buffer. Output: $X for [duration] runway, milestone ladder ($X gets us to milestone Y), valuation range justified by milestones, dilution math, follow-on plan. "Why this amount" answerable.
Pro tip: "How much do you need?" = "as much as I can get" is amateur. "$X for 18 months to reach milestone Y, which justifies series B at Z valuation" = pro. Specific math beats vague ambition.
Burn + Runway Scenarios
8/15✨ What it does
Claude models three burn scenarios for [business] (aggressive, moderate, conservative) with monthly burn, runway, reachable milestones, assumed revenue, and the speed-versus-option tradeoff. Bring the table to your board conversation, then pick the scenario you can live with.
Build 3 burn scenarios for [business]: aggressive (full hire plan), moderate (selective), conservative (minimum viable team). Per scenario: monthly burn, runway with current funding, milestone reachable, revenue assumed. Show tradeoff: speed vs option value. Investors want this analysis.
Pro tip: Single-scenario plans = naive. Three scenarios + tradeoffs = mature founder. Investors test the conservative scenario as the realistic one. Showing you've thought about it = credibility.
Team + Operations
3 promptsTeam Plan + Hiring Sequence
9/15✨ What it does
Claude builds a hiring plan for [business] over [duration]: team today, month-by-month roles and comp, why this sequence, dependencies, the ending org chart, and equity dilution. Complete both blanks, then decide which hire actually unblocks revenue for you.
Hiring plan for [business] over [duration]. Output: team today, hires by month (role, level, comp), why this sequence (revenue-unblocking vs cost-saving), key dependencies (this hire required before that), org chart at end of period, dilution from equity grants.
Pro tip: Hiring plan order matters. Sales lead before product polish = wasted spend. Right order = compounding hires. Wrong order = expensive learning. Plan should defend the sequence.
Founder Bio + Why Us
10/15✨ What it does
Claude writes a one-paragraph founder bio per person, tying experience to the opportunity, numbered wins, skill complement, and why this team for this market, without a resume dump. Give each founder's real outcomes, then cut any line you would not say aloud.
Write founder bio sections for business plan. Per founder: relevant experience tied to opportunity, specific accomplishments (numbers + outcomes), skill complement to other founders, why us specifically for this market (insider knowledge, network, scars). 1 paragraph each. Avoid resume-dump.
Pro tip: "Why us" = the question investors actually ask. Resume-dump answers don't. Specific scar tissue from this market + complementary skills with co-founders = compelling. Generic credentials = forgotten.
Operations Plan
11/15✨ What it does
Claude writes an operations plan for [business] covering critical processes, tools, automation that reduces headcount, KPIs and cadence, vendor risks, and mitigations. Describe the business, then keep the boring process list you can actually run.
Operations plan for [business]. Output: critical processes (sales pipeline, product delivery, customer success, finance), tools/systems used, where automation reduces headcount need, KPIs tracked + cadence, vendor + partner dependencies, risk areas + mitigation. Operations boring = good. Boring operations = scalable.
Pro tip: Sexy strategy + crap operations = startup that misses Q3. Boring + reliable operations = scaled company. Investors like boring operations. They've seen too many great ideas die at execution.
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Polish + Presentation
4 promptsExecutive Summary
12/15✨ What it does
Claude turns [Paste full business plan] into a one-page executive summary: problem, solution, market, model, three traction numbers, team, and a specific ask. Paste the full plan, then confirm those three numbers are ones you would say out loud.
[Paste full business plan]. Write a 1-page executive summary. Include: problem (1 sentence), solution (1 sentence), market size (1 line), business model (1 line), traction (3 specific numbers), team (1 sentence), ask (specific). Investors read summary; some read no further. Make it count.
Pro tip: 70% of investors decide from summary. If it doesn't pass that filter, the rest is unread. Specific numbers + crisp answers > eloquent prose. Earn the second page.
Pitch Deck from Plan
13/15✨ What it does
Claude converts [Paste business plan] into a 10-slide outline from problem through ask, with one takeaway and at most three supporting points per slide. Feed in the plan, then drop any bullet that does not earn a slide in your deck.
[Paste business plan]. Convert into 10-slide pitch deck outline. Slides: problem, solution, market, business model, traction, competition, GTM, financials, team, ask. Per slide: 1 takeaway sentence, 3 supporting points max. Plan = 30 pages of detail; deck = 10 slides of distillation.
Pro tip: Plan informs deck; deck doesn't replace plan. Investors who like deck read plan for due diligence. Plan with no deck = no first meeting; deck without plan backing = no second meeting.
Risk Section
14/15✨ What it does
Claude writes a risk and mitigation section for [business]: five biggest risks, severity times likelihood, a mitigation each, and early-warning signals. Name the company, then keep the risks you would admit in a room.
Risk + mitigation section for [business]. Output: 5 biggest risks (market, execution, competition, regulatory, team), severity × likelihood per, mitigation strategy per, what we're monitoring as early warning. Honest. "No risks" = no credibility.
Pro tip: Skipping risks = "founder hasn't thought about it" = red flag. Listing 5 risks + mitigation = mature thinking. Investors fund people who see risks they manage, not people who claim no risks exist.
Investor Q&A Prep
15/15✨ What it does
Claude prepares 15 hard investor questions for [business plan] with under-60-second answers, evidence, and where you might struggle, including why now, why you, biggest risk, competitor moves, and moat. Practice the weak answers out loud, then bring evidence to the meeting.
Anticipated investor questions for [business plan]. Output: 15 hard questions investors will ask, ideal answer per (under 60 seconds), evidence to back each answer, where I might struggle. Include: "why now," "why you," "biggest risk," "what if competitor X does Y," "how do you defend moat."
Pro tip: Memorized answers sound canned. Prepared answers (knowing the answer + ad-libbing delivery) sound real. The prep work shows up as fluent answers, not robotic recitation.
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