Turns out AI can help produce marketing plans that don’t feel like generic filler – you just need to prompt it the right way. My breakthrough came from ditching direct questions entirely and instead simulating a 100-person focus group hashing out ideas about the company. I break that crowd into 20 breakout rooms, five people per room, randomly assigned, and let each group hash things out independently. Then everyone reconvenes, and their scattered input gets distilled into one clear set of recommendations. The output: a report anywhere from 5 to 20 pages, plus a tight 1-page summary.

Case in point – here’s the process run on a company I have absolutely no ties to: Norm AI. 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.