AI turns out to be surprisingly capable at generating marketing plans that are actually useful — but only with the right kind of prompting behind it. Through a fair amount of trial and error, I discovered that framing the task as a simulated 100-person focus group, all discussing the company in question, produces noticeably better results than simply asking the AI for answers outright. My process works like this: the 100 participants get split into 20 randomly assigned breakout rooms of 5 people each, where they deliberate independently, and then the entire group reconvenes so their collective input can be synthesized into one cohesive set of recommendations. From that synthesis, I generate a report ranging anywhere from 5 to 20 pages, along with a condensed 1-page executive summary.

To show how this actually works in practice, let me walk through it using a completely random organization I have zero affiliation with: Kyber. The longer report is available by request.

Claude Penland builds the marketing and business strategy for companies that are good at what they do and hard to find. Thirty years operating, one exit, eight of them as a practicing casualty actuary.

The free two-page read is genuinely free. Email claude@1000startups.com and I'll send back what I can see from the outside. Or see the work samples and how to work with me.