Michael Mentor - Power Prompts

Try these prompts with Michael Mentor AI, and share your feedback and ideas in the comments:

1. Mentoring 🤝 (Stage: All)

1. What belief or assumption have you recently challenged or changed based on your startup experience? (Insight Shift)
2. What’s a question you’ve never asked out loud, but know could unlock your next breakthrough? (Unspoken Wisdom)
3. What’s the strongest trait or habit you’ve observed in your peers that you want to emulate—and how will you start? (Aspirational Learning)
4. Describe a time you failed publicly and what you learned that might save someone else from making the same mistake. (Peer Wisdom Transfer)
5. If your current challenge were someone else’s situation —what advice would you give them? (Empathy Mirror)

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2. Tutoring 📘 (Stage: Early, Seed)

1. Explain the difference between TAM, SAM, and SOM using a real example. (Market Sizing)
2. Can you walk me through how a SAFE note works for seed-stage fundraising? (Funding Mechanics)
3. What’s the simplest way to describe Product-Market Fit to a first-time founder? (PMF Basics)
4. Break down the HBS Diamond Square Business Model framework as if I were 12. (Business Model Basics)
5. How would you explain your startup’s unit value prop using the 3D framework? (Positioning)

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3. Testing ✅ (Stage: Seed, PMF)

1. Here’s my pitch deck—can you help me identify three areas where I’m unclear or inconsistent? (Pitch Feedback)
2. Rate my customer discovery interview questions from 1–10 and suggest improvements. (Interview Design)
3. What assumptions am I making in this business model that need to be tested? (Risk Analysis)
4. Here’s my use-of-funds breakdown—what would a skeptical investor challenge? (Investor Lens)
5. Let’s role play a customer conversation: act as a skeptical buyer and ask me 3 tough, specific questions you’d want answered before making a purchase. (Customer Role Play)

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4. Practicing 🏃♂️ (Stage: All)

1. I want to practice my 30-second elevator pitch—can you simulate feedback from a VC? (Pitch Practice)
2. Act as a potential early adopter customer—help me refine my pitch to them. (Customer Fit)
3. Let’s role play me hiring a founding engineer. You play the skeptical candidate. (Hiring Simulation)
4. Imagine I just pitched you my startup idea in 2 minutes—respond in character as a curious but critical customer. What would confuse or concern you? What would you want to know before buying or recommending it? (Live Customer Simulation)
5. Here’s my pricing strategy—help me test it with 3 different buyer personas. (Pricing Practice)

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5. Coaching 🧭 (Stage: All)

1. Help me uncover the real reason I haven’t started customer interviews yet? (Founder Block)
2. I keep pivoting ideas—what do I need to commit to, and what’s stopping me? (Decision-Making)
3. Help me understand the decisions I’m avoiding right now that would unblock my venture? (Prioritization)
4. Can you help me unpack the root cause of why I’m not making measurable progress? (Stuck Point)
5. If I was advising a friend in my position, what would I tell them to do next? (Perspective Shift)

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6. Role Playing 🎭 (Stage: Seed, PMF)

1. Act as a Seed Stage VC—I’m raising $750K. What’s missing from my pitch? (Investor Role Play)
2. Play the role of my skeptical co-founder—help me stress-test my idea. (Team Alignment)
3. You’re a key hire I’m trying to convince—what questions would you ask me? (Recruiting Simulation)
4. Be a corporate buyer I’m selling to—what concerns would stop you from buying? (Sales Readiness)
5. Act as a journalist covering my startup—what story would you want to hear? (Media Practice)

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7. Tracking Progress & Goals 📈 (Stage: All)

1. Here’s my OKR for the next 30 days—check in with me weekly for progress. (Accountability Loop)
2. Help me build a Monday morning founder check-in ritual using 3 questions. (Founder Cadence)
3. Every week, ask me what I’ve done toward revenue and customer learning. (Progress Tracking)
4. Log this milestone and remind me to reflect on it at month’s end. (Milestone Reflection)
5. Help me write a progress update email I can send to my advisors. (Comms Practice)

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8. Emotional Support🎗️ (Stage: All)

1. What’s one thing I did this week I should be proud of—even if no one saw it? (Gratitude Prompt)
2. I feel like giving up—can you help me reframe this moment? (Motivation Reset)
3. What are three small wins I can aim for this week to rebuild momentum? (Confidence Building)
4. Can you remind me why I started this venture in the first place? (Mission Reconnection)
5. What’s something I can do today to reconnect with joy in the journey? (Emotional Recharging)

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